What to Do If Your Dog Has Ringworm? Effective Treatments and Precautions

If your dog’s ringworm is not severe and only involves a small area of infection, there is no need to go to the vet hospital and spend hundreds of yuan on treatment. First, we need to confirm whether the dog really has ringworm. Ringworm has a distinct characteristic: the affected area will show regular patchy hair loss accompanied by dandruff. At this time, you can use a Wood’s lamp to shine on it. If there is a fluorescence reaction, showing green fluorescence, then it is likely ringworm. If you are still not sure, you can take the dog to the hospital for a scraping test. This test is relatively inexpensive, usually costing only a few tens of yuan, and a more expensive one might be around one hundred yuan.

Steps to Treat Ringworm

Step 1: Shave the Infected Area

You need to shave the hair from the affected area, and you can shave a slightly larger area. This makes it easier for us to apply medication to the dog, and it also prevents the hair from being contaminated with the pathogen, thereby avoiding the spread to other places and preventing humans or other parts of the dog from coming into contact and getting infected with ringworm.

Step 2: Apply Medication

Apply“iodine tincture”to the affected area, followed by“terbinafine hydrochloride ointment”or“terbinafine hydrochloride gel”。If these two medications are not available,“ketoconazole”is also a good choice. At the same time, you can supplement the dog with some“B-complex vitamins”to help it recover more quickly. Be sure to put an“Elizabethan collar”on it to prevent it from licking the affected area.

Step 3: Consider Oral Medication

If the ringworm condition worsens and the area becomes larger, it is recommended to give the dog“itraconazole”as an oral medication. Under normal circumstances, the medication cycle is to take it for seven days and then stop for seven days. However, it is important to note that when giving the dog this oral medication, you must also give it“liver-protecting tablets”to protect liver health.

Medicated Bath for Severe Cases

What if your dog’s ringworm is very severe and infected in many areas, and it’s impossible to apply medication everywhere?

At this time, you need to give the dog a medicated bath. If you can give it a medicated bath yourself, that is the best; if not, take the dog to the hospital. However, I would like to remind you that the cost of a medicated bath is relatively high, usually requiring several hundred yuan. If your dog’s skin disease is not severe, there is no need to take it to the hospital for a medicated bath right away.