All you needed to know about ringworm in dogs

It pays, as a dog owner, to know about some of the common medical conditions that you and your pet could be faced with. Sometimes though, it doesn’t matter how well you care for your pets, they get into anything and manage to contract all sorts of diseases and this is more so the case with dogs as they are considered “outside” pets by nature.

Ringworm can be a rather nasty condition when not treated leading to all sorts of rather gruesome symptoms. Among these symptoms you might find:

• Small balding spots on the dog
• Scaly areas on the skin of the dog
• Pus appearing on the dog

Basically, if the skin or coat of your dog does not look normal or as it usually does, there is a good chance that it is suffering from a medical condition and therefore you should take a visit to the Vet.

Treating this rather common condition in dogs is relatively easy and again, it is the trip to the Vet that will help. Despite this, if the dog’s health is good ringworm can clear itself up but this takes a long time, usually about three to four months. If the condition is fairly severe, it might be necessary to take a trip to the Vet and have the coat around the painful lesions clipped, avoiding touching the lesion itself as this actually spreads the ringworm. After this, usually an anti-fungal cream will be applied to the area to not only clear up the lesions but also to try and get rid of the pesky ringworm. There are also shampoos that you can buy to get rid of ringworm and these might actually help, when used alongside prescribed treatments, to speed up recovery.

Once the ringworm has been cleared up, it is a good idea to speak with a Vet about various precautions that can be taken to avoid this from happening again including preventative measures to take around the home as well as vaccinations and suchlike to ensure the best health of your dog.