What causes bursting skin cysts and diarrhea in my senior dog?

There are probably two separate issues going on with Buster. His skin looks very irritated and infected which usually occurs because of an allergy or fleas. To treat this he will need to be put on a good flea control, antibiotics and something to help the inflammation in the skin. Bloody diarrhea is usually indicative of colitis, gastroenteritis, or pancreatitis. I would be concerned also about intestinal parasites, Buster possibly getting into something he shouldn’t have, or less likely,irritable bowel disease. Because Buster has several issues going on I would recommend taking him to a vet to be fully worked up. Your vet will likely want to run a fecal test, a skin scrapping and cytology (to understand the cause of the skin infection) and possibly blood work and X-rays. I hope this helps. Best of luck. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. Judging from the photis, this appears to have a raised area in the center. This could be a sebaceous cyst that ruptured and is now secondarily infected or has an open wound on it that won't heal. I would recommend having a veterinarian take a look at this and have some additional testing performed on it to determine what it could be. With more information on what this could be, the most appropriate treatment can then be started. If you are unable to get to your vet right now, I would recommend using an ointment called zymox topical ointment to apply to the area. If the ointment does not help aftwr 5-7 days or it worsens during that time, I would get kane to the vet for an exam. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. What i am seeing in the pictures is likely a sebaceous cyst that ruptured. These are common with older dogs and are benign. When these rupture there is a chance they will become infected so the best treatment is to have it removed to prevent this from happening. I would recommend consulting with your veterinarian about having this removed. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Without a picture it is difficult for me to advise you on the most appropriate way to handle this. However, if it has ruptured and it is a small opening, you can keep it clean twice daily using a mixture of water and betadine so that you have a light brown solution. Use this to clean the cyst until it heals. If it becomes infected or does not resolve, I would recommend having a veterinarian examine this so that the most appropriate treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

That is odd and it sounds like poor Duchess has a few problems happening at one. Skin bump are generally not related unless they are occurring because of something like getting into a hornets nest or some sort of allergic reaction. Certain types of tumors can spread to other parts of the body but it doesn't generally all happen on the same day. The mass on her rectum is concerning because it is larger and very red. I recommend to have Lola examined by her veterinarian. Skin masses can be many things but red raised masses are especially concerning for a skin cancer called a Mast Cell tumor. Your veterinarian will need to collect a sample of cell to examined under the microscope to determine what this is and if further treatment is needed. Have this checked out soon. Additionally, ongoing diarrhea often results in bacterial shifts that will continue the diarrhea regardless of the initial cause. I recommend to have Duchess examined by the veterinarian within the next 24 hours. I hope this helps and best of luck.

These may be benign sebaceous gland cysts that drain fluid periodically like pimples. Sometimes they get infected and require antibiotics. I often have owners use epsom salt compresses at home on these areas, but it would be safest to have your vet examine Darby to make sure that these lumps aren't some kind of cancerous tumors first.

There are many different causes for chronic diarrhea in older dogs, none of which are usually great news. The best and shortest list I can provide you is the following: lymphoma of the GI tract, inflammatory bowel disease, lymphangiectasia, liver disease, gastrointestinal parasites, and/or nutritional deficiencies like lack of vitamin B12. Since you have mostly ruled out GI parasites, I would recommend beginning to investigate the possibilities of some of the others I have listed. In order to do this, you will need to obtain some blood work with your vet (baseline plus the B12 test), then work out whether or not he/she can do ultrasound / endoscopy to rule in / out the other conditions I have listed. Hope this makes sense. Best of luck.