Itchy Gitchy

I told you in the last blog about Delmer's itchy skin, so tonight I'm looking through articles on ezine.com for just nothing, and I came across an article about the itching skin problem. This is interesting. Read on...

Is it a Parasite?

If your dog can't stop licking, scratching, digging and biting, there are many things that could cause the problem. These could include environmental, bacterial, neurogenic, nutritional, and allergic causes. The symptoms for a parasitic dog skin problem ranges from biting, scratching, licking, bald patches, inflamed skin and small scabs. If your dog has all or some of these symptoms, the cause could be caused by various parasites including fleas, ticks, chiggers, deer flies, gnats and Cheyletiella mites. The symptoms and treatment of each of these is slightly different. Let's take a look.

1. Fleas
Constant scratching, hair loss, and sores on skin. Fleas are usually easy to spot. Let your dog lay on his back (rub his belly, he'll stay there forever). Check his belly and groin areas. You should be able to see the fleas running around since the hair is so thin on bellies. If you don't see the fleas, you may see the flea "dirt," or flea droppings of dried blood that they have sucked from your pet and expelled as waste. Repeated exposure to flea bites can cause a hypersensitivity in your dog and he will have an abnormal or excessive reaction. Even if no fleas are seen, the dog reacts to the saliva from the fleas.

Treatment - Bathing your dog with flea shampoo, treating the indoor and outdoor area where the dog has access.

2. Ticks
Symptoms are usually an ulcerative lesion. Be aware that dog skin problems aren't often caused by ticks but it is possible.
Treatment - Remove the tick and treat the bite with ointment.


















3. Chiggers, deer flies, gnats
Here you'll find small bites and minor irritations. These parasites don't usually cause significant problems.
Treatment - first aid ointment

4. Cheyletiella mites
Symptoms include hair loss, dry, flaky skin. Sheyletiella mites are often called "walking dandruff". They look like little spiders when looked at under a microscope but look like flaky dandruff with the naked eye.
Treatment - Flea shampoo will usually rid your pet of these mites. These can be transferred to humans and cause the same symptoms and problems as in your pet.

5. Sarcoptic mites
Symptoms include severe itching, hair loss, inflamed skin, multiple small scabs. Sarcoptic mites are also known as scabies.
Treatment - If you suspect that your dog has scabies, you must take him to the vet. Scabies can only be diagnosed by a vet. They are often misdiagnosed as an allergy because they burrow down into the skin. You vet can give you medication to treat the Sarcoptic mites.

6. Demodex mites - Symptoms of this type of mites, or mange, doesn't cause the dog to itch very much so you won't see a lot of scratching. The most obvious symptom of mange is the bald patches. Demodex mites live and reproduce under the skin in the hair follicles and oil glands.
Treatment - These mites can be seen on a skin scraping performed by your vet and proper medication will be given.

A parasitic dog skin problem can often be hard to diagnose because there are many different parasites in addition to fleas, ticks, chiggers, deer flies, gnats, Cheyletiella mites, Sarcoptic mites, and Demodex mites that can disturb your pet.