Dermatology

Your pet’s skin can be affected by external irritants, causing discomfort and infections. There are a range of environmental, food and household irritants that could trigger your pet’s skin issues. Our veterinary team will work with you to not only treat your pet’s skin issues but determine and address the root cause.

What skin issues affect pets?

If you’ve noticed your furry friend frequently biting, scratching or chewing at their skin, or if you have seen bumps, redness or hair loss, this is a sign your pet could be dealing with a skin condition. Some common ones are triggered by:

• Allergies from flea bites and atopic dermatitis
• Skin cancers
• Bacterial skin infection
• Seborrhea, which is greasy skin or dry, flaky skin
• Parasites like mange, fleas, ticks
• Food hypersensitivity/intolerance

How does food affect their skin?

Your pet’s diet can impact their skin and coat. Poor nutrition can cause dull, dry or patchy skin, not only affecting your pet’s appearance but its ability to protect them against the elements. Your pet’s diet should be rich in protein, essential fatty acids like Omega-3s, copper and zinc. Also, some foods might trigger food allergies that cause skin issues. When introducing new foods to your pet, pay close attention to how they react to it over time. If you’d like to learn more about the type of food to help support healthy skin for your pet, please contact us at 705-753-0324.

How do I know if my pet has a food allergy?

Food allergies are quite common in pets. Their bodies respond to foods like chicken, beef, dairy, soy, or wheat gluten by producing antibodies to fight against them. This triggers an allergic reaction, which manifests as a combination of itchy skin, diarrhea, vomiting or weight loss. To diagnose your furry friend with a food allergy, we’ll feed your pet a hypoallergenic diet for a few weeks, removing the suspected trigger. Once their symptoms have resolved, we’ll reintroduce their usual diet to see if they have a reaction to it over the next week.