Giant Freckles On belly?

Hi everyone,

I'm new but have been on this site regularly and it's excellent. My 12 month cav bitch has what look like large freckles on her belly area. They are about the size of a 5 cent piece and light brown in colour. They are not sore or raised at all.
She was spayed about 6 weeks ago so the area was shaved and she did not have any 'freckles' then. Just recently we have noticed these appear because the hair has not fully grown back yet. Someone has suggested that they are part of her mammary glands but some 'freckles' are located on other parts of her belly.
Is this just a skin pigmentation or is it something more serious?
Also every morning she has a right old scratch at her ears(about 3 mins) sometimes whining, is there anything I could get for her for example drops in the Pet store or should I take her to the Vet? Tis doesn't bother her at all throughout the day. Could it be ear mites or something?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions,
I will try to put a picture of Pippins(Blenheim) up so you can all see how beautiful she is!!
Thanks again.

Wesley has the same on his belly. I have no idea. I'll be waiting for the answer too.

Hi Pippins - welcome in out of "lurkdom"!

I think you should take her in to see the vet, since you really have two issues you are concerned about. The routine morning scratching may be more concerning than the belly pigmentation that has developed (esp. since you say she sometimes whines while she's doing it, as if she may be in pain), so you may as well get her looked at.

Is your vet very familiar with Cavaliers and their potential health issues?

My Ellie has those pigments on her belly. I think thats just the way their skin is. If you shave an animal youll see that their skin underneath is full of spots and stuff like that its just that you dont see it with all their fur. Unless it bothers her I dont think the skin splotches are abnormal. My husband's family's Lab also has some on her too so its probably pretty common on dogs

As for the scratching that might be something you would want to have checked out if she cries when it happens.

I would read the SM thread on this forum, just to learn more about the health issues of cavaliers, and print the information up to bring with you to the vet. The ear scratching and crying would concern me...

As for the pigmentation, all three of my cavaliers have that. Their belly colors change as they get older and sometimes spots appear. If you notice, all puppies have precious pink bellies when they are young, then they become dark as they age. Also freckles can seemingly appear out of nowhere. Cody was pure white on one side of his body when he was a pup, now there are little "beauty marks

Thanks everyone,

I'll bring her to the Vet about her ears and ask about the spots too for peace of mind. I'll let you know the verdict.

Thanks a million.

Pippins

Not sure about the freckles; if they definitely were not there before, maybe a rash of some sort? But they do normally have spots on their skin so maybe you just didn;t notice them in the areas that are now shaved?

The scratching could be many things -- the vet will want to check for ear mites for example, but please do print out the information sheet on and symptom sheet on syringomyelia at my SM site (that's the link that is mentioned and you can also go there from the link in my signature below). Just to be on the safe side, have a read thru the SM symptoms just in cse anything else stands out. I believe SM in cavaliers was covered recently in the Irish Vet's Journal. There are many things that would be more likely but many vets are not familiar with this condition and will keep misdiagnosing it as allergies or sprains or disk problems. Also, make sure your vet knows about PSOM, which is like glue ear in children; there's info on that too on the SM site. Scratching and expressions of pain (whining while scratching) are common with both SM and PSOM so if all esle is ruled out then these are the two things you want to look into.

If you are in the Dublin or Kildare or Wicklow regions I cn give you names of vets who know about SM and are familiar with what to eliminate before investigating SM or PSOM as a potential ause of unexplained scratching/pain.

Welcome to the board, Pippins! 8)

I'm a true member of the "take it to the vet" school. If it bothers you then you will feel better if you have a professional take a look at it.

The spots on her belly sound like pigmentation, but that isn't always the case. Just like the moles we humans have they sometimes need to be checked. And the ears definately need (pardon the pun) looking in to. Dogs with "heavy" ears (like Cavaliers and other Spaniels) will sometimes get infections of different kinds in their ears because they don't get much air to them.

Good luck - and let us know what you find out!

Many dogs have freckle like pigments on their tummies. Is it possible that they have always been there but that you hadn't noticed them prior to her being shaved?

Re the ear scratching.... have you looked inside her ears to see if they look red & sore, dirty (mites) or producing a discharge? If she has an issue with her ears I'd be getting a vets advice re treatment rather than buying something over the counter and perhaps risking a mis-diagnosis.

I just got Milly back from being spayed this morning, and guess what I now can see on her belly? Varying sizes of light brown "freckles"! I never would have known they were there, but since she was shaved I can see them well. (She's 12 months and we've just had her a short time, so I don't know what her tummy looked like when she was younger.)

Wallis was shaved for her ulltrasound and has large dark circles on her belly. The skin also looks a bit darker where her hair is more auburn.