Types of dermatitis in dogs and methods of its treatment. Dermatitis in dogs: photos, symptoms, treatment of atopic, flea, allergic Treatment of allergic dermatitis in dogs

Inflammatory processes on the skin in dogs is a problem that can torment an animal of any breed, regardless of the conditions of detention and the degree of care for it. One of the most common skin diseases is dermatitis in dogs. The disease is dangerous not only by the discomfort that appears, but also by a decrease in the dog's immunity.

Dermatitis in dogs is a special type of allergic reaction of the body to the penetration of a foreign body or substance into it. The inflammatory process affects not only the epidermis, but also penetrates into the deeper layers of the skin. The disease is characterized by redness of the skin, the formation of ulcers, wounds, erosions.

With dermatitis, areas of the dog's skin become inflamed, erosions, ulcers and wounds form.

The intensity of manifestations depends on the type of dermatitis:

How does dermatitis manifest itself?

All types of dermatitis have relatively similar external manifestations:

Dermatitis is a disease that directly depends on the influence of environmental factors and the internal characteristics of the body.

Most often, the disease manifests itself in the presence of the following conditions:

• The microclimate in the apartment (dust, cleaning products, use of air fresheners).
• Season, climatic features (air humidity, prevailing temperature, flora).
• Concomitant diseases (dysbiosis, allergies, liver disease).

There are breeds for which dermatitis is a characteristic disease.

Most often, the disease manifests itself in the following breeds:

• Sharpei.
• Pug.
• Boxer.
• Chow chow.
• Labrador.
• Beagle.
• Bulldogs.
• German Shepherd.

For the first time, dermatitis appears in puppies at 6-7 months, then it appears periodically under the influence of provoking factors.

First aid for a dog

First aid for dermatitis is to alleviate the condition of the pet and relieve pain. Before visiting the veterinarian, hair is removed from the affected areas. Areas of skin with signs of irritation are treated with an antiseptic to prevent further inflammation. Dead scales are softened and carefully removed. Then the treated area is sprinkled with a powdered antiseptic: streptocide, boric acid.

Attention. With contact dermatitis, it is necessary to limit the contact of the animal's skin with the source of dermatitis. If, for example, irritation has arisen due to wearing a collar, it must be removed, and after treatment, replaced with another, better one.

Diagnosis and treatment of dermatitis

Therapy for dermatitis depends on the causes of its occurrence. The greatest difficulty is the diagnosis of atopic (allergic) dermatitis, since it requires clarification of a specific allergen.

The anamnesis of the disease is compiled on the basis of information:

• First appearance of rash. The time of appearance of skin irritations is an important diagnostic factor, since atopic dermatitis manifests itself in the spring-autumn period, food allergy - all year round.
• Heredity.
• What parts of the body are most covered with irritation.
• The color and nature of the rash.
• Under what conditions did dermatitis develop?
• Laboratory tests are used:
• Swab cultures for fungus.
• General and biochemical analysis of blood.
• Analysis of blood serum for hormones.

In the treatment of dermatitis, local remedies, oral preparations and physiotherapy methods are used. Antiseptic dressings are used to relieve irritation., which produce tissue regeneration, relieve inflammation, destroy fungal infection. For these purposes, applications of ozokerite, paraffin are used. Pain is relieved by novocaine blockade.

The course of treatment of dermatitis includes the following means:

Important. With purulent dermatitis, bathing the animal is contraindicated in order to avoid additional infection of wounds.

Folk remedies for dermatitis

Drug treatment of the disease can be combined with folk recipes used to treat wounds and relieve redness:

• Potato compress. Grated raw potatoes are placed on gauze and applied to the affected area.
• Herbal ointment. Chamomile, Ivan-tea for a tablespoon, two glasses of hay dust is poured with water and boiled for 5 minutes in a water bath. The broth is filtered, add 1 tablespoon of butter and cook until a homogeneous mass is formed. The mixture is stirred with glycerin in equal proportions. The ointment is applied to the affected areas 4 times a day for 30 days.
• Pear lotions. A glass of crushed pear leaves is boiled in half a liter of water for 5 minutes, infused for 12 hours. Used in the form of lotions.

