My pet is scratching or losing hair

+ How we work it out

Itching or losing hair can be precursors of many conditions. Skin irritation often results in a few common symptoms, but the underlying cause may differ in a lot of ways. There are many approaches to skin and its treatment and much depends on the severity of the problem, the ability to investigate and what level of management we seek to achieve. As with other problems, there are steps that we follow to piece together the answer:

Step 1: Rule out parasites

Our first step is always to rule out fleas. Fleas and flea related conditions, such as Feline Flea Allergic Dermatitis, are the most common causes for itching and subsequent hairloss. Flea combs, searching for flea dirt help, but can miss parasites that live on other pets in the house, or larval stages that may not be living on your pet. As a result, to rule out fleas, recent treatment with an appropriate product is critical.

Step 2: Establish extent and severity of the problem

How severe is the condition? Is it only one location, or multiple locations? All paws, ears, anal glands? All questions serve to help us understand what we may be facing. Along with understanding the problem faced, we may also bring in a knowledge of breeds to help rule in, or out, most likely causes.

Step 4: Investigations

Investigations are not always our first port of call but they will become necessary in certain situations.

• Unresponsive to treatment
• Recurrence of the problem
• Worsening of lesions
• Rapid development of a problem
• Other symptoms noted at a clinical examination

Specifically related to skin includes but not limited to:

• Swab samples for culture of bacteria, fungi or yeast
• Biopsy to understand how the body is reacting and what tissues are specifically affected
• Routine screening blood test
• Allergy blood samples
• Skin scrapes to look for particular parasites such as Sarcoptes Scabii

Step 5: Diagnosis

From the above we achieve a diagnosis which guides how we seek to treat any condition.

Step 6: Management or Treatment Plan

Not all skin complaints can be cured, some have lifelong implications. As with many treatment plans we seek to manage many factors; the cause of the itch, the skin barrier and its function, the body’s reaction to the cause.

Each of these have many options and which is most appropriate will depend upon every individual pet.

+ How long does the treatment take?

The initial examination will take 15 minutes, after which a treatment, or diagnostic plan will be made.

+ How many visits are required?

This depends on the diagnosis. For a simple infection, an assessment and then follow up will be the least number of visits. For more severe conditions, several appointments with tests being needed.

+ What can cause itching or hairloss issues?

There are too many causes to list on this page but the most important thing is to work with your vet ruling out as many of them as possible. We use a mnemonic to help focus our attention, with a common one being VITAMIN-ED:

V Vascular

I Idiopathic (No cause identified), Iatrogenic (Caused by a medicine)

T Traumatic

A Anatomical, Autoimmune

M Metabolic

I Infections: Bacterial, Viral, Fungal, Parasitic

N Nutritional, Neoplastic (Cancerous)

E Endocrine

D Degenerative