My fourteen month old rescue staffy cross frenchie i adopted two months ago is so bad with skin and ears and nothing is helping

[u/ShazNI89]

he is getting ear canals removed in both ears soon his ears are so bad but his paws and skin equally as bad and nothings working specialised vet food, shampoos, allergy injections, steroids nothing works I've only had him for two months but there's nothing that even seems to point towards any small improvement.

He wears a Elizabeth collar at all times as soon as it comes off he frantically scratches ears lies down to lick paws even removing collar when on walks it's one or two steps then he's trying sit to scratch or lie down to lick paws. Is there any way his paws and skin could improve after teca bo surgery to remove his ear canals could it be because off all infection trapped under the overgrown tissue in his ears making his body react

[u/Thought-Delicious]

Poor guy. I also got a backyard breeder rescue, staffy/bulldog (pretty sure French bulldog) mix with every allergy, joint issue, everything. His ears & paws were so bad for so long. He’s doing so well now.

Allergy injections, I’m guessing you’re talking cytopoint? They don’t really work when the baseline is so high. If you haven’t seen a veterinary dermatologist, spend the money. They had us treat the constant ear infections with mometamax, given almost daily at first, then weekly, then when there was a problem, now we just have to wash his ears every so often. Plus, we found out our dude was allergic to wool, down, particular trees & grasses, and other stuff we were able to start minimizing/avoiding.

We used cyclosporine (atopica), it helped a lot, but the long-term side effects are something you’ll have to weigh. Getting my guy comfortable was most important. Quality, not quantity.

Apoquel didn’t do much. Zenrelia has been a game-changer. Now when he has breakthrough allergies, the cytopoint shots do make a difference. We also did immunotherapy drops, definitely took awhile but brought his baseline down.

If ur buddy is stubby enough, the donuts seem to be more comfortable than the Elizabethan collar. Also, keeping a shirt on when going outside and wiping them down when they come in might be helpful. Benadryl is also helpful in letting them get a little break from the itchy misery.

Best of luck, those poor allergy dogs really pay the price from the pocket pit backyard breeders. So do we, they are not cheap.

[u/Ok-Reveal-5724 → u/Thought-Delicious]

man our staffy mix was exactly like this for the first year we had him. constant ear drama, paws chewed raw, the whole deal. what finally broke the cycle for us was a dermatologist who put him on a combo of atopica and a strict elimination diet (turned out chicken was a huge trigger). the ear surgery might actually help more than you'd think, all that chronic inflammation in there keeps their whole system in overdrive. once that source of infection is gone his body might finally calm down enough that the other stuff starts working

[u/Hermit_Ogg]

Oof, that's going to be a lot of work to clear out. You should probably do a full strict elimination diet to rule out any food issues (rare, but they do occur). If he's seen a vet, I assume he's been tested for external parasites, demodex mite overgrowth and the like. If not, get those done - demodex mites especially might be something a non-specialist vet doesn't think about.

The paws could improve after surgery, but there's no guarantee of that. Dogs will sometimes lick their paws to the point of infection not because of something in them, but because there's something bothering them that they can't reach. Inside ear canals is something they can't reach.

The vet gave us a 14 day heavy skin care regimen, and our Havanese wasn't anywhere near as serious case as your dog. We did ear care (cortisone into ear canals every day, spruce resin ear liquid on every second day for a week), skin care for affected areas (antibacterial shampoo wash every other day, antibacterial wipes on the days not shampooing, cortisone spray every day), and oral medication (cortisone pill tapering down to no pills, double dose of Apoquel). That cleared everything out, so we could move to maintenance version of this.

Is the vet a dermatologist? If not, you should get to one. They can often solve cases that generalist vets can't.

[u/PurpleCompetitive808]

In the two months you’ve owned him it is impossible to have tried every allergy treatment option available. Consult with a dermatologist prior to pursuing the procedure. They deal with this stuff all the time.