Does My Dog Really Have Ringworm

Learning how to spot ringworm on a dog is a great skill to have. For a dog owner, it is a must-have skill. It is the stage of detecting ringworm on your dog that determines the ease of dealing with it. If you see the rashes late, you will take a lot of time. On the other hand, if you see them early, the easier will be your job.

Knowing whether your dog has ringworm.

It is impossible to count on luck when looking for ways of finding ringworm in a dog. The only option that you have is diligence. If you want to know if your dog has ringworm, the place to look at is the skin of the dog. Dogs that do not have a lot of fur on them can easily tell whether they have ringworm because the rashes are easily visible. On the other hand, dogs that have a lot of fur will make it very hard for you to find ringworm because the fur has hidden the rashes.

If you see that your dog has a ring-like patch that has been formed by rashes that are raised above the skin, then your dog maybe has ringworm. If the dog has too much fur, you can check for more signs on the fur-free areas such as the ear for signs.

However, ring-like patches alone do not tell whether your dog has ringworm. This is why it is important that you visit your vet to see whether these rashes are because of ringworm or something very different. The vet will examine this by looking at the rashes under some ultraviolet light. On the other hand, the vet can easily scrap off some of the rashes so that he or she may be able to tell after doing some test.

The treatment of ringworm.

Once your vet is sure that your dog has ringworm, he will tell you the best method to get rid of the. Most of the time, the vet will tell you to use antifungal cream. This is because most of the infections are usually caught when they are on the early stages. On the other hand, if ringworm has spread all over the dog's body, then he will most likely advise you to use antifungal shampoo.

Both the antifungal cream and the antifungal shampoo have the same strength of curing ringworm. What makes the shampoo a better choice is the level of depth. The shampoo can easily go into the deep areas. These include areas that have been covered by fur. On the other hand, the cream is usually good if you want to treat a certain spot. The other good thing about the shampoo is that your dog may not lick and wipe it away as it may do with the cream.

Last Word.

Overall, it is always good to note that, when you are treating your dog and removing ringworm from it, that you work at it from all fronts. Make sure that you treat the infected dog and any other dogs that may be In your house. In addition to that, you will also need to treat all the other infected items such as the soil (in case the dog was sleeping on the ground,) the mats on which it lied on, and the chairs, among other things.

This way you will prevent the fungus from spreading to you and other animals in the house. Simply put, you would have cut the lifecycle of the fungus.

Summary

" In summary, detecting fungus early in a dog is essential if you want to remove the ringworm from your dog without much trouble. Here are a few things to look out for:

" Always check for ringworm on the skin of your dog by looking for rashes.

" In cases where the dog has a lot of fur, try to check for rashes on the ears of the dog. This is because the fur can easily cover the rashes and making it hard to tell if there are any rashes.

" Once you have taken your dog to the vet and the vet has decided that your dog has ringworm, make sure that you develop a consistent strategy of dealing with the ringworm.