puppy's skin turning black

tulipi

Hi guys,

I have a gorgeous little 15 week old pug puppy who is just brilliant. When we first got her at 9 weeks her skin on her belly was pinkish but now it's after turning a kinda black or greyish. It happened kinda gradually and at first I just thought she was dirty but it doesn't come off if I wash her. She also scratches and bites herself quite a lot - particularly her tail and hind legs. She's done this from the start and I've been feeding her james wellbeloved in case it is an allergy of some kind. She's done better on this - no longer has diarrhea but she's still itchy.

I took her to the vet for the itching and they gave me anti allergy tablets and they helped but i can't give them to her forever. And since then the skin has turned blackish.

I'm going to take her to the vet again this week to see if they know what it is but thought I'd post here and see whether you've seen this before

EDIT
just to say as well, she's quite bald on her belly, neck and her behind.

The Sweeper

Atopic dermatitis?

http://priory.com/vet/vetatop1.htm

Clinical signs

Atopic dermatitis is often first apparent in the first two years of life. Owners may notice that the dog grooms excessively, with licking or chewing of the paws, abdomen and perineum. The ears may be reddened and hot to touch even though not scratched. The result of this itchiness (pruritis) is that the dog will often be presented a number of times in the first eighteen months of life for a variety of seemingly minor skin conditions. Between these episodes the skin and the coat can look remarkably normal. Spots, acute moist dermatitis, ear infections and scratching may all seem to occur independently and it is only in retrospect that a consistent pattern of disease emerges. As the condition becomes more severe , pruritus dominates the animals' life and specific anti-itch therapy becomes necessary. With increasing pruritus, baldness (alopecia) and redness of the skin become evident and secondary infections with yeast or bacteria become more common.

Clues to identify unseen itch

Many people scold their dogs for scratching , almost without realising. Slowly we train our pets to be quiet and all but the most itchy will choose to scratch and chew in private. Photo of dog's paw showing saliva staining Luckily there are some tell-tale signs that help us to identify the pruritic dog. Saliva staining is a commonly-seen feature in these animals. A red-brown staining of light coloured hair is often seen in allergic dogs in the groin, armpits(axillae) and between the toes(interdigital spaces)and can be seen in figure 2. In addition, with long term problems, the skin itself will also change colour. Instead of being pink, a black mottling (hyperpigmentation) will slowly develop, especially if the skin has looked red and angry at the site. This is most commonly seen on the abdomen.

mymo

If the anti allergy meds helped, it sounds like an allergy.
The problem is it could be too anything, first thing you should try is to change the food, Burns do a pork and potato food, no cereal which can cause problems in some dogs, or look online and see what else you can find.
What do you wash the dog with? The shampoo could be a problem, always rinse really well no matter what it is.
It could also be washing powder you wash the bedding in, or any one of so many things.
Just try one thing at a time to rule things out.
One of mine reacted badly to Arden grange few months back, he lost a lot of hair on his belly and was quite itchy, it cleared up after I changed food, but the hair is slow to return.
Best of luck.

Kiya

My Bichon looks like a little cow now under all her white hair.

I had a bit of a fright when I first noticed parts of her skin changing from pink to dark brown/black. Thought it was a skin cancer! :eek:

Brought her to the vet and its a good thing!
Supposedly a sign of good breeding when their pigmentation changes.
Its kindoflike having a kitten. When they're born their eyes are blue and the colour changes gradually.

Its meant to help when they're in the sun = less pink = less sunburn!

I dont know if this is typical with your dogs breed (Pug) but a quick google could help?

Is your pug white?? then thats probably all it is, but just ask your vet to confirm.

She also scratches a lot & bites her paws - vet thinks shes got OCD!
Has had a fair whack of tests & all clear - no mites, no allergies and 3 vets conclusion being OCD.
If I see her biting/licking I have to scold her & distract from doing this compulsive behaviour...
So far so good.

Best of luck with your little one, let us know how you get on

Wisco

Kiya wrote: »

Brought her to the vet and its a good thing!
Supposedly a sign of good breeding when their pigmentation changes.
Its kindoflike having a kitten. When they're born their eyes are blue and the colour changes gradually.

Surprised to hear this from a vet as it's a new one on me. Skin doesn't usually change like this except when it's been irritated for a while (ie chronic skin problems)

If skin turns black and gets sort of thickened, it's called hyperkeratosis (google it and you'll probably find pictures).

I'd be suspicious of atopic dermatitis- it can be managed although treatment can be expensive (usualy a drug called Atopica). Obviously you'd need a diagnosis from your vet first. Just be aware that you'll probably have to treat long term. Hypoallergenic diets and diets like Hill's Prescription D/D or Royal Canin Skin Support can help in some cases- again, I'd go to your vet and get a definitive diagnosis first. Unfortuately with skin conditions, it can take a while to come to a final diagnosis since there are so many things to rule out (allergies, parasites, etc etc etc)
Good luck, never nice watching your dog scratch like mad

shinikins

OP your post immediately brought this to mind, http://www.ehow.com/facts_5650450_pugs-black-skin-disease.html You should definitely go back to your vet and mention all symptoms that the dog has been showing. Its not going to harm the pup, but it is pretty uncomfortable and may become smelly and make the dog uncomfortable. Obviously only your vet can give you a definite diagnoses, so please go and see them!!

maringo

My dog got simething similar on his undercarriage a couple of years ago. Between his toes was also inflamed. First got black and then pink and inflamed as he was licking it a lot. I got a lotion from the vet and he reckoned it was an allergy to beef and advised to take him off beef - i now feed him dried chicken and vegetable mix. After washing him I also use a few drops of tea tree oil in his rinsing water - think it is good as it is anti-fungal. It took a while to improve but he's fine now.

tazwaz

i have a friend who had a westie with kinda the same skin problems. turned out she was allergic to grass...strange...the vet said the skin that was turning black was actually dead skin, steroids helped.

tulipi

Thanks for all the replies. I'll take her to the vet this week and see. I suspect it's an allergy of some sort because pugs are prone to them. We'll see what the vet says anyway

Kiya

Wisco wrote: »

Surprised to hear this from a vet as it's a new one on me. Skin doesn't usually change like this except when it's been irritated for a while (ie chronic skin problems)

If skin turns black and gets sort of thickened, it's called hyperkeratosis (google it and you'll probably find pictures).

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the concern, but its a fact that Bichons pigment changes, much the same as Dalmations.
(Dalmations are born white & develop their spots later.)

Its not an external skin condition, but simply their skin changing colour.
Same as a puppys pads change from pink to black, so does the colour of a Bichons nose, skin & eyes/(skin surrounding the eyes turns dark black).

But as I wasnt aware of this I got a right fright and the vet told me a simple google would have shown this fact (on a breeder/kennel club website).
Felt like a right twit but better safe than sorry.

Thats why I thought I should post it, as I wasnt sure if this was the case regarding the ops Pug too...

Hopefully your little Pugs ok
x