skin problems

Question
I have a male husky about 1 year old.  One month, we took him to the vet because he had a very raw, itchy, flaky patch under his chin.  The vet prescribed 500 mg of cephalexin twice a day for 30 days.  The drugs have not helped, so we returned to the vet who gave us a steroid/antibiotic ointment to apply and night and told us to clean his chin with Stridex pads in the morning.  The vet attributes it to puppy acne or idiopathic furunculosis.  I am beginning to wonder if it could be zinc-responsive dermatosis.  We have no breeder info on the dog as we rescued him but the vets believe he is full bred husky.  Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi Jenifer,

Zinc-responsive dermatosis is common in Huskies.  So it could be what your dog has.  It is genetic, but not knowing anything about the breeding line makes it hard to diagnose at first.  I would suggest trying what the vet as suggested.  If you feel that you no longer want to continue this treatment, then tell your vet and ask him/her if your dog might have zinc-responsive dermatosis.  A second opinion wouldn't be bad either.  

I am not going to tell you that he has it because the treatment recommended zinc supplements.  If he doesn't have this infection then more zinc in his diet could be toxic.  I am enclosing a website to give you more information.  

http://www.siberianhuskyhealthfoundation.org/health_zincdeficiency.asp

If this is what you feel he does have, then you have to make the decision to treat him for the infection.

I hope this helps you.  I am not a vet, so I can't properly diagnose your husky.  I am sorry to hear you are having such a hard time figuring out what is wrong with him.  I just hope the problem gets better soon.

If you have anymore question, please ask.

Thank You,
Laura