How to treat seborrhea in dogs

Seborrhea in Dogs: Signs, Symptoms, Treatment

Unless you have a hairless dog breed, your dogs skin is often hidden by hair or fur. But for all breeds, skin health is a factor in your dogs overall well-being. Canine skin disorders like seborrhea, also known as seborrheic dermatitis, can lead to flaking and greasy skin. Learn how to recognize canine seborrhea and how to treat seborrhea in dogs.

What Is Seborrhea in Dogs?

Seborrhea is caused by a defect in skin keratinization (the formation and turnover of skin cells). It happens when the body produces too many skin cells and/or too much sebum (a naturally-occurring, oily substance).

Veterinary dermatologist Dr. Charlie Pye, DVM, DVSc, Diplomate ACVD, says there are two types of seborrhea in dogs. Seborrhea sicca is characterized by increased scale formation dandruff. Seborrhea oleosa is characterized by excessive greasiness of the coat and skin. Both types can be found occurring together on the same patient.

What Causes Seborrhea in Dogs?

Primary Seborrhea

Primary seborrhea is an inherited disorder where the cells in the top layer of skin, known as the epidermis, multiply excessively. Dr. Pye explains that primary seborrhea is often seen in specific dog breeds, including Cocker Spaniels, English Springer Spaniels, West Highland White Terriers, Basset Hounds, Irish Setters, Doberman Pinschers, Chinese Shar-Pei, Dachshunds, Labrador Retrievers, and German Shepherd Dogs.

Not all dogs of these breeds will be affected, Dr. Pye says, and many of these breeds are predisposed to diseases leading to secondary seborrhea. Therefore, a seborrheic individual of one of these breeds should not just be assumed to have primary seborrhea. Secondary causes of seborrhea are far more common.

Secondary Seborrhea

Secondary seborrhea occurs when a separate disorder, rather than cell multiplication in the epidermis, causes seborrhea in dogs. The secondary disorder could be anything that creates skin inflammation, such as canine allergies, external dog parasites, endocrine disorders, immune-mediated disease (conditions where the immune system may attack the bodys cells), or nutritional deficiencies.

Skin inflammation can lead to increased skin cell turnover, as well as changes to skin fats and fatty compounds called lipids. In particular, lipids within the skin may begin to overproduce. And all that results in a seborrheic appearance to the dog.

Whether the dogs have primary or secondary seborrhea, Dr. Pye says they should always be examined for secondary bacterial or yeast infections, as these conditions can be found commonly in seborrheic dogs.

What Are the Signs of Seborrhea in Dogs?

Because secondary seborrhea can be caused by so many different conditions, the signs of the disease can vary. However, the following list of symptoms may help you identify when theres reason for concern:

• Increased skin flaking, often seen as dog dandruff in their bedding
• Increased skin oiliness, meaning the coat and skin may look greasy
• Foul odors (often associated with seborrhea oleosa and caused by keratin deposits sticking to hair, but they may also be the result of secondary bacterial or yeast infections.)
• Red or inflamed skin, which may appear in areas with skin folds (such as around the armpits or thighs)
• Hair loss
• Bumps or pimples, which can indicate a secondary infection
• Itching in dogs, which may be caused by a secondary issue such as allergies

Does Puppy Seborrhea Exist?

Primary seborrhea usually begins when a dog is under 2 years of age. So puppies are not immune to seborrhea. In fact, any dog can get secondary seborrhea if they have a separate condition that causes skin inflammation.

Dr. Pye explains, Certain skin conditions are noted in puppies such as infectious diseases, parasites, and early onset allergies. If a dog was diagnosed with one of these diseases, they could have seborrhea as a clinical manifestation of this disease.

Is Seborrhea in Dogs Contagious?

Dr. Pye clarifies that seborrhea itself is not contagious. In addition, many of the diseases causing secondary seborrhea, like allergies or endocrine diseases, are also not contagious.

