Dog Care: Skin Care 101
skin problems are among the most common things most veterinarians see.
Here are some tips on how to identify various skin care issues and dog allergies.When treating skin, you must be very organized and systematic. First you must eliminate secondary infections. These can be bacterial, yeast, or parasites. They can be treated with antibiotics, antifungal shampoos, and, if you are in a part of the country with fleas, (look for itching at the base of the tail) flea control products. Often it is a good idea to get a skin scrape to rule out mange (not so common in adults, but easier to treat than allergies). Quite often Prednisone is used during this phase for short-term control of the itch, but it should be used for only a short period of time.
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Dog allergies fall into 3 categories:
- inhalant
- food
- contact
The few of them that are year-round can only be detected by skin testing at a dermatologist. Contact dog allergies can be more year-round, and it may be worth changing your laundry soap or eliminating any wool blankets. Food allergies tend to have several things in common: They happen year-round, they don’t always completely go away with prednisone, they tend to be feet and ears, and they start very young in life. To diagnose a food allergy, you feed a hypoallergenic food exclusively for 6-10 weeks. If the itch goes away, it is a food allergy. If not, there is likely another dog allergy (unless there is still some infection present).
Inhaled dog allergies are the hardest to control. There is allergy testing available, just like in humans. It is long and complex, but sometimes gives us a piece of the puzzle or even a treatment plan. Most people control these with medications. Prednisone is usually very effective and cheap, but it prematurely ages a dog so shouldn’t be given long-term. Antihistamines are very safe and can be used long-term, but are often not extremely effective. I would recommend trying multiple antihistamines as they can work differently in different dogs. Cyclosporine is becoming a very popular method of controlling the symptoms of dog allergies. It is relatively safe long-term and is very effective. I would recommend discussing all your options with your veterinarian.
