Dog Skin Problems

It is accurate to say that canine dermatology is not an exact science..Even when we are aware of a cause of a problem it is not alwayspossible to effect a cure. Skin problems into three general categories: external, internal, and externally caused internal prob-lems, such as inhalant or food allergies.

One of the first observations made by veterinarians in the evaluationof skin disorders is to note the locations of lesions and whether or notthey are symmetrical. If the lesions are equal on both sides of the dogthe condition is suspect of being of internal origin. If asymmetrical, it isthought to be of external origin.

Many skin problems are self-limiting in that even after extendedperiods of severe dermatitis the problem disappears permanently with-out treatment. Many, perhaps most, young dogs develop this problem, which usually but not always disappears with maturity. The question is askedof veterinarians, why, if the problem is contagious, doesn't the seconddog in the house have it too? The answer is that some dogs have animmunity to a particular disease to which another may be susceptible.

Pruritis or Itching. One of the more perplexing dermatologic prob-lems in dogs is pruritis, or itching, which is usually seasonal in the latesummertime and into the fall. Dermatitis and eczema are catchallwords, but since we like labels, many in the profession call the condi-tion "summer eczema."

Once a name is given to a problem we veterinarians are as human as anyone.

After grass allergy came the term "grass fungus"; a fungus that was also found on grass could be cultured from the skin of affected dogs.More recently many veterinarians have decided flea bite dermatitis isthe cause, the theory being that affected dogs are allergic to the saliva of fleas and, theoretically, even one flea can bring on the condition andwhen are most dogs without one flea in the summertime? There is littledoubt that some dogs are allergic to flea saliva, but this should not besweepingly considered the cause of all summer itching.

We would like to offer quite a different opinion. Affected dogs are sensitive to some unidentified substance given off in the mois-ture secreted by the skin. Dogs don't sweat as we do because they have few sweat glands in their skin, but moisture is given offnormally.More moisture forms in hot weather and dogssusceptible to this irritant in the moisture suffer.

There is no doubt that baths give temporary relief to the itching ofsummer eczema but often for only twelve or so hours. Medicated soapsare effective but an oily solution which we call "yellow oil lotion" seemsto be better. Perhaps the oil prevents the contact of the irritatingunknown substance with the skin. The formula of one third each byvolume fine sulphur powder, corn oil, and kerosene has been a greathelp to relieve the itching but has the disadvantage of messiness.Pursuant to our belief that moisture is the cause of itching, we haveasked owners of dogs with early-stage summer eczema to dust their petswith an antiperspirant powder human antiperspirant not a deodorant daily. Many believe it has brought great relief and prevented theproblem of previous years.

Only in desperation should steroids be given to stop itching, as ste-roids depress the immune system. It is suggested the route of adminis-tration should be through the mouth and not by injection; once in-jected steroids cannot be withdrawn.

Lip-fold Pyoderma. Some breeds have folds of skin along the lowerjaw that are subject to an infection that usually produces a foul odor.Many owners think the problem is halitosis perhaps caused by badteeth or gums, but touching the area with a fingertip and smelling itreveals the odor. Antibiotics and even tamed iodine will correct thisproblem. An occasional dog experiences this problem even withouthaving the deep lip folds.

Moist Eczema or "Hot Spot." Moist eczema begins as a spot thesize of your little fingernail one day, grows to the size of a silver dollarthe next, and is the size of your palm on the third day. The hair fallsout; the area is yellow, glistening, and painful. One of our colleaguessaid he thought that seven days in the hospital with treatment threetimes a day cures this disease; if treated otherwise it takes a week. The yellow oil lotion is the best treatment to be used on dogs with this problem. It must be applied liberally twicedaily until the scab that forms works off. The hair grows back with noaftereffects. This treatment usually reduces the discomfort and correctsthe problem in less than a week.

