Dog Skin Problem - How to Tell If the Problem is Parasitic

By Debra Proctor

Your Dog's Skin Problem May Be Parasitic

When you dog can't stop scratching, licking, and biting, there can be many different causes including, 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, Cheyletiella mites, Sarcoptic mites, and Demodex mites. The symptoms and treatment of each of these is slightly different so we will look at them individually.

1. Fleas - Symptoms include - constant scratching, hair loss, and sores on skin. Fleas are usually easy to spot. Place your pet on his back and check his belly and groin areas. You can see the fleas running and in the rare case where you don't see the fleas but still suspect them as the problem, you can see flea "dirt". Flea dirt is actually flea droppings of dried blood that they have sucked from your pet and expelled as waste. If you take one of the flea droppings, place it on a paper towel and dampen it, you will see the blood spread as it absorbs the water. Unfortunately, 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 - Symptoms - 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 Cheyletiella mites but you must be careful because they 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 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 Demodex mites, or mange, don't cause the dog to itch very much therefore, 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. When in doubt, take your dog to a qualified veterinarian and he can properly diagnose the problem.

For more information on dog skin problems, the symptoms, causes and treatments, go to http://www.DogSkinProblem.info