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Importance of psychogenic dermatoses in dogs with pruritic behavior
Author(s) -
Nagata M.,
Shibata K.,
Irimajiri M.,
Luescher A. U.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
veterinary dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1365-3164
pISSN - 0959-4493
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3164.2002.00298_31.x
Subject(s) - medicine , psychogenic disease , dermatology , erythema , biting , context (archaeology) , radiology , ecology , paleontology , biology
Canine psychodermatopathies are appreciated, but our knowledge of this field is extremely limited. We suspect that psychodermatopathies could be expanded to include dermatoses featuring pruritic behavior such as licking, scratching and biting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate these clinical findings of a series of suspect dogs. Seven dogs with psychogenic dermatoses featuring pruritic behavior are described. Differential diagnoses including infectious disease, allergy, congenital disorder, metabolic and neurological disturbances, and previous trauma at the lesions were all ruled out. All dogs had concurrent behavior problems or inductive life events, and both skin and behavior problems were improved with behavior modification with or without psychopharmacological therapy. The type and distribution of the skin lesions and incidental context of pruritic behavior were evaluated. Histopathological examination of the skin lesion was performed in five cases. In the seven dogs, characteristic skin lesions included: broken hairs ( n = 7); and erythema and/or excoriation ( n = 3); broken hairs located on the lateral thigh ( n = 4), medial forearm ( n = 4), flank ( n = 3), and perioral area ( n = 3); and erythema and/or excoriations located on the cheek ( n = 2), perioral area ( n = 2), periocular area ( n = 1) and nails ( n = 1). In all cases, the onset of pruritic behavior was associated with emotionally unstable situations, and did not appear during sleep or during periods of focused attention. Histopathological findings were unremarkable in all cases. In conclusion, psychogenic disorders should be considered as a cause of dermatoses in dogs with pruritic behavior, and this disorder can be identified with clinical evaluation of skin lesions and the relationship between the behavior and its context.