With rising temperatures, many animal and plant species reactivate their life cycles and can cause reactions in our furry friends. But when we see a lesion on our dog's skin, how can we differentiate it from the thousands of variants that can affect it? We have external parasites such as fleas or ticks, skin allergies from contact with flowering plants or new ones in our environment. As well as fungi such as the common and dreaded ringworm.
Let's go by parts, unless we have a veterinarian in the family to whom we can turn with our doubt, we should go to a veterinarian to make the differential diagnosis in our pet. Many times by simple observation you can reach the diagnosis but in other cases, you will have to scrape some of the injured areas and observe it under a microscope to accurately have the new host in our dogand in this way, face the appropriate treatment.
As the title indicates, the topic would be mushrooms in dogs, but because there are thousands of species and subtypes I will not dedicate myself to tell them what each one is and its possible treatments, since that will be the task of the professional who attends to your furry friend. What I will try to tell you here is how to recognize the problem and what treatments exist in the market for them. Keep reading this article from our site:
Symptoms of yeast in dogs
The first thing we must bear in mind is that regardless of the type of fungus that is affecting our dog, we will be facing a topical condition, because the fungi first colonize and then reproduce in the superficial layers of the skin. Although they can vary, the main symptoms of fungus in dogs are:
- Constant itching.
- Hair loss in certain areas.
- Skin scaling in different ways such as white or black dandruff.
- Swollen, reddened or indurated skin.
- Color changes in hairless skin.
- There may be injuries to the nails.
- In very extreme cases we will see you anxious and very upset.
Diagnosis of fungus in dogs
The diagnosis made by the veterinarian is very simple. First, before visual inspection of the lesions, you can use the Wood's lamp that generates a fluorescence in the presence of mites, which in 50% of the cases is positive. These will be the lesions chosen for further evaluation.
The samples are always taken from the periphery of the lesion, if there are many, the most representative or newest will be chosen to avoid contaminations. In general, the oldest are the most contaminated. But to further reduce this possible contamination, they will clean the area with a disinfectant prior to extracting the sample.
Samples are usually from hair, nails, or skinThe most common are hair and skin. The hairs are usually pulled out to obtain it complete and not cut; the skin is scraped on the periphery since normally in the center we have inflammation and the sample would not be as representative.
Once the sample has been correctly obtained by the veterinarian, the procedures that can be used are: the direct examination under the microscope which raises many questions and false positives, so it is not the most used method and the cultures The latter are the most common for accurate diagnosis since it is faced with possible antibiotics to see which ones are resistant and which ones are not. Many times this method must be sent to laboratories since the veterinarian is not always equipped with everything necessary and the result could take a few days.
Tips to keep in mind if our dog suffers from fungus
We already mentioned that in the presence of any of these symptoms we should go to a veterinarian for a correct diagnosis since there are many pathologies that share symptoms. Some measures that we could take until we can go to the vet would be:
- Do not bathe the dog too often as this creates an ideal environment for parasites to continue to proliferate.
- In the case of having more animals or children at home, try not to let them sleep together, share blankets or clothes or brushes, as we would be promoting contagion.
- There are fungi that can be transmitted to humans, such as ringworm, so we must thoroughly sanitize our hands.
- If traveling by car or on the couch, lay out blankets and wash them regularly.
Possible treatments for fungus in dogs
My training is allopathic veterinary medicine but after discovering natural therapies, I am going to tell you about all the treatments that we can use, after the correct diagnosis.
- Allopathic or conventional treatment: corticosteroids and/or antibiotics. Ketoconazole is the most widely used drug in this type of disease. It is found in the form of lotions or ointments and, in its oral variant. I insist that only your veterinarian can prescribe it and indicate the most appropriate use in each case, depending on the severity of the animal.
- Homeopathic treatment: There are no exclusive medications for these problems, but I can tell you several things that will motivate you to choose it. These types of diseases are caused by a low defense of our animal, we live with these pathogens daily, but we do not always get sick. Therefore, if we remove your basic medication, we will help you find your balance again and prevent you from getting sick again due to fungi or other pathologies.
- Bach Flowers: there are 38 different flowers depending on the mood of our pet, the animal is not the same as before a disease is depressed than the one with anxiety because of the itching he is suffering. Therefore, consult a veterinary flower therapist or your own veterinarian if you are familiar with the matter.
- Reiki: I am not going to tell you that we will find the solution through this therapy, but yes, it will help to accept any treatment that we face completely harmony and not end up in a new problem that often happens in these cases.
- He althy eating: as we know today this is not a minor issue, there are homemade diets that will help your dog to be with high defenses to face any pathology that comes before him. They are progressive changes but in the future it will help in the life of your pet.
- Antifungal cream: we can also administer a cream for fungi in dogs of a mycotic nature, as long as the veterinarian advises us. This ointment for dogs with fungi could help our dog to relieve its symptoms and gradually reduce the infection.
As you can see we have several possible treatments for these "bugs" and some tips that will be useful for your pet to be happy and fulfilled again. Carry out a complete cleaning of the environment to eliminate spores that re-infect my pet, clean or eliminate all objects that have been in contact with my animal and wash our hands periodically.
Mushrooms in dogs: home treatment
Despite the existence of foods and products with antibacterial properties, such as apple cider vinegar for dogs, its use as a home remedy for fungus in dogs is discouraged given its low effectiveness Only the vet can prescribe the right product to eliminate our furry friend's infection.
The contagion of fungi from dogs to people
Among the different diseases that a dog can transmit to a human being, we find fungi, which can infect a human being, between dogs and even between different types of animals, such as cats or guinea pigs. It can be caused by direct contact or through objects that contain the agents that cause this disease, generally by flaking or hair.
Treating your dog's fungus is not only important for his he alth, but also for yours and that of your family members.
