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Types and Symptoms of Pet Skin Diseases Prevention and Treatment of Pet Skin Diseases

Types and Symptoms of Pet Skin Diseases Prevention and Treatment of Pet Skin Diseases

Abstract: Skin itching is the most common disease in dogs, which is mostly caused by ectoparasites such as fleas. However, many factors can cause itching in dogs. Because of itching, the dog’s constant scratching will damage the skin, and bacteria will invade, multiply and cause infection. Inflammation of the skin causes the sebaceous glands to produce a lot of secretions and unpleasant odors. So, what are the types and symptoms of pet skin diseases? How should pet dermatosis prevent and cure? The following is an introduction for you.

Types and Symptoms of Pet Skin Diseases Prevention and Treatment of Pet Skin Diseases

Knowledge of prevention and treatment of pet skin diseases

Ⅰ. What are the types of pet dog skin diseases and how harmful are they?

Dog’s skin disease clinical sign and symptom performance is roughly the same, more to the face, the lower part of the neck, back, abdomen, and tail root for the common parts of the disease, skin flushing, itching, infection depilation, bald spots, and some secondary pathogenic bacteria infection, pustules, pigmentation, nodules. At present, the main types of dog skin diseases are as follows:

  1. Parasitic skin diseases: skin allergies caused by fleas, lice, and other insect bites. Skin diseases can also be caused by scabies mites, Demodex mites, ear mites, and other infections.
  2. Bacterial and viral skin diseases, bacterial infection and inflammation, skin redness and swelling, pus spots, itching of sick dogs, and secondary infection is more common in the clinic.
  3. Fungal skin disease, also known as ringworm, is a skin disease caused by a fungal infection of skin, hair, and claws. It is mainly caused by Microsporum canis, which is stubborn and cannot be cured for a long time. After medication, it is sometimes good and sometimes bad, causing depilation. Moreover, after long-term fungal infection, it is easy to be infected with mites, seriously affecting the appearance and health of dogs.
  4. Allergic skin diseases, including food allergy (protein), drug allergic dermatitis, skin edema, and papules on the surface.
  5. Vitamin or trace element deficiency skin disease, namely nutritional skin disease.
  6. Skin diseases caused by hormone abuse are iatrogenic skin diseases, which are mainly caused by long-term use of large amounts of hormones, especially dexamethasone, prednisone, and clinical use of hormones, which can significantly alleviate disease symptoms in the short term, but long-term use will produce serious side effects and eventually show skin disease symptoms.
  7. Skin diseases caused by chemical and physical factors, chemical stimulation, solar radiation, X-ray damage, etc.
  8. Autoimmune skin diseases, skin diseases caused by low autoimmune function, such as lupus erythematosus and pemphigus.
  9. Seborrheic dermatitis, abnormal keratinization of the skin leads to excessive dandruff, and secondary mites and fungi can cause skin diseases to become more serious.

Ⅱ. What are the main causes of skin diseases?

The main causes of skin diseases are as follows:

  1. Skin allergy caused by lice and flea parasites.
  2. Mite infection, mainly scabies mites, and helminth mites. Demodex mites often occur in puppies for 5-10 days. They have a certain family history. Some of them have no itching. The disease is characterized by no obvious itching. The lesions mostly occur on the face and ears and develop to the whole body when they are serious. At the beginning of the disease, the depilation boundary of the affected part is obvious. There are ruddy small protuberances around the hair follicles. It is accompanied by mild flushing and brass-like desquamation of the skin followed by a reddish copper color.
  3. Fungal infection, which usually occurs in the dog’s coat, skin epidermis, and claw keratin tissue, is characterized by depilatory spots on the skin, and exudate scales and crusts on the lesions. It often occurs on the face, ears, and limbs. At the beginning of the disease, it is red, swollen, and itchy. Then the hair falls off and the exudate crusts. When infected with bacteria, it produces thick blisters and systemic symptoms.
  4. Nutritional factors Pet dogs often have a single diet, such as long-term meat consumption, which will lead to the lack of various vitamins. For example, skin diseases are caused by a lack of fatty acids. Fatty acids are the main components of cell membranes and have the function of synthesizing prostaglandins and preventing epithelial water loss. When essential fatty acids are deficient, pet cats and dogs will not only reduce their reproductive rate, but also make skin wounds difficult to heal, increase dandruff, form pyoderma, depilation, edema, and wet dermatitis in the external auditory canal and between toes. When unsaturated fatty acids are deficient, it is easy to cause yellow fat disease, and the skin forms nodules with pain.
  5. Improper nursing can also induce skin diseases. Dogs generally easy to clean their hair and limbs and keep them dry. However, excessive cleaning of the dog’s hair is not a good thing. In particular, an alkaline cleaning solution can easily cause damage to the dog’s oil protective layer, so that the skin is susceptible to pathogenic bacteria and the skin loses luster. It is recommended to use a special shampoo for pets and a neutral and non-irritating shampoo for infants. The frequency of cleaning is once a week in summer and once every two weeks in winter.

Ⅲ. How to detect skin diseases in dogs in time?

Observe the behavior of the pet: extreme skin scratching, rubbing, whether there is hair loss: local, systemic symmetrical, and asymmetric hair loss. Observe whether there are skin lesions: red spots, papules, nodules, thick blisters, blisters, crusts, erosion, and desquamation. Then find out whether there are lice, cockroaches, etc., the location of skin lesions, the diet of the pet, and then see the pet doctor.

Ⅳ. How to prevent pet skin diseases?

