Irritation on the dog's stomach

It's good to have a dog in the house. This is a family favorite and a loyal friend. It's always more fun with her. They love her, pamper her, and she responds in kind. But there is so much excitement and hassle when a rash appears in dogs. In some cases, owners begin to treat their pet on their own. But the best way to help a four-legged friend is qualified help from a good specialist.

Irritation on the dog's stomach: Causes

The irritation may appear as small red dots or larger spots. Scratches may be present, especially if the dog is itchy.

What are the causes of irritation in the abdomen?

Food allergy . In this case, skin damage may occur in other places.
Flea allergic dermatitis.
Bites from midges and other insects.
Contact dermatitis . It can be caused by grass, washing powder, household chemicals, fabric.
Atopic dermatitis . Just like with food allergies, lesions will be present in other places, especially the ears.
Secondary bacterial and fungal infection.

Causes of red spots

The appearance of rashes on a dog's skin can be caused by pigmentation disorders or inflammation. Let's look at the main causes of stains:

. Appears due to minor injuries, microcracks in the skin. Wounds and abrasions must be treated in a timely manner - dirt and harmful microorganisms get through them. Areas of skin itch and itch - by scratching them with his claws, the dog provokes. This is how “wetting dermatitis” can develop;
Flea infestation is a common problem. They may also show up. In this case, it is necessary to use a special collar;
the allergy is accompanied by vomiting and redness on the abdomen. If the dog has been in contact with chemicals, red dots appear on the dermis. This is characterized by excessive salivation, runny nose and cough. Inflamed areas can be lubricated with alcohol, the dog can be given antihistamines (Suprastin);
(“red scabies”) – the spots are dry, flaky and very itchy. The spots are small, do not grow, and look like prickly heat, so it’s easy to start the problem. Treatment is prescribed by a veterinarian.

The most harmless reason is prickly heat. Dogs with thick fur suffer especially in the heat, their skin sweats and rashes appear. Locations: abdomen, neck, ears, skin folds. The animal may be lethargic. If the stage is advanced, wet scabs and suppuration appear at the site of the rash, emitting an unpleasant odor. The dog may lick the affected areas and will definitely need the help of a veterinarian. To avoid this problem, in hot weather, reschedule your walks with your pet to early morning or late evening, and provide free access to water.

Neurogenic rashes may appear - they are triggered by stress, anxiety or melancholy of the animal. Manifests itself in the form of pimples and rashes in the groin area.

Diagnosis of dermatological lesions

An initial appointment with a veterinarian-dermatologist usually lasts about an hour. Why so long? The doctor needs to collect detailed information about your dog, almost from birth.

This is a very important part of the diagnosis, since already at this stage in some cases it is possible to understand the cause of the irritation.

Then the doctor conducts an examination. Performs a “wet test” to rule out fleas. Examines the dog using a Wood's lamp to rule out dermatophytosis.

Then comes the turn of more invasive research methods. Depending on the type of lesion, a scraping, impression smear, or fine-needle biopsy is taken to conduct a cytological examination of the skin.

Bacterial culture is usually not required.

Watch the video: Skin diseases in dogs - HOW TO TREAT?

When urgent specialist help is required

Red rashes are often the cause of animal illness. This provokes a malfunction in the immune system and the appearance of inflammatory processes. How to recognize and treat skin problems in dogs? Symptoms of serious illnesses:

