Dog and cat dermatitis: recognizing it and treating it with natural remedies

In this article, we will talk about dermatitis, a topic strongly requested by the members of our Facebook group Aloeplus Family

they themselves chose the topic to address in the live session with Dr. Daniela Di Scala.

Below we will look at the different causes that provoke it, the symptoms that our four-legged friends present, and how natural remedies can help you in the prevention and treatment of this annoying inflammation that afflicts dogs, cats, and their owners.

 

What are the causes that can lead our animals to have dermatitis?
There are various causes, yet the symptoms are very similar, so we can have dermatitis that originates from:

parasites, so simply fleas, ticks, insect bites.
allergy or intolerance, meaning an adverse reaction to external causes indeed
insect bites
contact with irritating substances
stress
hormonal disorders such as a thyroid problem or an adrenal gland issue can manifest as dermatitis
atopic dermatitis
Yet, all these different causes give us almost the same symptoms:

itching
redness of the skin
scabs
papules
hives
obvious signs especially in areas where the hair is less evident, under the belly, around the muzzle
alopecia, meaning complete hair loss, rather than in patches or symmetrical
bleeding of the skin
If all this is not treated in time, alas, it can lead to an infection.

 

But what is dermatitis?
Dermatitis means inflammation of the dermis, skin inflammation.

The symptoms vary based on determining and triggering factors.

This means that the skin of our animals, but also of humans, becomes inflamed in response to an external or internal insult.

For example:

a puppy affected by a form of mange will have dermatitis of parasitic origin because mange is caused by a mite, thus by a parasite
allergic dermatitis can be due to contact, or to the intake of a food that can cause a reaction
it can be hormonally driven, much more specific, symmetrical alopecia, there are other signs not just skin-related
we can have contact dermatitis, if for example we used an aggressive floor cleaner and puppies tend to rub themselves on the floor with the hairless area of their body and that can cause these skin conditions.
We mentioned earlier the stress, an animal like a dog or cat that can face a psychologically stressful moment like

moving house
the loss of a family member, human or animal
to be left alone for many hours.
All this can create licking or even excessive focus on certain areas of the body, always the same ones, under the belly, legs, tail, and all this can cause dermatitis.

And then we have atopic dermatitis which we will touch on later.

 

dog and cat with dermatitis scratching 

Among the symptoms, here is itching, it is very easy for us to recognize it. The dog is there seeking relief, has this sensation of skin irritation and tries with bites or with its paws to alleviate the discomfort.

Scabs, papules, erythema are physical elements that in a long-haired dog might escape notice or become apparent when it is too late.

Every now and then, let's check between the dog's fur for any lesions that might not be highlighted early.

And then there is alopecia, hair loss.

 

What is itching?
It is an annoying sensation that leads the animal but also humans to seek relief.

The animal does it

touching itself
licking itself
biting itself and trying to stimulate that area.
The mechanism of itching is very similar to that of pain, it travels the same neural circuits and many times itching can lead to pain.

It is a subjective sensation, so animals subjected to the same type of stimulus can react differently because each of us and our animals has a threshold for itching, just like the threshold for pain, which varies from animal to animal. Obviously, this pain threshold can be modified or influenced by environmental factors. An animal that has a very high itching threshold and will hardly scratch for an insect bite is well in conditions of stress, allergy, dehydration, etc... this threshold can be modified and can lower.

 

How does itching manifest?
The dog licks itself insistently in several areas, nibbles, rubs, scratches with its paws but can also shake its head, that is a sign of itching in the ears. Otitis or inflammation of the ear flap and ear canal falls under the larger process of dermatitis.

The possible causes are:

Parasites like fleas or ticks
The presence of mites as we saw in the first photo
The presence of yeasts like malassezia
Protozoan diseases like leishmaniasis.
Bacterial infections are often a side effect, a complication of the itching itself and worsen the situation. Here is a dog that bites its tail, has itching, scratches, gets infected, and scratches even more. Allergies and food and environmental intolerances.

 

How do we realize that our dog or cat is suffering from itching?
Many times we are out of the house for 10/12 hours a day, we return home in the evening, he is happy to see us and is distracted by our presence and does not notice the itching.

However, we notice it because:

the color of the fur changes; it can become reddish in dogs with light coats.
we notice abrasions in the ear area, near the neck, on the lips, or on the face.
red skin and signs of dermatitis.
 

 

Let's not forget about the ears

A dog or cat shaking its ears probably has itching, but also otitis, which is an infection of the ear canal; we should not let it get to that point.

 

What to do if our animal shows signs of dermatitis?
First, consult the veterinarian; no miraculous remedy can replace a veterinary visit, and above all, be patient with your veterinarian because discovering the causes of dermatitis is not simple, and a diagnosis does not always come quickly.

I compare the diagnosis of dermatitis to a tree, so we start with the simple things, the trunk, but as we climb and try to sift through the various possible causes, we delve into a dense branching.

The remedy is not always immediate; there is no pill, syrup, or spray that can cure all dermatitis, but we need to study

the animal's lifestyle
eating and social habits
places it frequents
so please be patient.

 

What can we do while waiting for the diagnosis?
What we can do while waiting for the diagnosis is to try to keep our animal comfortable and prevent the dermatological situation from worsening during the time it takes for the veterinarian to reach a diagnosis.

avoid contact with irritating substances such as harsh shampoos, cleaning products, wipes, or things we are unsure may cause problems for our animal.
we take care of the diet, under the veterinarian's advice,
let's make sure there are no internal or external parasites, and we can use supplements that can improve not only the dermatological situation but also the metabolic condition of the animal and can help us control the itching.
 

Natural remedies
We cannot fail to mention aloe, which is the basis of the products we are showing as help, an aid for your animals.

It allows us to:

to regenerate the skin
to improve healing
to soothe the itching.
From aloe, we can get very important help

 

Here are the links to the clinical cases documented by our veterinarians; you can see the changes before and after in animals that were affected by dermatological issues but fortunately managed to overcome them.

Maltese with dermatitis
spitz with seasonal allergy and widespread itching
cat with flea allergy dermatitis (FAD)