Sophia faces a mysterious foe—an as-yet undiagnosed skin condition and other ailments. Be the first to correctly guess the cause and receive our next Spicy Story free! / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris ~

Sophia in 2010, taking a break from digging up the garden / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

Sophia used to look like Meg Ryan—or at least Meg Ryan back in her When Harry Met Sally  days of that fluffy blonde mane.

The past was not always so pretty for this sweet Irish terrier mixed breed. When I first spotted her on the Greek island of Kefalonia in 2003, skulking around the village of Karavados where my mom and I stayed, she had almost no hair. A few months later, after a local family began feeding her, she flaunted some fur but also 107 ticks on her small self.

As I removed them, you bet I counted. And you bet I adopted her. She had been through all of the above and additional horrors to be described in a future post. A lovely little lady who deserved a lot better, she had suffered more than too much.

Star Meg Ryan at a recent film festival / Photo: Bigstock

A blood test at the Athens laboratory for the most common Greek street dog diseases found that she was negative on Leishmaniasis and Babesia but positive for Ehrlichia, which is carried by ticks. After receiving treatment for it–a course of antibiotic Doxycycline–and after a few months in the loving foster care of friend and fellow rescuer Barbara O’Connor,  Sophia and two more homeless Greek dogs, Kalypso and Melina, “followed me home” to San Diego.

How the mystery began

For a decade, Sophia enjoyed California living with us and our busy family of rescued and foster canines. Boasting not only movie star looks but also the equivalent of an Olympic athlete’s strength, speed, and agility, she could beat even our far younger dogs in their backyard antics.

Inflammation made her eyes bulge / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

Then in early 2013, Sophia went blind.

Most of the blindness could be attributed to cataracts. But the tremendous inflammation that made her look “bug-eyed” was more of a puzzler for the veterinarians. Attempts to reduce it with various eye drops as well as prednisone pills didn’t seem to help much.

She also suffered from a severely itchy red patch on the inside of one of her ear flaps. Drops of Synotic, a topical corticosteroid, subdued it somewhat.

Some of her nails are yellow and withered, with the nail bed raw and swollen. / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

A couple of her toes got inflamed and swollen, the nails growing yellow, cracked, and withered. We washed them with a topical corticosteroid flush called Hexadene. Sometimes it helped. More often it didn’t.

Over subsequent months she lost four pounds off her previous perfect weight of 25.

Nevertheless she still didn’t look too bad for a pooch at 12 or 14 years of age. Her appetite stayed robust. Though the blindness put an end to racing around the yard, digging madly, and stalking squirrels, she continued to enjoy her daily strolls downtown with my hubsy.

Inflamed area on the rim of her right upper eyelid.

In August I made it home to California after yet another long stay in Greece rescuing other pooches, and found that our Sophia remained more or less her Meggy self.

Screaming in pain

On Labor Day weekend in early September, she screamed in pain whenever she tried to get up, or if we tried to move her. The vet at the emergency clinic thought it was probably a back injury.

But how could she have gotten it? To our knowledge there had been no incident to cause the sprain or strain he suspected.

Her poor little nose is dry and chapped. / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

The vet prescribed a course of prednisone along with Tramadol to combat the inflammation and pain.

While we were there, he asked, “Did you know Sophia has a heart murmur?” Thank goodness it’s not a severe one, but something to keep an eye on. We’ll watch her for symptoms such as coughing and less tolerance for exercise, in which case she might require medication to treat it.

The prednisone and Tramadol seemed to help Sophia with the pain. She showed no more signs of discomfort.

Things zoomed downhill

White flaky stuff / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

A short time later, in late September, her skin trouble began. Scaly white stuff took over her forehead. Washing it with Hexadene as per the vet’s instructions helped but it never really went away. Then within just a couple of weeks it spread all over her body, along with patches of brown scaly stuff.

A foul odor in her mouth and the chronically awful condition of her teeth made our vet anxious to do a dental. We had missed her annual tooth cleaning in 2012 and it showed.

A precautionary pre-cleaning blood test told us she had a mild systemic blood infection with a slightly high globulin level (4 as opposed to the normal 3.6), as well as mild anemia (31% as opposed to the normal 35%). So the vet suggested we postpone the dental appointment, and prescribed three weeks of antibiotic Clindomycin to try to knock down the infection.

Brown crusty stuff / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

Within a few days of starting the antibiotic, her appetite went haywire. She would eat heartily one day, but not the next. Or maybe she’d eat fine for two or three days, then not on the fourth.  Every time we thought about trying a different antibiotic because of the possibility that the Clindomycin was upsetting her tummy, her appetite would return. Then go off again.

To settle her stomach we gave her probiotics and Pepsid AC. Changing her kibble helped too. She probably associated the previous kibble with feeling poorly, while the new one had no such bad connotations.

Now, in November, Sophia still resembles Meg Ryan, but Meg on an extremely bad hair and skin day—a drab, draggy, and depressed Meg.

Sophia has licked several spots raw on her hipbones, elbows, and tail. / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

Can you guess the illness?  Win a free Spicy Story!

What is wrong with our beautiful girl? We’re trying to find out. Driving all over southern California, we’re visiting specialists and getting tests done. It seems we might finally be zeroing in on an answer.

The vets haven’t yet given a definite diagnosis; we’re waiting for some test results to come back. But they have a strong suspicion as to what Sophia’s got. My own current theory is a little different, but along the same lines.

Would you like to weigh in with your ideas on Sophia’s diagnosis? The first reader to enter a correct guess in the Comments section below this article will receive our next Spicy Story for free.  To see what you’d be in for, here’s a sample of a previous Spicy Story.

Bare patches under her eyes / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

Hint: We believe that most of the symptoms described probably have at their root a single cause.

Tip: To get a better look at the photos, just click on them to enlarge.

Caveat: It might be a while before the vets decide on a diagnosis. Also it might be a while before we complete the next Spicy Story. But if you’re patient and would like to take a shot at helping to solve this puzzling case, please go for it!

So what’s your guess?  A story for your thoughts!

Please FOLLOW Spicy Stories Save Lives by clicking the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button above. You’ll receive email notifications of our new articles. We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else. And it’s free!

Spicy Stories Save Lives proudly sponsors needy animals in the U.S. and around the world.

For example we help Kefalonia Animal Trust (KATs) provide free spay/neuter for hundreds of animals per year, which is one of the best ways to prevent the abandonment and misery of puppies like Noah and Kyla. Please give to KATs via PayPal or bank transfer. Spay/neuter and education are the animals’ best hope for a better future.

Also please consider Animal Rescue Kefalonia (ARK), another group on the island who run a shelter (and took care of Julia) and work miracles with terribly few resources. 

Spicy Stories Save Lives and the author of this article have no affiliation with KATs and ARK other than as a friend, volunteer, and donor.

Seen our book?  Your Adopted Dog: Everything You Need to Know About Rescuing and Caring for a Best Friend in Need, by Shelley Frost and Katerina Lorenzatos Makris, available through Amazon.com.