Dermatology – The branch of veterinary medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases of the skin, hair and nails. There are many skin diseases that may require attention. The most important aspect is to diagnose the problem. The two most common problems we deal with are allergies and parasites. These often make your pet itchy. The first steps are always to get a good history and do a physical exam so the appropriate diagnostics can be performed.

Allergy -often seen allergies are atopy, flea allergy and food allergy. The test for food allergy is an elimination diet. There are both home made and prescription diets we can use to help. Dogs and cats can also have allergies to environmental allergens.

Our approach is to use blood testing (which can be taken right in the office.) to determine the allergen. (cause of the itching)

Based on this large panel we can determine what your pet is allergic too. This will allow us to request the correct desensitization injections (antigen injections) that can be given at home. This will help avoid using other medications that often are more harmful to your pet.

Parasites such as fleas, mange and ticks can make a your pet itch.

We are able to help with appropriate treatments and home control.

Skin problems may also include problems such as:

Pyoderma – skin infections. Our lab is fully equipped using cytolgy to determine this problem.

Skin masses are often a problem. They sometimes may be an indication of more severe underlying problems such as cancer.

Biopsies can be performed with the tissue being sent to a pathologist for analysis. Many times these can be obtained with a local.

Endocrine problems are also common. These may include  such problems as a thyroid abnormality (pdf brochures, cat, dog) courtesy of IDEXX, cushings and others. Our in house testing or outside lab may be needed.

Of course there is much more so please feel free to call for an appointment.