Skin disorders associated with hypothyroidism?

[AmandaGedraitis]

My 7 year old adopted Siberian Husky needs help. I know that he has a severely under active thyroid. He does not do well with soloxine (He will not eat, pants, paces, drinks gallons and gallons of water- it makes him miserable). Recently my vet started him on Thyroxine. He's doing a bit better with this. His face is less puffy and he's getting slightly more active. But none of this has solved the major issues that concern me. He has a skin disorder of some kind. He gets this circular legions all over his body. They itch like crazy and his fur, scabbed at the roots with excess skin cells and sometimes a yellow-ish crust comes out in clumps. I tried treating him with a sebhorrea shampoo and spray- with no success. He doesn't have mange, fleas, or allergies to his food as far as we can discover. His diet doesn't change, but the condition comes and goes at random intervals. I had a skin biopsy done to test for a zinc responsive deficiency- but it came back normal. My vet recommended giving him a skin enhancing vitamin e and omega 3 oil capsule with a zinc supplement anyway- and within a month the rash was back. It seemed like antibiotics and prednisone helped to lessen the severity and duration of these outbreaks, but not so much any more. Benadryl doesn't help. Bathing 3 times a week doesn't help. I've had blood work and tests sent to 3 different vets. It's still a guessing game. Recently his elbow callouses have started to bleed. Every day, in fact. I thought it was a side effect of the Thyroxine, but my vet doesn't think so. With the underactive thyroid- all he does is lay in bed all day. The callouses aren't caused by hard surfaces and pressure. There is no infection. There is no pus. They aren't warm to the touch. I tried lotion, neosporin, liquid bandages, and just wrapping them. It's been going on for about 3 weeks. He's been on the thyroxine now for about 7 weeks. Could this be related? What is making his elbows bleed? Do you have any idea what else could be causing his skin symptoms? Do you have any other recommendations to treat it? Other illnesses to test for? I'm at a loss. I love my dog and I want to do right by him. I'm trying everything I can think, but he's breaking my heart. I just want him to be better. I want us both to be happy. Please help! Feel free to email me- ***@****.

[KBru220]

I have an 11 year old Yorkie.  She has this.  It is allergies.  It is a yeast infection.  I had allergy panels drawn on her.  She is allergic to a lot of the ingredients in the dog foods. I have to cook for her. She takes soloxine for her thyroid and apoquel for the allergies. When she used to get the break outs, I would put,Neo-Predef powder on her sores.  It dries them out and stops the itching.  Also, I bathe her with a degreaser shampoo that my dog groomer sells.  She hasnt had any breakouts in over a year now.

[Madstang]

Did you ever figure out what was wrong? I have a boxer with the same issue and we can't figure out what is going on

[Madstang]

Did you ever figure out what was wrong? I have a boxer with the same issue and we can't figure out what is going on

[C4Reigns]

I have a Leonberger that seems to have the same symptoms.  It's been going on for about a year...  did you ever figure out what it was?

[AmandaGedraitis]

I will ask my vet for sure- but it seems very unlikely to me that it would be ringworm. He's had this off and on for over a year. None of my other dogs have it. We all sleep in the same bed. And I don't have it. Plus I moved about 6 months ago. He had it then and he has it now. I got all new furniture. So I wouldn't have brought it with me. It won't hurt to check with vet, but I just don't think it sounds like ringworm.


As far as his diet goes- he pretty much only eats baked chicken. Sometimes I mix it with dry kibble either- pedigree or science diet. But he's really particular about his food. :) He's extra spoiled. Most of the time he likes to just be hand fed chicken. He does eat peanutbutter to take his medicine and occaionally I'll treat him to a little bit of icecream (since it's pretty much his favorite thing in the world) and since puppies are pretty much my favorite thing in the world- it's only fair. :) I can't imagine that would cause this though. There is no recognizable pattern between eating habits and outbreaks.


Any other ideas?

[Ghilly]

Circular lesions with crust in them sound to me like ringworm.  Be VERY careful, as this is HIGHLY contagious and can be passed to the humans before you know it.

It's easy enough to tell whether or not it's ringworm.  Make an appointment at your vet's, and he will look at the lesions with a Wood's Lamp.  If it's ringworm, which, by the way, is a fungus and not an actual worm, it will glow a bright fluorescent apple green.  It's a bugger to get rid of, but at least you will know what you are dealing with.

Griseofulvin is the drug of choice for conquering ringworm, and it can be either administered internally or applied externally.  If the lesions are widespread, then treating it systemically is probably the way to go.  If there were only one or two lesions, it might be easy enough to treat topically.  

Ringworm can stay viable for up to about 18 months, and the only way to kill it on your carpets and furniture is by steam cleaning, so if it turns out that that's what it is, prepare to do a VERY thorough cleaning of all the areas in your house where your dog has been.

Please post back and let us know what happens.

Ghilly

[Misfits4Me]

Did the skin biopsy show any bacteria such as Staph?  Could it be his diet? You stated that it never changes.......It sounds as if you've done everything else so, what do you feed him?    Karla

[ginger899]

It's possible this could be Ringworm infection.
This is not a worm, it is a fungal infection. The vet could do a Woods lamp test (in which the ringworm spores show up under a light as luminescent.)
It could be treated with antifungal drugs, if it is.