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Is your furry friend scratching non-stop, leaving open wounds and red, dry skin? Imagine the distress they must be feeling and the worry it brings to you as their loving caregiver.
You've tried home remedies like hydrogen peroxide, colloidal silver, and apple cider vinegar, but nothing seems to provide relief.
But what if the root cause of your dog's itch goes beyond just dry skin? Could it be parasites, infections, allergies, or another underlying skin problem? The mystery of your dog's discomfort is like a puzzle waiting to be solved. You're seeking answers and solutions, but barriers like financial constraints and transportation limitations stand in your way.
Related Posts:
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The Causes of Itch in Dogs:
It's important for pet owners to recognize the five main areas of itch in dogs to better understand and address their pet's condition.
1. Parasites:
Parasites such as fleas, lice, and mites can cause intense itching, leading to open wounds and skin lesions. Especially in tropical climates, parasites are a common culprit, necessitating swift intervention.
2. Infections:
Skin infections caused by bacteria or yeast can exacerbate itch and lead to further discomfort for dogs. Identifying and treating these infections is crucial in addressing the underlying cause of itch.
3. Allergies:
Allergies, including flea allergy dermatitis and environmental allergies, are a leading cause of long-term itch in dogs. Understanding and managing allergies is essential for providing relief to your pet.
4. Other Skin Problems:
Conditions such as skin cancer, hormonal abnormalities, and greasy or dry skin can manifest as itch in dogs, requiring specific attention and care.
5. Anal Gland Disease:
While primarily focusing on the back end of a dog, anal gland disease can also contribute to discomfort and itching, necessitating thorough assessment and management.
Understanding the Case of Nicole's Dog:
Nicole's inquiry about her dog's incessant itching and open wounds presents a distressing scenario, especially when faced with financial constraints and the inability to access veterinary care easily. It's crucial to approach her situation with empathy and provide practical advice for managing her dog's symptoms at home.
Addressing Parasite-Related Itch:
In tropical climates like Jamaica, parasites such as fleas and mites are prevalent. Considering the intense itch and skin lesions, a potential diagnosis of sarcoptic mange is highlighted. An effective approach would involve leveraging anti-parasitic treatments such as Bravecto, Simparica, or NexGard, while also addressing the secondary infections present in the lesions.
Home Remedies and Best Practices for Wound Care:
Nicole's utilization of hydrogen peroxide and colloidal silver to manage the wounds requires reconsideration. While hydrogen peroxide can be damaging to healthy tissue, gentle cleaning with diluted chlorhexidine solutions or mild soap, and the use of topical ointments such as silver sulfadiazine and chlorhexidine-based ointments can facilitate wound healing and mitigate the risk of infection.
Seeking Professional Veterinary Care:
Despite the limitations imposed by transportation challenges and financial constraints, the severity of Nicole's dog's condition warrants veterinary intervention. While acknowledging these challenges, exploring alternative methods such as telemedicine consultations, video calls, and the potential for receiving prescription medications remotely should be considered within the legal and logistical frameworks of her location.
Conclusion:
Understanding the complexity of itch in dogs and the challenges faced by pet owners like Nicole underscores the need for accessible and empathetic guidance. By recognizing the underlying causes, exploring home remedies, and navigating the possibilities of remote veterinary care, pet owners can take proactive steps to address their dog's itch and ensure their well-being.
In this blog post, we've touched upon the vital aspects of managing itch in dogs, emphasizing the importance of tailored approaches, effective wound care, and seeking professional veterinary intervention when necessary. It's essential for pet owners to be equipped with the knowledge and resources to support their pets through discomfort and promote their overall health and happiness.
By delving into these insights and recommendations, pet owners can navigate the challenges of managing itch in dogs, ensure their pet's well-being, and strive to create a comfortable and supportive environment for their furry companions.
