Nayeli.Bella

exactly what our vet said - that it was a very rare condition so they doubted it could be that! I convinced them to let me try and treat my way for ZRD and I will follow up with them bi-weekly. We were told - mange, mites, ringworm... and each diagnosis requires a different test - all scrapings or biopsies, I'd rather spare her that! Nayeli's now on 60mg of zinc supplement daily, and i've started to giving it to her between feedings so it's not absorbed by the food. I'm changing her food this week too, to something offering a higher mineral content, not as concerned as I was about a high zinc content because of the supplements she's having. As you mentioned also, I don't want to give her zinc toxicity as it has exactly the same symptoms as the deficiency! Our vet very kindly spoke to a dermatologist on our behalf - she recommended what she uses for the condition often - zinc in the form of treats - It's 'Zinc Methionine', you can get it from www.vedco.com or www.nutrivet.com

Mike definitely check out that vet referral! Let us know what they say. It's interesting that your new contact didn't seem to recognize Bandit's sores as ZRD. we tried antibiotics too - no improvement. Have you been back to the vet since?

Poor boy! His seem to be spreading more than Nayeli's - her lesions are staying around the eyes really, they look like they are drying up a little. Is he still scratching a lot?

Thank you - I appreciate you sharing your findings with me! Please update this page with how Bandit is doing!!

Thank you for your reply! I feel that vets try to make things more complicated a lot of the time! I will take your advice and seek out a vet with Husky experience! We have a referral for a Dog Derm too - I don't want to think of how expensive that will be just yet!! Going to continue with the Zinc, I will increase a little and see what happens. Did you incorporate a Vit A supplement or just an 'A' rich food? I want to add that to her routine to help with the absorption. I'm just trying to find the safe dosage. It's so disheartening when it looks like it's clearing up and then appears somewhere else! I've read that Vitamin E gel vitamins are great to pierce and apply to the sores. Obviously being careful of the eye. I'm going to try that this weekend. I'll let you know if it gives any relief. Bandit is very handsome, I like his elvis sideburns!

Hi everyone! I'm so happy to have found this forum. I'm sorry to see that your dogs are going through this too - I am experiencing the same with my 2 year old female Nayeli. She has the lesions around both eyes, I can see the start of another on her lip and also her vulva. I started her on Zinc Gluconate Sunday Feb 3rd, 30mgs a day - I think she can stand to take a higher dose as she's 70lbs - but I'm worried about giving her too much. I may increase after a week. At the initial vets visit they did a scrape test to rule out mange, but did find bacteria present (come to find out this is common w/ ZRD) they started her on antibiotics to help fight the bacteria and also a Neosporin eye ointment to heal the wounds. 2 weeks later the lesions got worse - and in the mean time I conducted my own research and learned about ZRD and Zinc deficiency - My gut tells me this is what it is. At her follow up appointment this Tues, our vets told us that they have never heard of ZRD and of course ruled it out, as it is a "very rare" condition - so why would she have it? They wanted to diagnose ringworm, and I opposed - her German Shepherd brother has not itched/scratched once, shows no sign of ringworm or any lesions and they wrestle and rub up against each other all day long - My husband and I are free of any signs also! We have a follow up with the vet in 2 weeks. I'm really hoping that I can help my little girl more naturally - I don't want to be told or encouraged to pump drugs into my dog when I believe they'll cause other damage and not correct her situation. Personality, appetite, and energy levels are all completely normal - you wouldn't think anything was wrong despite her sore looking face. Here are her pictures - what do you think?... given the cases with your pups? 1st week - 2nd week, the other eye worsened - Today - This is the first eye as of today, for the most part it looks better, it's not so inflamed and her fur is starting to grow back. Although now I can see the top of her eye starting to flare up. The vets printed me out a page on ZRD from a resource book they had, it has good information - I am happy to scan it in and share it with you, if you like? I hope that you all notice an improvement really soon for Indi, Bandit and Safi! - Jo