My dog has a fungal infection on his leg. How can I treat it?

This could be an allergic reaction, a skin infection (bacterial or yeast) or even a skin tumor. You should have it examined by your veterinarian, as it is not possible to distinguish these by just looking at a photo. An bacterial skin infection can usually be treated with antibiotics , a fungal infection (yeast) with a fungicidal medicine. To identify a tumor, your vet may want to do a fine needle aspirate (he takes some material from the area in question with a needle and then looks at it under the microscope) to determine whether this is concerning.

The first thing I would want to ensure is that this is in-fact a fungal infection. Since you have seen multiple doctors, I'll assume they diagnosed it through a fungal culture or a positive response to a UV light. If this has not been done, then I highly recommend you have it done. If it's definitely ringworm, then you will have to treat this for a long time before it goes away. It can take a few months sometimes. The terbinafine cream is helpful, but for an infection that has spread all over the body, I would be giving the dog antifungal tablets. You will need a veterinarian to prescribe these. Your location is showing as the UK, so I am surprised that you were unable to find expert doctors. Have a look at this website and see if you can find a veterinarian near you: http://findavet.rcvs.org.uk/find-a-vet/ I hope this helps, but if you require further assistance, you are welcome to start a consult.

You will first need to determine the type of infection. A recheck with your veterinarian would be recommended. Samples can be submitted for fungal culture as well as for bacterial culture and sensitivity. If it is a fungal infection, your vet can dispense an antifungal. Some of these infections can take weeks t months to resolve. If it is a bacterial infection, the sensitivity panel should determine the most effective antibiotic to use in treatment. Allergies should also be ruled out as an underlying cause. They can be frustrating to diagnose since they have multiple causes (food, environmental, parasites). Discuss allergy testing, food elimination trials, hydrolyzed diets and antihistamine use with your veterinarian. Legally, we are prohibited from recommending a medication in the absence of a physical exam. Any prescription medications will need to come from your vet.

This could be due to a bacterial or fungal infection. They can both look like this. It could also be due to something that is irritating the skin like mites, fleas, or allergies. It does not appear like ringworm, but it's impossible to know for sure without testing it. The species of fungus involved in toenail infections is different than ringworm and toenail fungus is not very contagious to dogs. This looks rather mild right now. The best thing to do is have the lesion evaluated by a veterinarian to help identify the cause. However, it would be fine to give a bath with a medicated dog shampoo (can find this at the pet store) in the meantime. If that's helpful, this can be repeated weekly until the problem resolves. I hope that helps and Lu gets better soon.

Hello, there are several oral medications used to treat fungal infections in dogs, including ketoconazole, fluconazole & itraconazole. All require a prescription from your veterinarian to treat a pet. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I am sorry to hear about your dog. If this is not improving with topical medication he may need to be switched to oral/systemic medications as the problem may be deeper under the skin than topical meds can penetrate. I would let your vet know he is not improving. Occasionally we may need to do testing such as cultures or biopsy in some cases that don’t improve with traditional treatments.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This sounds like a focal infection. You can try to use chlorhexidine containing pads (such as the Douxo chlorhexidine 3% PS pads) to clean the are twice daily for 7 days. You may find these online or at your local pet store. If there is no improvement or in the meantime this appears to be getting worse, have him evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Good luck and have a good night!