Pet Skin Care & Allergy Treatment for Dogs & Cats

Protecting and maintaining your pet’s skin is essential to overall health and comfort. Duxbury Animal Hospital offers exceptional training and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of skin conditions and allergies in dogs and cats.

Dr. Dan Hebert has advanced training in veterinary allergy and antimicrobial treatments. While not a board-certified dermatologist, this focus has led to his lecturing on these topics throughout the country, with added expertise in the area of parasitology. Dr. Hebert adds extraordinary knowledge and experience to our team, to the benefit of our patients and their owners.

For help with your pet’s skin problems, contact Dr. Hebert at our hospital.

Your Itchy Pet Deserves Relief

When your pet exhibits symptoms of a skin problem, such as extreme itching or inflammation, wounds, or ear problems, prompt veterinary care is essential to providing relief. Skin conditions and allergies typically escalate, causing your dog or cat intense and ever-increasing itching, burning, and pain.

Pets with a skin problem may show symptoms like excessive scratching, head shaking, chewing, or licking. Ear infections are also a common sign. Causes of skin problems may include allergies, external parasites, environmental irritants, infections, metabolic problems, or even stress & anxiety.

Our veterinarians take an aggressive approach to treating these symptoms, while working to identify the cause of the irritation. Immediate relief can be achieved through a variety of treatments, including:

• Monoclonal Antibody Injections (Cytopoint)
• Anti-itch Janus kinase inhibitor for treating airborne and food allergies
• “Cold Laser” treatment
• Immunomodulator therapy
• Antibiotics
• Antifungal medications
• Topical treatments, such as shampoos, therapeutic foams, and products to treat parasites

While any dog or cat at any age of life can develop skin problems, often the most susceptible are puppies and kittens, senior pets, those with compromised immune systems, and pets that are undernourished or living in crowded environments.

Diagnosing Your Pet’s Skin Condition

To diagnose your pet’s problem, we perform a thorough physical exam with diagnostic testing. These tests may include:

• Skin infection screening
• Fungal screening
• Parasite screening
• Skin biopsy
• Fungal sampling and identification
• Allergy testing

There are many causes for skin problems and, sometimes, finding the correct solution takes time. During this process, we initiate temporary relief strategies to get our patients comfortable and keep them there. Once a diagnosis is reached, a permanent treatment plan is created for long-term care.

Treating Allergies & Skin Abnormalities

Treatments for allergies or other skin conditions vary, depending on the source of the problem and the unique physical makeup of each patient. Our veterinarians are skilled in effective pharmaceutical management of a wide variety of skin conditions. Additional treatments may include:

• Specialized diet to address food allergies
• Injections to sensitize the patient to specific allergens
• Parasite treatments and preventives
• Antifungal protocols

• A dietary program to support overall health, skin, and coat
• Nutritional supplements containing essential fatty acids
• Special grooming products and techniques

Often a combination of treatments is necessary for effectively addressing a veterinary skin condition. Our veterinarians explain every treatment option and welcome your questions and concerns regarding the treatment of your pet. Together, we will find relief for your pet.