How do you treat seborrhea in dogs naturally

By Isabella Storyclaire

last updated September 16, 2024

Contributions sourced from

Seborrhea In Dogs: Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment & More

Is your dog greasy, itchy, or smelly at the moment? If so, he might have a condition called seborrhea. Its always important to get your veterinarian to examine your dog as there are many things to consider when treating this condition. Lets explore these in more detail and what causes canine seborrhea in the first place.

What Is Seborrhea In Dogs?

Seborrhea, also known as seborrheic dermatitis, is a skin disease that commonly affects dogs. It is a condition that affects areas of skin that are rich in sebaceous (oil-producing) glands. These glands either go into overdrive, producing too much sebum, or their function becomes reduced, leading to dry and irritated skin.

People can also suffer from similar conditions, including seborrhea capitis, which is seborrhea of the scalp (causing dandruff and cradle cap in infants).

What Causes Seborrhea?

There are many different reasons why your dog might develop seborrhea. This condition can be either primary or secondary to something else thats going on.

Primary Cause Is Inherited

Seborrhea can be an inherited condition, with the exact cause undetermined (also known as idiopathic). It is quite rare, but some breeds are more prone to idiopathic seborrhea than others, including American Cocker Spaniels, English Springer Spaniels, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, West Highland White Terriers, Basset Hounds, and Shar-Peis. Most of these dogs have non-itchy skin.

Secondary Suggests An Additional Health Concern

Secondary seborrhea occurs due to underlying health conditions andmay or may not be itchy, depending on the cause.

The following conditions can make seborrhea more likely to occur as a secondary problem:

Allergies
Parasites such as mites and fleas
Hormonal conditions such as hypothyroidism
Fungal infections
Obesity
Dietary deficiencies

What Does Dog Seborrhea Look Like?

There are two types of seborrhea in dogs, seborrhea oleosa (oily seborrhea) and seborrhea sicca (dry seborrhea). Most dogs suffer from a combination of both types, so the symptoms can be a mixture of dry and greasy skin.

Here are some symptoms of canine seborrhea to be aware of:

Large flakes of dry skin (dandruff), often found on your dogs face, back, and sides. It may also be seen on your dogs bedding.
Red, inflamed skin which is excessively itchy.
An unpleasant yeasty odor, caused by the grease from oily patches and any secondary infections (bacteria and yeast can worsen odors).
Crusty thickened areas on the skin.
Hair loss (alopecia).

How Is It Diagnosed?

Your veterinarian will start by examining your dog for classic signs of seborrhea. As well as checking your dogs skin, they will also examine the rest of your pet to check his overall health status.

Depending on their findings, they might suggest some additional tests, which could include:

A blood test to check your dogs organ function and to check his thyroid hormone levels
Samples from the skin to culture for any bacterial or yeast infections
Skin scrapes to examine under the microscope for parasites
Biopsy of the skin to look for deeper infections, cancer, and other diseases

If all of the possible secondary conditions are ruled out, then a diagnosis of primary (idiopathic) seborrhea is made. Animals with genetically related primary seborrhea may develop this condition at a young age.

How To Treat Seborrhea In Dogs

Seborrheic dermatitis treatment revolves around treating the symptoms and curing the underlying cause (in the case of secondary seborrhea).

Shampoo

The most common treatment used in the management of seborrhea is medicated antiseborrheic shampoos. These seborrhea dog shampoos help to gently lift the scurf on your dogs skin and reduce the risk of additional flakes and crusts forming. They cleanse your dogs fur and also help to reduce secondary infections.

According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, Shampoo therapy can decrease the number of bacteria and yeast on the skin surface, the amount of scale and sebum present, and the level of pruritus; it also helps normalize the epidermal turnover rate.

Ingredients commonly found in these shampoos include coal tar, salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, and fatty acids. The exact shampoo prescribed may depend on the degree of seborrhea your pet has. You may use other products in conjunction with shampoos, such as sprays and moisturizers (emollients), to help prevent your dogs skin from drying out. Your veterinarian will advise you on how frequently to use both shampoos and moisturizing products.

Other Options

Other medications that you can use in the treatment of seborrhea include measures to treat the underlying cause of the disease:

Anti-parasitic products to treat ectoparasites like fleas and mange mites.
Treatment for hormonal conditions like hypothyroidism will consist of oral medications and monitoring with regular blood tests.
Treatment of underlying skin allergies. You can manage allergies in a multitude of ways, depending on what the underlying trigger is. Some dogs will require strict hypoallergenic diets. Others may require immunosuppressive drugs like ciclosporins or glucocorticoids. Your veterinarian will discuss the various options available for your pet. To get a clear picture of your dogs allergies, you might want to take an at-home dog allergy test.
Antibiotic and antifungal medications to treat any secondary infections.In cases of primary idiopathic seborrhea, one study has suggested that oral retinoid therapy may be helpful in its treatment.
Vitamin A supplementation is also used in some cases.

