Black Skin disease (Alopecia X)

[Pogi Cintron]

My wife and I have a 7 month old pug, and it seems as if ever sense we got him he has had some kind of health problem. When we first picked him up he was just about 5 months old and a week later he seemed like he was having trouble breathing.. He was panting allot and it kind of freaked us out. So we found the nearest vet and he told us that he was just stressed, maybe from a new environment and getting adjusted to the change.. So he gave us a medicine to calm him down and it seemed to work.. But now he just Pants all the time, and it just seems normal for him.. But then after that he started developing Mange. This was just horrible.. He wouldnt stop scraching, biting his legs, ect. We got most of it to go away using medication from the vet and boiling guava leaves in water and using it with his baths.. Even that didnt completely get rid of it though.. It moved to the top of his head where he seemed to scratch at it constantly and he lost most of the fur on his head and face.. Well, the mange went away and now his skin is just black, and from what ive read online its called "Black Skin Disease" or "Alopecia X".. There doesnt seem to be anything to do about it though given vets/scientist dont know what causes it.. It just seems a little odd it showed up after his mange started to go away.. Has anyone else had to deal with these issues.. Even until this day my wife tells me (Because im in afghanistan right now) he has allergies on his front legs still, and when he licks his front toes, they seem to swell up and turn red.. We just dont know what to do to get this dog healthy, and the vet isnt being a big help eaither.. Our vet just keeps giving us medications to give him and cream to rub on the infected areas.. Any help or advice would really be appreciated.. We just feel so bad for Pogi, hes only 7 months old but looks like a 50 year old dog because of thie black skin thing he has going on.... i will post pics on my profile soon so anyone interested can see.. Thanks

[Tinker's mom]

There are alot of really smart experienced people on here and I'm sure someone will chime in. It sounds like food allergies or allergy to some environmental thing he's coming in contact with. Lots of folks here use NZymes. You can google them and they have alot of success stories related to lots of health issues.Welcome to the village and prayers you find an answer and treatment.

[Wally 'n' Leto]

two questions that might help sort this out.... What kind of food is he eating? Does he smell funny at all?

[Pogi Cintron]

Well, when i talked to my wife, she never mentioned him having any specific kind of smell.. She tries to give him a bath at least every other day to help with his allergies.. He was eating hard food, but we would soak it in water or milk to make it a bit soft for him, but we figured that might have been one of the reasons he was having allergies, so we switched to a soft food she gets at the local store. After we switched, thats when his allergies cleared up mostly and he stopped scratching.. But when his allergies cleared up, thats when his skin becam a darker color.. i thought maybe it was just a kind of scar from him having his allergies so badly.. So no he eats soft food, she mixes it with rice to kind of make it last though cause its kind of expensive, and we read online that rice was ok to feed him.. and then we buy him soft dog treats to give him every now and then. Hes still verry energetic, verry playful.. His overall health (besides the scratching and the issue with his foot swelling) seems to be fine..

[Wally 'n' Leto]

I asked about the smell because if he had really bad yeast infection, he might smell 'yeasty'. A bath every other day may actually be making things worse unless there is something specific in the environment that he's allergic to, like grasses or something. Bathing strips the natural oils from the skin and dries it out. I wash my boys about every 3 or 4 weeks unless they roll in something disgusting, and some would argue that even that is too often.

Take a look at the ingredients of the soft food he's on. if there's any grain -- corn, wheat etc, try to get him a food that doesn't have any. Many of us feed grain free because of the allergy issues with grains. SOme dogs are also allergic to chicken and beef, so we feed foods with different protein sources: bison, fish, venison, lamb, etc.

Two good websites that rate dog foods are:

Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble
Dog Food Reviews | Dog Food Ratings

But I don't know if they rate the foods you would find there. You want to feed the best food you can afford; ideally a 4 or 5 star food. There sometimes aren't any more expensive than less good foods.

Have you considered making your own food? Then you'd know what was in it, and it may be cheaper in the long run. There are threads on that....

