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Please HELP We are DESPERATE, Wound will NOT Heal on Puppy *PICTURES*

153K views 1.1K replies 93 participants last post by  woogyboogy  
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi everyone, thank you for taking time to read this.

We have a 5 1/2 month old GSD named Loki, and about 3-4 weeks ago he came up with a small bump on his back, almost like a pimple, about the size of a pea that was slightly raised. We assumed it was an ant bite or something minor. About 2-3 days later we brought him into the vet to get some of his immunizations and we showed the vet this bump. He told us to use Virbac Pyoben Shampoo when we bath him and just keep a close eye on it.

We did and after 5-6 days, it got progressively worse. So we took him in the next week and he put Loki on an oral antibiotic (Ciprofloxacin) for 2 weeks. He was and still is on it for about 6 days and it still had gotten progressively worse, so we took him back the following week, where the vet seemed alot more concerned. He gave Loki an antibiotic shot, and reassured us that this SHOULD fix it.

Well, its been about 4 days since that antibiotic shot, and its STILL getting worse. The entire wound itself is about as round as a baseball, and within that circle there are several sores that are just open and about 1/16th-1/8th deep. One of the small sores will close up and another will open. If you feel the wound, you can actually grab it, the bottom of the wound is hard, it's hard to describe :confused: .

I have been doing a lot of research and I just discovered "Manuka Honey" yesterday, people say it works miracles for wounds, and we started applying that last night and this morning, it is basically our final hope. We haven't told the vet about the Manuka Honey yet, and the last time we were in there was 4 days ago for the antibiotic shot. I've applied the Manuka Honey to the wound, then put a non adhesive dressing over it and then wrap it with an ace bandage.

The vet said if this antibiotic shot doesn't fix it, he will have to put him under and surgically remove the wound. :confused::mad::(

He is eating, and drinking fine. We feed him Blue Large Breed Puppy food, and he eats 3 cups per day, morning, afternoon, and night. He sleeps from roughly 10pm-6:30am. But he definitely has seemed more "down" with all of this going on, and not as energetic.

Also, once the wound went from a small bump, to an actual open sore, we started applying Iodine swabs, and then Bactroban (Mupirocin) to it (about 2 weeks ago), but that hasn't helped with anything.

Loki will try to lick it, but we pretty much watch him constantly and tell him to "leave it" as soon as we see him try to go for it. Also, we haven't used a cone to prevent him from licking it, the Vet never recommenced it to us.

This is our first dog and my girlfriend and I are extremely stressed, worried, and upset with what he has been going through. If ANYONE can give us some type of input we would greatly appreciate it!

Also, The pictures of his wound are with the Manuka Honey applied to it so that's why it may seem to look wet.

Thanks you all so much!
 

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#834 ·
Bone cancer spreads quickly and totally sucks. Usually by the time you find it, it is way too late. Our previous dog died of bone cancer, we lost him 3 weeks after diagnosis. The pain of the bone cancer is incredible. Not that any doggie disease is fun, but things are particularly difficult when you can't do anything to help with the pain, but say goodbye.
 
#836 ·
Hey everyone, sorry I haven't been posting on here as much, now that we feel a little more comfortable with Loki's health, we are spending a lot more time with Loki, and doing things with him that everyone normal puppy should experience.

He is doing really good, his incision looks great, and there are no signs of any returning wound. He is starting to get really feisty, and suddenly has more energy than ever before:p, but I'm not complaining.

We started his 2nd round of immunotherapy injections yesterday, which will be another 3 shots, so 6 shots total, and he received his 4th shot yesterday.

He also swam in the pool yesterday, it has been over 3 months since he has been in any type of water, other than a bath haha, and trust me when I say this, he will NEVER be going into any pond every again!;)

Thank you everyone so much for all of the support and advice, I promise you that when I say we wouldn't be where we are today without you, I mean it!:)
 
#840 ·
When I said the wound, I actually meant to say incision, sorry for the confusion haha. The incision is fully healed, and closed. The hair has grown back way faster than we ever expected, however we have had to shave around the incision twice since the surgery, just so we can keep a closer eye on the site.

According to Bob Glass, who has been studying Pythiosis for over 20+ years, he said that if the original wound, (meaning Pythiosis), does not "resurface" at the site of the incision within 30 days of the first immunotherapy shot, which was 7/25, then Loki's chances of survival have almost doubled.

