The short answer to this very common question is “WRONG!” Unfortunately, grains have gotten a bad rap in the last few years, and although they can cause food allergies, they are lower on the list of likely suspects. Food allergy is often a very frustrating diagnosis to make as veterinarians ask their owners to please […]
It is commonly said “ you will never fully understand a person unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes” or in our patient’s case, spent a day with itchy skin. I have not only spent a day, I’ve spent many years with skin allergies of my own. Not only do I understand what it […]
Spring 2006 Case Study: Rusty, a 3 year old Golden retriever, was referred for a history of chronic ringworm which was unresponsive to topical miconazole cream and oral griseofulvin. The lesions were moderately pruritic. On physical examination, Rusty had numerous round scaly lesions on the ventral inguinal area, as well as interdigital and outer ear […]
Summer 2007 Canine solar dermatitis or chronic sun damage to the skin is a common dermatologic disorder in hot sunny climates. However solar dermatitis can sometimes mimic other skin diseases such as allergies or pyoderma, and be unrecognized and so go untreated until irreversible damage or sun induced skin cancers have developed. This article will […]
Spring 2005 Signalment and History “Buffy”, a 10 year old spayed female Shih Tzu, presented for a 6 month history of mildly pruritic patchy alopecia and scaling of the face, legs and truncal regions which had failed to respond to several courses of antibiotics or steroid injections. She had also become lethargic the last few […]
Fall 2004 One of the most frequent questions we receive from referring veterinarians and clients at our office is “what do you think of cyclosporin, and does it work for the treatment of atopy?” We have been using cyclosporin for the treatment of refractory atopic cases since 1996. Like all of our therapeutic options for […]
April 2004 Gently collect hairs from the periphery of the lesions and view them with mineral oil and a cover slip. With practice, ectothrix arthroconidia spores may be seen surrounding the hairs but there are also many false positives and negatives, so a fungal culture is necessary.Fungal Culture: Culture is the gold standard. Use hairs […]
Fall 2003 Sam, a 1.5 year old SF pitbull mix dog was presented for evaluation for total ear canal ablation surgery. She had a history of chronic bilateral otitis since the owner obtained her 3 months previously. Topical ear medications had been tried with no improvement. Additionally, the owner reported that Sam was pruritic, especially […]
Summer 2003 Case Study: BJ is a 5 year old neutered male golden retriever with a history of severe nonseasonal pruritus and recurrent skin and ear infections since 1 year of age. A blood allergy test was performed which revealed reactions to several foods, grasses, and trees. BJ’s diet was changed to an over-the-counter chicken […]
Video-otoscopy The video-otoscope illuminates a normal canine eardrum. A large cancerous tumor obstructs the ear canal.
