Skin conditions are one of the most common reasons for a vet visit and one of the most frustrating conditions for owners, pets, and vets. The take-home message is very important: Skin issues are not cured but can be managed. They require constant care to keep under control. This is also one of the most common reasons owners seek a second opinion from another vet. Sometimes, it’s not sorted in one visit and it’s important to see what does and doesn’t work for each patient as treatment is based on the individual.
We have broken it down into nine of the most common reason for skin conditions. It’s very important to come to a proper diagnosis and therefore a prognosis with skin. Often, this requires a biopsy, but it can be as simple as a skin scrape or flea comb. Owner-provided history is also vital.
Environmental Allergies
This is probably one of the most common skin disorders and also the most frustrating one to treat.
Environmental allergies are typically seasonal and begin in young dogs less than three years of age. Environmental allergies are often more common in certain breeds. Contact with environmental allergens such as pollens, grass, or dust mites cause intense itch of the face, feet, ears, chest, and tummy. Environmental allergies are often diagnosed as a matter of exclusion. This means that adverse food reactions, flea allergy dermatitis, infection, and other causes of skin problems may have to be ruled out before the problem is attributed to environmental allergens.
Limiting your dog’s exposure to an environmental allergen is ideal but not always practical! Therein lies the challenging factor when treating these conditions. Environmental allergies are managed with a combination of medications, weekly baths in medicated shampoos, allowing fifteen minutes contact time before rinsing, environmental changes, omega oils, and diets that support the skin. Often, these alone don’t help, and cortisone or other immune suppressant drugs are needed.
This is because the more the dog scratches, the more the skin is damaged. This irritation then causes further scratching, which proliferates the cycle of itching and scratching. The itch needs to be stopped. These drugs do carry side-effects, which is why it is vital to manage it with a vet so as to reduce side effects. Some dogs despite all intervention need to stay on cortisone, but here the goal would be the lowest possible dose at the lowest frequency. Often in these cases, it is a combination of treatment that helps, and although not a food allergy, foods formulated for skin conditions do help alleviate symptoms. It is also important to make sure the animal does not have any parasites (worms, fleas, etc.) that will complicate an allergy.
Food Allergies
Dogs can become allergic to the food they eat. Food typically develop allergies to protein, with the most common offenders being beef, dairy, chicken, and eggs. Dogs with food allergies usually have very itchy skin on the face, feet, ears, and around the anus. Some dogs may also have gastrointestinal signs of food allergy, including increased bowel movements and vomiting.
To diagnose a food allergy, your dog will need to be exclusively fed a diet that it is not allergic to for a period of 8–12 weeks. This is called a food elimination trial. The diet chosen by your veterinarian may contain proteins that your dog is not allergic to or a commercial hydrolysed diet, where the proteins are so small the body does not mount an allergic react to them. When your dog is taking part in a food elimination trial, it is important not to feed it any treats or human food as this can interfere with the results.
Yeast Infections
Yeast is commonly found on the skin of dogs, particularly in the ear canal, between the toes, and around the anus. Dogs with floppy ears are most at risk, but all dogs can be affected. The yeast organisms are opportunistic, which means they take advantage to grow and infect the skin when the conditions are right. Infections can occur in high humidity (e.g. summer), after swimming, or as a secondary infection to allergic skin disease.
Yeast infections cause itchy skin with hair loss, reddened areas and thickening of the skin. Skin lesions are usually accompanied by an offensive smell. Ear issues are often attributed to skin allergies, which, with scratching, can cause secondary yeast or bacterial infections. These also often require chronic care: weekly ear cleaning with a proper ear cleaner, medicated ear ointments, and often cortisone. Ears will constantly flare up if not managed correctly.
Mange
Demodectic mange tends to cause hair loss, bald spots, and sores. Sarcoptic mange causes intense itch with hair loss, reddened skins, and sores. These are usually only found in puppies, immune-compromised pets, and elderly pets. A skin scrape is needed to diagnose this, after which treatment can be prescribed.
Ringworm
Despite the name, ringworm is not caused by a worm but is a fungal infection. It’s also highly contagious and can spread to other animals and humans. Ringworm lesions in dogs typically appear as circular, crusty bald patches. Treatment can involve medicated shampoo or oral medications depending on the severity of infection.
Fleas
This one may seem obvious, but you would be surprised how often owners miss this as a cause for their pets scratching. Not only is their crawling irritating pets can be allergic to the flea saliva and become very itchy after being bitten. As 90% of the flea population live off your dog, treating areas where your dog spends most of its time is important (e.g. pet bedding, vacuuming the house if your pet is welcome indoors). There is a wide range of products to treat fleas. Come in and let us help you choose the one best suited for you.
Bacterial Skin Infections
Bacterial skin infections are often a complication when dogs suffer from another allergy caused by fleas, environment, or food. These infections can occur when your dog scratches and breaks the skin, allowing bacteria to infect the wound. Severe infections can require up to six weeks of antibiotics and often need to be cultured, whereas milder ones respond to antibacterial shampoos.
Dry Skin
Dogs, like people, can get dandruff. The quality of food we feed our dogs can reflect in their skin and coat. As the coat and skin are constantly being shed and replaced, the skin has a high need for protein. Feeding your dog containing high quality sources of protein is essential for healthy skin and coat. Diets high in Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids contain certain vitamins and minerals (e.g. zinc) and have been proven to support healthy skin and coat in dogs.
Autoimmune Disorders
Sometimes, skin conditions that won’t heal are caused by underlying immune disorders, where your dog’s immune system attacks cells in its own body. Skin lesions are usually severe with ulcerations and crusting and your dog may be overall unwell. Your vet will only be able to diagnose this by biopsy and then advise treatment.
There are many foods on the market for both food allergies, as well as foods to support a skin that requires some added care and support.
Please come in for a skin work up and we can discuss the best options of food, omega and zinc oils, as well medicated shampoos.