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I have written about summer skin problems in other AKC Gazette columns over the past few years.However, there is always a new crop of people who still need help with this malady and, of course, things change over time.Briefly, let me describe the coat condition I will refer to as the "Summer skin flaking/hair loss syndrome" or the "Summer Crud."This syndrome begins in the spring with the onset of flea season.It gets worse as the season warms up and becomes full blown in the summer.It is especially severe in the humid southeast.Here are the symptoms.The coat begins to thin down the back, across the rib cage and down the back of the legs and hindquarters.The coat is dull and flaking with small lumps and spots on solid colored dogs.Often the dog scratches and bites at his hindquarters.Here is my theory.The fleas bite the dog, the dog bites at the fleas, thus, infecting his skin with his own supply of Staphylococcus intermedius or Staphylococcus aureus.The fleas carry these bacteria to other areas on the dog, and, eventually, the dog has a raging staph infection of the skin (sometimes ending up as staph folliculitis).
As a microbiologist, I have cultured literally hundreds of dogs with this affliction.The cultures are always positive for S. aureus or S. intermedius and they areinfecting the skin.Unfortunately, some veterinarianslook at this infection and call it "flea bite allergy dermatitis."They often place the dog on prednisone or other steroid to stop the itching.This only covers up the symptoms.Steroids inhibit the body's inflammatory response. I have seen steroids cause the staph skin infection to worsen.One of my Weimaraner pups with this problem who lived with his owners in Fayetteville was taken to their local vet and placed on steroids.After 3 weeks his back legs began to swell.I saw him while attending a dog show in Fayetteville and was horrified.I took him home with me and to my vet.He was diagnosed as being septic (staph in his blood) and having staph pericarditis (staph organisms in the fluid around his heart!).He was put in intensive care on intravenous oxacillin, 48 hours later he went home with me on dicloxacillin and he finished his Championship 2 months later. No doubt, this dog would be dead had I not intervened.
In my 16 years of experience with this problem, I have found that dogs can be successfully treated as follows:1) The dog must be defleaed as quickly as possible with appropriate shampoos and dips, including spraying the home, kennel and yard (place on Program or use Frontline or both). 2)The dog should be placed on a good "beta lactamase resistant" antibiotic such as Clavamox(but NOT amoxicillin alone as it is sometimes ineffective against staph), trimethoprim/ sulfamathoxazine (Septra), Kelfex, one of the newer cephalosporins or potentiated sulfa drugs or in severe cases a fluorinated quinolone (Baytril).The usual veterinary regime of "Lincocin, penicillin, tetracycline, erthromyin, or chloramphenicol" will usually fail because staphylococci are generally resistant to these antibiotics. Most often they break down the chemical structure of the antibiotic by the enzyme beta-lactamase.3) The dog should be bathed in deflaking shampoos such as benzoyl peroxide shampoos (Oxy-Dex shampoo or equivalent, etc) - tar and sulphur shampoos are generally worthless.The shampoo is necessary because staph can live in dead skin scales.Antibiotics cannot penetrate dead skin scales (there is no blood flow to dead skin).Thus, when the systemic antibiotic regimen is finished, the staph hop out of the dead skin where they have been hiding and start a fresh round of infection.The selenium shampoos ( such as Seleen or Selsun Blue Shampoo)deflake the scales and inhibit staph, while the benzoyl shampoos (such as Oxi-Dex or Pyoben) both deflake the skin and kill staph on contact. It is also a good idea to use some sort of moisturizing agent or humectant (Humilac, Alpha Keri) after using such drying agents to rehydrate the skin and coat.
With the combination of the appropriate systemic antibioticworking from the inside and the staph-killing-deflaking shampoo working on the outside, the organisms cannot escape and you will achieve far better results than with either alone.The hair and skin take about 3 weeks to recover and appear as a shiny new coat!In the future, begin the medicated shampoo EARLY in the spring so that the infection does not get well established.I bathe my susceptible dogs every other week in Oxi Dex in the summer.Some of my dogs never get it and others may get it once every few years.My old field champion used to get it every year and it was a battle all summer long.However, not a single pup of his ever had it.
As a post script, I might add that I have received over 100 letters about this syndrome.. These were stories from frustrated owners working with less than knowledgeable veterinarians.All of them were astounded to find that the above method worked and were writing to thank me for publishing it in the Gazette.My suggestion is this:If your dog has this syndrome and your vet prescribes steroids (prednisone, etc) - RUN, don't walk to the door and go find yourself a better educated veterinarian.Or, find a veterinarian who will work with you using the above treatment.Of course, there are other syndromes which cause skin problems which have nothing to do with staph skin infections.Thyroid deficiency is one of the most common and the skin problem generally clears up after the dog is placed on synthetic thyroid hormone.
Addendum 2006: Even with most dogs being on anti flea medication, and having NO fleas, this condition still occurs mostly in the summer months.In any case, the combination of the antibiotics and benzoyl peroxide shampoos work nicely.I have also found that the “bumps”(skin reaction to the staph organism) are helped with benedryl.
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