Prevention of dermatitis

To prevent the development of dermatitis on the skin of a dog, you should follow the rules for caring for a dog's coat:

Timely complex treatment allows you to remove the symptoms of dermatitis in dogs in a fairly short period. In 90% of cases, the disease is cured completely. If left untreated, dermatitis becomes chronic.

We offer you to watch a video in which the owner of the dog talks about his experience in treating a pet from atopic dermatitis. We wish you a pleasant viewing!

Dermatitis is a word of Greek origin, and it means inflammation of the skin. It is customary to subdivide allergic dermatitis in dogs into several forms:

Symptoms of flea dermatitis:

• the animal itches, tries to bite out insects biting it, finely clicking its teeth on the skin;
• nodules, vesicles with exudate appear at the site of bites;
• scratching is noticeable on the skin, the skin thickens;
• most of the scratching is localized in the area from the waist to the base of the dog's tail (see photo below).

In some cases, the skin becomes darker, or heavily pigmented spots appear on it. External signs of flea dermatitis in dogs can be seen in the photo.

It appears mainly on hairless areas of the body:

• belly and groin;
• armpits
• the inner surface of the ears;
• eyelids, lips;
• anus, loop (in bitches).

The cause of the development of an allergic reaction are allergens of various origins. It can be:

• pollen and plant sap;
• hygiene products (shampoo, wool conditioner);
• insecticidal preparations (drops, sprays and flea powders, anti-flea collars);
• materials used in repair work (paints, solvents, varnishes, building mixtures, etc.);
• materials and their components used for the manufacture of dog bedding and ammunition (for example, dyes or impregnation);
• household chemicals;
• agricultural chemicals: fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, etc.

Symptoms of contact dermatitis

In places of contact with an irritating substance, redness appears, accompanied by itching. Papules or vesicles may form. Perhaps the formation of weeping inflamed areas. In the photo you can see the most characteristic external signs of contact dermatitis. Treatment involves the obligatory cessation of contact with the irritating substance.

Dermatitis due to food allergies

Food allergies with skin manifestations are often found in Shar Pei dogs, Boxers, Pekingese, Bullmastiffs, etc. You can often see photos of dogs with a generalized form of allergy aggravated by secondary infections. Treatment is not always successful.

Foods that most often cause allergies:

• boiled chicken, poultry products as part of finished feeds;
• yeast;
• beef;
• eggs;
• wheat and semolina;
• millet and barley groats;
• beets and carrots;
• preservatives and dyes in feed.

As a rule, ready-made foods with a high protein content are more likely to cause allergies. Sometimes the dog's body may not react to the meat itself, but to the residues of hormones and antibiotics contained in it that the cattle received before slaughter.

Food allergy symptoms:

• rash, itching, scratching;
• the appearance of weeping areas in the folds of the skin; the dog seems to "sweat";
• an unpleasant smell from the skin, wool and from the ears of the animal;
• hair loss in the area along the ridge, on the sacrum and along the tail;
• mucinosis, skin thickening, dandruff, etc.

Photos of the most characteristic symptoms of food allergies in different breeds of dogs:

Treatment

Secondary infections: Malassezia dermatitis

On the skin of healthy dogs, microorganisms are necessarily present, which can be considered opportunistic pathogens. Allergies can trigger inflammation caused by these bacteria and fungi. One such pathogen is the Malassezia fungus, which causes Malassezia dermatitis.

As a rule, Malassezia dermatitis affects the skin between the fingers, ears, anus, lips, stomach, and neck of a dog. Malassezia dermatitis is difficult to diagnose because the pathogen is present on the skin and coat of all dogs and cultures are inconclusive. The most easily recognized interdigital malassezia dermatitis, which in dogs causes a characteristic reddish-brown staining of the skin and nails (see photo below). Common symptoms that Malassezia dermatitis gives can be seen in the photo:

How difficult is it to treat fungal Malassezia dermatitis in dogs? Treatment depends on the extent of the lesion. In the presence of small local foci (interdigital dermatitis on the paws of a dog), you can get by with the use of external agents: antifungal ointments and creams, treatment with a solution of chlorhexidine, etc. If the dog has extensive foci of the disease, it will have to be treated systemically.