dermatophytosis is a disease caused by fungal parasites (dermatophytes). The redness increases and there are more of them. The first alarm bell is a spot on the animal’s head. Further, they appear on the face, tail, paws, neck, and groin. Hair loss occurs, the skin thickens, and pigmentation is lost. Occasionally, ulcers and nodular formations appear. The nail bed may peel and turn yellow. If the situation is critical, the dog's paw pads are affected;
spots in the lower abdomen, the dog whines when urinating - a sign of infection. Without treatment, ulcers appear that spread to the paws, ears, mouth and nose. The veterinarian takes blood and smears and selects individual treatment. Before going to the clinic, you can treat the affected surface with an antiseptic (hydrogen peroxide, chlorhexidine);
The ringworm is localized on the paws, neck, and head. It is characterized by smooth, round spots of red color, varying in size. Inflammation of the area occurs. If the problem is neglected, the dermis becomes covered with thickened, bright red crusts, and the affected area doubles. In this case, immunomodulatory and antifungal agents are prescribed. It is better to isolate the dog - shingles is contagious;
folliculitis - localized in the lower abdomen, in the groin. Looks like red papules. In parallel, a granuloma may develop. The problem area is carefully shaved so as not to touch the papules, and treated with an antibacterial agent. Therapy is carried out with local antiseptics or a course of antibiotics;
hypothyroidism is a disease of the thyroid gland, of primary and secondary types. Autoimmune inflammation occurs in the thyroid gland, and the synthesis of the hormone thyroxine decreases. The nature of the problem is idiopathic. It is possible that your pet’s body is low in iodine. The causes may be thyroid tumors or infections.

Malignant or benign tumors can be determined by pressing on the area of redness. The veterinarian is required to perform a biopsy. Benign tumors can resolve, while malignant ones are removed with a course of chemotherapy.

The dog has irritation on the stomach: How to treat it at home?

At the initial stage, if the irritation is not severe and does not bother the dog too much, then you can treat the skin with an aqueous solution of 0.05% chlorhexedine.

Do not under any circumstances treat your dog’s skin with alcohol iodine, brilliant green and fucorcin! This can cause a burn, and the veterinarian will no longer be able to diagnose.

Antibiotic ointments are also not recommended for use without prescription, since you can achieve the appearance of resistant microflora, which will be difficult to get rid of in the future.

Attention! If you are not sure that you know how to treat your dog, do not experiment - call your veterinarian, or better yet, go straight to the clinic.

Self-medication is fraught with negative consequences for the dog’s health, and the deterioration of the four-legged friend’s condition is a big disaster for both him and the owner. Remember that you are responsible for your pet.

Types of acne

Dogs are susceptible to several types of rashes. They are distinguished primarily by color. They look like red-brown or white bumps. If the tubercle is whitish in color, then pus has accumulated in it. In any case, if a rash appears on the body, it means that harmful inflammatory processes are occurring inside the body.

A dog owner can most often find papules and red pimples in places that have favorable microflora for the proliferation of harmful microbes. For example, the most common rashes are on the animal’s face, in particular on the chin and lip, in the auricle, as well as on the neck under the collar, in the anus, in the groin, on the stomach, on the loop, less often they occur on the back and tail of pet.

Excessively intense work of the sebaceous glands or pathologies in the functioning of the hair follicles can also lead to unpleasant consequences that will be visible to the naked eye. Pimples cause concern, the pet tries to scratch them, which further contributes to the spread of microbes throughout the skin. Therefore, the rash must be treated promptly before it begins to crust over and develops into eczema.

Treatment of dermatitis

Typically, systemic therapy is not required to treat abdominal irritation. It will be enough to eliminate the root cause.

You can relieve inflammation using local antiseptics, for example, Chlorexiderm (gel or spray).

Gels and foams with panthenol can have a calming effect.

It is necessary not to forget about treatments against fleas and other insects; Effictis and Advantix drops have a wide spectrum of action.

To prevent irritation, it is not recommended to wash the floor with household chemicals or be sure to rinse it with plain water afterwards.

Rinse bedding well after washing powder, do not use scratchy fabrics.

In some cases, a special diet may be required, for example, Hill's Derm Defense for atopic or flea dermatitis or Proplan N/A for food allergies.

If irritation is accompanied by itching, it must be eliminated. For a narrowly localized problem, you can use sprays with a local effect - Cortavance or Stop Itching.

If the whole body itches, then it is better to use systemic drugs: Stop-Itching , Execan sugar cubes, Atopica tablets, Apoquel.

