Why does my senior dog have painful, itchy black crust on her head?

I am sorry to hear about Freckles. The black crusts could be flea dirt, which is digested blood left behind by the fleas (if you place it on a paper towel and wet the black debris and it turns a rust color then it is likely flea dirt). We can also get skin infections resulting in crust and debris in dogs. I would recommend an examination by his vet if he is very itchy. He may need oral medications, or a topical treatment such as a medicated shampoo like Duoxo Chlorhexidine may be needed.

If the rash and skin problems is spreading and getting worse, then it is worth see a vet. She may need a skin biopsy or sample to find out the cause. Skin tags are common in older dogs but rash that is changing is not. They may need to do blood work to see if there is an endocrine problem such as a low thyroid or cushings disease.

Poor Shay-Shay! It looks like she has some pretty significant skin problems. The black, crusty appearance of the skin on her belly is called lichenification - it's caused by chronic itching over a long period of time. There are a number of things that could cause severe itching, hair loss, and scabs like this. Some common possibilities would include allergies, fleas, a bacterial or fungal skin infection, or skin mites (mange). Treatment will depend on what the underlying problem is, so it's important to get a diagnosis first in order to know how to help her. I would recommend taking her to the vet this week for an exam - he/she can do some simple skin tests to help diagnose the problem and get her started on appropriate medication to treat it.

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. Judging from the photis, this appears to have a raised area in the center. This could be a sebaceous cyst that ruptured and is now secondarily infected or has an open wound on it that won't heal. I would recommend having a veterinarian take a look at this and have some additional testing performed on it to determine what it could be. With more information on what this could be, the most appropriate treatment can then be started. If you are unable to get to your vet right now, I would recommend using an ointment called zymox topical ointment to apply to the area. If the ointment does not help aftwr 5-7 days or it worsens during that time, I would get kane to the vet for an exam. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

This looks like an area of infection and inflammation of the skin, probably from itching excessively. Sasha needs to be seen by a vet so she can be prescribed some antibiotics and possibly some itch medication. Your vet can also make a recommendation for a good flea control for Sasha. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

I would be concerned that these bumps could indicate an infection like ringworm but a bacterial infection, mange, an allergic reaction and even certain types of skin cancer can looks like this. Because some of those causes can be infectious to humans I recommend your veterinarian examine Sandie and potentially do further testing such as a culture or biopsy to see for sure what is going on with her skin.

There are many possible causes of scaling skin and crusts, including skin infections from allergies (flea, food or environmental) and even some endocrine/metabolic conditions (hypothyroidism or Cushing's disease). If Xara is licking her paws excessively, this is a sign of itchiness. Since none of the lesions appear irritated, consider bathing her with a gentle dog oatmeal based shampoo and closely examine her for signs of fleas or flea dirt, which resembles a fleck of pepper. Make sure she is on a high quality flea preventative once a month (Nexgard, Bravecto, Advantix, Comfortis/Trifexis). Consider changing her diet to one with a different protein source, but do so gradually over 5-7 days. Diet changes can take 2-3 months to achieve efficacy. Obviously if her skin begins to look worse or does not improve with these measures, take her to her vet for an exam.