My greyhound has dry, scaly skin and dandruff. What can I do?

The skin is unhealthy for some reason. This is usually caused by some irritation of the skin. The skin is most commonly irritated from allergies, fleas, mites, or inappropriate bathing. The irritation can then cause the skin to get infected with yeast and bacteria. The best thing you can do now is give a bath with a medicated dog shampoo (you can find this at the pet store). Follow the shampoo with an oatmeal or aloe conditioner labeled for dogs. Repeat the bath every other day for two weeks. If that's helping, then repeat the bath every week for a month. If all is good after that, then she should be OK to have a once monthly bath with normal dog shampoo. If the bath is not helping, or she's getting worse, then she needs to go to the vet. The vet will be able to determine if something else is wrong and if further treatment is needed.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Oh goodness I love greyhounds and in the US we never see them as puppies just as adults rescued off the race track! Sadly a lot of skin conditions look exactly the same. The most common skin diseases that look like that are: demodex (non-contagious mite) which are sometimes hard to get on a scrape, a skin infection either from yeast or bacteria or ring worm. I recommend you ask your Vet about treating for demodex despite a negative scrape. Some of the edible flea and tick products are being used off label to treat demodex. I'd also ask the vet about doing a tape cytology of one of the hairless areas and look at it under the microscope to see if there are too many yeast or bacteria present. And then have them send out a culture of the hair/skin for ringworm. The culture can take up to 4 weeks to be finalized. I guess ultimately it could be nutritional and Rain just may need time on the diet you have him on. Good luck!

That does seem odd. It may be a new normal, or it could be caused by increased motilitiy of the GI tract, IBD, increased food consumption, or something else. Common causes of itching in dogs includes fleas, mange, lice, infections (bacterial or yeast), ringworm, allergies, among others. Make sure Gary is on a good monthly flea preventative. Food allergies are possible even if he has been on the same food. Your vet may recommend a food trial to see if that could help with the stool volume and itching. If you dislike the volume of stools, you could also discuss a low residue or low fiber dog food.

Hi and thanks for using PetCoach! Sorry to see and hear that Cointhee is having some skin problems. This certainly does look like dry skin or what we call seborrhea sicca. It is in an area that I would be suspicious of a flea bite allergy commonly known as flea allergy dermatitis. So first off, I would recommend that you use a very effective flea/tick product even though the weather is cooling down. It is possible that you have some immature flea stages in the indoor environment (eggs, larvae, etc). Again I am just assuming here due to the location of the trouble spot and knowing nothing of the geographical area where you live. There are other things that you can be doing to help the problem. I would not bathe too frequently. This tends to dry out the skin and strips the oils that are needed to keep the skin and hair coat healthy. So don't bathe too frequently, I would say not more than once a month or so. Do spot bathing if certain areas need to be cleaned but not full baths too frequently. Make sure you are feeding a high quality, well balanced diet since nutrition can play a role. You can certainly supplement the diet with some fish oil and skin supplements designed to aid in keeping the skin and hair coat healthy. I will post a link at the bottom and recommend some products. Dry skin can be caused by a localized bacterial infection, low thyroid problem, intestinal parasites affecting nutrition and health, external parasite problems (fleas, ticks, mites, etc), lack of adequate rinsing when bathing, aroblem persists, you should take Cointhee to your vet and let them advise you based on the history and physical exam findings. Treating the underlying cause is key and your vet can discuss how to get to that point. Possible tests could be skin scrape, fungal culture, blood tests, etc. Here's the link for some very high quality supplements- http://www.vrshealth.com/canine-products/?petcoach=1977951 Check out the fish oil Canine Omega Benefits and the Cutaneo TruBenefits. Good luck

Any treatment will depend on the underlying cause. It could be a skin infection or allergic reaction or even an autoimmune condition. An exam with your veterinarian or a veterinary dermatologist would be needed for a definitive diagnosis. You can discuss allergy testing, hydrolyzed diets, food elimination trials as well as antihistamine use with your vet. In the meantime, if your dog is scratching, use an e-collar (cone) to prevent further trauma. Consider adding an essential fatty acid (EFA) supplement to the diet. EFAs can promote a healthy [skin and coat](https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/category/dog/dog-health-and-wellness/dog-vitamins/dog-skin-and-coat). Choose a good quality fish oil as a source of EFAs. Systemic or topical antibiotics or antifungals can treat bacterial or yeast infection. Allergies can be frustrating to diagnose since they have many causes. Once diagnosed, most allergies can be managed with a combination of medication and diet.

If it's a thyroid problem, then this will eventually get better once she starts treatment. In the meantime, you can help by giving a bath with a medicated shampoo followed by a conditioner with the active ingredient of phytosphingosine. The product at the link below would be ideal. https://www.amazon.com/Douxo-Chlorhexidine-Shampoo-16-9-oz/dp/B000O1HEJ0 I hope that helps and all is well with Mya.

What you're describing does look like dry skin. though some breeds can have naturally coarse/dry skin and fur as well. However, with any skin condition, a complete workup with your vet first is a good idea. They can help rule out any health issues, nutritional problems or skin issues (bacteria, fungus, yeast, etc) that need to be addressed. Making sure to feed a balanced diet or even a sensitive skin food may help in addition to supplements such as fish oils or vitamin E. Not bathing too often and using an aloe/oatmeal shampoo can also help keep the coat frying overdrying and getting flaky.