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  1. #1
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    Skin Condition - Need Help

    My wife and I have a question for everyone regarding our soon to be 4-year old chocolate lab Smooch.

    About a month ago, she started loosing pigmentation in her mouth, lips, gums, on her nose, muzzle, and feet pads. It has been fading from chocolate to pink color and is now rapidly changing.

    Our vet has went through a series of tests for both bacterial and fungal but so far these were all negative.

    Based on our research, the only other things we know of that it could be are:
    1) lip fold pyoderma
    2) lupus
    3) vitiligo

    They are saying we would need to do a skin biopsy to confirm.

    We thought we would reach out to you all first, to see if you might know what this is. Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

    Mitch and Liz Hessman

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  2. #2
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    One of my dogs has vitiligo although it wasn't confirmed by biopsy, just our vet who has probably been practicing for at least 40 years said he thinks that's what it is. It wasn't there when she was a puppy, her lips and gums were all black, but probably appeared when she was between 2 and 3 years old. she has a fair amount of pink on her lower gums and lips and a few pink spots on the front of her muzzle and maybe on the tip of her nose. It seems to have leveled off, hasn't gotten worse for some time now, and no other issues seem to have cropped up around that pigment loss. I couldn't find a nice, un-blurry photo but this one will give you an idea of what she looks like. She doesn't have pigment loss on her paws or anywhere else. I think it looks similar to what you have with your pup but obviously cannot be certain. Our vet just said it might get worse or it might not and we'd just keep an eye on it. Which we have.


    -img_1845-jpg
    Last edited by smartrock; 04-28-2019 at 03:07 PM.

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  4. #3
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    I think my idea is remote but anything easy is worth a try, so, - what kind of dish do you use for her food and water? Plastic can harbour bacteria. Glass or stainless steel dishes might be a good idea, whether the dish is a problem or not. Washed after every use.
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  5. #4
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snowshoe View Post
    I think my idea is remote but anything easy is worth a try, so, - what kind of dish do you use for her food and water? Plastic can harbour bacteria. Glass or stainless steel dishes might be a good idea, whether the dish is a problem or not. Washed after every use.
    I started to write something about that, too. Maybe that's what lip fold pyoderma would be from, if that's what it is.

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  7. #5
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    Our first lab had that happen. Allergic reaction to plastic. Removed all plastic water dishes and cheap plastic toys and it eventually came back. I also found that most vets had no clue.
    -hud-concentratedesktop-jpg

    You may want to consider brushing teeth too, that canine tooth could use a little scrub. Even just a wipe from a wet cloth will remove most of that build up.

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  9. #6
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    Rosie had pigment loss around her mouth as she got older probably showed up around age 7, she passed away at 9 and it hadn't spread any. Rosie was a riot when it came to brushing teeth, no tooth brush, she would only let me use one of those finger brushes, thank goodness she wasn't a biter. Jen, thank you, you always have good advise and good ideas.

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  11. #7
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    Hey all, thanks for the quick responses and great feedback! We will definitely be pursuing teeth brushing and possibly a deep clean at the vet.

    I wish the plastic was the cause because that would be a simple fix, but I don't think its that easy... here's why:
    1) She has only stainless bowls - water and food separate - but both stainless
    2) She doesn't have any plastic toys - 2 stuffed animals and rubber Kong balls and tug
    3) The color is changing on her black feet pads also - not pictured - but starting to get pink spots on them

    Based on the feedback and photo from smartrock, I'd say it's Vitiligo. Last week I started supplementing her with the following:

    Morning:
    * Folic acid (1 mg twice per day for an 80-pound dog)
    * Vitamin C (500 mg twice daily)
    * A multivitamine with B's and E primarily for the vitamin B12 (which is supposed to equate to 50 micrograms every 2 weeks
    * Fish oil on her dog food for the Omega 3's

    Night
    * Melatonin, the hormone associated with sleep, may help with seasonal changes.

    I'm also trying to get her sunlight to boost the her vitamin D levels. She has a ton of energy now and her coat is shiny and so very soft, but so far the skin pigment is not responding.

    One other curve ball for you all which I didn't mention in the earlier post... she had a tapeworm about two months ago (early March) and was treated with an antibiotic (Drontal) via the vet. That cleared up within 2 days and everything seemed fine.
    About a month later (early April) the pigment loss started. It has steadily spread throughout the month of April. Could this be an auto-immune issue in response to the tapeworm? Or a side effect of the medication?

    -feb-14-jpg -april-6-jpg-april-27-jpg
    Feb. 14 April 6 April 27

    Thoughts with that new information?

  12. #8
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    There is a deadly tapeworm spreading across ONtario. It's probably better established already where you are. Fox and coyote carry it and are immune but it can be deadly to dogs and humans. Sorry, not trying to scare the wits out of you but it might be worth looking into. I googled just now and part of the problem with it is that symptoms are hard to see. IN fact, I found only a list of symptoms in humans. Still, ask your Vet, what kind of tapeworm did she have? Pretty girl, hope you resolve this.
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  14. #9
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    Have you considered contacting your Breeder? Could it be genetic?

  15. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snowshoe View Post
    There is a deadly tapeworm spreading across ONtario. It's probably better established already where you are. Fox and coyote carry it and are immune but it can be deadly to dogs and humans. Sorry, not trying to scare the wits out of you but it might be worth looking into. I googled just now and part of the problem with it is that symptoms are hard to see. IN fact, I found only a list of symptoms in humans. Still, ask your Vet, what kind of tapeworm did she have? Pretty girl, hope you resolve this.
    Oh, man. Add that to the list of potential horrors. And here I thought raccoon roundworms were bad enough...

    Thanks for sharing, Nancy.

 



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