Hi, Tracie,
First I wanted to Thank You so much for taking my call about my poor Abby’s cracking nose. I was just scanning through the stations and I was so happy to see one talking about pets, I hope I can find it again. Are you always on at the same time?
You asked me to email you as a reminder for you so you could contact a vet you knew who might be able to give us some more information about what may be causing it internally. Also, would you be able to give me the website or the name of the product you mentioned, I only caught mushers secret then something about SmartPak Canine. I’m afraid I just don’t understand my own notes — Ha ha.
When I got home I noticed Abby’s nose seemed to be at one of its worst stages, so I snapped some quick pics with my phone, and I am sending them along, so you can see exactly what I mean by “cracking” it is also bleeding sometimes (as you can see in the pictures) Thank you so much for the help, I was very disappointed in my vet’s answer to my question and I could never find anything about cracking dog noses online, you were so kind and unbelievably helpful, it’s almost like I was meant to find your show yesterday
Your newest fan!
“Dawn”
I’m delighted you got in touch. My official dermatologist answered immediately — and as i suspected you need a proper vet who will do a biopsy and prescribe — poor Abby!! Here is what he said — but I do recommend you get a veterinary dermatologist after you CHANGE VETS. Frankly, I think the attitude yours had was negligent.
(I am attaching a welcome letter so you can learn all the ways to find me, live & on podcast. I do 1-1:30 EST every Wednesday on Sirius #112/XM 157 & CAT CHAT® is that night at 8 PM EST. But check out the letter.)
Dr John Gordon’s (MedVetOhio.com) is below, and you can pay to have any vet consult with him by email or phone, which I actually recommend and I’ll be blogging about this too
Now one more thing: GET PETS BEST INSURANCE immediately! The welcome letter mentions it. Although it won’t cover this existing condition right now, if it were to return you’d get 80% of every bill paid on this and anything else that happens to her. Otherwise costs are ruinous, right? Call Pets Best at the number on my website and tell them you listen to Tracie’s shows and you want discount AP5252.
Dr John Gordon: “The cutaneous changes noted in the photograph can be characterized as edema, depigmentation, tan serocelluar crusting and erosive dermatitis of the nasal planum with minimal inflammation of the adjacent haired skin. The breed may be an Akita which would support the concern for an autoimmune skin condition. If this dog does not have any other skin lesions, the primary differential diagnosis is discoid lupus erythematosus. Other differentials should include pemphigus foliaceous, pemphigus erythematosus and epitheliotropic lymphoma. A skin biopsy from the margin of the affected area should confirm the diagnosis. If the condition is as expected, there are multiple effective therapies. The treatments are lifelong and often adjusted based on response and side effects. Avoidance of sustained, direct sunlight is recommended because ultraviolet light will exacerbate inflammation of the skin. I hope this information is beneficial.”
