Skin disorders are among the most common dog ailments, especially for older canines. The good news is that veterinarians take skin issues in older dogs very seriously, and are relatively easy to treat.
There are several symptoms of skin disorders among dogs. Some of the more striking ones are a discoloration of their fur, inflammation of their ear canal, dry skin, skin flaking, foul odor emitted by their skin, hair loss, brown flakes, skin rash, redness, irritation, itchy skin, scabs, and dog warts.
Once it’s determined that your dog suffers from a skin disorder, you and your veterinarian will have to identify the causes, such as parasites (dog fleas, ringworm, dog lice, dog mange), vaccinations, environmental pollutants, psychological factors, bacteria, and skin allergies. The quality of the dog food is another irritant that can lead to your dog’s poor skin condition.
There are a variety of treatment options available for dog skin ailments. But before getting to that point, you might want to take preventive steps to boost your older buddy’s immune system. There are preventive dietary supplements, often made of natural herbs like horsetail, dandelion, spirulina, and focus vesiculosis, and kalium sulphate, that can vastly improve the health of your older dog’s skin and coat.
Another unconventional method is dog fasting. This will allow your dog to cleanse the body, and expel the skin problem—this is how dogs in the wild do it, and it might well work on your buddy too!
A third option is to take care of the affected area using a careful regimen.
Treatment for Dog Ailments Related to Skin
1.Clip away excess hair covering the spot on the skin.
2.Bathe your dog, focusing special attention on the spot(s). Use a mild organic soap or shampoo. We like the Castor & Pollux Head to Tail Aloe Oatmeal Shampoo.
3. After drying the hair and skin, try cleansing the spot(s) with a black or green tea. This can be done often. Using these teas supplies a tannic acid which helps to dry up the moist areas of the skin.
4. Next, apply natural Vitamin E oil or an aloe vera gel extracted from a living plant. These plants can be found at most health food stores. (Read more here)
What makes these steps amazing is that they can be administered by any caring pet owner like you. Of course, you will still have to take your buddy to the veterinarian if the condition persists, but isn’t it great to know that we pet owners aren’t totally helpless?