The article is presented for informational purposes. The appointment of treatment should be made only by a doctor!

Skin diseases in pets are not uncommon. Regardless of the reasons for their occurrence, these pathologies are very dangerous, as they often lead to serious depletion of the animal, a decrease in the level of its immunity, and the appearance becomes - at least shoot in horror films. It is worth adding to this the duration of treatment (up to six months or longer) and its cost ... In general, you already understand that dermatitis in dogs is a serious "sore" that should be taken with all possible responsibility. And in order not to get confused, it is important to learn as much as possible about this disease!

In general, dermatitis is an inflammation of the skin. More precisely, all its layers. There are many types of dermatitis, for which the main symptoms are common: redness, swelling of the skin, as well as the formation of scabs, erosions or vesicles on its surface.

Main classification

Veterinary medicine "adopted" the main classification from physicians. So, it includes the following varieties of the disease:

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, there are much more varieties of dermatitis, and we will try to talk about them in this article.

Predisposing factors

There are quite a few of them. Firstly, nutrition plays a huge role both in the development and in the prevention of these pathologies. It should be balanced in vitamins, trace elements and nutrients. This is ideal, of course. In practice, this can only be achieved if the diet is compiled by a competent specialist, or when using special feeds designed for your breed, the manufacturer of which has created food for young, old, lactating, active ... in a word, for all types of dogs. The conditions of detention are also of great importance. If the dog is constantly dirty, unkempt, with wool matted and glued together from dirt, then you should not be surprised at the “suddenly” inflammation of the skin that is probably stomped on by myriads of ticks and fleas. In a word, there can be many reasons. Let's talk about specific types.

Mechanical

Read also: Nerve paralysis in a dog, types, causes and treatment

contact variety

It is also common, especially in dogs living in urban apartments. It develops when some irritating factors (of physical or chemical origin) act on the skin for quite a long time. These may include: detergents and disinfectants, cosmetics, constant exposure to high temperatures. In the latter case, dermatitis manifests itself if the dog constantly prefers to sleep somewhere near the central heating radiators. Because of this, this process often turns into a chronic, sluggish type.

In severe cases, the skin begins to dry, crack, and the resulting damage is quickly seeded with pathogenic microflora (including purulent). Allergic-type contact dermatitis is even more common. As the name implies, it is caused by the contact of the allergen on the skin of the dog. In this case, bubbles quickly appear on it, swelling and severe itching appear. The contact type of inflammation is dangerous because in many cases it develops rather slowly, which greatly complicates the identification of the true cause of the disease. This leads to both a slowdown in treatment and a sharp rise in the cost of this process.

Peri-wound dermatitis

It develops in the case of only purulent, necrotic wounds, has an exudative character. The fact is that the exudate from them, getting on the skin near the injury itself, irritates the epithelium, causing severe inflammation. The tissues in this place swell strongly, and are also exposed to pyogenic microflora, as a result of which the total area of ​​the wound increases dramatically (bacterial dermatitis). Such a process is fraught with the development of other variants of purulent diffuse inflammation. Signs of near-wound dermatitis are quite specific: the hair around the wound is at first constantly glued and matted from secretions (wet type). Then it begins to fall out, exposing a reddened, swollen surface.

medical

Click to view in a new window. Attention, the photo contains images of sick animals!

It is very often found in the "company" with the type described above, especially with inept. So, if you “heartily” anoint the edges of the wound with iodine, then you can easily cause a skin inflammatory process, which, being associated with inflammation in the wound itself, sharply worsens the already far from ideal condition of the animal. However, the presence of a wound for the development of this pathology is not mandatory. So, if for some reason an animal was bandaged with some kind of ointment or liniment, which did not change for a couple of weeks, then severe skin irritation would definitely develop. If nothing is done, then soon it will develop into dermatitis.