Shedding. It is perfectly normal for a dog to shed. The denser thecoat, the more obvious the condition. Even what may appear to a petowner to be excess shedding is a sign of good health. Dogs maintainedoutside tend to shed twice a year, in spring and fall, but pets living inthe house and exposed to the outside a few tinier a day tend to shed365 days a year. Breeders refer to a dog "blowing its coat" when shed-ding is at its peak. It is not normal for shedding to leave nude areas andif this happens you take the dog to the vet.

That hormonal problems are reflected in problems of the skin is well established. One good exampleis the loss of the coat in a female a month or so after whelping a litterof puppies. Many females in the wild lose a good deal of their coats toline their nests prior to whelping, but perhaps in domestication wehave altered the dog's physiology.

Allergies. Allergies may be caused by inhalation or ingestion of aller-gens. Once the cause is established some dogs may be desensitized byinjections.

One city dog had been treated for recurrent attacks of itching,scratching, localized hair loss, and open lesions off and on for a year. Allergy problems due to ingestion are in effect year-round. One ofour canine patients cannot tolerate meat but can cat eggs with no illeffects. Remember, commerical dog foods have meat and fish in dehy-drated form. Food allergies can often be diagnosed by the owner whoselectively withholds a particular food from the diet over a two-weekperiod. Milk and eggs must be high on any list of allergic foods and,since these foods are commonly used in baking, all foods with anycombination of these should be withheld.

One of the more dramatic allergy reactions to food manifests itselfby large hivelike lesions that expand as you watch them. Some reachtwo inches in diameter and rise over half an inch above the normalskin. A dog with such a reaction usually shows no discomfort from this"hob-nail" pattern of swellings all over the body. This dog may berushed to a veterinarian as an emergency and the veterinarian maywatch the swellings recede before his or her eyes. If this condition ispersistent, steroids are helpful. One problem lies in the difficulty in thedetermination of the cause. It may be food ingested twelve or morehours prior to the reaction. The instance of a dog on a commercial foodthat has received a specific food in addition may give us the clue neces-sary, but as so many dogs either forage outside or are fed a variety ofleftovers it may be difficult to pinpoint the causative agent.

Food and Skin Disease. It is often said that certain foods are too"heatening to the blood," that they cause skin disease. There is verylittle truth in that idea. Never feed fat or starches in hot weather becausethey cause eczema.

But let's put the old cliches aside and recognize that whatever thecause and effects there are some foods that affect some dogs adversely.We are inclined to think the cases are rare but some are so dramaticthey should he mentioned. Although many diet changes had been advised, including one week when onlyraw hamburger was fed, there was always the common denominator:meat. Of course dry commercial dog foods contain meat in a dehy-drated form.

The vegetarian diet consisted of a mixture of one half soybean mealcooked in a pressure cooker with one quarter of either boiled rice oroatmeal and one quarter crushed cooked mixed vegetables. A vitamin mineral mixture and two tablespoons of corn oil.

The dog has been normal since that time except for one twenty-fourhour period after a cookout, when someone fed the dog half a ham-burger.

Since the meat-sensitive German Shepherd we have found anotherdog that can eat only small amounts of meat without breaking out withan itchy rash. However, many' of our vegetarian clients' owners arefeeding our vegetarians formula out of choice.

Many dogs have a violent reaction to pork not small amounts buton that rare occasion when they are fed a meal of leftover smoked orfresh pork. The results are usually vomiting and diarrhea for part of aday.

Lick Granulomas. Chronic thickened skin on the surface of a fore-leg and occasionally on a rear leg where it is convenient for a dog to lickmay be a lick granuloma. The hair falls out and the skin appears to betoughs and featherlike. When medication is applied without a bandage,the dog promptly licks it off. At one time these lesions were treated byinjecting them with snake venom. Cobra venom was the choice and didhelp many such cases, but steroid injections seem to be more effectivewith topical antibiotics. Bandaging may help but often the dog licksthe edges of the bandage, resulting in a new lick granuloma. Surgeryhelps some cases but not infrequently the dog licks the healing woundand produces another area of involvement where the affected tissuehad been removed. There is good evidence that if the dog stops lickingthe lesions heals. And one wonders if the saliva contains an agent capa-ble of causing a lick granuloma.

