The Dermatology service is run by Rosario Cerundolo
Welcome to Dick White Referrals Dermatology and Allergy Service. The Dermatology and Allergy service provides a specialist, professional, dermatology service by assisting veterinarians and their clients with the evaluation of dogs and cats for all types of skin and hair diseases. This also includes diseases of the ear canal and nails.
The Dermatology team offers specialised diagnostic procedures and treatments including state of the art Video Otoscopy and intradermal and blood allergy testing.
At Dick White Referrals we use the very latest in diagnostic technologies and collaborate with colleagues who are leaders in their fields of Oncology, Anaesthesia, Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Neurology, Soft Tissue, Orthopaedic surgery, Diagnostic Imaging and Clinical Pathology to deliver the most effective treatment of your animal.
Our patients enjoy the love and care of our team of specialist nurses on the state-of-the-art air-conditioned wards to ensure that your animal’s welfare is in the very best of hands.
Referrals of cases suspected of the following conditions are welcome:
Allergy- The most common types of allergy affecting the skin include: food allergy, environmental allergy (pollens, moulds, house dust mites) and insect hypersensitisation (fleas and mosquitoes)
Both intradermal and blood (allergen-specific IgE serology) tests for allergic diseases are carried out in affected patients.
After discussing the therapeutic options offered by standard pharmacotherapy with owners Allergen-specific immunotherapy (allergy vaccine) may be initiated.
Ectoparasites and Infectious diseases- There are many skin diseases caused by parasites (e.g. demodicosis and scabies), or bacteria (MRSA infections), fungi (ringworm), viruses, and protozoa (leishmaniosis). Fungal cultures and other microbiologic tests are carried out from skin or secretion samples.
Chronic or recurrent ear infections- There are many causes of recurrent ear canal infections, affecting dogs and less frequently cats. Patients are worked up by ruling out an underlying allergy or endocrine disease, performing an MRI, if necessary, to evaluate the involvement of the middle ear. Treatment may be carried out by ear flushing under general anaesthesia by using a video-otoscope. If surgical intervention for lateral wall resection or total ear canal ablation (TECA) and bulla osteotomy is necessary patients may be referred to our Soft-Tissue Service.
Diseases of the feet, footpads and nails-There are many underlying causes (e.g. allergy, parasites, tumours, autoimmune disease) of pododermatitis and nail diseases. Some of these conditions will be diagnosed by skin biopsy.
Autoimmune diseases-The most common conditions seen in dermatology are discoid lupus, pemphigus foliaceous, uveodermatological syndrome, and bullous diseases. Many of these conditions will be diagnosed by skin biopsy.
Endocrine (hormonal)- There are many internal problems that can cause skin diseases, including diseases of the liver, pancreas, hormone-producing glands, and gastrointestinal tract. The dermatologist will evaluate patients with hyperadrenocorticism and hypothyroidism, and paraneoplastic skin diseases. Diagnostic test such as MRI for evaluating pituitary tumors, or ultrasound and hormonal test are routinely carried out.
Alopecia X-This is a common clinical presentation as a number of hereditary or acquired conditions presents with hair loss in dogs and cats. There are a number of breeds which are predisposed to hereditary form of alopecia affecting adult dogs. It is important to rule out pruritic causes of hair loss before carrying out further diagnostic tests.
