Why does my dog have skin lesions? What's the best treatment?

Lesions that look like that are commonly bacterial infections, ringworm (which humans can get) or skin mites. A trip to your veterinarian is the best way to determine the underlying cause and provide appropriate treatment fast. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Those spots on Bailey could be several things including allergies to fleas, allergies to something in the environment, food allergy or endocrine disease. Skin mites and ringworm (which humans can get) will also look like this. Each one of these problems is detected and addressed differently and I recommend to discuss with your veterinarian which one to start hunting down first. The veterinarian can preform a few simple diagnostics to start figuring out the problem. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hello. I am sorry that Bailey has these issues. Often-times fleas/tick infestations can lead to secondary infections which need antibiotics to treat. This could be the 'bumps' on her side- they could be little pustules of infection. Without seeing her we cannot tell for sure. Also, after removing parasites it can take some time for the skin to calm down enough for the itching to stop. If she was covered in fleas/ticks, it is also possible she also has mange, which may require different medication to treat. The scabs and fur loss/thinning is likely due to itching/scratching and self-trauma from the irritation. Keep her clean and dry, and if you can bring her to a vet to ensure all of the parasites are gone, and to check if antibiotics are needed. Flea treatment also needs to be repeated every 2 weeks for 3 treatments, to ensure you kill the fleas that have hatched from the eggs (the eggs survive your bath). Good luck with Bailey!

Poor guy. There are really only 2 types of mites that we see in veterinary medicine- Scabies and Demodexx mites. Scabies (a type ofmite) is infectious to people so if you yourself are not itching then you can kind of rule that one out. The other mite, Demodexx isn't infectious to people or other pets, and nowadays it can be treated with oral flea preventatives such as Bravecto, Nexgard or Simparica + a medicated topical shampoo through your vet. I would recommend just starting Baileys' on one of these to cover any kind of mite issue. Then I would suggest getting Bailey on an oral antibiotic to clear up the skin infection that is present. The ears look to be infected as well. This will require a topical ear medication and cleaner from your vet to resolve. Skin allergy testing is not commoonly used anymore due to the poor overall response to allergy immunotherapy shots. THe most common allergy medication used nowadays is Apoquel. I would ask your vet about this as well, especially if mites are not the underlying problem, which can be easily confirmed or denied with a simple skin scraping test done through your vet. I hope that you can get Bailey's skin issue resolved soon. Best wishes and take care!

I don't think lesions like this would be caused by fly bites. I would guess that these lesions are either from trauma or from a bacterial skin infection (often secondary to allergies) although it is difficult to know without being able to examine them in person. Unfortunately I wouldn't recommend any home remedies and I think that ultimately she will need to see the vet for a diagnosis and treatment. You could ask around and see if there is any subsidized veterinary care in your area, or you could also look into Care Credit which could help with payment options.

Thank you for sending the pictures! From what I can see, it looks like this lesion is only affecting the outermost skin layers, with the underlying tissue layers remaining intact. It's certainly possible that this lesion is from a traumatic injury, like the rubber bullet you'd mentioned, but it's equally possible that this is an infectious condition, like mange or ringworm. Since there is a good bit of skin damage that's bloody, it stands to reason that this type of lesion could become infected rather quickly, particularly if Crimson is licking at it at all. Even though we're now several days past the initial injury, I still recommend taking Crimson to her vet for an in person exam to thoroughly assess this lesion. Your vet may need to do some diagnostic testing to rule out infectious issues. Depending on their exam findings, your vet may need to prescribe oral antibiotics and/or anti-inflammatory medications to aid in the healing process. Until your vet visit, be sure to prevent Crimson from licking at this lesion at all by putting an e-collar (cone) on her. I hope that she's on the mend soon!

I am suspicious that this could be a lesion caused by either demodex mite or ringworm. I would highly encourage you to have a follow up appointment with your veterinarian. A skin scrape can be done to look for mites, they may consider a trial anti mite therapy in addition to an a topical anti fungal medication. If it still won’t heal then my next step would be a skin biopsy for more information on what the underlying problem is. Best of luck and I hope she improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.