Full Transcript →
The following is an AI generated transcription: Dr. Alex: This is a big reason why treatment of itch of any cause fails.
voiceover: Welcome to the Call the Vet Show, the podcast that helps pet parents understand and optimize the health of their furry family so they can live the full and happy life you want for them. And here's your host, veterinarian doctor Alex Avery.
Dr. Alex: Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Call the Vet Show. It's been a little while, and I've got to apologize for that. I took my normal break over the holiday season. So summer here in New Zealand, the kids were off on holiday. We went on a road trip around the North Island, which is the 1st time we'd been to some of those locations. And, yeah, we had a wonderful time. The sun was out apart from a rather wet New Year's Eve. Came back feeling fully refreshed, then got a nasty bug, and my throat was sore, and I could hardly speak for a few weeks.
Dr. Alex: And to seal it all, my computer has now decided to break and is now at the computer doctors. So hopefully, that's not going to be terminal, and I won't have to fork out for a new one. So I'm actually recording this on a different microphone to normal. So hopefully, the audio quality is still pretty reasonable for you. But, yeah, sorry if it's it's not quite up to up to scratch. But we're kicking off the year, if I can say that in February, with, some questions. So I've got the next few episodes all lined up with some fantastic questions that have been, sent in by podcast listeners, and also, one from a YouTube comment that was a really important topic, and one that I certainly have a strong opinion about. And I didn't want you to miss out on that either.
Dr. Alex: So I hope all's well with you. And without further ado, let's jump into the 1st question of the year from Nicole.
voiceover: And now on with the show.
Nicole: Hi there, doctor Alex. My name's Nicole, and I'm inquiring about she's itching just non stop, but now it's turning into open wounds and dry and red. And I'm just querying and worried about what I can do. I've started using hydrogen peroxide to clean it and colloidal silver topically. But I can't put my finger on what it might be that she's eating. I'm based in Jamaica with her, and I can't afford the veterinary bill. And I can't actually get her to a vet because I don't have transport and it's I can't get on in a taxi with her as a dog. So I just wanted some help around that, please.
Nicole: And some advice about what I could use at home. The apple cider vinegar, she doesn't seem to like and I'm not sure that it's working or doing anything. So if you could help, I'd be so grateful. Thank you.
Dr. Alex: So thanks for reaching out, Nicole. I can really kind of feel your dog's discomfort, and I'm actually kind of feeling a little bit itchy now even just hearing the description of what's going on there. And I think I'm gonna start off by breaking down into the big causes of itch. Now not necessarily what I suspect that your dog has Nicole, but the 5 kind of real main areas of itch that other people can consider should they be in a a similar problem or have an itchy dog which may not quite fit your dog's description? But the first one is going to be parasites. Here, I'm thinking fleas now. We're in the peak of summer. I'm seeing fleas all the time in the clinic at the moment, and and that's certainly always the number one in my parts of the world. But we're also thinking lice, we're thinking mites as well, and I'm gonna come on to that in in a little bit.
Dr. Alex: We've got infections. So skin infections now that can be infections with, normally, the normal bacteria or yeast that live on the skin. So we call these commensal organisms. They normally live in harmony with the body, but we will frequently get infections secondary to another problem. We have allergies. Clearly, allergies is a huge problem. I've spoken about that before. I even got an allergy summit, where I brought together, I think it was 17 allergy experts, experts, to talk all about that huge problem, probably the most common cause of long term itch.
Dr. Alex: Again, that doesn't necessarily fit your dog's bill. We have other skin problems. So these are kind of the the more weird and wonderful conditions. So we can have cancers of the skin. We can have hormonal abnormalities and underactive thyroid, for example. We can just have inherently greasy or dry skin that can then lead to a secondary infection. And then another big cause of itch that's worth talking about is also anal gland disease. That does tend to focus around the back end of a dog, but it can be kind of the back half depending on your dog's ability to kind of reach round and chew.