Microsporia and trichophytosis

Skin diseases of dogs caused by pathogenic fungi are sometimes called lichen, although it is more correct to use the term “dermatomycosis”. These are several diseases with similar symptoms caused by spore-forming fungi. Most often, dogs suffer from microsporia, commonly known as ringworm. Ringworm in dogs manifests itself very characteristically - in the form of regularly shaped spots with a bright pink rim and “clipped” hair. Trichophytosis is also dangerous, which manifests itself in almost the same way as microsporia, but the causative agent of this disease is different. Favus (scab) is a skin disease that is manifested by the formation of thick grayish-yellow crusts on the skin. Dog owners may well become infected with fungal diseases from their pet. Be sure to contact your veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment. Both local antifungal ointments and tablets, sometimes injections, are used as therapy. When treating fungal dermatitis in a pet, it is imperative to maintain personal hygiene! As a rule, dermatomycosis is successfully treated.

Conditionally pathogenic fungi, such as candida, malassezia, etc., begin to multiply intensively and cause inconvenience only in the presence of favorable conditions. They often cause inflammation in the skin folds of breeds such as Shar Pei, Bulldog and Basset. These fungi can be quite dangerous if they enter the body due to decreased immunity.

The best veterinary dermatologists

If the irritation is persistent and cannot be dealt with on your own, then you need to rush to see a veterinary dermatologist:

Eduard Masimov. Clinic Your own doctor. Moscow.
Lyubov Kuznetsova. White Fang. Moscow.
Anna Gehrke. Council. Moscow.
Ruppel Vladimir. Elena Gerasimova. Clinics of Dr. Sotnikov. Saint Petersburg.
Bondareva Maria. Kotonai. Saint Petersburg.
Heinrich Elena. Vetus. Saint Petersburg.

An appointment with a specialist usually costs 1000-1500 rubles.

Quantity

What is a food allergy?

True food allergy is a negative reaction of the body, caused by excessive activity of the immune system and manifested by a certain set of nonspecific symptoms. It is important to understand that food allergies associated with the action of the immune system take some time to develop - from several months to several years. That is why it is wrong to believe that if a dog eats the same food for some time, then it cannot have a food allergy - on the contrary, it very well may. On forums we can find many reasons that cause food allergies in dogs, including antibiotics from chicken, preservatives in food and even fats. Is this true? This is what the latest research by leading foreign veterinary immunologists tells us about the true causes of this disease.

What to do if you suspect your dog has a food allergy?

Of course, first of all, you need to contact a veterinary dermatologist. But, if for some reason this cannot be done right now, then we will discuss the main aspects of the treatment and diagnosis of food allergies in dogs. The primary task is to relieve the dog of itching, which can manifest itself to varying degrees individually. Often, the owner is faced with such severe food allergies in the dog that the dog cannot sleep at night and is constantly itching. In this case, an affordable and fast-acting drug that relieves itching is needed, and it is also very important that it is well tolerated by the dog’s body. Apoquel®, an original drug that specifically targets the mechanisms of development of itching, meets all these requirements. Apoquel quickly (within several hours) eliminates discomfort associated with itching, redness, scratching and swelling. The drug is recommended for long-term use; in the first 2 weeks it is important to give it to the dog 2 times a day, then switch to once a day. A convenient table for calculating dosage by dog's weight is included in the instructions. The therapeutic effect of the drug in the fight against itching has been confirmed by many years of experience in use by domestic and foreign veterinarians; several hundred articles have been written about its use in the treatment of allergic dermatitis in dogs. The drug does not cause addiction or “withdrawal syndrome”, and is also approved for use with other systemic drugs, for example, tablets for helminths, fleas and ticks (does not cause a decrease in their effectiveness). It is important, however, to remember that you should not use Apoquel on your own in dogs under one year old, weighing less than 3 kg, lactating, pregnant females, dogs during the mating period and those with tumor diseases. Consultation with your veterinarian is recommended before using any drug. In addition, if there are symptoms other than itching: pododermatitis, bacterial skin diseases, otitis, additional diagnostics and therapy are recommended. In this case, medications to treat food allergies will include antibacterial shampoos, ear drops, fatty acids, and possibly systemic antibiotics. It is worth recalling that self-prescription of antibiotics in any form (drops in the ears, ointments, tablets, injections) is strongly not recommended and can lead to a worsening or distortion of the situation, as well as cause undesirable effects (vomiting, diarrhea, drug reactions, bacterial resistance).

