Does Your Dog Have Skin Allergies?

Allergic Dermatitis (Skin Allergies), are the most common reason for dogs to visit the veterinarian and they can leave your dog itchy, losing hair, having an “odor”, having ear problems, having scabs and bald patches, and affecting their quality of life. Here’s some general information to help you help you dog.

Skin allergies tend to be caused by a mixture of fleas, food, and environment. One category may be the worst flare up at the moment but allergies are a life-long problem and will require ongoing follow up and adjustments.

Flea Allergies: Very common year-round and some animals are so allergic that one or two flea bites can set them off, even if we never even see a flea! These are the most easily treated by using a good monthly flea preventative. Nexgard and Bravecto are very fast but are safe and well-tolerated for flea and tick prevention. These tend to primarily appear in the back half of the body “behind the belt.” Over the counter topical flea controls are not advised for allergies as they cannot spread or work appropriately with any skin problems, they are slower, and are washed off with bathing. Bravecto also comes in a topical formulation that absorbs through the skin and provides the same protection for 3 months without affecting any food allergies.

Food Allergies: These have been nearly always shown to be to the protein in the food and extremely rarely from any type of grain or gluten. In order to rule this out they may need to do a 12 week strict trial of just the novel protein (or hydrolyzed protein) diet and no other treats or scraps, as these may have reactive proteins and sabotage the trial. A food trial consists of finding a food with a completely novel protein that they have never been exposed to before and that you read through the ingredients list and doesn’t have any of the previous proteins (including by products). These tend to be worst in the ears (chronic ear infections) and the feet but can be everywhere, there also can be irritation around the anus or mouth where the food touches on the way through.

Environmental Allergies: These are the typical allergies we think of in humans (pollen, dust, grasses, etc.) and can often be seasonal. These can be diagnosed with skin or serum testing. These can then be treated with special therapies or medications. They may be expensive but may prevent or reduce having to constantly clean the ears, and using steroids and antibiotics for the itching and the secondary infections. It can also keep your animal comfortable throughout the worst season for them. These signs are almost the exact same as for food allergies. Numelvi/Apoquel/Zenrelia (oral pills) may be of benefit in managing chronic skin allergies through a mild suppression of the immune system, but less than steroids or Atopica.

We can give steroids (injectable or oral) to provide immediate relief and may use oral medications for skin infections and some ear infections, and ear medications for all ear infections. To help determine what type of skin infections are present we may need to take a swab of the ears or an impression of the skin to look at under the microscope or may need a culture.

We may recommend bathing in an antiseptic/antifungal shampoo to help minimize the bacterial/yeast load in the skin. Studies have shown bathing every 3 weeks and applying medicated mousse 2-3 times a week works best. Wiping between the paws, and their underside, especially any place that rubs or has a thinner coat will help. The best shampoos and conditioners have ophytrium in them to help re-establish a normal and healthy skin barrier. This can help to minimize skin inflammation and irritation. Feeding a diet extremely high in Omega Fatty Acid’s included within the diet . Ideally we want to see at least 66 mg per 2.2 lbs. of body weight of DHA + EPA (That is at least 1 gm of straight DHA/EPA per 33 lbs. These only treat the secondary signs or minimize the general signs and they will likely still need to relieve the underlying cause by treating for either fleas, food, and/or environmental allergies.

Recent research has shown that many dogs can be allergic to the bacteria and yeast on their skin, and that treating the infections is extremely important, even if they are very mild. That may mean using oral antibiotics or anti-fungal medications, unless we are extremely aggressive with bathing (every 3 weeks) and topicals (every 2-3 days during an infection). Antiseptic shampoos need to be on the skin for at least 10-15 minutes before starting to rinse off.

Please contact us to schedule an appointment so that together we can find a realistic and sustainable plan that gives you and your pup comfort and a good quality of life.