Danes and sensitive skin

[jessicanparker]

Me again 

Skuy's at the vet and they are wanting to do a skin test on him. When we adopted him, we were told that he had some allergy tests done and he's allergic to fleas and grass. We don't know what meds to put him on and he hates pills, so we give him flea preventive and keep him out of the grass as much as we can. He still gets bumps and little scabbies on him coat. They clear up A LOT in the colder months, but never really looks bad. They also want him on anti-inflammatories and antibiotics, which seems a little much to me as he doesn't have a fever, open wounds, swelling, etc. You can't even see his skin blemishes unless you're petting him and really looking for them.

I'm one that doesn't like to constantly medicate my dogs unless it's really needed (like when he had a toe removed). Does this sound right, or am I right in being a bit alarmed?

[Bella's mom]

Maybe Skuy's skin is worse than Bella's, but it doesn't sound like it.  Bella's only 13 months now, so I've only gone through one summer with her skin issues.  She gets little bumps that you can only see because she's black and the little bumps will make her hair stand up a little in those spots.  My vet just told me to give her Benedryl when they are bad.  Since I cut back on Bella's baths, her skin is actually doing much better.  She doesn't itch, and the bumps kinda come and go.  When it first started, she developed "foliculitis" and started losing her hair in spots, but after two weeks of antibiotics, everything was fine.
I agree with you about anti-inflammatories and antibiotics.  Don't fix it unless it's broke.  If it is mild, just keep doing what you're doing and maybe try some Benadryl occasionally.

[jessicanparker]

I had a long talk with the vet about Sky and mentioned Benadryl for occaisional treatment. They were supposed to give my husband the dosage and then decided not too because they said it would be too expensive to give him Benadryl (they were pushing their meds)!! They costs would have been well over $400 since they wanted to give us the antibiotics, antimflammator ies, a special shampoo (which we arleady have), and a topical ointment. His skin sounds a lot like Bella's - you can see them a bit on the white fur, but not at all on the black fur. I really feel like they were tryin' to rip me off and give my baby meds he doesn't need.

Thanks for the info Bella's mom