We all have ever had that moment when we wished our furry friends could talk, especially when they won’t stop scratching and licking their skin. Skin problems in dogs vary from simple irritations to more serious conditions. It does not only mean pain but signals deeper health issues that demand proper care and attention.
Healthy skin matters to a dog’s health as a whole. It keeps external pathogens away from it, maintains the temperature, and performs immune functions.
Let’s move on. This is going to explain 9 Common Types of Skin Diseases in Dogs With Pictures and their Parenting tips.
Types of Skin Diseases in Dogs
Here are the Common Types of Skin Diseases in Dogs With Pictures:
1. Allergic Dermatitis:
Allergic dermatitis in dogs is primarily caused by two significant factors.
- Environmental allergies
- Food allergies
Environmental allergies occur when the following substances contact your pet’s body, such as pollen, soil, grass, dust mites, and mold. This results in symptoms such as itching, licking, chewing, or rubbing, especially on the face and paws.
Food allergies are caused by ingredients like wheat, soy, and other proteins. When ingested, it causes digestive intolerance and also negatively impacts the health of the dog’s skin.
Common symptoms include redness, inflammation, itching, and recurring ear infections.
Treatment Tip: First, find and avoid the environmental or food allergen that causes skin infections. That may involve changing your environment, diet, or other recommendations from your veterinarian.
2. Ring Worms:
It is a fungal infection, Very contagious, it often affects the dogs with lesser immunity more.
Circular or ring-shaped patches of hair loss, usually red and scaly, are some of the symptoms. It can be itchy with raised bumps or pus-filled lesions.
Treatment Tip: Ringworm infection can be treated through antifungal shampoos, itch relief creams in the case of pets or through oral medication.
Even the vets suggest cleaning the dog’s environment, bedding and toys, and dietary changes as the coat remains clean and can help enhance their immune system.
3. Pyoderma:
The pyoderma is considered to be a bacterial infection that comes about because of factors including allergic reactions, parasitic issues, hormonal imbalance, and inner skin disorders. Its clinical signs are the inflammation, swelling, and redness inside the skin due to the presence of bumps full of pus.
The superficial pyoderma usually affects the top layers of the skin whereas deep pyoderma would be quite painful and affect the inside layers of the skin or follicles.
Treatment Tip: Vets generally prescribe specific medicated shampoos, sprays, and baths for the treatment of the affected area to reduce the skin condition and inflammation. Apart from these simple treatments, oral antibiotics are used to remove bacterial infections.
4. Seborrhea:
Seborrhea is a skin disease in dogs characterised with an overproduction of sebum, oil produced by skin glands.
Other signs include flaky or oily patches, a bad smell from the area, and some thick crusty patches, especially between the toes. Some areas are more exposed than others. It has been noticed in places around the belly, under the tail in dogs, under armpits, and at the base of the neck.
This condition is associated with redness, flakiness or dandruff, and itchiness, all of which lead to hair loss.
Treatment Tip: The infected area should be kept clean to prevent further infections. The treatment is bathing with medicated shampoos or topical creams to remove excess oil and scale.
More severe cases are advised with dietary changes and oral medications to bring infection under control.
5. Yeast infection:
This is quite a common disease in dogs due to an overgrowth on the skin by a special yeast called Malassezia, which usually causes issues such as hormonal imbalances or allergies, amongst others for the underlying conditions.
Characteristics include redness because of inflamed skin, greasy pus, and a strong smell around the infected areas. In addition, secondary damage to the skin has been seen in doggos as a result of itching, licking, or chewing on an affected area.
Treatment Tip: It sometimes may take weeks to clear all the yeast off a dog’s skin. Stick by the Vet’s treatment as he/she should guide this for the improvement of immunity for the dog to feel healthy and groom itself regularly.
The antifungal-antipruritic medication that kills the excessive yeast overproduction is the usual treatment for yeast.
6. Fleas & Ticks
These are the common external parasites seen on the skin coat or on the body surface of dogs, and their living on the body means sucking blood from them as they transmit viral diseases with the help of their saliva.
Aggressive skin scratching and chewing at night; visible parasites on the skin or flea dirt is visible on the skin are some symptoms to detect the fleas and ticks issues in dogs
In extreme cases, dogs develop allergic reactions, anaemia from blood loss in puppies and smaller dogs, or even transmit diseases carried by these parasites.
Treatment Tip: Regular grooming and environmental cleanliness helps spot and prevent fleas and ticks.
Ayurvedic, 100% natural shampoos from Dogsee Veda will take care of your dog’s overall hygiene, and its anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties can soothe itching and repel the parasites.
7. Lupus:
Lupus is an autoimmune disease in which the body strikes its own cells due to failure by the immune system.
- Scaling on the skin
- Hair shedding
- Lesions on eyes, paws, and the nose
- Low appetite
- Lethargy
- joint pain.
Treatment Advice: The treatment mainly involves suppressing the abnormal immune responses by administering immunosuppressive drugs, which include corticosteroids and Vitamin E supplements.
Intake of antioxidants, which include Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Beta-Carotene, has been highly helpful in improving the immune capacity of the dog.
8. Alopecia:
Dogs suffer from alopecia caused by various health conditions like hormonal imbalance, allergy, parasitic infections, inherited disorders, and immune-related diseases.
The symptoms include shedding of bare skin patches or fur loss on one or several parts of the body. Other irritation or scratching of the skin of dogs might also be manifested.
Treatment Tip: The treatment of the condition depends on identifying the underlying health issue.
Additional measures could include dietary modification, supplementation with fatty acids, therapy for infections and parasites, and grooming.
9. Mange:
Mange refers to a skin disease caused by mites infesting dog hair follicles and dog skin. There are identified two types of mange – Demodectic mites, which cause it, and Sarcoptic mites, which cause sarcoptic mange.
Infection can be transferred in the form of direct animal contact or contaminated environment.
The symptoms include bald patches facing the face and around eyes, redness, and crusty, scaly, and thickened skins.
Treatment Advice: Treatment of Mange generally involves topical or oral drugs for mite-killing and relieving the symptoms.
Special medicated baths may be prescribed by vets, too, that involve special shampoos to reduce the itching sensation and speed up the healing process.
Conclusion
Time for some soul searching. Are we putting in enough hours giving them good grooming and skincare? They can’t do much except squirm, scratch, and itch away the irritation, but you know you can do better. The above listed skin issues occur in dogs and some of them are not actually avoidable, but with proper treatment, you can help your fur baby to get healthy faster.
Note: Always consult a qualified veterinarian for your dog’s specific health needs. Follow prescribed treatments and recommended precautions to ensure your pet’s safety and well-being.- PawNpets
