Severe itching and rash
I have an 18 month old gsd. He has recently developed this horrible rash and itching with hair loss . He has been to the vet multiple times. The vet did skin scrapings and found a little bacteria and yeast, no mange. He has been treated with steroids, antifungals, antibiotics and medicated baths for over a month now. It is definitely not getting better and seems to be getting worse. Does anyone have any experience with this? I have pictures, but I can't seem to attach them.
Hmmm... if the vet found yeast and bacteria, and the medications are not working, I would think the things are two:
There's some other condition like an underlying allergy that isn't addressed
or perhaps the immune system needs boosting as these drugs (steroids, antibiotics) tend to suppress it.
In such cases, seeing a veterinary dermatologist may be helpful to rule out other conditions, these are the specialists that should be seen when those vet visits are going no where and meds are not working. They are used to dealing with challenging skin conditions, so look at things differently doing a more in depth differential diagnosis than the average vet.
If no other underlying conditions are found, would also be god idea to see a holistic vet, to see if there's something you can do to boost the immune system and fight this from inside with a good diet, generally no grains or carbs, healthy supplements like omega 3s, 6s, etc.
From what I know, yeast and bacteria are normally present in a dog's skin, things just get out of hand at times (there's an overgrowth) either because there's something else triggering this overgrowth or the immune system isn't working at full potential as it should.