My dog has flaky, scaly skin. Is it cradle cap? What can I do?

Related Answers from Veterinarians

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  Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

  Licensed Veterinary Technician

  Published on December 28th, 2015

  Schedule an appointment with your veterinarian. Rule out parasites, infection or allergies. Since his chewing has broken the skin, he is at risk for a skin infection and may require antibiotics. Your vet can also prescribe a short course of steroids to break the itch cycle then can dispense or recommend an antihistamine to prevent the itchiness from returning. Some antihistamines work better than others in different dogs, so you will need to find the one that works best. A pet approved colloidal oatmeal bath can also soothe itchy, red skin. Consider adding an essential fatty acid supplement (usually a fish oil) to his diet to promote healthy skin. EFAs may also decrease inflammation. Search www.pet360.com for fish oil supplements. If your vet diagnoses allergies. Your task is to try to determine what he is allergic to and decrease or eliminate it. Discuss food elimination trials and allergy testing with your vet.

  

  20Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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  Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

  Veterinarian

  Published on October 10th, 2017

  Hello, & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. You can try switching Helios to a diet made for sensitive skin. Hills Science Diet makes a good one. Just switching to a grain free dog food will not cut it. If the Sensitive Skin Diet does not help, then I like one of the salmon based limited ingredient diets. Next, make sure you are using a good flea product on a very regular basis. Frontline Gold, Bravecto, Comfortis, or Nexgard I feel are the best out there. Start Helios on a fish oil capsule, human or dog quality. I would give him about between 1000-1200 mg twice a day. You can bathe him in a very mild oatmeal shampoo, using cool water. You can bathe him twice a week if it helps. If none of these seem to help, talk to your vet about the two newest & greatest allergy medications available to dogs now - Apoquel & Cytopoint.. I hope Helios finds some good relief soon. Take care.

  

  1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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  Answered By Dr. Leigh, DVM

  Veterinarian

  Published on August 10th, 2017

  If your puppy has a dermatitis, he could have fleas, mites, bacterial infection skin infection, or an allergy causing the dermatitis. You could bathe him with a anti-microbial medicated dog shampoo and see if that helps. Make sure to feed him a high quality dog food. Also, use a monthly flea and tick prevention, like NexGard, Frontline, Revolution, etc. once he is old enough. If the dermatitis continues then he should be examined by a vet as he may need an antibiotic, anti-histamine, and/or a corticosteroid to treat.

  

  1Pet Parents found this answer helpful