Hi all,

I've had Freya for 2 months now. Recently she has developed blister like rash around her mouth area (including her lips) and is moving up to her nose She has been rubbing her chin against surfaces around the house (eg. rugs, my bed covers, towels) and scratching at her face with her paws. I went to the vet last week and they have provided antibiotics for her presuming it was allergies causing the "rash", but she doesn't seem to be getting any better?

Any idea on what it could be? Any advice?

Jess, I'm not going to suggest anything - I have a couple of thoughts - but the real experts have a tendency to take the weekend off to do things (with their dogs?)  If you don't get a response over the weekend, don't be too surprised.

ETA:
Since no one else has chimed in, you might want to take a look at Zinc Deficiency which seems to be more common with Huskies than thought.  Diagnosis and treatment initially will require the vet to take a scraping but after diagnosis, treatment seems to be fairly straight forward.

I have no experience with this, others on the forum have so take my comment with a gargantuan grain of salt.

Looks like acne. An antibiotic ointment should help. For the most part it should work itself out if that's what it is. Clean her face, make sure her bowls are kept washed and it will hopefully start getting back under control soon. How old is she? Dogs are a lot like humans in this. Hormones, such as coming up on a heat or the teen phase, can bring it on.

Hi aljones,
I have had a slight feeling it was zinc deficiency too, but like you said, will need to confirm with the vet to know for sure. We'll be visiting the vet again tomorrow.

Hi TwisterII,
I really hope it might just be acne. Freya is only just 4 months. What would you recommend we wash her face with? I have been doing a warm towel compress on her face once or twice a day to help kill the germs.

I would just use clean water or an extremely diluted vinegar wash. And I mean extremely diluted. Too much will burn. At 4 months she is maturing and starting to get more adult hormones working through her.

Thank you TwisterII! I have been doing the warm towel compress for her the past 2 days. I will continue to do so until our next vet visit

Freya, what type of food bowls do you use? Plastic may be causing the issue, especially at her age and to me it doesn't look like ZRD, this is blistery type of look, or pimply. I had a cat allergic to plastic and she would literally get black heads, these don't look like black heads, but it may be a reaction to food bowl, or some type of toy.

Hi Renee,

I've given Freya a ceramic bowl for her food and a metal bowl for her water. I don't think it is necessarily what I use. I've recently changed her over to the Taste of the Wild puppy food, so I was thinking maybe it was that (which is a bit of a shame because it's probably the best food we've given her in terms of her gut). We also had a few very hot day this past week (in Australia) so I did make her an icy treat containing watermelon, coconut water, and a slight bit of honey.

I would just make sure what you have stays washed. Oils on kibble tend to stick around. If she has any rubber toys/balls I would keep those washed. Keep the area clean and apply a topical antibiotic if she will let you, can also use coconut oil if she is a licker, and it should pass in time.

Thank you all for the advice.
She is looking a little better today, however, my partner and I are still taking her to the vet tomorrow afternoon (only because the vet that saw her last week would be able to see the difference in the condition since last time) Although, Freya has had a few problems already (first worms, then conjunctivitis, and an allergic reaction to the conjunctivitis cream, and now this in the space of two months), so hopefully this time it isn't anything too prolonging!

Freya, When going to the vet ask about puppy acne, it really seems like that is the issue, and have read it will eventually clear up. I would also withhold any toys that is made of plastic or rubber until your vet can get a good idea on what is going on. I would also be inclined to ask for a skin scraping, to rule out other issues. Dog food can do this, but often times it is more of a discoloration around the mouth vs the pimple/blisters that appears on your pup.

Turns out that Freya has puppy strangles The vet has given us steroid tablets to use in conjunction with the antibiotics. She is already looking so much better!

Glad they found what it was and that you updated us. Teaches us something new to look for and what it looks like. Hope she bounces back soon. Sounds like she's already on the road to recovery. Great to hear!

Yes, apparently puppy strangles mostly occur in golden retrievers and labradors. Very rarely in huskies. We got her to the vet at the early stages of the condition development.

I had to go looking, since as Jenn said this is something new to us (well, at least me.)
Prognosis seems to be good from what I've read and, except in rare occurrences, is non-reoccurring.
Thanks for the information and especially thanks for the response so we have some idea of what it is should we ever see it again.