From The Expert: Mysterious Skin Lesions
Did you know that K9 Cuisine has two experts always ready for your dog care questions? Dr Sandra Miller and Ami Moore are prepared to answer questions ranging from dog psychology to veterinary care.
Our latest question:
We are adopting a dog with unknown background. She is a sweet yellow lab with odd dark colored spots of varying size all over her skin. The shelter vet says for almost a month now nothing has changed with these spots and she doesn’t know what they could be. They appear to be scab like but she doesn”t itch at all. I don”t know if they might be a fungus, parasite, or allergy. In any case, I want her to have the best health. What do you recommend? What questions for a vet, what type of ingredients in food and what specific food? Thanks very much!
And our latest answer:
This question is quite vague. It actually results in more questions, rather than an answer. Has the shelter veterinarian ran any tests? Has the dog been tested for ringworm? Mange? Fleas? Is she an older dog? If so, I’d also recommend thyroid testing. Is this animal from an area where Blastomycosis is prevalent? Some of these things are contagious to humans, and some are contagious to other pets. So, I would suggest running tests until we determine the cause of these lesions prior to adoption.
As for the food question, I always recommend a high quality diet and treats (which can be hard to find in some areas). Nature’s Variety, Timberwolf Organics, Merricks Quality line, Wysong and Canine Caviar are a few suggestions.
Good luck on finding the cause soon, and being able to adopt her and bring her home! 
Thank you Dr. Miller.
May 17th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Interesting question. It upsets me so much when people dump their animals at the shelter because of health problems. I know shelters are very strapped for funds, but you would think they would do some sort of medical evaluation/testing/treatment to give the dog the best chance at a fresh start.