What causes a dog's dry, rough nose, lips, and sudden weight loss?

There could be a couple of things going on with Ben. The dry, cracked, and bleeding nose could be due to allergies, such as to plastic. Losing weight despite eating could be due to a medical issue, such as diabetes or kidney disease. The growths by his ears could be benign tumors, but in older dogs, there's always a chance it could be caused by malignant tumors. I would take Ben into the vet first thing in the morning for an exam. The vet can do a physical exam, blood tests, a urinalysis, and a fine needle aspirate (FNA) on the growths to diagnose the causes of his various symptoms. To do an FNA, the vet sticks a small needle into the lump to get a sample of it's cells, and examines the cells on a slide under a microscope. It's usually painless to the animal, and relatively quick to perform.

It looks like you are concerned about several problems with Roxie, and they are probably not all related to each other. The nose could just be dry, or it could be an autoimmune disease called lupus, or it could be cancerous. I would recommend that you have your vet check this out to see what will be the best treatment. If it gets worse it could crack and bleed and be very painful. I am not sure what is coming from her whisker area, it could be a skin tag. There are several masses that can occur on the edges of the eyelid. Often they are benign, but they can get bigger and start to rub on the cornea and cause ulceration and chronic irritation. Many times a vet can remove these easily with either surgery or cryotherapy. Dry or thickened skin on the elbows is common in short-haired dogs as they age. There is nothing that needs to be done. Make sure that Roxie has a soft place to lay down, which will help prevent excess pressure over her bony areas.

Thanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am so sorry to hear that your pet Bubbalina is so ill. Nose bleeds that are persistent in an older dog are highly suspicious of cancer or a fungal infection. Trauma to the nose is also possible, but unlikely to result in chronic bleeding episodes. I am so sorry but Bubbalina needs to be seen by your vet right away for testing (Bloodwork +.- radiographs). If cancer is present, then steroids may be recommended to try and slow down the progression and also supportive care can be provided to Bubbalina to hopefully make her more comfortable. I wish you the very best moving forward her care. Best wishes and take care.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Bear! There are many reasons for scratching/biting. It could be from fleas, mites (scabies or demodex), skin infections from either bacteria or yeast, allergies or atopy. I'd have him looked at by your Vet to check to see if he has a skin infection. If he does they will prescribe antibiotics or antifungals, something to relieve the scratching and biting, and possible a medicated shampoo. Mites are diagnosed on skin scraping. Mites are treated with either ivermectin orally or topically or even edible flea and tick products have been found to have an added benefit of getting some types of mites. If allergies your Vet may recommend changing his diet to a novel protein (from chicken to venison, duck, fish) or a prescription hydrolyzed diet, starting Omega 3 fish oils, an antihistamine or long-term apoquel. I hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi, and thanks for your question. Even though a picture would help to understand better the underlying cause, this presentation could be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria or fungal). A check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics or antifungal meds (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Disinfection can be possibly started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any scratching (if any). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

I am sorry your dog is not feeling well. The information provided and picture don't really match. If a patient is drinking more and losing weight I would be concerned about endocrine diseases like diabetes and cushings disease. However the picture looks more like possible skin mites or an underlying autoimmune disease I would recommend taking her to a veterinarian to help you resolve the issues. They most likely will need to run basic bloodwork and possible a skin scrape to determine if mites are present.

I am so sorry to hear about Drako! It is definitely quite possible given the appearance and his breed that he could be suffering from an autoimmune disease such as lupus. Other possibilities would include bacterial and fungal infections, solar dermatosis (sensitivity to sun) and zinc responsive dermatosis, and less commonly cancer. It looks like if your dog didn't respond to the antibiotics and steroids then some additional testing needs to be done. A biopsy is the fastest way to determine what the problem here could be. I would recommend discussing this with your vet and if they don't feel comfortable asking for a referral to a specialist.