Q: “Charlie has this rash on his stomach area and is obsessed with licking it. He’s a 1.5-year-old neutered male. In the picture (see below), there’s only one, but there are numerous red circles like this.”
A: It looks like your dog has a mild case of pyoderma, a bacterial skin infection. It’s still relatively mild, but if you look at an image search for this disease, you can see some pets that have gone untreated and have more severe cases.
Related: Why Is My Dog’s Body Covered in Bumps or Welts?
What Causes Pyoderma in Dogs?
There are a lot of reasons this could have started:
- Summer allergies
- Allergies to his bedding or a new carpet
- Mites or fleas (since you mentioned he is licking his belly a lot)
- A food allergy: You didn’t mention what breed he is, but in this link, I list the most common breeds that suffer from food allergies. Dogs with food allergies will usually have other signs than just pyoderma, so if he does have any other symptoms, be sure to read that link and see if it might be related to his skin problem.
How to Treat Pyoderma
The most common way to clear up a case of pyoderma used to be to put the dog on antibiotics for several weeks. Since we’re now dealing with so many cases of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, a better way is to treat it locally with a medicated bath.
The easiest and most effective way to clear this up can be done at home. You can use a chlorhexidine shampoo to kill the Staphylococcus bacteria on his skin. The shampoo, even without antibiotics, will clear up the symptoms of pyoderma in less than three weeks, as long as there isn’t an allergy going on that makes it come right back.
Some dogs will also need a benzoyl peroxide shampoo to remove the crust and pus and allow the skin to heal, but in the photo you sent, it doesn’t look like there’s any scaling. Based on the photo, it doesn’t look like he does, but if the other spots have any pus, let me know.
You can buy the chlorhexidine shampoo on Amazon or at your local pet store. If you haven’t given Charlie a medicated bath before, you can read this article, which gives details on how long to leave the shampoo on, how to protect his eyes and ears and how to dry him and treat the skin afterwards.
Help the Spot Heal With Coconut Oil
After the bath, you can treat the spot so that it’ll heal up faster. I don’t recommend applying triple-antibiotic ointment since he’ll just lick it off, and the antibiotics will upset his gut and lead to diarrhea or loose stools.
You can apply coconut oil to the rash. This oil is effective as a mild antibiotic, and if he licks it, the oil won’t cause diarrhea. Just use a small amount and apply it directly to his rash. I prefer to do this outside (or just take him for a walk after doing this) since the oil will stain the carpets but will absorb into his skin by the time you’re back inside.
Next Steps if He Doesn’t Improve
If this doesn’t clear up in about three weeks despite the medicated bath, or gets worse and he continues to lick or scratch his belly, you should:
- Contact your local veterinarian to have his skin scraped for mites and discuss treatment options for his possible allergies. He may respond to antihistamines but will most likely need steroids or one of the other allergy treatments.
- Improve his microbiome (the bacteria in the gut) to improve the quality of his skin. One of the bacterial populations that improve skin quality is Saccharomyces, and it can be found in this probiotic.
Up Next:
Related: Hot Spots but No Vet? Treat Your Dog at Home
Sources
- Valentine B. Treating pyoderma without the use of systemic antibiotics. Can Vet J. 2019 Dec;60(12):1361-1363. PMID: 31814647; PMCID: PMC6855222. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6855222/
- Yang Q, Wu Z. Gut Probiotics and Health of Dogs and Cats: Benefits, Applications, and Underlying Mechanisms. Microorganisms. 2023 Sep 29;11(10):2452. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11102452. PMID: 37894110; PMCID: PMC10609632. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10609632/