Fleabite Hypersensitivity
Fleabite Hypersensitivity, lay term: Flea Allergy Intro: When a flea bites an animal, it injects a small amount of saliva into the skin. Many cats and dogs develop an allergy to a protein in the flea saliva. In these pets, small numbers of flea bites will lead to an intense allergic reaction and severe itching. […]
Flea Prevention is Not Poison
Please stop calling flea prevention poison As a board-certified veterinary dermatologist®, I talk to my clients about flea prevention all the time. I see a patient with symptoms of flea allergy dermatitis as least once a day, and usually more than that. Most of these pet owners are not actively avoiding flea prevention for their […]
Supplements to help with Atopic Dermatitis
There are many different ways to treat atopic dermatitis in pets. Allergy testing and immunotherapy is Derm Delivered’s favorite option, along with medications to improve comfort like Apoquel, CytoPoint, cyclosporine, and sometimes steroids. Besides these mainstays of treatment, there are a ton of complimentary treatments like supplements that can be added to a treatment plan. […]
Diet Recommendations for Atopic Dermatitis
Pet owners often ask me what they should feed their allergic pets. If your pet has a food allergy, they need to eat a special hypoallergenic diet prescribed by your veterinarian. But what about for pets with environmental allergies? There is no exact answer to this; in reality there are many options. If the most […]
Chronic, Recurrent Skin Infections
A skin infection is an overgrowth of bacteria or yeast on the skin. It is one of the most common and frustrating diseases in dogs. Signs of a bacterial skin infection include hair loss, redness, itching, odor, flakes, small bumps (papules), white heads (pustules), scabs (crust), and circular areas of hair loss and crusting (epidermal […]
Chronic, Recurrent Ear Infections
Ear infections, or otitis externa, is an overgrowth of bacteria or yeast in the external ear canal. It is one of the most common and frustrating diseases in dogs. Many people mistakenly attribute their dog’s ear infections to things like having floppy ears or swimming in water. In reality, normal dogs should not be getting […]
Coconut Oil
Is coconut oil helpful for itchy dogs? Coconut oil is a hot health trend right now, and it’s being used in everything from cooking to candles to face moisturizers. Many pet owners mention that they’ve tried using coconut oil to relieve their dogs’ itchy skin, but didn’t see much help from it. While topical coconut […]
Immunotherapy Info
Allergen-Specific Immunotherapy info Atopic dermatitis (environmental allergies) is a type of skin allergy directed against environmental substances (allergens) such as pollens (from weeds, trees, and grasses), mold spores, or dust mites in the house. Pets with atopic dermatitis get itching, skin infections, and ear infections. There are many symptomatic treatments such as anti-itch drugs to […]
Food Allergy Testing
Testing for Food Allergy Skin allergies are a very common problem in dogs and cats; in our dermatology practice, itching of the skin or ears accounts for the majority of our appointments. Pet owner awareness of food allergy has greatly increased in recent years, likely due to marketing efforts of boutique dog food companies like […]
Debunking Grain-Free Diets
Grain-free diets for pets are extremely popular in the pet food industry right now, much to the befuddlement of veterinarians. The notion that pets should not eat grains seems to be perpetuated by employees at pet stores, dog breeders, and passionate believers on the internet, but the truth is that avoiding grains in dog food […]