What causes dog skin tags on leg crease, limping, and irritation?

It looks as if your dog has a skin infection, most commonly caused by an allergy or fleas. The allergy could be a due to a protein in Rocky's food or an environmental allergy like to dust, pollens, grasses, etc. The allergy causes your dog to itch and chew at the skin which breaks down the skin barrier. This then leads to infection. Rocky will need antibiotics to help clear up the infection and possibly an anti-itch medication like Apoquel, Atopica, or Cytopoint to give some relief while the infection clears up. Since Rocky seems to continually have this problem he may need to be on an allergy medication long term. A medicated shampoo may be beneficial as well. I would also recommend he be on a good flea control too. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. This is quite severe and warrants therapy. The likely secondary infections need to to be addressed and the itchiness also need to be addressed to prevent this issue from getting worse. Medications like prednisone can be used for the itchiness and antibiotics for the infections. In the meantime, you can use an e-collar in the meantime to prevent further self-trauma. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. 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!

I would consider trying a flea tick prevention in pill form. They could also be used off label for mites. I would also talk to your veterinarian about apoquel or cytopoint to treat Rocky’s allergies. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). 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.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. 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!

Hello, these look like acrochordons plaques, possibly from microtrauma ( does Tipsy wear a harness ?), or from an irritation stemming from bacteria, yeast, or skin mites. I would recommend an examination of the skin with skin scrapes & cytology, & if nothing is found, perhaps rule out food allergy with a trial hypoallergenic diet. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It sounds like Rocko has been miserable despite therapy. Skin issues are some of the most difficult to manage sometimes. There are a few, less-common diseases that could be going on in his case to include things like auto-immune disease. At this time, it seems Rocko needs to be referred to see a veterinary dermatologist to get a more pointed treatment plan. I would recommend contacting your vet and asking if they think referral is the next step. Your vet may have another next step prior to referral such as soon biopsy before sending for referral, but I hope something gives him at least some relief in the meantime. A sedative may even be appropriate to help break the itch-scratch cycle. It is hard to see whether the bug is the correct size to be anything to cause an issue, but it most closely resembles a flea. Even with prevention, some dogs are so allergic, a single bite will cause an outbreak of allergies, so environmental cleaning with vacuuming and, sometimes, consulting an exterminator, can be necessary in addition to year-round flea prevention for all of your dogs and cats. I hope this helps!