It has been 36 days today from his first immunotherapy injection, and there are no signs of any returning Pythium.:fingerscrossed: So this is great news.
 
#838 ·
great to hear, thanks for the update, think of you often! take care!
 
#847 ·
Hi everyone, Sorry I'm not on here constantly updating, but fortunately we haven't been having anything to update on, other than GOOD news.:)

We are going tomorrow for Loki's 5th immunotherapy injection, and he is doing great. No signs of any returning Pythium at the original incision site. His demeanor is great, and we are starting to see a lot more energy from him in these past 4-6 weeks.

He has been scratching alot recently, but I think it may be from going in the pool several times last week, not sure, But I will definitely bring it to our Vets attention.

Thank you everyone for all of the support!!!:)
 
#851 ·
Hey everyone, another update, good, and bad news.

So the good news, Loki received his 5th immunotherapy injection today and only has 1 more left!

The bad news is that he has been scratching a lot the past couple days, and we started noticing some very small bumps here and there on his body all throughout about 2 days ago. Probably at least 10 bumps that we've been able to find. I brought it to our Vets attention today, and she looked at them, (they are very, VERY TINY) and she said they could possibly be allergies. She told us to give him some Benadryl, and if it doesn't get any better within a week, she will put him on an antibiotic, or steroid.

We haven't switched his food at all, he eats Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy food, and has for the past 4 months.

ALSO, more bad news. Since he's been swimming in the pool, (probably about 6 times in the past 4 weeks) he has developed an ear infection. We already have Zymox at home, so she told us to flush his ears daily for a week, and she gave us this Antibiotic called EnteDerm, it consists of, Nystatin, Neomycin Sulfate, Thiostrepton, Triamcinolone Acetonide.

Can anyone give me any positive info, we just CANNOT seem to catch a break with Loki, it's just one thing after another.:(
 
#860 ·
.....

So the good news, Loki received his 5th immunotherapy injection today and only has 1 more left!

The bad news is that he has been scratching a lot the past couple days, and we started noticing some very small bumps here and there on his body all throughout about 2 days ago. Probably at least 10 bumps that we've been able to find. I brought it to our Vets attention today, and she looked at them, (they are very, VERY TINY) and she said they could possibly be allergies. ....
Any update on this? How are things going?
 
#855 ·
I don't have any input but im happy to hear about his recovery. Sorry about the lumps and ear infections. I clean out my dogs ears with coconut oil. Also any time he gets water in his ears I make sure to wipe them out and keep an eye on him for a few days to watch for any discomfort.
Thank you for all of the support!
Poor Loki! I'm sorry you've got a few more bumps in the road.

It could be enviro allergies, or maybe something from the pool, like bacteria.
Thanks, we are considering the allergies a possibility, as well as bacteria. There's always something that could go wrong.:crazy:
personally I would keep him out of chlorinated water -- if the dog loves water that much get him his own kiddie pool to puddle around in and fill it with plain garden hose water.

the reasoning behind this is that possibly the dog's immune system was at a weakened vulnerable state which allowed this entire episode to initiate .

he is still in recovery , all out of kilter , still needs to re establish a point where he can be in stasis , stable .
His skin is still sensitive .

The chlorine is drying and can cause rashes .
Chlorine will affect the bacterial level of his skin , both good and necessary and pathogens .
The ear , I would put in some good coconut oil in to restore the natural oily barrier .

chlorine irritation --

pm sent
Thank you for the PM carmspack, you are such a wealth of knowledge its incredible. I will message you at some point today hopefully.
 
#854 ·
personally I would keep him out of chlorinated water -- if the dog loves water that much get him his own kiddie pool to puddle around in and fill it with plain garden hose water.

the reasoning behind this is that possibly the dog's immune system was at a weakened vulnerable state which allowed this entire episode to initiate .

he is still in recovery , all out of kilter , still needs to re establish a point where he can be in stasis , stable .
His skin is still sensitive .

The chlorine is drying and can cause rashes .
Chlorine will affect the bacterial level of his skin , both good and necessary and pathogens .
The ear , I would put in some good coconut oil in to restore the natural oily barrier .

chlorine irritation --

pm sent
 
#926 ·
personally I would keep him out of chlorinated water -- if the dog loves water that much get him his own kiddie pool to puddle around in and fill it with plain garden hose water.

the reasoning behind this is that possibly the dog's immune system was at a weakened vulnerable state which allowed this entire episode to initiate .

he is still in recovery , all out of kilter , still needs to re establish a point where he can be in stasis , stable .
His skin is still sensitive .