As for adding rice to your dog's food... I think that they don't get a lot of nutrition from rice. A bit is OK, a lot is not so good. It's in commercial dog foods because it's a cheap filler. Can you add sweet potato instead? That's more nutritious.

Flooding kibble with water is good, but dog's don't have the enzyme to digest milk. I'd just add water to food, not milk.

Many treats have the same kinds of allergens as food. I give pretty much only freeze-dried liver and freeze-dried chicken as training treats (although I'm trying a new one that's chicken, banana and yogurt). plain yogurt, baby carrots, bananas and home made treats are economical and healthier for the dog. There are threads under the food forum dedicated to treats.

The dark skin can be due to a metabolic thing, or as you say, damage from the allergy. It takes time for skin to go back to pink. Many here use NZymes with good results. Also, if the problem is a food allergy, the skin will stay black no matter what you feed. If I were you I'd be worried about the itch and worry about getting the skin looking good later.

Well, that's my 2 cents worth.... If I'm mistaken on this someone will be along to correct, but this will likely give you a place to start!!

Good luck!

[Pogi Cintron]

Wow! Thanks allot, that is a really big help.. i will be sure to inform my wife of all this and see what she can do for him.. But thank you so much thats all good advice.. I tried to tell her giving him a bath so often probally isnt that great for him, but she says the smell bothers her too much (idk if its from the infection, or if shes just picky about smells, which she can be at times).. Ive posted pictures of him with the skin problem on my profile to kind of give you a better look at what hes going though.. Thank you so much again though!!

[GotPugs]

What brand of soft food is he eating? This could be the issue still even though he's on a soft food.(the key are the ingredients in the food). But he could have a food allergy issue along with a yeast issue. Go to a human health food store and get a childrens pro-biotic. This might help clear up the yeast/stink issue as long as your feeding him a high quality soft food that has no wheat, corn, soy or by products of any kind.

[Wally 'n' Leto]

Wow! Thanks allot, that is a really big help.. i will be sure to inform my wife of all this and see what she can do for him.. But thank you so much thats all good advice.. I tried to tell her giving him a bath so often probally isnt that great for him, but she says the smell bothers her too much (idk if its from the infection, or if shes just picky about smells, which she can be at times).. Ive posted pictures of him with the skin problem on my profile to kind of give you a better look at what hes going though.. Thank you so much again though!!

Yeah... if he smells could definitely be yeast on top of the allergies! Allergies don't smell.

Has he had skin scrapings done to be absolutely sure that he doesn't have the mange mites anymore??

Half naked or no, he sure is a cute little puglet! :)

[Pogi Cintron]

No he hasnt had any skin scrapings or anything done.. the vets there in the philippines are..how would you say??? Garbage??? i mean most of the stuff we know we had to find out online ourselfs... it kinda sucks because if something were to ever really happen to him and we needed to take him to an E.R. we wouldnt know where to go.. When we took him to the vet the first time, and talked to the vet, and he gave pogi a shot in the back that made pogi run around and scream so bad, i had to step out the room.. So then we found a new vet that seemed to be better and a bit more knowledgeable, and she said the first person we went to was a quack vet.. so who knows what kind of shot he gave our dog!? So the 2nd vet gave us some medication to feed him and a cream to rub on the allergie, as well as some medicated wash soap to use when he bathes.. and that for the most part cleared the allergy up, thats when the black tone set in his skin..

[6 Beautiful Pugs]

Order your food and supplements in online.

Get a food like Ziwipeak. It is a dehydrated raw. It is expensive, but it will really help with the black skin. Also order the Healthy Skin kit from NZYMES.COM: Official Site! Natural Supplements for Pets and People and follow the directions closely.

A small dose of prednisone may help cut down on the itching for now until the new food and Nzymes kick in. You can also try giving a dose of Benadryl (25 mg.) twice a day. Or another dog-safe antihistamine.

I would eliminate as many carbs as possible. Dogs don't need them. They burn fat for energy, not carbs...and being carnivores, meat should be the huge majority of their food, preferably raw.

Take care,
Lisa