How we can help your pet's skin

The medical term for itchiness is pruritus. Pruritus can be graded on a scale of 1-10: a 1 is a patient that stops and scratches momentarily, while a 10 is a patient that can do nothing else but scratch (or lick, chew, bite, and/or rub).

Most itchy patients are allergic and have inflammation in their skin. This inflammation causes an imbalance in the normal barrier function of the skin and leads to secondary skin infections.

The veterinary dermatologist addresses pruritus with a multifactorial approach. Investigating and treating secondary infection is very important, as is settling inflammation from the underlying allergy, and also getting to the heart of the matter by considering various allergic diseases and formulating a plan to explore those allergies.

Specialized diagnostic procedures used by the veterinary dermatologist include:

• Trichogram
• Skin and ear cytology
• Skin biopsy and dermatopathologic evaluation
• Intradermal allergy test
• Food allergy dietary elimination trial
• Fungal cultures and other microbiologic testing of skin scrapings or secretions
• Video otoscopy and deep ear flush