Dr. Alex: And it might be that they just scoop their bottom along the ground, and they're not particularly itchy in the typical sense of the word. So those are the really the big cause causes of itch. Now, in Nicole's case, you know, clearly, dog sounds like it's in, you know, a pretty bad way. And in an ideal world, you know, we do need veterinary intervention because there's open wounds. The dog is clearly quite distressed. But, you know, I'm very realistic. And I think the art, if you like, of being a vet is actually recognizing what a person's situation is and trying to come up with the best plan for them in their situation. So me simply saying, oh, you need to take your dog to a vet.
Dr. Alex: That's the only option. It's not particularly helpful. It's a bit like saying, well, you need to get these tablets down your cat even if there's no way you can pill your cat. It's not particularly helpful. It might be the right textbook answer, but is doing no good to, that pet parent or to that pet to help sort out their condition. So, you know, my first thought, living in a more tropical climate with a sudden onset, intense itch that has some quite nasty lesions, is that parasites are probably the most likely cause. And here, while I said that fleas is very common, and it certainly could be fleas especially if there is a flea allergy. Something like mange mite, sarcoptic mange is really really itchy.
Dr. Alex: It causes an incredibly intense itch, and you get these really nasty crusty cracking lesions, that form in the skin as well. In my experience, it typically starts off kind of in the groin, around the armpits, but it can quickly spread all over the body. And it is a contagious thing as well. It's very contagious. So, it's something that we need to be mindful that can actually spread to us as well. So that would be my, I guess, number 1 suspect without knowing any more information about, the dog, without seeing any pictures, and without actually kind of talking and having a a verbal conversation, about this dog. Now, how do we treat Mange might now? If we don't have to go back too far in history, to find a time when actually it was a little bit more challenging to to treat. We can also get other mites of things like Demodex, which doesn't start off itchy, but as it overgrows and it's more of a problem in in puppies and immunosuppressed dogs, it can cause itch and it can cause really nasty lesions.
Dr. Alex: And that used to be an absolute nightmare to treat. But we do have a class of, anti parasiticides, anti MITE treatments, and that class is called the isoxazoline group. And you might recognize, names, Bravecto, Simparica, and NexGard. Now these have been absolute game changers when it comes to treating, treating mites and treating mites incredibly successfully. And and so that would be, I guess, my recommendation that to, that that Nicole tries a treatment with that. We then need to sort out the secondary infection that is clearly also present with those lesions, but we also need to address the underlying cause. And that is, a relatively cheap way of testing that hypothesis. Sure.
Dr. Alex: If you're at the vet clinic, we can takes take skin scrapes. There's various tests we can do. But even then, they're not a 100%, and they can sometimes come back negative. So very often, we will do a treatment trial. So if we suspect that that's the case, we will actually give the treatment. If it goes away, that confirms it. If it doesn't, then we need to be looking for other problems. Now the the big caveat with the ISOC's saseline group is that it shouldn't be given to dogs that have a history of seizures.
Dr. Alex: So if you jump online, there's all kinds of terrible stories, most of which are, are rubbish, but that it causes seizures in dogs. Now it absolutely can make a dog who is already prone to seizures more likely to have a seizure. So that is the caveat of the ISOCSASILING group is that as long as there's no history of seizures, and I would also go so far as to say no familial history of seizures. So if, your dog has got a brother, or a sister, or a parent who has had epilepsy, I'd be maybe a little bit cautious about giving that without a specific diagnosis. So that would be my first my first thought. We then, as I say, need to treat any underlying infection. This is a big reason why treatment of itch of any cause fails. We don't treat the underlying infection.
Dr. Alex: And like I say, this can be the commensal bacteria, so a bacterial infection or actually a yeast overgrowth. So there's a few ways that we can treat this. Now hydrogen peroxide, which no Nicole has been using, that actually damages healthy tissue. So it is good at killing bugs, it's also good at killing healthy tissue. So it's not something that I would recommend. It's not something that I use in the vet clinic. Apple cider vinegar. It's the the current cure all that, you know, if you, again, if you jump online, it will treat everything from cancer to, high blood pressure, to skin wounds, to allergies, to everything.
