Why is my dog's skin healing slowly despite medicated baths?

If the skin is not getting much better after 1 month, I recommend to have him examined. Those spots on Ollie could be several things including allergies, skin mites, flea bites, an endocrine disease or a bacterial infection. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for dogs, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing his diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. Dogs are generally not allergic to grains. Protect the areas from licking or scratching and he may need to wear and Elizabethan collar at all times. Checking for mange is easy and I recommend to have this done. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

A food elimination trial should last a minimum of 6-8 weeks feeding one food exclusively, no other treats or foods. Afterwards, the condition should be reassessed. If this is the case with two different diets containing a novel protein/carb combo and still no improvement, then a consultation and exam with a veterinary dermatologist may be your next step. If Samson is licking or chewing excessively, an e-collar (cone) should be used. Consider an essential fatty acid supplement, such as DermCaps or EicosaCaps, to promote healthy skin and coat. If allergies are the underlying cause, they can be frustrating to diagnose, but once you determine specific allergens then management may be easier.

There are a lot of things that could be causing this appearance to the skin, and it may not be easy or cheap to figure it out. I would recommend that you keep working with the vet. Baseline blood work, thyroid hormone, testing for Cushing's disease, skin biopsies, food trials, flea preventatives, etc may be needed.

KEO certainly sounds uncomfortable! Skin issues can be difficult to manage and can take a very long time to improve. Since KEO's skin issues have occurred since he was a puppy, I am curious if he has ever had a skin scraping for Demodex mites. This mite can be transmitted to puppies from their mother. Other causes of chronic itchiness include allergies to food, environmental changes, fleas, or other insects. KEO's head shaking could indicate ear mites, but dogs more commonly develop bacterial and/or fungal (yeast) ear infections. Make sure that KEO is receiving a high quality flea and tick preventative (such as Nexgard, Bravecto or Advantix) regularly and bathe him every 1-2 weeks in a gentle oatmeal shampoo. Otherwise, there are no effective at home remedies for this situation. I understand your concerns for KEO's comfort, but at this point, it sounds as though your best bet is to take him back to the vet for a recheck exam. Excessive itching can cause a skin infection, which requires prescription antibiotics and anti-itch medications. Ear infections require prescription ear medications based upon the type of infection present. If he is diagnosed with Demodex mites, he would need prescription medications to treat these. I hope that all goes well!

Fleas and allergies to fleas can set-up an environment for infection. It's possible that this is complicating the recovery process. The skin will often start to heal once the fleas are gone, but it's worth treating for infection by giving a bath with a medicated dog shampoo (can get this at the pet store). It's best to just give a bath with the medicated shampoo once every 2-3 days, until the skin starts to look normal. It's expected that it will take a month or more until Buddy starts to look normal again, so stick with it and he should get through this fine. Treating for fleas is not just restricted to the host, because fleas can reproduce and nest in the environment and continually cause an issue. Below is a link to a short article that explains treating the dog and environment for fleas: https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-tips-to-get-rid-of-fleas/ If the skin problems are not getting better, or are getting worse in the next two weeks, then it's best to have Buddy evaluated by a vet, because he may need additional treatment. I hope that helps and buddy gets better soon.

First you have to rule out other things as well like fleas and secondary infection which can both be itchy. If there are any lesions under the skin there may be a secondary infection (common with allergy). For food allergy it can take time for symptoms to resolve (8+ weeks for some dogs) and those pets who are very itchy may need medications to stop the itch (itching can lead to secondary skin infection as well). So if your pup is very itchy you may want to talk to your family vet about meds to help with itch while going back to the old food. And treat for fleas just in case (even if you do not see any). I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!