Discoid Lupus Erythematosus (DLE), simply known by most people As Lupus or Dog Nose Lupus is a very common skin disease in Dogs. The usual scabbing of the skin around the nose and loss of skin color! Sounds familiar? Only, this is not caused by ticks or lice or all other small insect that you dread seeing on your Canine’s body. It is an autoimmune skin disease. This means that it happens as a result of one’s immune system fighting against their own body! Scary right?
So many years ago, it was believed that this disease was a result of a wolf’s bite, hence the term Lupus. This has however been debunked and the real cause of the disease has been established.
In this article, we will get to know what causes this skin disease, and what you should do if you dog’s have lupus in their nose.
What Are the Causes of Lupus in Dog’s Nose?
Lupus is the result of the body’s immune system reaction. This occurs when dead cells in the body are recognized as harmful elements by the immune system. In response, they release antibodies into the blood stream.
When these antibodies have nothing to fight against, they converge and attack several layers of cells within the skin, causing inflammation and depigmentation. The disease has been known to start from the skin of the nose majority of the time. This is the reason for the term ‘Lupus in dog’s nose'.
Lupus that occurs in dog’s nose is mostly benign. This means that aside the popularly known symptoms of swelling, loss of color and occasional ulcers; the disease does not usually progress to a fatal stage once care is received soon enough.
Even though the chief cause of this immune attack is unknown, Doctors have noticed that Lupus in dog’s nose is more common in sunny climates. DLE is almost exclusively a disease of Dog’s, while its counterpart infection; Systemic Lupus Erythematous (SLE); which affects many other organs aside the nose and is more fatal in progression, is known to affect Felines and other group of animals.
What Are the Symptoms of Lupus in Dog’s Nose?
The symptoms of DLE are mostly observed in the nasal area, but can also impact other parts of the head, including the scalp and the face.
The early symptoms of Lupus in your Dog’s nose will probably be lost of nose skin color. This change is usually progressive, until an entirely different color appears on the skin of your dog’s nose. The nose may eventually become grey, pink or red, depending on exposure to sunlight (This is known to worsen the condition).
Other symptoms of Lupus in Dog’s nose may include roughness of the skin in the affected area, and development of ulcers around the nose. If the condition goes untreated in a situation where the ulcer is located close to a blood vessel, it may lead to heavy bleeding.
In some species of dogs, the lesions may progress to affect other parts of your dog’s head aside the dog nose. The parts known to be most commonly affected include; the folding around the eyes, the big flaps of the ear and even the genitals. Flies are easily attracted to open lesions and contribute in making them worse. In some cases, the lesions may proceed to appear in all parts of the dog’s body.
Other symptoms of Discoid Lupus Erythematous may include; loss of hair around the nose, and consistent itching.
How to Diagnose Lupus in Dog’s Nose
The major means of diagnosis of DLE is by biopsy. Biopsy is a process where a portion of the skin from the affected area is taken and transferred to the laboratory for examination by specialist.
The procedure of obtaining this skin piece can be painful. Therefore, your dog will be sedated by the Vet. Depending on the amount of skin taken, the procedure may result in some bleeding which can be easily controlled with stitches.
Other information collected by the vet for diagnosis may include a general history of dog disease, amount of exposure to sunlight and history of drug use.
The veterinarian may also check for any form of secondary infection on the open lesions. Where present, antibiotics will be administered to your dog.
How Do You Treat Lupus in Dog’s Nose?
The treatment choices for DLE are mostly to help heal the external symptoms since it is a benign condition. The aim of these treatment solutions is to stop the immune system from attacking its own body cells. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as Niacinamide are often combined with antibiotics like tetracycline to achieve this goal.
Several skin healing creams can also be prescribed by the doctor. When this is used, the dog owner may need to put a muzzle in their dog or distract them by feeding or walking them, to prevent them from licking the cream off the lesions. Some dogs suffering from Lupus may require more aggressive immune suppressants or even steroids.
Other therapy choices for Lupus in Dog’s nose includes; helping your dog to avoid intense sunlight. Most dog owners achieve this by providing sun screens or other sun-shielding products for their infected dog.
Treatment and care for Lupus in Dog’s nose may be done over a long period of time, but the good thing is that the disease almost always remains without developing into an adverse condition.
Note: should you suspect that your dog is suffering from Lupus, contact your veterinarian immediately. Home remedies and self medications have been known to make the condition worse as with human diseases.
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