To eliminate the pathogens that cause skin diseases, it is necessary to clean the dog’s body and remove external parasites such as lice and fleas, because about 30-50% of skin diseases in dogs are caused by lice and fleas biting the skin, causing itching, inflammation, and re-infection, and skin diseases caused by mites and fungi account for the majority. Remove mites, mainly engage in environmental hygiene, prevent fungi to keep the dog clean and dry, dry the dog’s body hair in time after bathing, maintain comprehensive nutrition, cannot eat meat alone, reasonable nutrition, keep the skin smooth, bright color, can avoid the invasion of parasites. Nutrition includes fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, etc. Strengthen care, bathe with pet shampoo, preferably with an anti-parasitic function, washing cannot be too frequent.

Ⅴ. How to treat skin diseases after illness?

Find out the cause of the disease, and then go to the pet hospital for necessary tests and make corresponding treatment. Skin diseases occur first to find out whether there are lice and fleas, if found, first to kill lice and fleas. Test whether fungus or mite, bacterial infection, mild can be used for external use, such as ointment, serious need to take antifungal drugs, mite infection with anti-mite drug treatment. Whether other reasons are caused by nutrition or endocrine, nutrition should be adjusted in time. Generally, most skin diseases are mixed with fungi and mites. Treatment should be considered at the same time. Finally, lice and pruritus infections should be killed in time, and bacterial infections should be treated with antibiotics.

For pet nutritional skin diseases, vitamin E can be used for treatment. The general dose is 50 mg/kg BW and is used with corticosterone-like compounds to suppress inflammation at a dose of 1 mg/kg BW.

In addition, the lack of trace elements can also lead to skin diseases in pets. For example, zinc deficiency, dry and thickened skin on the face, toes, palms, and abdomen of pets, and the formation of crusts and depilation. The pathological changes of the mouth, eyelid, anus, and toe were the most obvious. There is also copper deficiency, changes in pet coat color, skin roughness, hair loss, anemia, and diarrhea.

For zinc deficiency, 200-300 mg of zinc sulfate can be taken orally in mixed feed for 1-2 weeks. For copper deficiency in pets, copper sulfate 5 mg/kg body weight can be taken orally for a period until the symptoms improve.

Types and symptoms of skin diseases in pets

Skin itching is the most common disease in dogs, mostly caused by ectoparasites such as fleas. However, many factors can cause itching in dogs. Because of itching, the dog’s constant scratching will damage the skin, and bacteria will invade, multiply and cause infection. Inflammation of the skin causes the sebaceous glands to produce a lot of secretions and unpleasant odors. Frequent cleaning and flea removal can prevent these complications. Some skin diseases in dogs are sometimes caused by infection during breeding. Some breeds of dogs, such as Cocker Spaniels, Golden Retrievers, and Shar-Peis, are more prone to skin diseases than ordinary dogs, while other breeds of dogs are relatively less prone to these diseases.

Skin itching/ Causes: ectoparasites, allergies, itchy skin, internal diseases

Symptoms:

If the dog scratches or chews itself, there may be inflammation. Fleas are mostly the cause of itching. Sometimes dogs itch because of an allergic reaction caused by inhaling pollen or dust. Sometimes it may also be caused by contact with certain shampoos and plants, or by foreign body irritation to the skin just after shearing. Kidney and liver disease can cause itchy skin in dogs.

Skin inflammation

Causes: allergy, sunburn, foreign object irritation, abscess, skin inflammation

Symptoms: Skin allergies, sunburn, or other small objects that fall on the skin, such as small grass seeds that happen to get stuck between the toes, can cause inflammation or suppuration in dogs. After suffering from dermatitis (pyoderma), the affected part becomes red and oozes some secretions (acute dermatitis). Sometimes bacteria multiply in the folds of a dog’s skin, causing dermatitis. Puppies often suffer from eczema, such as Pekingese, which can cause swelling of the whole face. Severe skin inflammation, such as cellulitis, causes swelling and tingling of the affected part. Skin abnormalities:

Causes: seborrhea, acanthosis nigricans

Symptoms: Due to improper diet, hormonal imbalance, parasites or dermatitis, and other reasons, the dog’s skin is scaly, the fur is dull, and some are greasy. Dry skin produces dandruff, while greasy skin produces too much oil. Acanthosis nigricans tends to darken and thicken the skin. German beagles are especially common. It may be due to hormonal imbalance or allergic reactions.

Skin lump:

Causes: Cysts, warts, tumors, abscesses

Symptom expression: Skin cyst flesh feeling is hard, apophysis, wart often grows on the old dog body. Warts are pink, blotchy, hard at the base, and sometimes pigmented. Melanoma is a pigmented malignant tumor that often occurs in boxers. Slow-growing, soft, bumpy, egg-shaped lumps in older dogs are usually benign fatty tumors.

Hair shedding:

Causes: ringworm, ectoparasite, hormonal imbalance, scleroderma/ Symptoms: Local hair loss is caused by diseases such as bacterial or fungal infections, or those caused by parasitic mites. The nose of individual dogs, such as collies, is sometimes partially depilated due to sunburn. Systemic, symmetrical hair loss is often due to hormonal imbalance in the thyroid, adrenal, pituitary, ovaries, or testes. Elbow depilation in large dogs is caused by scleroderma caused by excessive pressure on the skin of dogs lying on hard ground for a long time.

Excessive skin licking:

Causes: Dermatitis, Anal Gland Occlusion, Ectoparasites

Symptoms: Dogs like to lick their skin with their tongues to clean wounds or remove dirt from their fur. But constant licking of your skin, especially your front paws, is one of the serious symptoms. This may be a psychological behavior, but it can also cause skin damage in dogs.

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