When I returned to BTR from my work-related travels, Grace was miserable. She had missed her mid-week bath. Her skin was red, she was chewing on herself, and she was crabby. Tom had tried to spray her with the sodium chlorite (NAClO2) solution while I was gone but she dances on him. While spraying Grace down Thursday evening, I found a pea-sized knot under Grace's skin in her right rear thigh..so after a Malaseb bath we were off to the vet's office Friday morning.
Well, I learned something new today. Dogs (and it seems cats) have lymph nodes in the rear legs opposite the knee area (see photo here). Because Grace's skin was so reactive, her lymph node was swollen. Dr. Jarrell sent us home with some Malaseb towelettes to use 2X a day in addition to the Malaseb shampoo. We are also going to try Claritin for a few days to see if we can't get her feeling better. The hair is growing back on her hips and Dr. Jarrell thought she looked really healthy - good weight, great muscle tone, nice expression, and less GRRRRRs than last time she examed Grace. Dr. Jarrell was excited to her that Grace was about to have her agility debut.
Now if I can just figure out how to prevent Grace from licking the Malaseb towelette treated area "until dry to prevent ingestion" without resorting to an e-collar.
