# Health Concern #2 - Small Scabs All Over



## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Hey again everyone...

So, last night as I weighed and fed Inky I noticed a weird spot on his forehead. When you look straight down the hairs, I could see a little scab like spot on the skin, and from the side it just looked like the hairs were "flaking" weird, if that makes sense. Concerned, I watched him more and noticed two more tiny scabs. One on the right side of his neck, and one on his upper left front leg. Tonight I gave him a bath and looked him over the best I could, and have determined that he has a good half dozen or more little scabs all over his body. None seem to be in the quill area. I scraped off the one on his forehead (first there was some gunk, pulled that off (looked like scab tissue or what not), scraped the scab off, realized there was a little zit under it, and (no one yell at me for this! I've heard the "don't pop zits" a hundred times! :lol scraped that too. He didn't seem to mind horribly, surprisingly.

The ones on his neck, legs, and belly there is NO way he'll let me touch. I guess my main concern is just, does anyone know what would cause this? Should I give him routine baths? (usually never do, unless for a photo shoot and I don't want him looking yellow) I'll keep a very close eye on them of course, and because they just appear to be scabs I'm not TOO concerned, but still. Oh, and as for size, think like tip of a pencil lead in size. Very small.

Mister Inky has been worrying his parents too much lately!


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Praying it's noting to serious!  Glad you have such a god vet there if you need them.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Could be staph. That is the way it starts with little pin point sized spots that get bigger, then itchy. The locations of the spots are consistent with beginning staph. 

Another thought would be he'es had a mite bloom for the stress of his leg issue. I think you'd notice scratching though. 

Poor Inky and you. Hugs


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Thank you guys - no, he doesn't scratch much, minus his usual "routine scratches" he does. Gosh, how could he have gotten staph... (worried) I looked it up (what it's like in dogs, anyway) and that does sound accurate. I work with dogs nearly every day, maybe I picked something up from one of them...

One thing I saw mentioned for dogs was antimicrobial body wash: http://www.dogandhorsecare.com/product/CanineBodyWash
I usually don't like using chemical-y washes, but do you think that might help solve the problem? Also, any suggestions on if it is staph, to prevent it from spreading?


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## Quinn (Apr 24, 2011)

sorry I don't have any info to help but I hope he gets better soon. Keep us updated!


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I've only ever had two babies with staph and they were prescribed Antirobe which is oral and was very well tolerated and not too yucky tasting. :lol: I'm not sure if something topical would work or not. My vet said with babies it's usually a less mature immune system because one baby can get it and everyone else is fine.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Oh Inky! Stop it little boy! I hope it's something that can be fixed quickly.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Poor Inky and parents. Maybe you should set up a vet appointment and see what they recommend? 

I hope it clears up quickly for him.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Quick update, I gave Inky a chlorhexidine (nolvasan, chlorhexiderm, etc.) bath just a few minutes ago and looked him over. There are a LOT of little spots. Don't know if they just popped up, or if I just now noticed them (he was being really cooperative). He isn't scratching at all and is entirely healthy otherwise, so I'm going to try just topical treatment before heading in to the vet.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

I've been giving Inky sanitizing baths every few days, and they appeared to be working (at least, the scabs were less prominent, I'm assuming most of them flaked off) however he now has the exact same sore as he did a bit ago, in the same spot, but on his other front leg. He was NOT pleased about me wanting to look at it today I feel pretty bad. Looks like back off to the vet for my poor boy...


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

When it rains, it pours.
I'm hoping the vet can get him all fixed up & find the underlying problem. No more worrying Mommy, Inky. I'll be thinking of you both.


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

A prayer for our precious boy. Get well Inky; we all love you!


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## ericarad (Oct 4, 2011)

Wishing you both well thoughts! I hope it's nothing serious!!!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Oh jeeze, poor Inky boy...  Lily and I will be keeping you guys in our thoughts, I hope everything turns out alright!


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Inky is back on Clavamox and nightly cage cleans and leg washes. Fingers crossed it all clears up... my main worry is actually getting him to take his meds. He's decided they are the worst thing in the world. :?


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Awwww poor boy. He's probably gonna think you're trying to poison him!!! You'll just have to spoil him even more!


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Zoey hated the clavamox as well. Which means she fought me. Which means I hated to have to give it to her. *sigh*

But you just HAVE to do it. Inky will get over it. But if he's anything like Zoey, he won't start getting over it until he's actually "over" it. :roll: 

Sometimes I could trick Zoey by putting the Clavamox into her treats. I have heard of people getting flavors to mix into medicine as well. 

I really hope he gets well quickly. And with the least amount of stress on his Mommy as possible. 

-Hugs


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## motorcityhedgehogs (Nov 30, 2011)

I hope everything is well with the little guy! I had this with one of our babies, lucky for her it just ended up being an allergy to bedding. I put her on fleece liners and she cleared up within 2 days.


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## ReginasMommy (Apr 13, 2011)

I hope Inky gets completely better soon! *Hugs* to you both


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

How is Mr. Inky doing now? Are the little scabs going away at all?


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Hey, I was actually thinking about when I would update this. The huge sore on his leg came off a few nights ago, and looks identical to his other leg, with the big scab. Then he had another sore start on his other leg, which I think I opened up and cleaned out well enough to prevent it from growing. He does still have little scabs, some on his face, some on his underside, and so right now I'm just cleaning his cage every night, sanitizing baths every night, plus we're keeping him on clavamox for a good long while hoping we can clear him up. The poor boy is doing well otherwise, just seems to not be able to fight off any bacteria on his body.


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

Healing thoughts for our much loved Inky.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Poor little guy. Glad he has such an amazing mommy to nurse him, though! Lily and I are sending him lots of encouragement!


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

LG, have you had a culture run on any of these spots yet? If they are not healing quickly or if they get better then come back, or are just not going away a culture could give you answers. I have to wonder if the antibiotic you are using isn't the best suited for whatever bacteria that is bothering your little one. I had one who got better, then the infection came back and just seemed to be lingering, slowly working, but too slow. A culture showed the antibiotic we were using had a small kill ratio, switch to a different drug (one which my vet would not normally have gone to) cleared up the problem.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

We haven't recently, no - I thought of that and had originally asked for a drug different than clavamox but was told that it was one of the best to use, so they just gave it to me. Thanks for the suggestion, if it ends up not clearing up properly I'll definitely take him in for a culture and think about using a different antibiotic. I really appreciate your input on that.  I'll keep everyone updated!


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