Dog Pimple: Simple and Natural Remedies to Treating It

Although dogs don’t face the social stigma of having pimple showing up on their face like human do, however, it can be very uncomfortable for the dog and a sore sight to us.

Pimples usually occur on younger dogs, however, bigger dogs such as Mastiffs tend to get them regularly throughout their adulthood. Pimples can appear at any part of the body but most commonly found around the the face area—chin, upper lips, and nose.

As to why dog have pimples, there are many reasons to it:

• Usually it is caused by a bacterial infection, which get trapped under the skin inside a blocked oil gland.
• It may occur when normal scatting irritates hair follicles and causes inflammation of the glands.
• Dogs with excess oil secretion have a genetic tendency to develop pimples.
• Just like humans, it can also be caused by allergies or hormones that are out of balance.

When dog pimples burst, the result is a lot worse than you can image. The contents can eat into the skin and cause a secondary infection. Hence, it is best to take a proactive approach when there are only one or three pimples found. If you notice several pimples bursting at once and causing your dog great pain and itch, do not delay, get to the vet as soon as possible.

What Are To Be Avoided:

To Squeeze or Not To: In most cases, it’s best to avoid squeezing. I know it can be very tempting to squeeze out the pus, avoid it if you don’t know how “ripe” the pus is. Furthermore, squeezing pimples can be a very painful experience for your dog. If the pus isn’t ripe and you intend to squeeze it (that if your dog doesn’t mind the pain for 2 seconds), you may cause infected material to spread beneath the skin and causing it a deeper infection.

Acne Cream: Although there are many drug store products formulated for human do help aid common canines aliments, however, in the case of acne or pimple creams this does not apply. These products use harsh chemical or medications hence it’s not advisable to use it on our dogs to control or eliminate pimples. It would probably worsen the situation.

Plastic: This is a very rare case, few dogs do get allergy reaction to plastic and will break out in pimples when their faces touch the bowls. You might want to change their food and water bowl to ceramic or metal. Honestly, I won’t put high hope on going this route but it’s worth a shot to root out all possibilities.

7 Natural Remedies To Zip Out Pimples on Dogs

Heat Pad: Similar to our facial regime—a facial stream before extracting blackheads—we apply heat to the affected area but without squeezing the pimple. Heat will help to open blocked pore and increase circulation making it easier to flush out the pus. Apply warmth cotton pad on the affected area for few minutes or until it turns cool. Do this twice daily preferably before bed and nap time.

Anti-bacterial Shampoos: Or hypoallergenic pet shampoos, by using these shampoos will help open blocked pores and allow pimples to heal more quickly. I won’t recommend using it on a daily basis if your dog has pimples all over the body; doing so will strip off his natural coat oil resulting more skin problems then you begin with. Unless it stated clearly on the label that daily use is okay otherwise avoid it. Having said, shampoo their face daily especially breeds with pendulous lips (e.g. Great Dane) or have flat face (e.g. Pekingese). These breeds often get food stuck in between their facial folds and these leftovers are prefect breeding ground for bacteria.

Aloe Vera: Aloe vera gel, be it from plant or formulated ones found in the drugstore, is not an ingredient that will eliminate pimple—far from it. However, aloe vera gel does help ease the discomfort caused by the painful pimple. After you wash the infected area with or without anti-bacterial shampoo, apply the area in gentle circular movement with your clean fingers.

Spayed/Neutered: If your dog tends to get pimple on a regular even if you clean your dog thoroughly after every meal, generally this is due to hormones imbalance. The best way out is to have your dog spayed or neutered. That said, it isn’t foolproof that your dog will never develop any pimple thereafter. Rather it’s a case to case basis, however, it will dramatically reduce the amount and frequency; and will any luck, zero pimple for good.

Echinacea: Echinacea is a perennial herb, commonly use in many herbal medicines to aid aliments such as reduce inflammation and infections in dogs and humans. It is given orally either in table or liquid form. You can find them in health food stores or at any holistic or some traditional veterinary clinics. Check with your vet for the proper dosage for your breed. Alternatively, you can try homoeopathy approach using Newton Homeopathics Skin Care to relief of itching and pain associated with eczema, pimples, hives, mange, and other skin eruptions.

Calendula: Like Echinacea, Calendula is a also a perennial herb commonly use as herbal remedy to quell skin infections and speed healing. Calendula is a concentrated tinture. The way to use it is to soak a cotton pad in the tincture mixture (tinture to water ratio is 1:1) and squeeze out the excess. Then apply it to the sore area and hold it for about 3 minutes twice daily. If this sounds too much work for you, try Animals’ Apawthecary FidoDerm Herbal Spray—an all-natural herbal remedy. Not only it rids the pimple away it also soothes the skin as it has aloe ingredients in it.

DermaIonX: DermaIonX is a proprietary of homeopathic complex. It isn’t a pimple or acne solution supplement per se, however, it does help to relief many types of skin irritation and also promote healthy and strong skin. From personal experience, this liquid supplement has solved my Kiki’s, a sprayed Silky Terrier, occasional pimple outbreak and skin rashes. Ever since I put her on DermaIonX, she has been pimple- and rashes-free for the past six months.

Whichever remedy you decided to employ, keep in mind that clean environment plays a great part to keep the outbreak at bay.