Acral Lick Dermatitis (ALD) is one condition that tears at any dog owner’s heartstrings simply because it’s so difficult to treat!
This is because…
In most situations, the cause of why your dog’s suffering from ALD skin condition is unknown, which means that treating it will often become a frustrating (and sometimes expensive) guessing game.
So, what is Acral Lick Dermatitis?
Acral Lick Dermatitis (lick granuloma or canine neurodermatitis) is a skin disease that is characterized by hair loss in a particular “hot spot” where a dog will excessively lick itself over and over in an “obsessive-compulsive” manner.
As a result, the animal will remove the hair or fur in that area, leaving a bald spot. Unfortunately, the disease can progress until the animal focuses on this spot until lesions and or soars develop on the affected body part.
This is when…
Things can become much more severe because now these lesions and soars can and often will become infected and, in some cases, will develop granulomas requiring additional treatment beyond just focusing on the cause and remedy of the abnormal behavior.
Acral Lick Dermatitis or Lick Granuloma Treatment Options
As we’ve already stated, treating Acral Lick Dermatitis or Lick Granuloma can often be a challenging condition to treat simply because the “root” cause for why your beloved pet is itching, scratching, and licking (excessive licking) a particular spot is generally unknown.
Sores and infections can be treated by performing a skin biopsy to determine what antibiotic should be used to treat and avoid further complications. Elizabethan collars can be used to physically restrain your dog from chewing on “hot spots,” but what’s causing the issue?
Is it because…?
Is the condition brought on simply because your pet has a food allergy? Or is some other type of environmentally triggered allergy?
We don’t know. That said, however, because certain dog breeds, such as:
- Doberman Pinscher,
- German Shepherd,
- Golden Retriever,
- Great Danes,
- Irish Setter,
- Labrador Retrievers.
Tending to have a higher propensity to develop Acral Lick Dermatitis, researchers tend to believe that there must be some genetic or hereditary connection to the condition and think it may be linked to some type of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Unfortunately, many cognitive therapy approaches that work so well in “human” subjects can’t be applied to our four-legged friends, limiting what one can do to help treat dogs suffering from this condition.
That said, however…
Studies have shown that removing stress and minimizing “boredom” from an afflicted dog’s daily routine does seem to help, along with experimenting with anti-inflammatory medications, which could potentially address any possible allergy causes that could be at play.
Additionally, behavior modification specialists may be able to help, and in some cases, folks have attempted to prescribe anti-anxiety medications to help minimize the symptoms associated with this condition.
But this is where…
We here at IndulgeYourPet usually like to remind our readers that we’re not medical specialists and certainly not VETERINARIANS! We’re just a bunch of folks who have a passion for animals and hate seeing them suffer.
This is why…
We write an article like these and why we always recommend that if someone is in the process of looking for a new pet and is considering adopting or purchasing an animal that is prone to developing a medical condition that could one day become pretty expensive to treat, that they also take a moment and consider purchasing a Pet Insurance policy to help avoid any unnecessary expenses later on during their pet’s life.
Please check out our Best Pet Insurance Companies article for more information about Pet Insurance.