Thermal dermatitis

Well, everything is clear here. If your dog has suffered a more or less extensive burn, then an inflammatory reaction will begin in 100% of cases. Often occurs, caused by constant licking of the affected area. Actually, in many cases, it is not the inflammation itself that is dangerous, but the most severe intoxication that hits the kidneys, liver and brain tissues. Very often (almost always) the affected areas are seeded with pyogenic microflora, and massive suppuration further exacerbates the serious condition of the animal. Important! For some reason, many people forget that “thermal” can be understood not only as a burn lesion of the skin, but also as a necrotic process during frostbite. In principle, the development of the disease is similar.

Read also: Understanding the Causes of Hair Loss in Dogs

Perhaps the most common, little-studied and unpleasant type of inflammatory processes. Often this dermatitis is seasonal (“poplar time”, for example). It is also common because even in good dog food today you can almost certainly find preservatives, dyes and even flavors. Of course, this applies to a greater extent to low-quality food, but often even products from quite “decent” manufacturers can “boast” of such additives. Do not forget about the unreal assortment of household chemicals, cosmetics, as well as other substances that a dog can meet daily. The accumulation of all this in the body (sensitization, roughly speaking) sooner or later leads to a generalized allergic reaction.

In principle, it is dangerous, if only because of anaphylactic shock (which develops suddenly and always unexpectedly), the animal can die at any moment. In addition, scientists have been saying for years that allergic reactions are one of the main causes of autoimmune diseases. The most unpleasant of all this "company" - atopic dermatitis in dogs. Without going into subtleties, this is the name of the hereditary predisposition of certain breeds and individual animals to certain types of allergies caused by certain types of allergens. Fluffy, isn't it? And how veterinarians and breeders themselves suffer with them! It happens that there is neither exact certainty in the cause, nor a treatment plan ... Currently, the atopic type of dermatitis is considered by many veterinarians and biologists as an independent autoimmune pathology, the in-depth study of which experts have just begun to engage in.

One of the most common pathologies is atopic dermatitis in dogs. The main reason for the increase in the number of tetrapods was the deterioration of environmental conditions.

Atopic dermatitis is a reaction of the body of the animal to the activity of the allergen. The pathology is inherited. In puppies from the same litter, the pathogen may differ.

An allergic reaction occurs when a foreign substance enters the skin or respiratory tract. The immune system produces antibodies aimed at eliminating irritants. Without a trace, this protective process does not pass. The result is a skin reaction.

The mode of transmission of atopic dermatitis is still unclear.

Risk group

Some new breeds are prone to this disease from birth.

Pugs often suffer from atopic dermatitis.

Most often, pathology is diagnosed in:

1. Sharpeev.
2. English bulldogs.
3. Doges of Bordeaux.
4. Boxers.
5. Dalmatians.
6. Great Danes.
7. Labradors.
8. Retrievers.
9. Cocker spaniels.
10. German shepherds.
11. Tax.
12. Pugs.
13. Chow chow.

Labrador dogs are prone to disease.

According to some reports, up to 20% of dogs suffer from this disease.

The main causes of pathology

Fleas in dogs can cause illness.

This disease first manifests itself from 12 months. up to 3 years. The sex of the animal does not matter. The main provoking factors include:

• heredity;
• exacerbation of chronic pathologies;
• features of the microclimatic environment.

Allergen provocateurs include flea waste products, dust mites, house dust, pollen of flowering plants.

Atopic dermatitis provoked by fleas is detected in almost every animal.. Most often this happens with insufficient care.

Main symptoms

Constant itching is the main symptom of the disease.

The main symptoms of this disease should be considered:

• constant painful itching;
• lichenization of the extensor side of the wrist;
• involvement in the process of fingers;
• muzzle injury.

Damage area

She may be:

1. Heavy.
2. Medium heavy.
3. Easy.

Medium-heavy area affected by atopic dermatitis.

