Skin disorders in dogs fall in two categories – the hereditary skin disorders and the acquired skin disorders.
Hereditary Skin Disorders:
Some are limited to a few breeds, others can affect almost any breed. All these hereditary skin disorders must be diagnosed by a veterinarian or a specialist and treated accordingly.
Some of the most common hereditary skin disorders are:
Color Dilution Alopecia (CDA is characterized by loss of hair from dilutely pigmented areas.)
IgA deficiency (Animals with this deficiency lack immunoglobulin A (IgA), a type of antibody that protects against infections of the mucous membranes lining the mouth, airways and digestive tract)
Acrodermatitis (this disorder is characterised by diarrhoea, an inflammatory rash around the mouth and/or anus, and hair loss)
Cutaneous Asthenia (The skin of affected dogs is soft and thin, extremely stretchy and often hangs loosely in folds. It tears easily with minimal cause, such as your dog scratching, and there is usually very little bleeding. Small tears heal rapidly leaving irregular white scars, or the tears may enlarge.)
Sebaceous Adenitis (A perplexing condition in which the sebaceous glands in the skin become inflamed for unknown reasons, and are eventually destroyed. These glands normally produce sebum, a fatty secretion that helps prevent drying of the skin.)
Cyclic Hematopoiesis (The disorder is caused by an abnormality of the stem cells in the bone marrow, from which all blood cells develop. The result is a cyclic fluctuation in blood cell numbers.)
Dermatomyositis (A rather rare disease marked by muscle weakness and a distinctive skin rash.)
Nodular Dermatofibrosis (Lumps -”nodules” - form on the skin, generally on the head and legs. In most affected dogs, the condition is associated with cancer of the kidneys (renal cystadenocarcinoma), or of the uterus in females that have not been spayed. The skin lesions are considered a marker for the internal cancer.)
Auto-immune skin conditions are sometimes referred to as being allergic to yourself. The most devastating auto-immune disease is lupus, which affects people as well as dogs. This disease can affect kidneys, bones, blood chemistry and skin. It can be fatal to both dogs and people. It is usually successfully treated with cortisone, prednisolone, but these drugs can have harmful side effects.
Aquired Skin Disorders
Many things in the environment can cause skin problems - internal and external parasites, food, pollen, and chemical substances. The most common signs of skin disorders are scratching, itching, inflammation of the skin, yeast infections and discharges. Skin disorders can be prevented and treated.
