My American Eskimo has developed Red Round Bumps with Scabs over Bumps

by Debby
(Hartford, Connecticut)

Reader Question: What has caused my American Eskimo to have developed red round bumps with scabs?

My 10 year old American Eskimo just developed red bumps on top of his head and neck area. They are spreading down his back. We took him right to the vets. The vet determined through shaving and cleaning the infected area on his head, and taking some cells from the bumps, that he has an allergic reaction to something. His temp was a little high. They have never seen this type of allergic reaction before. This reaction is NOT itchy.

He has inflamed lymph nodes in his neck but nowhere else. The vet told me that this is normal when an infection is present. It is like our swollen glands. He had blood shot eyes and they have since cleared up with the steroid eye drops I was given by the vet. I also have him on Benadryl and Clavomax per the vet. The vet checked his lungs and heart and determined them to be fine.

We are looking into taking him to Tufts University to the Dermatologist. I removed a wool rug we had recently purchased. I changed his canned food to match one of the top natural product dry foods. I had purchased a new collar for him and removed it. I had bought a fragrance for our home and removed them as well.

We racked our brains over what we had changed over the past 30 days. I feel so sorry for my dog. He has a loud snort or snore when he sleeps sound, and he pants quite a lot. He always snored but not like this. He breathes fast and snorts loud.

He eats fine and acts fine other than his physical bumps and snorting/snoring and fast panting. The bumps are starting to dissipate with the Clavomax and Benadryl.

Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I would wish this on myself rather than my dog.

Vet’s suggestion for the cause of red round bumps with scabs on the skin of an American Eskimo

Hello,

The lesions and other symptoms that you describe are not what we typically see with dog allergies, but they certainly can’t be ruled out entirely. Could he have been bitten or stung by something?


I like your current veterinarian’s approach. He is treating your dog symptomatically with medications that have the potential to do a lot of good with little risk of harm. As long as the lesions clear up and there isn’t a future reoccurrence, you don’t really need to figure out what the underlying issue was. But, if he fails to get better, certainly make that appointment with the veterinary dermatologist.

Regards,

Jennifer Coates, DVM