Skin on the streets — the eyes have it

When a veterinary surgeon is faced with a street dog with a skin condition and does not have access to all the diagnostic aids that we perhaps take for granted in a regular primary care veterinary practice, it is possible to diagnose and treat that animal safely without compromising animal welfare. A trained dermatologist, whether in the human or veterinary field, can diagnose many of their clinical cases by taking a good clinical history, looking at the distribution pattern of the skin lesions and assessing the lesions themselves. While, of course, best practice would always suggest that an initial tentative diagnosis is confirmed by the performance of basic investigations such as skin scrapes, hair plucks and impression smears it is possible (but of course less than ideal) to institute a therapeutic regime without these tests if they can not be performed in the case of a ‘Street Vet’.

There are exceptions to every rule, but many of the most common skin conditions have very characteristic distributions of skin lesions. As the dermatological disease process becomes more chronic the less typical the distribution pattern will become, but in the early stages of many problems the pattern of lesions together with more general signs such as the presence or absence of pruritus, can help narrow down the list of potential differential diagnoses.