Skin Signs

The skin can demonstrate disease with only a limited number of symptoms. It can:

• Lose hair
• Gain hair
• Change hair color
• Change skin color:
  • Lose pigment
  • Gain pigment
  • Inflame (red)
  • Blanche (white)
  • Bruise (purple or blue)
• Become scaly
• Become crusted
• Become scabbed
• Thin
• Thicken
• Erode or Ulcerate
• Exude fluid
• Crack or peel

The dermatologist must be adept at recognizing the types and patterns of lesions affecting the skin, and together with obtaining a thorough history piece together a list of the most likely causes of disease (the differential diagnosis list).

There are four categories of skin disease (dermatitis/dermatoses) that occur most frequently in companion animals. They are allergic dermatitis, ear infections, skin infections, and immune-mediated/autoimmune dermatoses.