Dog Skin Bumps

by Jenna
(Napa, California)

I have a 1 year old male pitbull. He has started to have these dog skin bumps that he keeps chewing and scratching alot.

I am not sure what it is, but if you could help, that would be great.

Editor Suggestions Dog Skin Bumps and Canine Mange

Dear Jenna,

Thanks for your question regarding canine mange and dog skin bumps.

The symptoms sounds like your dog has at minimum some type of infectious condition which is probably canine mange.

Canine mange is a parasitic dog skin condition, caused by different species of mites, thus depending on the mite, it has different clinical forms.

Symptoms such as chewing, scratching and the appearance of bumps on dog skin indicate your dog is primarily suffering from an infectious condition, but the only way to be sure is to take your dog to a veterinarian for a detailed clinical examination and laboratory testing.

Along with signs such as dog skin scratching, chewing and dog skin bumps, you should also watch for other signs as well. Symptoms such as skin crusts, hardening of the skin over time, the development of dog skin lesions, pyoderma (pus under the skin) and especially, not the progress of the disease. Usually, lesions become generalized (spread across the dogs body) and cause fever, loss of appetite and discomfort.

Though we cannot confirm the condition, we suspect the presence of canine mange. The aforementioned dog skin symptoms will help you in assessing the health/physiological status of your dog, and it will be easier to follow the manufacturer's directions.

Here, to bring some immediate relief to your dog, we can suggest bathing your pet with a quality medicated shampoo, preferably a herbal shampoo, followed by the use of a lime-sulfur dip. Both of these are available online without a prescription from Dermisil.

Use a 2% lime-sulfur dip dip 3 times, with 10 days between each use. For the exact usage directions, be sure to follow the manufacturers directions for your dogs weight and age.

This approach will help to eradicate any mites that have borrowed into the skin. Also, to reduce itching and symptoms such as dog skin scratching, we recommend you apply some type of topical soothing remedy over the bumps such as Allergy Itch Ease (helps witch dog skin itch). The use of another natural dog skin remedy, Skin and Coat Tonic, can help to restore skin condition.

To prevent chewing, you should also put an ecollar on your dog.

In addition to the aforementioned treatment for this condition, you'll have to also eradicate any mites and reduce the population of microbes (to reduce chances of secondary infections) in the environment and surroundings of your pet through disinfection. For this purpose you should wash all of your dogs belongings with a quality detergent in hot water, and spray a quality disinfectant designed to rid mites from a dog's environment such as Benzarid. Repeat this procedure after a week.

Remember, these recommendations are for support only. In case you notice any unusual symptoms or worsening of the condition, a detailed examination by a veterinarian and laboratory tests might be needed for specific treatment.

Best of luck to you and your dog. This approach to canine mange should help to eliminate the problem and dog skin bumps.