A Japanese Spritz was taken to London-Based animal charity, Mayhew after being found wandering the streets at night by a member of the public.
The 18-month old little dog, named Fox had raw looking rashes on his legs and neck that were clearing causing him pain, but had no collar or microchip so the charity had no way of knowing where he had come from.
Aside from his obvious injuries, Fox seemed clean and well groomed and it was hard for the Mayhew team to believe he was a stray.
However, the Animal Welfare Team were at a loss as to what his sore rashes were after swabs came back clear and there was no known infection present.
The team treated Fox with medicated baths to see if the inflammation and redness went down and admitted him to the isolations unit until they could work out what was wrong.
A spokesperson for Mayhew said: “Unfortunately, we soon discovered that the medicated baths seemed to be irritating Fox’s wounds even further. After stopping them, we decided just to monitor Fox’s skin and how things developed and see if we could find some further clues as to the cause of the irritation.
“We gave Fox a buster collar to prevent him from scratching and opening up the wounds further and made him as comfortable as possible in his cabin. After a few days of observation, we noticed that the rashes appeared to be calming down, and we’re already much less red and raw.
“Fox’s general health check came back with no concerns, so we continued to care for him as best we could. Soon enough, the irritation all but disappeared and we were able to take a closer look. Fox’s exposed skin was now shiny and hairless and no longer seemed to be causing him any undue harm or alarm.”
The Mayhew kennels team concluded that Fox’s condition was likely to be the result of an old trauma, possibly a burn, which had flared up again after being exposed to a unknown irritant on the streets.
The spokesperson at Mayhew added: “After being kept clean and well cared for, the inflammation had reduced dramatically, and Fox was able to show his true colours – as a friendly, happy and bouncy pup.
“We won’t ever know Fox’s full story, but we are determined to give him a happy ending. He is clearly a tough cookie and is currently on the hunt for his forever home.”
If you’d like to find out about Fox or any of the animals currently in Mayhew’s care, you can visit www.themayhew.org.
