My mother's female mid-age shihtzu has always suffered from itchy skin and sore eyes. This is not uncommon in white dogs but over the past year or so it has become very unpleasant.
All her skin is hot pink and inflamed. Pimple-like pustules have begun to appear and come to a head, when they burst they crust over and spread wider, then crumble and flake away leaving a bald ring (not dissimilar to the effects of ringworm, though this has been eliminated as the cause). She also suffers from multiple styes in both her eyes and we have begun to find areas on her skin covered in what appear to be blackheads.
The vet has prescribed steroids to help with the itch but this is beginning to cause a weight problem. We know the irritation is caused by some kind of allergy, but whether its systemic or contact we don't know. A food elimination test would be impractical as she is a very fussy dog and only eats green beans, sweetcorn, chicken, Markies dog biscuits and a tiny amount of Bakers complete dry dog food.
Please view the photos and let me know if you have ever seen this before, know of any good treatments or have advice. The vet said a complete allergy test would be extremely difficult and very expensive but we've begun to think it's the only course of action.
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