Are There Any Home Remedies?

You should always follow advice from your veterinarian about the treatment of your pets condition. Discuss any canine seborrhea treatment home remedies with your veterinarian these must not take the place of any prescribed medications. However, the following natural therapies may be helpful in the management of seborrhea.

Omega-3 fatty acid supplements help to act as natural anti-inflammatories and help support healthy skin and coat conditions.
Other dietary supplements may be useful to supplement vitamins such as A, C, and E to help with general immunity, health, and skin conditions.
You can apply coconut oil to itchy areas to help soothe and moisturize. Choose an unrefined oil, known as virgin coconut oil.
Regular bathing with soothing oatmeal-based shampoo may help irritated skin.

Never use human shampoos or products on your pet unless with express agreement from your veterinarian.

What Is The Prognosis For Canine Seborrhea?

Some cases of canine seborrhea can be cured with appropriate treatment if you seek help promptly. Treating the underlying cause of seborrhea can lead to a full resolution in many cases.

However, if your dog suffers from the less common primary idiopathic seborrhea, he may require long-term management strategies for his skin. Symptoms can usually be kept under control in these cases if you follow your veterinarians recommendations.

Can I Prevent It?

You cant prevent genetically inherited idiopathic seborrhea. However, not breeding from animals that suffer from seborrhea and buying from good breeders that wouldnt reproduce from affected animals, can reduce the risk of seborrhea in your dog. If youre buying a puppy from a breed prone to seborrhea, make sure to meet both of the parents and give them a once-over to reduce the risk of purchasing a puppy with problems.

You can lessen the risk of other dogs getting seborrhea by using parasite preventatives, feeding a good quality commercial diet made to AAFCO standards, maintaining a healthy body weight, and managing any underlying allergies as recommended by your veterinarian.

Does Your Dog Have Other Skin Problems?

Is your dogs skin frequently itchy or rashy? Dogs suffer from a host of skin problems in addition to seborrhea.If this sounds like your pup, he could be suffering fromskin allergiesfrom something in his food or environment.Skin infections are also common in dogs, so you may want to know the signs of infection before it leads to seborrhea.

You must take your dog to your veterinarian if you suspect he has seborrhea, an infection, or allergies to receive a proper diagnosis and have appropriate treatment, which depends on the cause of their condition.

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Seborrhea in Dogs

A diagnosis of primary seborrhea is reserved for dogs in which all possible underlying causes of seborrhea have been excluded. Most dogs with seborrhea have the secondary form of the disease. The most common underlying causes are hormonal disorders and allergies. The goal isto identify and treat these underlying causes. Allergies are more likely to be the underlying cause if the age of onset is less than 5 years. Hormonal disorders are more likely if the seborrhea begins in middle aged or older dogs. A lack of itching helps to exclude allergies, scabies, and other itching diseases. If itching is minimal, your veterinarian will seek to exclude hormonal disorders, other internal diseases, or other primary skin diseases. If itching is significant, allergies, scabies, and fleas will also be considered by your veterinarian.

Other important considerations in making a diagnosis include the presence of excessive urination, excessive drinking, heat-seeking behavior, abnormal estrous cycles, skin infections, the season, diet, response to previous medications, fungi or bacteria present, and the environment.

Your veterinarian will give your pet a thorough physical examination, including internal organ systems and a comprehensive skin examination. This is the first step in identifying the underlying cause. The skin examination documents the type and distribution of the abnormalities; the presence of hair loss; and the degree ofodor, scale, oiliness, and texture of the skin and hair coat. The presence offollicular boils, papules (pimples), crusts, and other bumps usually indicates the existence of a superficial pyoderma (bacterial infection). Darkening indicates a chronic skin irritation (such as infection or inflammation), and skin thickening indicates chronic itching. Yeast infection will always be considered during this process.

Secondary infection is a problem for dogs with seborrhea. The keratinization abnormalities in seborrheic dogs usually provide ideal conditions for bacterial and yeast infections. The self-trauma that occurs in itchy animals increases the likelihood of a secondary infection. The infections add to the itchiness and are usually responsible for a significant amount of the inflammation, papules, crusts, hair loss, and scales. Samples of the affected areas are taken to identify the quantity and type of bacteria or yeast present. In a seborrheic dog with itching, the infection may cause all or most of the signs. Other diseases may be uncovered by clearing the infections. Thus, you should be sure to comply with any follow up examination requests made by your veterinarian.

Additional tests may also be necessary, including skin scraping, fungal and bacterial cultures, flea combing, skin biopsy, and blood and urine tests.