Interdigital Pyoderma. Pyoderma means pus in the skin, and somebreeds appear particularly susceptible to this disagreeable problem. Ab-scesses develop between the toes, swell and rupture, then drain andheal. In a few weeks the swelling returns and the same sequence ofevents happens. Some dogs develop these abscesses between all the toeson all four feet but more often there will be only one or two at any onetime. The cause is not understood but experience indicates small dosesof the antibiotic tetracycline in the food daily does control but not curethe problem. Surgery helps to correct some of these lesions.

Fly Strike. In some areas of the country a blood-sucking fly willattack the ear tips of erect-eared dogs, causing bleeding and scabbingthere. These flies attack only dog that are kept outdoors. It helps tokeep the flies away by mixing a fly repellent, such as tolumide, withVaseline and applying it to the ear tips three times daily. Your veteri-narian can tell you whether these flies are a danger in your area.

Dandruff. The outer surface of the skin is shed constantly and evenwhen this shedding is normal it appears excessive in three- to four-month-old puppies. Many dogs have a coat texture that permits thedandruff to fall out unnoticed, but other coats seem to hold it, sug-gesting a problem. Any good shampoo and even dish-washing detergentwill remove it with a bath. But excess dandniff shedding can be abnor-mal and caused by many problems. A lack of fat in the diet predisposesmany dogs to have dandruff. Both allergy and the common types ofmange can cause it. Irritants such as too strong a soap used in a bathmay create large flakes of dandruff some days later.

Persistent excess dandruff may indicate the early stages of one ofseveral hormonal problems and a veterinarian should be consulted.

Coat Color Changes. Some dogs with dark coats may grow lighter-colored hair after a skin infection. Others with light-colored coats maygrow dark hair. Usually this color change returns to normal after shed-ding.

Ringworm. The term "ringworm" has nothing to do with worms butis a fungal infection that may be contracted from humans or vice versa.

Mange. Both demodectic and sarcoptic mange are skin problemscaused by mites.

Cheyletiella Dermatitis. Another less common suite-related derma-titis is cheyletiella dermatitis. It is easily destroyed by flea sprays,powders, and rinses.

Alopecia. There are more inherited skin problems affecting severalbreeds than space permits describing. One of these inherited problems,alopecia, may affect all breeds. The word refers to abnormal loss of hairwith no recognized infection or hormonal imbalance. There is no in-flammation and no itching involved, but unfortunately there is no reliable treatment.

Nasal Solar Dermatitis. Although also called "Collie rinse," nasalsolar dermatitis is not confined to that breed. The problem is a sensitiv-ity to the sun that causes a dermatitis on the surface of the nose. Thecondition sometimes eventually extends up to the eyes. When theproblem is advanced, the nose becomes disfigured and erodes away.When the dog is kept out of the sun, the condition improves. Tattoo-ing, covering the nose with black ink from felt marking pens has con-trolled many cases, but the tissue may be so damaged that tattoos maynot "take." Perhaps making the dog a nocturnal dog is most effec-tive. Steroids and antibiotics also help minimize solar dermatitis.

Canine Pemphigus. Superficial ulcers of the lips, eyes, anus, vulva,and penis that progress to deep ulcers which then spread to other areasis a condition called pemphigus. When present this autoirnmunc dis-ease is not correctible with antibiotics and antiseptics but steroids andother medications do help to control it. Pemphigus is considered incur-able.

Acanthosis Nigricans. With acanthosis nigricans a few breeds anddogs of mixed breeds develop a dark pigmentation, usually under theforelegs, that progresses slowly to other areas of the body. The skinbecomes thickened and is sometimes referred to as elephant skin. There is no external treatment to cure this nuisance disease but pallia-tive salves and lotions help to minimize it. It is found in dogs with adecrease of thyroid activity.