In addition to relieving itching and inflammation in the case of food allergies, it is important to understand what product is causing it. In order to find out, it is necessary to resort to the “gold standard of diagnosis”, namely the elimination diet. Unfortunately, blood testing for food allergens in animals has not found practical use and is not recommended by leading veterinary allergists as a diagnostic technique. For a correctly implemented diet, you should use food with a new source of protein, so simply changing the diet to a line “for sensitive skin” is not enough. The ideal option would be for a veterinarian to prescribe a diet based on the feeding history, because it is very important not to prescribe protein sources that the dog ate less than 4 months ago, and it is also important to take into account one very interesting feature - protein cross-reaction. This phenomenon was described relatively recently and concerns the meat of closely related animal species. For example, if your dog is exhibiting symptoms of a food allergy, presumably to beef, then prescribing lamb, buffalo, goat, deer, or elk as an exclusion diet would be inappropriate, since these animals are genetically similar and the immune system is also most likely to react to their meat. Choose meat from completely different types of animals for your diet, for example, if your dog has been eating chicken for a long time, then it is better to choose pork or fish as a diet. The source of carbohydrates also plays an important role - it is better not to choose food containing gluten, and stick to vegetables as a side dish. You can use commercial mono-protein foods with selected ingredients, or you can balance your dog’s natural diet with the help of a veterinarian with knowledge of nutrition. A good plan is to use hydrolyzed diets. Their meaning is that the protein molecules in their composition are broken into small pieces, the molecular weight of which simply will not allow the allergy process to develop; also, usually, proteins that are unusual for our dogs (soybeans, feathers) are used as part of such diets, but this should not scare you, because the formulation of industrial feed is always balanced in vitamins, macro- and microelements.

So, for diagnosis, and, consequently, for the treatment of food allergies in dogs, you can use three diet options:

Mono-protein industrial diet (preferably without grains)
Mono-protein diet prepared at home (side dish - vegetables) after consultation with a nutritionist
Hydrolyzed industrial diet

Nutritionists advise switching to new foods gradually, over 5 days, to avoid negative intestinal symptoms. Although, even if they do occur, they go away without treatment within a few days. The question of the duration of an elimination diet was quite acute some time ago; now we recommend an average of 8 weeks to adhere to a new diet in order to evaluate its effectiveness. When switching to a diet for a dog to treat symptoms of food allergies, Apoquel can be prescribed for a period of 14 to 21 days; taking the drug will not affect the duration of the diet and will not reduce its diagnostic value. You can also add fatty acids to your diet in the form of salmon oil, which is sold in pet stores, it will improve the condition of the skin and additionally help relieve inflammation.

In order for the diagnosis of food allergies to be as effective as possible, it is important for the dog owner to take into account certain aspects, namely:

Understand the importance of diagnosis (after all, this is the only way a veterinarian can make a diagnosis), and really stick to a strict diet
Eliminate all “unexpected” protein intake from the dog’s diet (vitamins, “snacks”, treats, including from the table, preparations with meat flavors)
Keeping in touch with your veterinarian is very important if something in the diagnosis does not go as expected

The diagnosis of “true food allergy” is considered established if there was a marked improvement in the health status during feeding with an exclusion diet, and when provoked by a previous food, the situation worsened again. Provocation is very important, since the symptoms of food allergies are exactly the same as, for example, seasonal ones. If there is no deterioration within an average of 14 days after returning to normal food, the diagnosis of “true food allergy” is considered excluded. Of course, partial improvement is possible while using the diet, that is, the symptoms of food allergies have disappeared, but not completely. In this case, your dog probably also suffers from an underlying allergy, such as atopic dermatitis or hypersensitivity to flea saliva. In this case, as in the case of the impossibility of carrying out an elimination diet (sometimes dogs refuse to eat new food, the owner’s personal circumstances may not allow diagnosis), the question of how to long-term treat food allergies in such a dog without harm to the body can be discussed. There are many medications available for long-term itching control in the form of tablets, capsules, and sprays. The doctor will decide which drug to prescribe for your dog, based on its individual characteristics. In most cases, Apoquel will be the drug of choice, as it controls allergy symptoms well, is approved for long-term use and is well tolerated by the dog.