What are the signs of atopic dermatitis?
At first you may only notice that your dog is scratching occasionally, or has red areas of skin. Over time the scratching becomes worse and skin damage starts to appear. This is often:
- On their face
- Around their mouth
- Around their eyes and
- Inside their ear flaps
They also start:
- On their feet
- In the crooks of their joints
- 'Armpits' and
- Around their groin area
A common sign is brown saliva staining of the hair, especially on the feet and around the joints such as front of elbows, caused by the dog's licking. In some dogs the only sign is repeated ear infections.
Eventually, the scratching becomes constant and your dog may even start to hurt itself - as they claw and scratch at their skin, they cause wounds and start to develop bacterial and/or yeast infections. As time passes your dog may start to lose its hair, and the skin may get leathery looking and discoloured.
View pictures of dogs with typical symptoms of atopic dermatitis in the Gallery.
Could your dog have atopic dermatitis? Try our quick Atopic dermatitis test.
You can print out the results and take to them your vet for discussion.