The chlorine is drying and can cause rashes .
Chlorine will affect the bacterial level of his skin , both good and necessary and pathogens .
The ear , I would put in some good coconut oil in to restore the natural oily barrier .

chlorine irritation --

pm sent
The skin has a natural mantle which acts as a protective barrier . I thought that a general piece of advise would have been to have kept the stitches dry ?
Possibly what you are seeing is an irritation .
 
#857 ·
I agree with Carmspack about Loki's general health and not having normal defenses, particularly at this point. I would be working on that too.

I sure hope that the itchies aren't an ominous sign - things have been going so well up to now, in the grand scheme of things. I'm glad I checked over here today, I'm not on this forum much.

IIRC, pythiosis tends to shift the body to an allergic state, so the anti-histamines are good in general. The dermatologist that I use prefers benadryl or allegra, though I'm sure dogs will vary in which they respond to the best. I would be very concerned about using a steroid - in terms of pythiosis, to me, that would be used when trying to maintain, not to cure.
 
#859 · (Edited)
My GSD loves to swim to. He got a really bad yeast infection in both ears. Ketoseb+PS flush, use gauze to clean the ears out and then apply drops of Mometamax. We also have to keep him out of the pool.

We treated for two weeks, brought him back for a check up and the gram stain still showed some yeast in his ears. We no have to treat for two more weeks.

The vet said it's fine for him to swim once the ear infection clears up, but we need to rinse him off with a hose after he swims. We also need to rinse his ears with the Ketoseb+PS once a week once he starts swimming again.
 
#862 ·
Hey everyone, another update...

Loki has been having diarrhea for the past 5 days or so, we thought it was just a random act, but he has had it consistently for the past week.

I took him into the Vet today for his 6th immunotherapy shot and also informed our Vet about the diarrhea issues. She said it could be numerous things that is causing it. But I also talked to Bob Glass earlier today prior to the Vet, and he said that he is nervous that it could be internal Pythium.:headbang:

So I got a sample of his feces, and they will have the results back tomorrow for any parasite, or intestinal infection that would be causing the diarrhea. Bob Glass said that if it comes back negative for anything, than it would be wise to get another Ultrasound done to make sure there is no internal Pythium...:cry:

Anyways, our Vet, and I talked about the possibility of his diarrhea being caused by the yogurt we give him with his Probiotics, and also the cheese slices that we've been giving him for the past 2 months with his pills rolled up inside. Not sure if this is a contributing factor, but it could be a possibility.

Also, he has remained on the same food, never switched. He has started to slow down on his eating, but our Vet and we both agree that it's probably because he is almost reaching his maxed out size, so he is slowing down with his eating habits?


I'm sure I'm leaving some stuff out, but if anyone has any input, I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you all so much!
 
#864 ·
Hey everyone, I wish I was here with better news, but after yesterdays Vet visit I really became skeptical that it could be in fact Pythium returning.

So last night my girlfriend, and I checked Loki's incision and 2 inches at the top are completely covered with hair, making it almost impossible to see the skin. So we shaved the hair off the incision, and low and behold... found a small wound...:cry:

I'm not trying to jump to conclusions here, but there is a great possibility it could be Pythium returning on the skin. It is about the size of a pinky finger nail, or pea? It is right on the incision, which is the main sign of it coming back. BUT, exactly where the small wound is there is a stitch still in his skin. So it could possibly be an infected stitch, and he has been trying to get at it when we aren't looking, and now has made it into a small wound?:confused:

This along with his diarrhea has us extremely concerned. Our Vet is on vacation until Monday, and I made an appointment at 2:20pm on Tuesday to see our Vet, but I'm bringing him in to the office tomorrow to have a different Vet look at it and get her opinion.

The area where the wound is, is free of hair, and I've been spraying it religiously with Vetericyn. Also, we've put the cone back on him so he can't lick it.

Bob Glass said that we should measure the wound, take pictures, continue to spray it with Vetericyn and keep the cone on him until Tuesday, and then we can go from there depending on whether its gotten bigger, smaller, or stayed the same. He said that if it doesn't start to heal, the best options would be to have another surgery to remove it...:headbang:, and then start on another round of immunotherapy...

We are still trying to process everything, but we're feeling very defeated, and just complete confusion, we thought we were on the road to recovery.

If anyone can give me some input, that would be great.
 

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