What is wrong with him? Skin disease.

[mylilpixie]

Dear Dr. Cheng,

I am very confused about what is wrong with my dog. He has had this problem since he was a puppy. He lives in Indiam and I am trying to bring him here. But he cannot come unless this problem is cured.

He has white crusty bumps on him at times, and then he loses his hair on patches, and sometimes, he'l have a tiny green layer over the patches of hair. It only comes during the summer/monsoon season and goes away once the humiditiy is gone.

Do you think you can figure out what is wrong with him?

Thank you

http://www.medhelp.org/photos/show/3157108?type=posts        Here is a picture of the dog.

[mylilpixie]

That's the only problem. Vets in India, that I know of, aren't that good. They don't do tests, but rather just diagnose by words. Do you think there would be a possibility to bring him here to get him fixed? Because if he stays there then there is no way for me to get him fixed due to the problem with finding a Vet who actually keeps their name well.

I don't know if there is some International Database of vets where I can find a reliable, and good Vet in India.

The vets we showed it to diagnosed it as a becterial infection and prescribed a creme sort of thing to heal it. That would only heal it for a few days and then it would go back to normal.

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Do you have access to a vet who can perform a biopsy on your dog's skin?  

I have looked at the photo, but a photo is not the same as performing diagnostics on the skin.  If I had to make a guess I would think that your dog may have diffuse Demodectic mange with a secondary bacterial pyoderma.  Another possibility is an auto-immune disease such as lupus.  Both of these diseases can be cyclical, occurring some of the time, such as during the more humid times of the year,  while at other times the pet is symptom free.  A veterinary dermatologist is your best bet.

Please let me know if I can help you further!