Is your pet’s itchy skin making them miserable and keeping you both up at night? There are many different diseases or conditions can affect your pet’s skin. The conditions can present as a topical problem like a hot spot or skin infection or something more internal. Noblesville Square Animal Clinic offers allergy and dermatology services as part of our comprehensive system of care.

The first step toward helping your pet feel better again is identifying the precise condition he or she is experiencing. Our animal hospital is outfitted with an in-house laboratory to perform skin scrapings, ear and skin cytology, and biopsies when needed.

Common dermatological issues include:

• Allergies (food, environmental, flea)
• Infections (acute or chronic)
• Parasites such as fleas and ticks
• Endocrine or hormonal disorders
• Autoimmune diseases
• Tumors

Developing a treatment plan allows us to treat all aspects of your pet’s condition. To determine how best to treat the problem, we will consider several unique factors including seasonality, severity, frequency of the disease, and any underlying disease situations. The tailor-made approach allows us to achieve the best possible results. Treatments could range from just a topical cream to multiple treatment regimens with more complex conditions.

Complex allergies require a little more effort to manage. Once we determine and understand what’s causing your best friend’s reactions, our goal is to have a solution that will eliminate or minimize the outbreaks as much as possible. Some allergies can be managed through lifestyle changes, such as switching food products. Others may require a longer-term and multi-faceted strategy such as topical medications, oral medications, or injections. Our recommendations will be based on your pet’s specific needs.

Signs of skin problems include:

• Excessive scratching
• Biting, chewing, or licking at the affected areas
• Scabbing, crusting, or flaking of the skin
• Hot spots
• Hair loss

If you notice any of these signs or symptoms, it’s time to schedule an appointment. Give the doctors at Noblesville Square Animal Clinic a call to help your loved one live a more comfortable life.