However, other causes of seborrhea (like certain parasites or fungal infections, including ringworm in dogs) can be contagious. If your pet is diagnosed with a contagious disease that leads to seborrhea, your vet may recommend treating other dogs in the house for that underlying condition. They may also recommend that you avoid taking your dogs to public places until the disease has been treated. If your dog has a contagious disease, use good hygiene practices to keep yourself safe, including wearing disposable gloves while handling them and washing hands thoroughly afterwards.

How Is Seborrhea in Dogs Diagnosed?

Depending on your dogs clinical signs of seborrhea, your vet might recommend a range of tests. These could include:

• Cytology (examining skin cells) to check for infection
• Skin scrapings to identify the presence of certain parasites
• Trials of parasitical medications (Some parasites are difficult to identify with scrapings, so medication trials can help rule them out as causes.)
• Blood work to rule out systemic disease in dogs (conditions that affect multiple systems or the whole body) and endocrine disease
• Food trials to rule out food allergies
• Skin biopsies to determine whether your dog has an immune-mediated disease or canine skin cancer

How Is Seborrhea in Dogs Treated?

The main treatment for secondary seborrhea involves addressing the underlying disease. Once this is treated, the seborrhea should resolve within a few months.

However, Dr. Pye says, If a patient truly has primary seborrhea, symptomatic treatment will be instituted. In the initial stages of treating secondary seborrhea, your vet may recommend treating the symptoms, as well.

According to Dr. Pye, your vet may recommend several potential seborrhea in dogs. These include:

1. Bathing: Your vet will recommend either an antimicrobial shampoo or a dog shampoo aimed at removing excess sebum. Be sure to follow your vets instructions about how often to wash your dog and how long to leave the seborrhea dog shampoo on for. In the beginning, they may instruct you to bathe your dog one to two times a week. Its a good idea to avoid using very hot water, which can further dry out the skin. Also, shampoos will often need a contact time of five to 10 minutes on the skin to work best. If a dog is very greasy, your vet may recommend two dog shampoos, one to degrease the dog and another to moisturize the skin.
2. Spot-on anti-seborrheic products: Spot-on anti-seborrheic products are small pipettes containing a liquid that can be applied directly to the skin once a week. They help to regulate skin turnover and the production of lipids.
3. Omega fatty acids and other vitamins and supplements: Always talk to your vet before giving your dog any supplements, but they may recommend adding omega fatty acid supplements to your dogs diet, as these can decrease inflammation (in certain cases of secondary seborrhea) and moisturize the skin barrier (in cases of seborrhea sicca). Fish oils for dogs may also be helpful.

How to Treat Seborrhea in Dogs at Home

Always consult your veterinarian before starting any at-home treatments for seborrhea. Dr. Pye says, They can recommend the best possible approach for your dog, as no two cases of seborrhea are identical, and underlying disease could be present. Your veterinarian will help manage any skin disease.

If your dogs skin disease is not resolving, your veterinarian can refer you to a board-certified veterinary dermatologist who will be able to help address your dogs skin condition effectively. Board-certified dermatologists have had years of training in skin conditions and are equivalent to a human dermatologist and allergist.

With your vets approval, you can try some at-home seborrhea dog treatments, such as using medicated anti-seborrheic shampoo. A once-a-week bath for your dog with lukewarm water can also help reduce the signs. However, Dr. Pye warns that secondary seborrhea will return (even with at-home treatment) unless the underlying disease is addressed. Plus, your dog could potentially develop other clinical signs in the meanwhile.

Can Seborrhea in Dogs Be Cured?

Primary seborrhea is genetic and lifelong, and many of the diseases that lead to secondary seborrhea do not have a cure. Instead, they are chronic conditions, like allergies or endocrine disease, that require lifelong management. Therefore, in most cases, your vet may place emphasis on controlling the secondary disease so you no longer see any of the clinical signs of seborrhea. However, if the secondary seborrhea is caused by a curable condition (like the presence of parasites), your dog should be fully healed once treatment is complete.

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.