My dog has dark scabs, vet treatments failed. What's the cause?

Question

Hello. I have a question regarding some dark soft scabs that have appeard on my dogs skin. There is one large one and some smaller ones around her abdomen and one small one on her face near her eye. I have been to my vet and he does not know what it is..he prescribed antibiotics and the usual work and flea medicine along with a medicated shampoo but none have worked. I can't afford to have a skin scraping sent away right now so I'm trying online to find an answer. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Female | spayed

Ricardo Fernandez, DVM · Accepted Answer

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing her allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

My dog has dark scabs, vet treatments failed. What's the cause?

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