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ITCHY SKIN DISEASE

The skin is the largest most metabolically active organ in the body. As a consequence it gets the most things wrong with it. The skin can only react in a limited number of ways so all of these diseases start to look the same as a vicious cycle of itch, scratch, trauma, infection and itch begins. The itch can be caused by several groups of disease including infection, infestations, and allergies. To simplify things we will consider them all under allergies. Allergies come in four basic groups: something the pet is inhailing; something the pet is eating; something eating the pet; something the pet is laying on. Below are listed the common characteristics of each group:

Something being inhaled:

• tends to be seasonal
• tends to respond well to steroids
• tends to worsen and reappear at the same time each year
• tends to be animals over 3 years old

Something being eaten:

• tends to be year round
• poor or limited response to steroids
• tends to be animals less than 3 years old at onset
• responds to strict elimination diet in 8-12 weeks
• less than 10% of allergice skin diseases seen

Something eating the pet:

• staph bacteria, fleas, flies, mosquitos, skin mites including scabies
• commonly seen in this area
• anytime of year
• variable response to steroids
• any age only diagnosed by response to treatment as causative agent may be tough to find (i.e. less than 20% of pets with scabies {sarcoptic mange} are positive on a skin scraping.)

Something contacting the pet:

• plastics, ceramics, pine pitch, petroleum products etc.
• any age
• anytime of year
• poor response to steroids
• should resolve within 12 weeks of removing the problem
• areas of skin the pet lays on or contacts food dish
• rarest of all allergies

The cure must discover and eliminate the initial cause of the itch. This may be an arduous process as we remove layers of disease with tests and treatments-similar to peeling an onion. We will start with a broad spectrum treatment regimen recommended by board certified Veterinary Dermatologists. This is designed to rule out as many of the causes as possible.

Steroids to eliminate the itch portion of the cycle

• inhalant allergies
• infestation

Antibiotics to eliminate the infection portion of the cycle.
Insecticides to eliminate infestation causes of the itch.

• Ivermectin 1% injection orally-3 doses-10-14 days apart (mites)
• Frontline every 2 weeks for 3 times then monthly (fleas, mites, ticks)
• Environmental flea products if fleas are seen

If the problem persists, further testing to check for hormone problems, immune system problems, food allergies, allergies in the home, unusual genetic or nutritional problems should be done next. Please be assured that chronic unresponsive skin diseases are as frustrating for your Veterinarian as they are for you and your pet. Testing and treatments will be done on a step by step basis in an attempt to reach a final diagnosis while keeping expenses down.

Your pets therapy in the future will be tailored to him or her based on the diagnosis. The diagnosis will be a result of the history, exam, response to therepy and test results over time. Only by working together will we be able to manage a probable life long problem with your pets skin.

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