Seborrhea is a result of overactive glands of the skincalled sebaceous glands exuding a waxy substance often with a rancidodor in excessive amounts. When this occurs, the dog is miserable withsome itching and thickening and scaling of the skin. Although there isno known cause, seborrhea can be controlled by bathing at weekly orless intervals for the life of the dog. Special medicated soaps are neces-sary, which your veterinarian may prescribe.

Atopic Dermatitis. Skin inflammation from inhaling airborne parti-cles that produce an allergic reaction is called canine atopy. The agentsmost commonly responsible are pollens, dander, dust, and wool. Thetendency to get this dermatitis, which starts between one and fouryears of age, is thought to be inherited. Saliva-stained extremities anditching are common signs, but many dry itchy conditions may be atopy.Skin testing is usually helpful in a diagnosis.

Contact Dermatitis. Marry substances applied to the skin eitherintentionally or accidentally, such as acids, caustics, strong soaps anddetergents, may cause irritations. Synthetic fabrics including carpetingand wool have been found to cause this as have chemically impregnatedplastic collars. Some people claim poison ivy causes contact dermatitisbut our research, which involved massaging the leaves into our ownBeagles' lower abdominal skin twice weekly for two months, producedno reaction, although one of us developed the typical poisoning. Eveneating from plastic dishes may cause dermatitis of the lips and nose insensitive dogs.

Frostbite and Burns. It requires prolonged low temperatures to causefrostbite in dogs and virtually never occurs if a dog is free to findshelter. If an dog is chained or otherwise confined where there isinadequate shelter, however, the ear tips and scrotum arc the mostvulnerable areas to be affected by frostbite. Systemic antibiotics andantibiotic ointments are the treatments that should be used. They areobtained from a veterinarian.

Perhaps the most common cause of burns is hot fluids, such as coffeeor tea, being spilled from a stove. You should apply an ice pack forfifteen minutes and take the dog to your veterinarian. He or she willgive you an antibiotic with a steroid to be applied frequently. Moreserious burn cases should be hospitalized.

Removal of Paint. Most of us are cognizant of the dangers of lead in oil-based paints. Since some of these oil-based paint pigments are poisonous they should be removed immediately. If the dog comes home with still wet oil-based paint on its coat, turpentine will remove it, if plenty is used without allowing too much to come in contact with the dog's skin. The turpentine must be removed by thorough washing with soap and water after each application.

If the oil-based paint is dry, first try to dissolve it. And if your dog's skin is especially tender, use linseed oil to do this. When you have diluted the paint greatly, wash it and the oil out with soap and water.You may, however, have to cut the paint out with scissors as a last resort, even though this may make the dog look less attractive for awhile. Of course, water-based paints can be removed by washing with water.

Animal Odors. The sources of dog odors, aside from excrement of course, are ear canker, lip-fold or other infections, anal gland secretions, sebum from thousands of body glands, and dog collars, which absorb sebum. All of these can be eliminated by cleaning the ars, by treating the infections, by expressing the anal glands, and by thorough bathing.

Parasite Control. Bathing in itself will not eliminate parasites, as many people seem to think, but preparations of excellent efficiency for use with bathing are readily available. Some are used as a rinse or dip following the bath; others are liquid soaps or soap cakes with insect killers added. Some manufacturers claim that their products will pre-vent fleas and lice from re infesting dogs for several days to a week after use. Some claim their products will kill the eggs of lice (nits).

In eliminating lice, it is necessary to apply the killing agent every eleven days, as this breaks the generation and so eliminates the lice. If there is any doubt about the thoroughness of the treatment, apply the preparation once a week for three weeks.

The more effective way to control pests is to use a liquid dip, soap, or rinse to kill all the insect pests during the bath and then keep the dog well powdered with a nonpoisonous flea powder. Flea collars that were once effective are less so now, thanks to the emergence of resistant fleas.