Itching that won't stop, hair loss, hot spots, mange — this is the most common reason animals are brought to us, and often the most frustrating for owners when it keeps coming back.
Why we test rather than guess
Mange, fungal infection and allergy look almost identical on the animal and need completely different treatment. We take a skin scrape and look at it under the microscope rather than going by appearance. Treating mange as an allergy — or an allergy as mange — is how weeks get wasted.
That scrape and the cytology are read here in our own lab, so the answer usually comes on the first visit.
Tick fever
Tick fever (ehrlichiosis and babesiosis) is widespread across this district and kills dogs that come in late. It's carried by the brown dog tick and attacks the blood — destroying platelets or red cells.
A dog can have tick fever with no ticks on it. One tick, weeks ago, is enough. We confirm it on a blood smear rather than treating on suspicion.
We have a full guide to the signs, treatment and prevention:
Read our guide to tick fever in dogs →
What to bring
- Any medicines or shampoos already used, in their packaging
- Photos of the skin from when the problem started
- What the animal eats, including treats and scraps
- Whether other animals or people at home are also itching
The two-part fix
Skin cases rarely resolve on medication alone. Where a medicated bath is part of the plan, we set the bathing schedule alongside the treatment — and for parasite-driven cases, the house gets treated too, not just the animal.