Have any of your dogs had a condition called Hyperkeratosis?

Question

My nine year old GSD has been diagnosed with Hyperkeratosis, its a nasty overgrowth of dry skin on the wings of her nose. It looks sore, however she seems unaware of this. Apparently dogs can also get this on their feet, however the vets thinks that this condition will be limited to her nose.

The vet says that there is no cure. Unknown to him, I am using herbal treatments which have not kicked in yet. At the outset the vet suggested applying a product which is usually used for verrucas, its called "Bazuka". When he suggested this I thought "bloody Nora, there is no way that I can use this on my dogs nose". Consequently I did not ask for any more information. I was concerned as I knew that my dog could l**k this stuff off her nose.

Later I looked up Bazuka on the internet . Apparently if I apply this slightly beyond the nasty dryness and onto the unaffected skin it can cause problems. The cautions were aimed at humans who have verruca's and there were no cautions about the use of this on dogs. I have been applying a special oil to my dogs nose and I have not recontacted my vet for additional advise. I think that most vets think that we should follow their advise without question, I don't want him to think that I ignore his advise however I have.

Has anyone out there used Bazuka on their dogs, or has anyone experience of Hyperkeratosis. Please I need your advise.

Answer 1

There's no cure for Hyperkeratosis, and it's not painful.  It's simply, like your vet said, an overgrowth of skin cells.  It looks dry and irritated but I guarantee that it is bothering you a lot more than it is bothering the dog.  Just leave it alone, there's no need to waste time putting any kind of ointment, (herbal or Bazuka, which I have never heard of must be Euro product)

Most of the time you should follow your vets advice, he obviously told you to use the bazuka stuff because you were persistent about putting something on it.  I'm assuming that you haven't been to school studying animals for 8 + years like he has.  So just stick with your vets original advice, there's nothing you can do.

Answer 2

I wouldn't use Bazuka on my dogs either no matter what a vet said.

You keep trying with your herbal.

I did have a collie with this type of condition once and added food to her diet that is good for the immune system.

Her condition did clear up and never did reappear.

It all started when she got stressed because I left her with a friend when I went on holiday.

Has your dog been under any stress?