Summary
Dog dandruff, characterized by white flakes and itching, can stem from dry skin, allergies, parasites, infections, nutritional deficiencies, or underlying health issues. Identifying the cause is key to treatment. Consult a vet for excessive dandruff, severe itching, skin irritation, hair loss, or odor. Management includes regular grooming to remove dead skin, using dog-specific anti-dandruff shampoos, soothing oatmeal baths, providing a balanced diet, using a humidifier to combat dryness, and potentially adding vet-recommended omega-3 and omega-6 supplements to support skin health. Addressing the root cause, often diagnosed by a vet, ensures effective and long-term relief.
Why Do Dogs Get Dandruff?
As we know, oil is released by the sebaceous gland of the dog’s body, called sebum, essential for maintaining the skin’s moisture and keeping it healthy.
Excessive sebum oil production by the sebaceous gland causes an imbalance in the skin’s typical texture. As a result, the skin’s pores reduce the excess of oils in the form of dry white flakes of cells, termed dandruff.
How do you identify if the pet has dandruff?
As per surveys, detecting dandruff in dogs is quite an easy process. This is because the dead skin flakes from the excess sebum appear as white flakes in the dog’s skin coat, cling to the dog’s fur, and are completely visible to the naked eye. So, an owner can easily detect dandruff in dogs by simply noticing the dog’s coat.
Dogs also respond bodily to dandruff, which the owner can notice to get the pet treated.
When the dog receives dandruff on its coat, it licks, scratches, or bites the skin. If there is a severe condition, the dog will also suffer from redness and rashes of the skin, hair loss, and a foul odor from dandruff. If the dog suffers from any of the abovementioned issues, it must be treated soon.
What are the Types of Causes of Dandruff in Dogs?
As per the research done on the dandruff of dogs by cynologists, the dog’s dandruff can be categorized into Seborrhea sicca ( the dry one) and Seborrhea oleosa ( the only one).
Dogs can get dandruff of both types for the following reasons.
Fungal and Bacterial Infections
The pathogens moving in the surroundings can take advantage of the decreased immunity of the dog, after which it reacts with the sebaceous glands for abnormal sebum production and causes the excessive dead skin cells to break and fall as dandruff.
Unbalanced Diet
Sometimes dandruff in dogs can be mainly due to an unbalanced diet as the dog getting an unbalanced diet lacks nutrients that make the coat healthy. Due to the lack of nutrients in the diet, the cells lead to death and get released as white flakes from the skin.
Skin Infections and Allergies
Superficial infections can be a secondary complication of skin allergies, which causes more trauma to the skin and can cause dandruff to grow more.
Increased Grooming Frequency
Yes, dogs need a regular grooming frequency to stay clean, but excess of it can be bad for the canine friend. Excess bathing can make the dog lose valuable oils on its skin, making the skin dry and developing dandruff.
When to Visit a Vet for the Dog’s Dandruff?
If the dog is getting dandruff seasonally or is used to having mild dandruff most of the time, there is nothing to worry about, as it is common in dogs. However, it can be problematic if some of the symptoms below appear in the dog, along with dandruff.
Itchiness
Dandruff-causing itchiness in dogs is called walking dandruff, and a parasitic infection is called cheyletiellosis. This parasitic infection is highly contagious and can even affect humans. That’s why the owner should visit a vet if the dandruff is causing itchiness to the dog.
Unpleasant Odor from the Skin
The dogs’ dandruff can cause a smell on the skin, possibly because of the toxic nature of the pathogens trapped in the skin. So, the dog with the scent needs to visit a doctor so that the pathogen might not harm the skin further.
Excessive Amount of Dandruff
Suppose the dog is suffering from an excessive amount of dandruff. In that case, it needs to visit a vet because excessive dandruff indicates that sebum is getting released in large amounts, which can cause a deficiency of the oil.
Hair Loss
Hair loss of your dog and dandruff is also a sign that the dog is affected by any parasitic infection. So, a visit to the vet is necessary to identify the disease.
Red and Irritated Skin
Skin becoming red and irritated due to dandruff needs to be treated, as this can be a significant sign of your dog suffering from a viral skin infection that can be contagious.
The diagnosis of your pet’s dandruff will depend upon what disease it was going through and the type of treatment the veterinarian will prescribe for the disease detected. The vet might also go for a skin scrape to detect the parasites trapped in the skin or a blood test to detect systemic disorders.
How to Get Rid of Dog Dandruff?
Suppose the dog’s dandruff is due to common reasons like seasonal changes and weather. In that case, it can be treated without visiting a veterinarian. But for this, the owner has to add a bit of change in the cleaning routine of the dog, which is discussed below:
Regular Grooming
A regular frequency of grooming can work wonders while treating dandruff in the case of dogs.
This is because the steps involved in grooming, like brushing, help the dog release the excess oils of the skin through the coat, which prevents the formation of white flakes and also removes dead hair.
Shampooing
Using a dog’s special anti-dandruff shampoo can effectively treat dog dandruff. However, dog owners should take care of the type of shampoo they use, as some shampoos can be toxic to the dog’s skin and even dry. Hence, the shampoo must be chosen according to the skin’s sensitivity.
The owner should also avoid human shampoos for dogs as they can be harsh to the pH levels of dogs’ skin.
Oatmeal Baths
This is one of the most popular home remedies most dog owners prefer. This treatment works wonders in removing dandruff from dogs; along with it, the making procedure of this remedy is straightforward.
It would help if you used this remedy to take one cup of finely ground uncooked oatmeal, half a cup of baking soda, and some water. Mix the ingredients thoroughly, rub them over your dog’s wet coat, and let it rest for several minutes.
Feed a Healthy Diet
As per the vet’s prescription, the owner needs to include a perfect diet according to the deficiency of nutrients in the pet’s body. So that the lack of nutrients in the skin gets balanced, which will eventually result in the decrease of the formation of dandruff in the coat.
Use of a Humidifier
If your dog is suffering from dandruff, using a humidifier can be very beneficial during the winter season.
The steam released by the humidifier moisturizes the surroundings. Also, it soothes the dog’s dry skin, which makes the dog feel comfortable and reduces the itchiness caused by dandruff.
The above-discussed steps are well-researched in treating dandruff in dogs and the responses of different breeds toward it. So, dog owners looking for methods to treat dandruff in their dogs can entirely rely upon the above-discussed steps.
Why Do Vets Prescribe Supplements for Treating Dandruff in Dogs?
Most veterinarians often used to prescribe supplements to dogs suffering from dandruff with itchiness. The most popular supplements prescribed by veterinarians are omega 3s and omega 6s.
Supplements are prescribed because the essential nutrients in the components of the supplements promote the health of the dog’s skin and coat, leading to less dandruff formation in the dog’s fur.
The supplements are very effective for treating dandruff in dogs, but the owner shall feed the accessories to the dog with utmost accuracy, especially when it is in capsule form. This is because the overfeeding of the supplements will cause an abundance of nutrients in the body, leading to the sebaceous glands producing even more sebum.
So that’s all you can follow to get rid of dog dandruff. The steps discussed in the articles are the best to go with.
