Stomach rash

[Holly&Dex]

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help with mine and Dexter's problem.
Dex is a 6 month old Cocker Spaniel. He seems to keep getting a rash on his stomach. Individual little spots that look small piles of sand that seem to irritate him more than cause him pain. I took him to the vet who said it could be an allergy and gave me a steriod based cream to apply whenever it flares up. They said that is all we can do until he is older and blood tests can be done. The cream works fantastically but I would rather a prevention instead of a cure if possible. His diet has not been changed, neither has any cleaning products that he is in contact with. The only connection I can find is water. He only seems to get this rash if he has been out after it has rained but not after a bath.
If anyone has any clue to what this can be, we would be very grateful to hear from you.
Thank you in advance.

[Anan D]

Hi there Holly,
not sure what the cause of this rash is, but my dog used to have something very similar - a rash of small bumps, yellowy-translucent in color, that would appear across his belly from time to time. I couldn't figure out what it was, but my vet suggested I try either Science Diet (the pet food you buy from the vet's) or a raw diet.
I tried Science Diet but nothing really changed (and it was way too expensive for me) so I tried a natural diet and it seemed to do the trick - I think it's a general skin sensititivity, rather than being 100% caused by a particular factor, but cutting out prepackaged food seemed to make a pretty big impact on the frequency and severity of the rash.
So you could try that - your vet will be able to help you figure out a natural diet (it's a bit hard to get all the nutrients and calories right by yourself).
Something else I would recommend is that you keep him away from tainted water - swimming in lakes and rivers, PARTICULARLY if there are any ducks in the water, causes a pretty severe rash in a lot of dogs. Effluent run-off, agriculture, and duck poo accounts for a lot of it.
Do you live in a polluted or smoggy area? That could account for the rash after raining, too. I've got a couple friends who live in the CBD with their dogs, and say that every time it rains they keep their dogs away from grass and plants etc because the rain collects particulate matter and smog etc. Plants and grass hold the water a lot more than concrete or pavement, so the dogs are allowed out for on-lead walks around the streets, but no parks until the rain's cleared up and evaporated.
Anyway good luck and let us know how you get on?

[Donna]

The rash could be from the chemicals in the commercial food fed to your dog. such as ethoxquin which was originally developed for use in the production of rubber and as a herbicide this common preservative is among the compounds most suspect as causes of severe health problems in dogs.check the food and drug administration center for veterinary medicine, the report included ,allergic reaction & skin problems .check the food that you use to see if this is one of the ingred. used BHA & BHT It is the effects of these chemicals that can cause a lot of contamination on the body , just be informed of what is in the food . don't know if this is of any help to you ...have a great day