Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone. I have some questions about discoid lupus in my dog Chevy. Chevy is a 2 year old rescued border collie. We got Chevy at 8 weeks old and about 16 weeks old is when I suddenly realized that my husband had a spot of ringworm on him. Upon inspecting the pup I found that he had what appeared to be ringworm on his face and after trying for about 10 days to treat it I brought him to the vet (he had an appointment anyway.) The vet took a biopsy/test and gave us medication for what looked like ringworm. I was unable to have Chevy seen a second time because we moved to a new state, but I spoke to the vet a few times and the test for ringworm was negative. However, by this time I had it other family members and another pet had gotten ringworm. Everyone else healed 10X faster than Chevy with far less treatment.
Anyhoo, around the same time this all started I noticed some scaly patches on my dogs nose where the nose meets the fur. I assumed it was ringworm and treated it accordingly. Eventually the ringworm cleared up but the nose continued. I started a search where I came across discoid lupus. Not long after I took Chevy in for a checkup (with a new vet.) Chevy was due for a rabies shot which they could not give him before we moved because he was under 6 months old and they were not comfortable vaccinating a sick dog. I asked about lupus and the vet confirmed that she seemed to be about 98% sure it was lupus but with his nose being the only symptom and our finances being shot (hubby was laid off) we could not do all the expensive bloodwork to confirm. The vet said that it was not worth the expense as Chevy was otherwise very healthy but warned that his symptoms could get worse at which time we would need to develop a treatment plan for him (after running tests.)

Its been a year and a half since this all began and still the spots we treated for ringworm have never regrown fur. We have also not had any further instances of it in pets or humans in our home (since the cat got it about 2 months after the dog.) So now I am wondering a few things.

1. Could the bare spots on Chevy's face be scars from the ringworm and nothing more?

2. Could the spots be scars from ringworm that have not regrown fur because of the lupus?

3. Could there be another cause, like ringworm still active? I assume if this were the case our new dog or the kids would have gotten ringworm and the new dog is a German shorthaired pointer, it would be far easier to see ringworm on her.

The spots are 90% covered with fur like a comb-over so until he gets wet you can't really see them. I am not sure if I am allowed to post links to my photos here, but if so I can do that.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

*Oh and we moved again, got back on our feet and bought our first home (yay!) so we may be getting a new vet in the next 2 months when I have Lucy spayed and get her rabies vaccine (I did her other vaccines already and she saw a vet 4 days before we adopted her last month.)

Very unlikely your other spots and the Discoid Lupus are related. Not sure why the hair has not grown back, but dermatophytes (ringworm) are usually self limiting (die out on their own) even if not treated, though treatment is always recommended because of its zoonotic (contagious) tendencies. Some dogs do not grow hair back well after it is lost for a variety of reasons and abnormal immune system or endocrine disease (eg. hypothyroidism) are two possible causes of the hair not growing back. However, I see it in normal dogs, too. The discoid lupus is an annoying disease and best controlled with protection from the sun (is sort of bad reaction to UV radiatiion) and cortisone, or a combination of Niacin (high dose) and Tetracycline. Putting on sunscreen is difficult as it usually gets licked off immediately. Discoid lupus can continue on to completely eat the entire nose off if you are not careful. It is also a disease that is best diagnosed with a biopsy as several more serious immune-related diseases can look like that and involve more tissues than just the tip of the nose (though they are also usually more aggressive and you would probably have noticed things getting a whole lot worse by now). Hope this helps. PS.. not too many blood tests will confirm or not confirm this diagnosis, so blood testing, though recommended for other reasons perhaps, will not help you with this disease.