Hello all and thank you for checking this out. My husky is 2 years and 3 months old.

She is experiencing some very strange symptoms. For one she has all these tiny little scabs all over her muzzle and around her eyes. This would be enough to cause alarm but she has also been suspiciously inactive and not eating. She maybe eats a quarter of what she usually eats.

To make matters worse she seems to be in pain and yelps when she moves or jumps on the bed or is touched.

This has been going on for about a week now and we've seen 2 different vets 3 times. Her blood work was perfect, her stool is fine, and Banfield apparently has no idea what to do except prescribe antibiotics which aren't doing anything.

I've also noticed a couple lumps under her skin. Not sure if they are lymph nodes or not

Please she is the world to me. If anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it

Are you in a tick endemic area? Did they test for tick diseases?

Specifically, did they test for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever?

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/infectious-parasitic/c_dg_rocky_mountain_spotted_fever

If they did not test for this - get it done sooner than later. Like pronto.

Otherwise, I haven't a clue.

They almost look like fly bites to me but the only thing I can see them transmitting is rabbit fever. Here's some info:

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/infectious-parasitic/c_dg_tularemia

I would have thought the antibiotics would have helped though unless this has been going on for a while and is too far gone for a normal antibiotic. I would definitely have them check for anything tick related. Blood work is always the first go-to but it is not all that reliable when it comes to some of the stranger stuff.

Jenn - never would have thought of fly bites. We don't get that much here though I suspect the cows do. That is much more innocuous than possible tick disease -

We get fly bites around here. Not sure where OP is located so might be an issue there too. They will chew ears ragged on cats and dogs if they get into something like rolling in critter or get a drip of something sweet on their nose while cleaning out a bowl, then the flies will chew at them relentlessly if they are left outside in a kennel or on a line during the day. It's awful. See it all the time in dogs that are tied out. Cats who get into fights and get little cuts will attract flies too and really bad untreated cases look nasty when the flies try to lay eggs in the wounds. Really awful what the common fly can do if allowed to start. Fly bite also really hurts.

Thank you everyone for the quick replies. I live in Florida so ticks aren't really an issue as far as carrying disease I think. Wouldn't a disease like that cause an increase in white cells? Her blood work was perfect.

The vet wants to see Misty again and do a biopsy tomorrow to rule out pemphagus. We are just puzzled as to what could be causing the bouts of yelping and scabs.

I'll bring up fly bites to the vet. She is taken care of meticulously though. The only time she is outside on the tie out alone is MAX an hour after our morning run because she likes to lay in the sun before it gets too hot. Even then I check on her every 10 min or less. I'm neurotic over her lol. She's my baby.

Has anyone experienced zinc deficiency ZRD? Any advice is helpful. We are so lost and scared as to what this could be.

Learn something new every day.  My inclination given that you live in Florida would have been sand fleas - which are a bloody nuisance and seem to disregard the typical preventives.

Pemphigus seems to be pretty rare - not discounting it but ... - and sadly seems to be either misdiagnosed or incorrectly diagnosed in many cases (see this article from the NIH).  One of the things that I noted is that it's often diagnosed as a 'disease of last resort' especially when all the blood work comes up clean.  Oddly it seems as if too much sun in one of the contributing factors and my pup are often out in the desert sun by choice with no problems.

Oh, since you have given where you live would you mind noting that in your profile, it can really help us to have some idea of where you are - even just the state.  Saves us from making foolish suggestions that would relate to, let's say, Rocky Mountain tick disease ... and a quick check, of courses my example is a poor one. Why call it Rocky Mountain spotted fever when it exists almost everywhere except in the Rocky Mountain states??

http://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/tick-and-insect-borne-diseases/index.html

Florida definitely had tick borne diseases. Including Rocky mountain spotted fever.... which is pretty much found in most states, more so in the southeast than the northeast but it is here too. Lyme is not so much out of the northeast.

I would have thought her blood work would come back irregular if she had a tick borne disease. She seems a bit more playful as of right now but still yelped a couple times when she tried to lay down. She is walking fine so I'm assuming it's not legs? Maybe something internal?

It probably wouldn't hurt to give her Prazi and treat for tape worm just in case. Most wormers don't actually treat for tape worm. That kind of worm can definitely mess with a dog if allowed to go on for a while. Probably not linked to the spots on her face though unless a flea chewed the crud out of her. As for blood work showing tick disease, it depends on the disease and when they did the blood work. If they put her on antibiotics before doing the blood work the meds could mess up the panel. They will need to change their tests. Also, early on in some diseases, such as lyme, it won't have started any kind of reaction in the blood yet. That typically comes a little later when the dog is riddled with it.

My boy has ZRD and those marks look nothing like what you will see in that. I'm also thinking fleas of some kind that are biting.

Has the stool been checked for any bugs?

have you seen 3 vets at Banfield? not to be rude but they are often known for not having the best vets for treating odd things, they are god for shots and check ups. Can you go to another vet clinic? Maybe see a vet that has more holistic treatments and better with odd cases? Sometimes Vet colleges also are a good place to check for treatment.

Thanks again for all the helpful suggestions. I cancelled the biopsy today at Banfield and will be looking into some of the suggested vet options. She seems a bit more playful today and no yelping in pain yet which is great! The spots don't seem to be getting better though and her appetite isn't back yet. I'll post a couple pics of today

Also is anyone familiar with pemphagus? The scabs are minor but they aren't healing and I'm finding them all over now. A new one on her paw and a few on hind legs.

Matthew, sorry I've managed to find my curmudgeon hat again.

If you're seriously thinking it's pemphigus then cancelling the biopsy was the wrong move since a biopsy is the only way to really determine whether it's PF or not.

I, however, am with Jenn and a few others in that I think you should take a real hard look at your yard for biting insects. If it were PF, at least according to what I've been reading, then by the time it's begun to spread you should have a very active set of localized pustules on her nose. Considering the relative rarity of PF *and* considering your location I'd rule out the probable cause before I started looking at the improbable.

Pemphigus is an autoimmune disorder - one of the hallmarks of autoimmune disorder is that aches and pains and other symptoms come and go. Making it hard to believe you really ARE sick and also, making it exceedingly hard to know if treaments are working or response is just happenstance. If your vet suspects pemphigus, I would go through with the biopsy. She has had constitutional symptoms in addition to the things on her face. Lack of appetite, pain, possible lymph nodes...