18 replies to this topic

[Oliver's Mom]

When we first brought Oliver home from the shelter his belly was a nice shade of pink, now almost four months later it is grey/black. In his armpit area it is a lot darker than the rest of his underside but all of it is turning black. This is making me a little nervous only because I know it can be a sign of an allergy or intolerence to something. Also, on Tuesday I discovered a bump on his back that looks to be like a dried scab that is very itchy/sensitive and last night I found another on his leg and another one this morning. I went to the vet when I discovered the first bump and they gave me Amoxicillan b/c she said it looks like a pimple or a cyst and a pimple would be cleared by the Amoxicillan. She seemed pretty sure that it was an alergic reaction to something, but what? How do you determine what in the world it could be? I was looking through photos of when we first brought him home and he had a beautiful pink belly and when I think back to things that may have changed around the time the black started to take over the only things I can think of are that we started using Advantage on him for flea control and we "bombed" our apartment because we found fleas on him. We also started giving him lamb and veggie treats from Nature's Balance. Has anyone noticed any strange reactions to using a topical flea protection but not at the sight of administration? I'm thinking about changing his treats and seeing if that helps but how long should I give it before I say it's not working if there aren't any changes?

Thank you in advance for any and all help.

[sheila and Misty]

nothing to do with food or shampoo etc-more than likely you cairn is brindle and the skin changes colors and so does the coat as they get older Misty was darker than Toby as a pup her belly was bubblegum pink-now it just looks dirty graypink sounds normal to me

[Nikki]

take a photo of it and post it. I am not sure what your seeing.

Scotty my wheaten has some skin issues and allergies. sometimes if he gets an itch he won't leave it alone and will bite and scratch an area so much that it leaves a scab. my dog's skin color is pink and a grey pink.

Edited by Nikki, 11 March 2010 - 07:39 PM.

[BetsyNoodle]

Is Oliver losing any patches of of fur with this?

[Kathryn]

Our T Bone is a red with light skin. His skin turns a darker color -- and much darker in his "legpits" -- when his skin allergies are acting up. I suggest you get him to a vet for examination. We use a prescription shampoo that gives T a lot of relief and stops the allergic reactions on his skin.

[Oliver's Mom]

I took a couple pic's so that I can show what I mean. He is not losing hair just suddenly gaining these bumps (thank goodness no more have popped up). He does have thinner hair on his front chest area but I wouldn't say he's losing any.

Anyway, his scabs seem to be healing a little and he does seem itchy but not obsessively. I just want to know what it is from, the vet definitely said it is a reaction to something but how do I know what from? Tonight I lifted the bed and vacuumed like crazy under there b/c that is the spot he sleeps at the majority of the time and I figured if it's a dust allergy that would be the worst spot b/c we vacuum everywhere else regularly. But if it's a food allergy who knows what it could be. He eats so many different things. The one thing that has stayed consistant since all of this started are his treats, so we are going to change them to something else that is more similar to his food ingredients so we can minimize what he is eating. I feel like a total nutcase but I feel bad for him with these bumps and all. My husband said that I shouldn't be allowed to own a dog

Here is his belly. It doesn't look as dark in the picture as it is in person.

 Camera Pic's 03-12-10 0012.JPG (114.58K)
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And his "pit" which is where the black first really started showing up.

 Camera Pic's 03-12-10 0022.JPG (102.43K)
Number of downloads: 24

Thank yo for listening to my craziness

[oscar's mom]

Does the bellie or arm pit smell. Could it be a yeast infection? I would also find out what kind of chemicals are list from the flea bomb that was used. I would do one thing at a time. Maybe a warm water bath with baking soda, it should help sooth the skin if he's touchy about it. I like natural remedies for animals, I use vinegar to wash my dog. It really helped out on his itching issues. Check with the vet to see if its a skin infection, maybe fungal or something. The food sounds ok, but that might be the second thing you concentrate on.

[sheila and Misty]

looks normal ro me

[Oliver's Mom]

sheila and Misty, on 11 March 2010 - 07:11 PM, said:

nothing to do with food or shampoo etc-more than likely you cairn is brindle and the skin changes colors and so does the coat as they get older Misty was darker than Toby as a pup her belly was bubblegum pink-now it just looks dirty graypink sounds normal to me

When you say he's "brindle" what exactly does that mean? I keep reading about it but don't quite understand it. He is a wheat color with a dark muzzle and ears. He does have dark tipped hairs on his boady but is not dark anywhere else. Would that be "brindle"? If it is a skin color change due to eventual coat change that is fine, but I just feel like it is weird that he was nice and pink a few months ago and now suddenly he is turning grey/black on us, and only on his underside not his back.

Thanks!!

[Nikki]

Brindling is a color pattern it kinda looks like tiger stripes.



alot of time dogs that are brindle tend to eventually have a grey or dark color. My cairn Angel is a brindle.

Angel coat has changed alot over the last few years...honestly I can't tell you what color coat she has it really depends on the day



Angel as a young puppy



She looked wheaten for a while



this was taken a few months ago

[BetsyNoodle]

This is my understanding: With a Brindle coat you can take a single strand of your Cairn's hair and it will have a variation in color (usually darker near the skin and lighter as you go down the hair shaft). My brindle has three colors in his hair. Brindles will sometimes appear striped, but should not be spotted like a giraffe.

Is this correct, Brad?

[little feet zip]

Hi Oliversmom

From what I understand about allergies 90% are airborne,however these Cairns seem to be in the 10% that have some type of reaction to food.Olivers dark spots may be from licking and scratching iritateing the skin. Oliver looks to be wheaten in color like my Zip and he somtimes has these dark spot also. Trying to figure out what the cause is takes detective work and trying different things it will almost drive you crazy but don't give up cause they are to darn cute. BTW I live down the street from you in Penndel.

Rich

[sheila and Misty]

I understand brindle as once adult multi colors will show and vary at different times and skin changes color as well through these tikes

[Nikki]

Brindles not just a cairn thing lots of other dog breeds have it. If you are unsure about the dark spots whether they are brindling or allergies I would take him to the vet to ease your mind. I posted a few photos of a Scottie with Brindling and 2 Boxers with brindling.







Scottie



Brindle Boxers

[Oliver's Mom]

Thanks for all the info. Oliver is definitely not brindle. When I did take him to the vet she did say it looked to be allergy related but if he wasn't scratching a lot (which he's not) then it could be skin pigmentation changes. She did seem like she was in aggreement that it was caused by an allergy though. We have since stopped giving him the lamb treats and switched to a treat that has pretty much the same ingredients as his kibble so as to try and eliminate something. Plus, I heard that many dogs can be allergic to lamb and we have him on a sardine, anchovy and salmon meal dry food which I don't believe dogs are usually allergic to (watch Oliver is ). He's fine otherwise so I am not too worried, I was more freaked out by the bumps that just popped up out of nowhere. So, we are just going to keep an eye on him and see if it clears up or if his coat starts changing too.
Thanks for listening!!

P.S. I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this forum and am soo happy to have come across such an accepting group that is also very knowledgable for new comers like myself.