Scratching the Surface: Pet Skin Problems Explained with Dr. O'Hara

How Do You Diagnose And Treat Skin Conditions In Pets?

Scratching, licking, and constant discomfort—when our pets can't stop itching, it's more than just an annoyance. It's their way of telling us something's wrong. Dr. O'Hara dives deep into the world of pet skin conditions, revealing why allergic dermatitis and ear infections are the most common issues he sees in his practice.

Unlike humans who sneeze and sniffle with allergies, our furry friends express their discomfort through their skin. The conversation reveals fascinating seasonal patterns—some pets struggle in spring with tree pollen, others in summer with grass allergies, and surprisingly many suffer in fall when mold and ragweed are at their peak. For unfortunate pets with year-round symptoms, Dr. O'Hara explains how common household dust mites might be the culprit.

Diagnosis begins with careful observation, as the location of irritation often tells a story—intense itching at the tail base frequently points to fleas, while widespread irritation suggests environmental triggers. The good news? Treatment options have advanced significantly. From specialized food allergy testing to remarkable Cytopoint injections providing 4-8 weeks of relief with a single treatment, veterinary medicine offers more solutions than ever before. Dr. O'Hara shares practical advice for pet parents, including the proper way to transition between foods (gradually over a week) and signs of ear problems to watch for.

Whether your pet battles seasonal allergies or chronic skin issues, this episode provides the insights you need to help them find relief. Have questions about your pet's specific skin condition? Call or text Abingdon Animal Medical Center at 276-628-9655 or visit Myabingdonvet.com to schedule a consultation with Dr. O'Hara and his team.

To learn more about Abingdon Animal Medical Center visit:
https://www.MyAbingdonVet.com
Abingdon Animal Medical Center
19586 Dennison Drive
Abingdon, VA 24211
276-628-9655

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Tail Talk with Dr O'Hara, where Eastern
Tennessee and SouthwestVirginia's favorite pets get the
spotlight they deserve.
He's the heart behind AbingdonAnimal Medical Center, combining
small-town charm withstate-of-the-art veterinary care
.
Whether your furry friend purrs, barks or just steals your
socks, this is the place fortips, tails and a whole lot of

(00:28):
tail wagging.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Itchy skin, hot spots and mystery rashes.
Dr O'Hara breaks down howveterinarians diagnose and treat
common skin conditions in petsand what owners can do to help
Welcome back everyone.
Skip Monaco, host producer,back in the studio with Dr
O'Hara of Abington AnimalMedical Center.
Dr O'Hara, how's it going?

Speaker 3 (00:55):
It's going great.
How you doing Skip.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Doing fine Always a pleasure.
Today we're talking about howdo you diagnose and treat skin
conditions in pets.
Take it away.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Well, I mean, the biggest thing in how you
diagnose things with skin isyour eyes.
Honestly, Skip, I mean you kindof look at it.
With enough experience, youusually have a pretty good idea
of what's going on.
The most common thing I see iswhat's called allergic
dermatitis, where they have anunderlying allergy and that's
kind of eroding their skin,healthy skin barrier and then

(01:27):
they get secondary infectionsand that that's most common.
Yes, I would say allergicdermatitis and ear infections
are the number one presentingcomplaint for me with dogs and
it varies throughout the yeardepending on when their allergy
is like.
Some dogs, you know, willexclude food allergies, because

(01:50):
that's kind of a different thing, but some dogs are allergic,
say in the springtime when thetree pollen goes crazy.
Some dogs in the summer whengrass is going crazy.
Some dogs in the fall when allis surprisingly an itchy time,
and you know it's when theleaves are starting to fall, the
mold coming down.
I think the ragweed is reallyhigh in the fall, so that I see

(02:11):
a lot of itchy dogs in the fallright now too.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
What about cats?
Have the same issues.

Speaker 3 (02:19):
Yeah, I mean cats can have allergies too.
They're not as prone as dogs,but the cats will get their
things from certain things inthe environment too.
But I would say the majority ofcats not all of them are
indoors and if they don't havefleas and stuff they stay pretty
.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
I don't see them as much for skin as dogs, but I do
still see them for it okay well,this may be a dumb question,
but how do you determine whethera skin condition is caused by
allergies, parasites or possiblysomething else?

Speaker 3 (02:54):
location of the lesion is key, right?
I'll give you an example.
That's a good question, say,like right at the base of the
tail, if a dog comes in and it'sreally itchy there.
You know, the first thing I'mgoing to do is that that's a big
zone for fleas and dogs.
I'll look for evidence of fleasyou know what I mean and see if
their history are they on fleaprevention or something like

(03:17):
that?
Allergic dermatitis usuallypresents with itching.
There are some skin conditionsthat don't present with that and
, like I said, the location onthe body, how old they are, kind
of matters and things like that.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Well, I was going to ask what about diet?
Does that play a role inmanaging chronic skin problems?

Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yes, food allergies are a.
You know that's a lot of timetrial.
You know you've been puttingthem on food trials for weeks at
a time to see if their itchingstops.
They're usually allergic to theprotein source in their food,
and so sometimes we'll changethe protein source in food and
see if the itching will stop.
That takes time and trials.

(03:59):
Something cool we can do now,too, is we can actually test
them for what foods they'reallergic to.
There's a lab we use for that,and then we'll send a sample out
to them and then they'll testall the foods that they're
having intolerance or allergiesto.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
So you know well, now , speaking of managing of a diet
, how often often, you know.
I've heard different things.
But when you change a dog or acat's food, the type of food
that they're eating, how shouldyou go about that without
causing and not necessarilyallergic reactions?
But I guess to watch for thator any other issues.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Well, those are usually GI signs, right?
You know their gut, gut flora.
Dogs are pretty much on thesame diet all the time, right?
They're not like us where wekind of tinker with other things
.
They're usually on the samediet.
So when you change their foodyou want to do it gradually,
because their gut flora is kindof used to a certain thing being

(04:57):
entered into their system andit's sometimes not all the time,
but they'll get diarrhea orsomething like that if you try
and switch their food tooquickly.
So a gradual change over a weekis recommended.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
So when you say gradual, you mean maybe you have
some of the old food plus thenew food and just mix it, start
mixing it and go heavier, Iguess.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah, like if you're feeding a cup, the first couple
days just do a quarter cup ofthe new food and then by day
three or four do half a cup, youknow, and just just a gradual
mix there gotcha gotcha.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
Well, back to allergies and skin conditions.
What treatments do youtypically recommend?
Topicals, medications or orlifestyle changes?
What as far as addressing thoseskin conditions?

Speaker 3 (05:47):
number.
One thing you know the ownercan do is flea and tick
prevention.
All right, so we can eliminatefleas, because some dogs are
actually allergic to the fleasaliva itself, right you know.
So it starts a big immunesystem response of them or they
release histamine and all thatstuff.
So if they're covering that,that's good.
But some dogs they can'tcontrol what they're allergic to

(06:08):
, right, you can't control ifyou're allergic, like we're
talking about, to ragweed orsomething like that.
And the thing I found best andskin drugs have come a long way
there's these injections.
They're called Cytopointinjections and they'll provide
itching and allergy relief fromanywhere from four to eight
weeks at a time.
So it'll just push some dogs totheir one season.

(06:30):
They're itchy and I have somedogs that are on them.
They get them religiously everyfour to eight weeks because
they have year-round allergies.
You know, year-round allergies.
What could that be?
Well, one of the big problemsthat is dust and storage mites,
which are ubiquitous in ourenvironment.
You can't really do much aboutit, but that is a common, not
allergy, indoor allergy dogsdust mites, dust mites Wow, hmm,

(06:57):
did not know that.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
What do you have?
Any advice for pet owners whoare trying to prevent skin flare
ups at home?

Speaker 3 (07:04):
Well, I mean, it all depends.
And if there's a context, youknow, you know sensitivity, like
a certain grass or something orsomething you go do and then
you notice they're super itchyor it's a super shampoo or
something like that andobviously you kind of want to
avoid, avoidance helps, right.

(07:24):
But, like I say, atopy is acrazy thing.
It's just not a contact thing.
It's actually, you know, abreathing in and the allergy
coming out through your body.
You know us as humans, we kindof have respiratory issues with
atopy, right, you know, runnynose, itchy eyes, Dogs, it

(07:45):
manifests mainly in their skinand their ears, you know.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
Hmm, and I guess if you see a dog scratching their
ear pretty hard, that is that apretty good sign that they've
got something going on, yeah,shaking the head, you know,
scratching the ears, rubbing theear on the ground, ground
sensitivity.

Speaker 3 (08:04):
When you're petting them around, the ears might want
to kind of be looked at.
You know this, the ears,they're kind of part of the
whole integument in the skinright, so oftentimes dogs with
itchy allergies have earproblems as well gotcha all
right.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
Well, dr o'ara, thank you so much.
It's been eye-opening for meand this is incredibly helpful
for pet parents dealing withskin conditions.
So, thank you so much, andwe'll get you.
We got something else you wantto.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
No, I was saying thanks.
I try to keep it really simplethere.
I mean because you know if youget too in-depth with it like
being the number one presentingcomplaint in dogs you will go
down a rabbit hole.
So I try to keep it prettysimple.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
Keep it simple.
What is it?
The KISS method?
Keep it simple, stupid.
We're not stupid, but anyway,all right.
Well, dr Ahern, thanks so much.
Appreciate it again, and we'llsee you in the next episode.

Speaker 3 (09:00):
Thank you, Steve.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Thanks for joining us on Tail Talk with Dr O'Hara.
If your four-legged familymember needs a checkup, a
stylish groom or just a cozyplace to stay, give us a call or
text at 276-628-9655 or visitmyabingdonvetcom to book your
appointment.
Abingdon Animal Medical Centera small town feel with

(09:28):
state-of-the-art care and plentyof belly rubs.