I need some help :(

Hello everyone, It's been several years since the last time i posted here, I am so glad to see this forum is still active!

I will get right to the point..
About a year ago, we had 3 cats. They were outdoor kitties but came in to the house for shelter via kitty door that we had installed. Sometimes, upon returning, they would bring with them.. um.. gifts, ie; Field mice, Birds, Chipmunks. Some were dead, some were rescued. Shortly after the arrival of these 'gifts' our Yorkshire Terrier began scratching at herself, biting, chewing, to the point where she would eat her hair off and cause herself to bleed. We've done everything we could and eventually managed to stop the issue. Her hair grew back, and all was well.

After this, we moved into the city and unfortunately had to give up our cats to the farm beside where we were living (since that's where they spent most of their time mousing and such, the farmer agreed to take care of the cats since they were helping him out greatly.) Athena began scratching again shortly after moving to the city, but was not as vigorous as before. I recently brought a new member of the family in, "Charlie", as my own personal companion (Athena belongs to my mother and her boyfriend). Charlie was fine for the first week, then shortly after that he began to scratch as well in the same area's as Athena....

Both dogs are routinely treated for fleas, we figured topical treatments weren't working so we took them to the vet for an injection. The scratching continued and continued.

I check both dogs consistently for fleas, to make sure that they are nowhere to be seen. There are no bites, there is no flea poop. Earlier this month, the skin on Charlie's stomach (near his hind legs) was slightly red and bumpy looking like tiny pimples. I have a friend who is in school to become a vet. She saw this problem and instantly assumed since there were no fleas, that it was a food allergy. We were told to change the food to Nature's Choice; Rice & Lamb. The itching has continued. I continuously check the areas where he focuses his biting and scratching ad find nothing there, the red pimples that were there before are no longer there. He's perfectly clean, i've narrowed it down to skin mites.

Athena has stopped itching completely, but Charlie has not. The smell that comes from him scratching is poisoning the house. I'm planning to see the vet this upcoming week, despite the fear of them giving me the run around with what is actually wrong.. i hate seeing my boy suffer like this.

I however, would appreciate any input from one of Chazhound's members since you guys are extremely helpful, I would truly appreciate any [re-vet advice.. especially if any of you have had a similar situation before

Please note: it has seemed to spread from Athena to Charlie. He was fine until after a week of being here.

I apologize for this being so horribly long. I just wanted to make sure i was as informative and descriptive as possible. Thank you all so much

The obvious answer is to take them to a vet. Have you done so? If not.. do it.

They said they are taking them later this week.

I'm afraid I don't have any insights, other than maybe it was some sort of parasite besides fleas that spread from the dead animals? I hope the vet can help, or maybe you might also think about seeing a dermatologist?

You've absolutely got to get him to the vet, no questions asked.

In the meantime, you could try an oatmeal soak.

I wish I knew what to offer in the way of help. It sounds like you will have to go with the skin scrape and get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.

Good luck, and please keep us posted......

Is it possibly ringworm? That could go from animal to animal.....and to humans, too. We had a dog who got ringworm. It was treatable, but it was a slow process.

Sometimes skin problems can be very difficult to diagnose. Spanky recently had a skin irritation that smelled when he scratched, had red pimples, and white flakiness. The vet said it could be several things but most likely a bacterial infection. He treated it with an antibiotic and a prescription shampoo, and, fortunately that took care of it. I was prepared for it to be a long process of figuring it out by trial and error. We were lucky that the vet's first guess was correct.

So, the vet will be the one to help you, but, in my limited experience my dogs have had bouts with ringworm and a bacterial infection that would fit your description.

Thanks for the quick responses, and yes - he's going to the vet next week. I'm sure that i'll end up having to see a dermatologist but whatever it takes im willing to do it. In the meantime while i wait for next week i am going to try the oatmeal soak as suggested and see what happens, he likes baths which makes my life easier.

Someone i had talked to told me to inquire about Prednisone. I'll probably drive the poor vet crazy with a billion and one questions lol but i do appreciate all of your help and your suggestions. It always makes any type of situation better if you get the input of people who have seen and or dealt with the same thing before.

Prednisone is a steriod and a tricky tricky thing. Not really something you want to have to start giving your dogs unless absolutely necessary. Yes, it can reduce itching and swelling, but there are long term effects as well as the short term of voracious appetites and an almost insatiable thirst.

You should drive your vet crazy with questions! You're paying them to treat your dog and you should know why they are prescribing which treatment.

Good point Zoom.

after reading some more replies here i went back onto my search engines to see if i could try and find anything there to take with me as possible solutions to the issue. I came acrossed Malassizea Infection. It's an relatively close description of what he seems to have other than the skin discoloration. I'll definately be bringing this up next wednesday

Do let the doctor look at him, though, and formulate an opinion before you self-diagnose him from the internet. You may well be right, but let the vet have a look.

Of course I don't have the know-how to self diagnose him. Basically just seeking little tidbits of information of things that it could possibly be. Only the vet will know for certain. I'm just trying to explore possibilities, gain some insight, learn from people who may have dealt with it before and do research and see what comes up for me.

That's an awful long time for a dog that might be in some real discomfort... I suggest an aloe/oatmeal bath regularly to help soothe the skin.

It could very well be a yeast infection, since you mentioned smell. Hope it gets taken care of quickly.

Sounds like seborrhea or possibly a thyroid condition. Definitely a vet trip. Medicated shampoo, possibly some meds for bacterial infection and if suspected, a blood test for thyroid function.

I'd call your vet asap.

I know that smell you speak of. Please get your pup to the vet.

are Thyroid conditions or Seborrhea contageous?
Athena was origionally the itchy one, and we manage to cure it but it always comes back. She's stopped fully scratching now (we haven't seen her scratch in over 2 months! yay!) But Charlie is the one that has it now.. same places that she was itchy,

Editted for past tense on athena's itchyness

Apollo, I have no advice for you on this topic, but I just wanted to say hi to one of my favorite "old" members. It's really good to see you again.

Thank you RD
Feels good that you remembered me from so long ago!!!
It is good to be back (i lost the website after a reformat and couldn't find it again until recently.. i'm shocked i remembered my user name and password)

On the topic however i've been spending the past few days researching all the options you guys have given to me as to what it may possibly be. I'm definately looking forward to the vet trip, that's for sure. However, it seems to almost directly resemble in appearance and symptoms of Malassezia Dermatitis as i had thought earlier after reading a little bit about it but after seeing pictures, and reading more about the issue.. it sounds pretty much bang on to what he's got. I'm going to ask the vet though and get a more solid diagnosis.