Hello all! we have a Siberian Husky named Zeus and I'm seeing a lot of mouth sores on one side of his mouth as well as a small patch on his leg that's missing hair. I heard that there's a Zinc deficiency issue potentially. We're currently feeding him Rachael Ray Nutrish (Real Beef, Pea & Brown Rice) but switching to Blue Buffalo Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe with Red Meat.

Any ideas from this group as where to turn?

Any chance he was bit by something

Not that we know of.

Vet. Have them test the tissue.

https://dermvettacoma.com/zinc-responsive-dermatosis/

Nice article, Amy. Enough information to state the problem and actions to take ... without scaring someone in the process.

Are both mouth and leg sores on the same side? If it’s not zinc Could he have been stung or maybe rubbed up something? If he’s led out side maybe ants? Or stinging nettles? He might of had a reaction to. Hope he gets better soon!

my 7 year old also has this, and has done since he was around 2, it always flares up at this time of year, unfortunately the vet has never got to the bottom of the reason for it, although dentisept usually helps it clear up so, they suspect a kind of bacterial thing, but have never got a hard fix on what it is, just a huge list of what it isnt lol, on Meeko they dnt seem to bother him at all and they always clear up after a few weeks of using the dentisept cream.

Thank you clyvert! Because this is on the outside of his mouth, and the dentisept appears to be a toothpaste of sort, would this still be the correct route?

meeko's is also on the outside of his mouth too, and after trying a few different things, like antibiotic creams etc, none of which had any great effect,  the vet gave us this to try, and thankfully it helped,so now when he has a break out we just phone up and order one, after a few weeks its either cleared up or on the way to being cleared up.

thats the stuff they gave us

So... What's your objection to going to the vet, exploding your suspicion of zinc related dermatosis and having a biopsy done?

We are, but they're weeks out so just trying to get the groups thoughts.

Dentisept seems to be a brand name - and Chlorhexidrine ointment seems to be readily available.

@clyvert is that a toothpaste or an ointment you apply externally?  What I'm seeing on the web is confusing.  For exampledrugs.com says that it's for external use only, while the HomeLab site identifies it as a "tooth paste" applied to the teeth and gums - kinda hard to do externally.

In any case it appears to be much more common in the EU/UK than here in the states.

@amymeme, this is your forté where are you?????

ETA: yeh, yeh, you added you comment as I was typing mine! Sheesh!!

@aljones, its kinda like a gel paste, looks almost vaseline like when u put it on, when the vet gave it to us to try it he used his finger to apply it along the area affected and it looked just like when someone puts vaseline on a burn or cut, it worked better on him than anything else they tried so we have always just continued with it and touch wood it clears it up.

Chlorhexidine is an antiseptic. Will reduce any bacteria that may be in the sores. It is possible that, whether this is ZRD or some other issue, the chlorhexidine might prevent or slow any bacterial stuff that might invade. If this weren't so close to the mouth, I might recommend a very light application of Desitin, a zinc oxide based cream. But to much zinc can irritate the stomach and over tone cause other accurate problems.

When you see your vet, make sure you mention zinc related dermatosis. Not all vets are aware of the problem in northern breeds.

That looks like mange to me. It is common for dogs to get. I think there are over the counter topicals you could pick up. I’ve seen bears have this too. I believe for them it’s from eating garbage.