Does Your Dog Have Psoriasis?

You can’t make this stuff up. I remember years ago taking my dog to the vet. I remember him saying that your dog has so many flakes on her, of course, this was from me flaking all over the house or was it? I remember giving him a snide remark, “Yeah, my dog has psoriasis like me”.

Can dogs get psoriasis?

Someone asked me this question before, can a dog have psoriasis? My thought was, don’t be ridiculous, animals can’t get this disease.

I ran across an article recently that said dogs can have a skin disorder the same as people. They can get scaly skin with excessive itching. They will need treatments. Dogs can get scalp psoriasis. Really??

What do symptoms look like?

Some symptoms of dog psoriasis are your dog scratching like crazy; we want to think it's fleas, but maybe not. If you see a lot of scaly dandruff that falls off the dog, it could be psoriasis.

I’ve had dogs my whole life, but never thought this to be true, and still can’t wrap this around my head. Well, it’s been found that dogs can get a compromised immune system, just like humans. Just like in people, the immune system attacks the normal skin cells and they divide too rapidly.

Some dogs can have an allergic reaction to certain things we have in our homes. Certain shampoos and creams I can’t use because they do me more harm than good. It is the same for our pets. Sometimes we have to be mindful of the air fresheners we use or other household sprays.

How would you know if your dog has psoriasis?

You would take your pet to a veterinarian for an examination. If you see red scaly lesions, or blood from excessive itching, this could be a serious problem. Please have your pet examined. I know I don’t want to be miserable with the scratching and itching and neither does your dog.

The vet may do a biopsy to determine what is going on with your pet. This is how he will come up with a diagnosis.

What are treatment options?

The treatment for dogs could be just to change their diet or simply boosting their immune system. There are creams for the dog's skin.

Just like for people with psoriasis, bathing is very important for your pet. I can’t imagine not being able to bathe and have to deal with unbearable itchy skin every day. The ultimate goal is for a treatment plan that will make your pet feel better.

Dog's are a man's best friend!

I know that when I was 80 percent covered over my whole body that I had become very irritable and just moody. Can you imagine your dog being very irritable all day, it may bite a family member because he is left untreated or the mere fact it was overlooked.

I was naive when this question was presented to me years back. I now know that any breed of dog can have psoriasis and this isn’t some far-out question. My message is to not rule out that your dog could have psoriasis. Dogs are a man’s best friend!