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Many of you all have seen my countless threads about allergies, food, skin problems, etc, and after vast research (and help from dt!) I KNEW it was thyroid. Went to a different vet today, (the one I take my horse to), and she was aghast at his condition! She immediately looked at him and says "Oh my, this poor boy has 0 muscle OR fat on his entire skull!" She rolled him over and took a look at his belly and immediately agreed with me on needing a blood panel run. We went to another vet last month who cleared him as "looking good other than some allergies", and he did nothing but give some run of the mill antibiotics.
$435 later, Zeus was diagnosed with extremely low thyroid, and a terrible yeast infection. He is now on prednisone, ketaconazole (sp?), a yeast shampoo, another antibiotic, and thyroid meds. I may be imagining it, but I believe he has perked up a TON since only two treatments. Due to the severity of his yeast problem, we are supposed to bathe every 3 days. Not full baths, but only his belly/armpits which are pure elephant skin basically.
For the record, Zeus's only non-skin related issues were cold intolerance and possibly some lethargy. I am going to post pictures of all of his problem areas tonight, and then take some in a month or so. If anyone is curious, he is constantly itching, biting, licking, gnawing, and torturing himself to death. He has no hair around either armpits, and has symmetrical hairloss going up around his belly which spread from just his back armpits. For the past 2 years, he has had reoccurrant flare ups with bad ear infections, and terrible hair loss, as well as always being 'laid back'. The hair around his eyes and mouth/nose is also extremely thin/bald. He also recently began thinning on the top of his head and around the ears. His skin has been dark and pigmented since his last owners got him at 2yos, so he will most likely remain so for the rest of his life. Again, I will post pictures soon so that others can see!
If anyone is having similar problems, and has tried every diet in the book with no help, PLEASE ask your vet for a full blood panel. I am a basically unemployed college student living off of scholarship money, and despite the high bill, and I am glad I have knocked everything out of possible irritants, and I can now sleep PEACEFULLY, without worrying about my itchy dog.
$435 later, Zeus was diagnosed with extremely low thyroid, and a terrible yeast infection. He is now on prednisone, ketaconazole (sp?), a yeast shampoo, another antibiotic, and thyroid meds. I may be imagining it, but I believe he has perked up a TON since only two treatments. Due to the severity of his yeast problem, we are supposed to bathe every 3 days. Not full baths, but only his belly/armpits which are pure elephant skin basically.
For the record, Zeus's only non-skin related issues were cold intolerance and possibly some lethargy. I am going to post pictures of all of his problem areas tonight, and then take some in a month or so. If anyone is curious, he is constantly itching, biting, licking, gnawing, and torturing himself to death. He has no hair around either armpits, and has symmetrical hairloss going up around his belly which spread from just his back armpits. For the past 2 years, he has had reoccurrant flare ups with bad ear infections, and terrible hair loss, as well as always being 'laid back'. The hair around his eyes and mouth/nose is also extremely thin/bald. He also recently began thinning on the top of his head and around the ears. His skin has been dark and pigmented since his last owners got him at 2yos, so he will most likely remain so for the rest of his life. Again, I will post pictures soon so that others can see!
If anyone is having similar problems, and has tried every diet in the book with no help, PLEASE ask your vet for a full blood panel. I am a basically unemployed college student living off of scholarship money, and despite the high bill, and I am glad I have knocked everything out of possible irritants, and I can now sleep PEACEFULLY, without worrying about my itchy dog.
Except his trembling and shaking/cold sensitivity was becoming very extreme! And since 2yo when his previous owner got him he's always been labeled as 'laid back/mellow'. I figured he was so laid back due to his size, but he already seems much perkier (then again this could be a bit of wishful thinking 