In severe cases, multiple skin lesions are observed. Often they merge into one large area. The moderate stage is also characterized by the presence of multiple skin lesions. With a mild degree, single limited pathological areas are observed.

Additional symptoms

On examination, you can detect the external form of allergic otitis media.

• The skin of the animal is constantly dry.
• The reaction of the pet to the stimulus is manifested at lightning speed.
• During the examination, the veterinarian reveals an external form of allergic.
• The presence of superficial manifestations of infection is detected.

Characteristics of relapses

If the animal was diagnosed with a mild degree, then clinical signs appear twice in 12 months. They are observed for 20-30 days.

The severe stage of the disease lasts about two months.

With a moderate lesion of the skin, atopic dermatitis manifests itself no more than 4 times / 12 months. Symptoms have been observed for 30–60 days .

The severe stage is characterized by the appearance of symptoms more often than 4 times in 12 months. Symptoms have been present for 60–80 days .

Duration of remission periods

The duration of the remission is as follows:

• mild stage - 6–8 months;
• moderate stage - 2–4 months;
• severe - 1 month

In difficult cases, remission may be absent.

Sometimes at a severe stage there are no periods of remission.

Features of the diagnosis of atopic dermatitis

In establishing a diagnosis, taking the history plays an important role.

It is important to understand the cause of the disease.

This will clarify the allergic nature of the pathology. The probability of establishing an irritant in this case is quite high.

Animal owner survey

The veterinarian is obliged to establish whether the dog has a tendency to dermatological pathologies. The owner provides information about the manifestations of the disease and the frequency of exacerbations. Also, the owner will have to answer questions regarding:

Talk to your veterinarian about your dog's diet.

The owner must clarify the dependence of pathology on seasonality. He must also know exactly when the first signs of atopic dermatitis appeared in the pet.

The second stage of diagnosis

It is important to differentiate atopic dermatitis from scabies.

It is important to differentiate this pathology from:

• contact dermatitis;
• food allergies;
• allergic reaction to flea bites.

The third stage of diagnosis

At the 3rd stage of diagnosis, the veterinarian examines the dog and prescribes a laboratory examination.

Urinalysis will be required for diagnosis.

The specialist undertakes to carefully examine the scraping of the skin. Then the fungal microflora is determined, the concentration of hormones in the blood is detected. The following tests are ordered:

1. Cala.
2. Urine.
3. blood.

Features of therapy

It is often impossible to get rid of irritants on your own.

Successful therapy of atopic dermatitis primarily involves the elimination of the irritant from the environment. In some cases, this is enough for the onset of recovery.

But more often, the animal is affected by a whole “bouquet” of irritants, which are unrealistic to get rid of on their own.

Treatment strategy

To treat this disease and its accompanying factors, the veterinarian prescribes:

• undergoing immunotherapy;
• undergoing antibacterial therapy;
• undergoing antifungal therapy.

Immunotherapy is the gradual introduction of allergens to the dog to develop immunity. The efficiency of this technique reaches 85%.

When undergoing antibacterial and antifungal treatment, drugs are prescribed only after stopping all signs of pathology. To neutralize discomfort, it is allowed to use special shampoos.

For treatment, you can use special shampoos.

In order to increase immunity, a diet is prescribed, which includes microelements, minerals and vitamins necessary for the animal's body.

Medical treatment

The drug Amitriptyline has a powerful effect.

The veterinarian prescribes the application:

1. Tricyclic antidepressants.
2. Antihistamines.
3. Corticosteroids.

Of the tricyclic antidepressants, drugs such as Toloxtaton, Amitriptyline, Trimipramine have a powerful effect. The most powerful antihistamines are Peritol, Benadryl, Suprastin. Of the corticosteroids, preference is given to Dexamezaton, Prednisolone.

The dog should be brushed regularly.

The dog must move a lot. This is especially true for working breeds. It is important to engage with the animal in the dog playground and take it out for an active walk.

Video about atopic dermatitis in dogs