Dermatology

It’s not just humans who can be allergic to the house dust mite. Your pets can be allergic, too! In fact, about 75% of household pets with year round itching can be affected by house dust mite hypersensitivity. House dust mites can be found in every single household (that’s a lot of dust mites). And, it can become troublesome for “Fido” when he starts to feel the itch! While house dust mite hypersensitivity causes year…

A BOARD CERTIFIED VETERINARY DERMATOLOGIST® has special training in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of conditions affecting the skin, hair, ears, mucus membranes and nails/claws/hooves of animals. They participate in continuing education and teaching throughout their careers to remain up-to-date on the diagnosis and treatment of the conditions they see. They communicate and work with other members of the American College of Veterinary Dermatology regarding all aspects of veterinary dermatology. Patient care of veterinary…

Diseases caused by skin ectoparasites are common in our veterinary dermatology patients. Parasites may be part of the normal flora on the dog or cat, yet proliferate and cause skin disease under certain conditions. In addition, ectoparasites may be acquired by contact with other animals or contaminated environments. Ectoparasites Mites, fleas, and ticks may impact pet wellness. Sarcoptic mange causes severe itch, demodectic mange causes widespread hair loss, and flea bite hypersensitivity is an allergic…

Collies, their crosses, other herding breeds, and other mixed breed dogs may possess a mutation in a gene that produces the protein, P-glycoprotein. P-glycoprotein is the product of the multi-drug resistance gene MDR-1. The functional protein plays an important role in absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of many drugs and substances used in veterinary medicine. P-glycoprotein is a pump found in tissues of the intestine, brain, biliary system, kidneys, placenta, and testes. Its normal…

There are a few species of Demodex mites that can cause canine demodicosis. The most common is Demodex canis. Demodex canis is a normal inhabitant of the skin of healthy dogs and resides in hair follicles. The mite spends its entire life cycle on the dog, and it is not considered to be contagious. Dogs become colonized with this mite shortly after birth by direct transmission from the mother to the puppy. Under normal conditions, the presence of…