North Carolina is a wonderful place to live. It has a nice climate of four distinct seasons, but each can challenge a pet with skin problems. The winter season can be a fun time of year, especially for dogs that hate the heat, but it often contributes to dry skin. Itchy dogs and cats this time of the year often have seriously dry skin. Understanding why skin gets dry in the first place is a good place to start.
During cold weather, our pets drink less. It's not hot outside, so thirst is reduced. As a result of decreased fluid intake, blood volume is less. At the same time, cold conditions cause circulating blood to centralize around the internal organs and constrict at the periphery such as feet, ears, nose, etc. The combination of reduced blood volume and less peripheral circulation leads to dryness in the skin and reduced circulation to feet and pads, nose, ears, and skin. Those are internal causes of dryness to the skin. External causes of dryness in winter are low humidity (both inside and outside the house) and exposure to wind, cold water, and excessive soap use (from shampooing and bathing).
Now that we understand why our pets experience dryness to the skin in winter, let's look at a few solutions below.
- Bathe less often and with a moisturizing shampoo such as oatmeal. Remember to use lukewarm water. If water is too hot, it can contribute to dryness. Bathing too frequently will remove natural oils from a pet's coat and skin.
- Supplement the diet with Omega 3 fatty acids; Nordic Naturals is a fantastic option that we carry in-house at Shiloh.
- Brushing a pet will stimulate the hair follicles to release natural oils onto the skin.
- Consider running a humidifier in your home. Adjust thermostat to be between 65-68 degrees. The warmest room should be the living room, bedrooms a few degrees cooler. Don't allow your pet to always sleep by the air registers, fireplaces, or gas heaters. These areas are too warm and too drying. Move the pet bed to an alternative location.
- Dress your pet in a coat when outside to reduce exposure to wind and winter precipitation.
- Apply Vitamin E oil (which can be purchased over-the-counter) to dry pads and nose cracks. For dogs spending a lot of time in the snow, use a specially designed wax to protect the pads and prevent snowballing between the pads and toes.
- Exercise more! Exercise will increase blood flow to the skin and help with peripheral dryness.
- Encourage adequate fluid intake by feeding a moist diet or by adding extra water to the diet. Remember the desire to drink water is reduced in the winter.
- Feed sardines for their omega 3 fatty acid content as well as moisture especially for cats eating a dry diet.
- Seek help if home remedies don't help or a rash is noticed. Your veterinarian can help you if your pet's dryness is not diminishing with the suggestions above. Lack of improvement or severe dryness could be a sign of thyroid imbalance, skin infection (pyoderma), or other internal medical concern. I often use Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture if the above therapies are ineffective but no serious medical conditions exist.
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