Dr. Alex: It's not harmful. Doesn't really do anything, so I wouldn't waste your time there. Equally, it's cheap. So hey ho. If if that's your jam, then go for it. But just know it's it's not an evidence backed, treatment, and the studies that have looked into it don't really show very much. Now there's a few minor kind of benefits from a human point of view, but not for our pets. What I would be using would be if we've got a wound that is looking really dirty and pussy, we need to clean it.
Dr. Alex: And actually just kind of a clean tap water is absolutely fine to to rinse that out. We say the the solution to pollution is dilution, so just washing out, flushing it out. We can use, you can use kind of like a mild soap as well there. We can use a chlorhexidine based, soap as well. That's really good. That's what we use for our surgical preparations, in the vet clinic. And also what I'd will sometimes send my clients home with a little pot to to clean a wound. We've got topical shampoos.
Dr. Alex: They're really good. Again, chlorhexidine based shampoos, and leave in conditioners and other products like that. Yeah. Again, really good. We want to look for a Chlorhexidine based thing. We've then got topical ointments. Now something like, silver products or silver Sulfur Diazine. It's a non antibiotic, antibacterial, really good.
Dr. Alex: We've got Chlorhexidine based topical ointments. We've even got things like, Manuka honey or even just straight up honey can really help with healing of wounds. It's antibacterial. It can help encourage healing. And then for really deep infections, if things are really bad, then clearly we need either oral antibiotics or oral antifungals depending on what the situation is. And if a topical treatment isn't working, then that's really going to be the next step that we go for. But for a lot of our skin infections, especially our superficial skin infections, we can actually get away with topical treatment rather than oral treatment, and the knock on effect that that can have on the rest of the body and the microbiome and everything like that. Now clearly, if, you know, if your dog is unwell in themselves, if the home treatment's making no difference, if the condition's getting worse, or if it's recurrent, then really we need to we need to find a way to consult with, with a local veterinarian.
Dr. Alex: And as I said at the beginning, if finances and transport were not limiting factors, then then Nicole's dog is an ideal candidate to go to the vet clinic because they're in a pretty bad way. They're itching nonstop. They have wounds, and they're always gonna benefit more from that prompt diagnosis and more targeted intervention that your local vet can provide. We also live in the computer age, the internet age. You're listening to me in New Zealand, and the chances are that you're not in the same country as me. We have telemedicine options. So that's where you can call, you know, a Zoom call, a Skype call, a Facebook Messenger call, whatever it may be. And a video call as well, that can be really valuable to show the lesions.
Dr. Alex: It can even be kind of taking pictures, taking a video, and sending that to a local vet to see if that's a way that you can get treatment as well. Whether a telemedicine option is going to be able to prescribe you with, pharmaceuticals, with prescription medications, really depends on the legislation in the part of the world that you're in. In some that is possible, and this is a very fluid situation at the moment as well as it's a quite novel option and the logistics are being sorted out. But in some cases, you know, your veterinarian's hands may be tied, and they simply cannot prescribe any medications without seeing you in the flesh. If they were to do that, they could lose their license. And clearly, that's not something that they should be expected to do.
voiceover: Helping your pet live the happy, healthy life they deserve.
Dr. Alex: So I hope those thoughts help you, Nicole, and help your dog. I hope it helps you if you've got a nichy dog, and it provides some food for thought about should another problem come up in your dog or your cat's life. That is a little bit more challenging when it comes to getting them access to the treatment that they potentially would ideally need. Now if you've got a question, you can also send it through to me at our pets health dot com slash question. I think that's the link, but there should also be a link in the show notes to this episode. And until next week, it should be where I have another question. I'm veterinarian doctor Alex. This is the Call the Vet Show because they're family.
voiceover: That's it for this episode of the Call the Vet Show. Be sure to visit call the vet.org to join the conversation. Access the show notes, and discover our fantastic bonus content. We'll see you next time.
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