Have vanished ;D Its like a canine acne, nothing nasty or contagious but still I worried until our dear Vet told me to ignore them completely and stop fussing : So , I stopped bothering , stopped using creams, potions and lotions , hey presto , gone ;D
Re: Sams spots .............. Makes you wonder whether all the spot medication that humans (teenagers especially) use are just as useless... :. Glad to hear that Sam is back to his normal handsomeness.
Re: Sams spots .............. Hi Kate I was just wondering about Sam's spots. I think Scott might have had a similar thing when he was younger but I never found out what it was. He would get spots mainly on his chin and the odd one or two around his nose. The only way to describe them was they looked a bit like blisters but weren't they were solid if that makes sense? They never came to a head or discharged ( yuck sorry ) or anything. Occasionally he would rub one, probably being rough with his brother, and I would bathe it. When I went to the vet for their 12 month vaccinations I showed them her. She didn't really know what it was ( not helpful). They just went away. Can't remember exactly when but roughly when he was about 18 months. I was just wondering if Sam's were similar. I looked back at old posts assuming at some point you described them but couldn't find it. It would solve a mystery and if they were the same we know dogs gat 'acne' ( who knew? ) Thanks Jen
Re: Sams spots .............. Sounds very similar Jen , Sam had them as a puppy and then they just went but came back about 2 or 3 months ago and now gone again I thought at first that it was canine papiloma virus but it wasnt as they tend to be sort of knobbly looking whereas Sams were smooth, just as you say, like blisters . The odd thing is that when they came back a couple of months ago , I had stopped adding carrots to his dinner , started adding carrots again and the spots went , maybe he is carrot dependent ;D
Re: Sams spots .............. Hmm....almost sound like molluscum that we get. Little pearly "papules" that are raised and these ones have little dots in the centre (look like little belly-buttons) They are caused by a virus too. Do you think they are similar? - I guess Lochan would know.
Re: Sams spots .............. Thanks Kate Who'd have thought dogs with teenage acne and now we know of 2 cases. Perhaps it's the vitamin c in the carrot being good for the skin ? Will have to remember that if Scott's flare up again. Jen
Re: Sams spots .............. Caddie has got canine papillomas on one side of her muzzle, literally dozens of them. They appeared when she was a puppy and never went away. Luckily they are dark and not immediately noticeable in her black fur. There were a couple of large ones right in the corner of her mouth which the vet lasered off. They seem to be harmless but I keep an eye on them in case there is any change. Would be interesting to hear if Lochan has any info on canine papilloma.
Re: Sams spots .............. Hi a few brief replies on this huge subject. Canine papillomas are usually viral and often spontaneously regress especially in young dogs. Transformation to malignant squamous cell carcinomas is uncommon. In our practice we wait and see (young dogs) or laser off anything in an awkward place. Molluscum contagiosum does not occur in dogs, as far as I am aware it is a poxvirus without a non-human reservoir and does have a very typical appearance in humans. It looks very different from the lesions of canine acne - such a visual subject dermatology! Acne in dogs is an inflammation of and possibly rupture of hair follicles on the chin and muzzle. In some dogs a few episodes occur in adolescence then it resolves. In others, especially slobbery and jowly dogs, the problem occurs intermittently for life and in yet others it is an early sign of future allergies developing. In essence, any disease which causes inflammation of the hair follicle (folliculitis) can cause lesions typical of acne. Folliculitis is caused by infection with demodex mites, ringworm or most commonly bacteria. Bacterial infection nearly always has an underlying cause in dogs (jowly/allergic/slobbery/incompetent juvenile immune system etc) hence the different outcomes in individual dogs depending on what triggers their acne. Hope this information is useful and sorry for the essay but this is a massive subject - I routinely deliver two day courses to vets on this sort of stuff!