What is staph? what do you do about it? and better how can you prevent it in the future. See my dog skin staph infection tips in this post
You’ve been to the vet or suspect your dog has a skin infection. Staph infection is likely, but can’t be confirmed without cytology by your vet.

Dog Skin Staph Infection – What Is It?
Staph is short for Staphylococcus a type of bacteria. These bacteria often live on the skin around the mouth, nose, bum, and genitals. Staph can be identified by your vet or pathologist via cytology.
Cytology Is when samples are taken from the skin, often with the use of sellotape. The tape is pressed onto the skin surface and then pulled away, collecting the cells sitting on the skin surface.
Once collected these tapes are then examined by your vet or pathologist under a microscope. It is there that they can be identified as different types of bacteria, yeasts, inflammatory cells, and even cancer cells.
So How Does My Dog Get A Staph Infection?
As staph is living on the skin it is only when the skin surface is broken and a wound is formed that it enters and causes an infection.
It’s not only injuries that can cause these types of wounds/broken skin, the skin surface can be broken via multiple scenarios.
A common one is self-trauma from the dog itself. If a dog is itchy, or suffering from skin problems. Then it is the chewing, licking, and scratching from the dog itself that causes wounds/broken skin. Then allowing the bacteria on the skin surface in and thus causes an infection.

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Dog Skin Staph Infection Prevention And Tips
So how can I prevent my dog from getting a staff infection?
If your dog injures itself, causing a wound, try and keep the wound clean. Using dog-friendly topicals. Talk to your vet about what’s available. Crating a doggie wound box or first aid kit is recommended.
Also if the wound starts to look infected go to your vet sooner rather than later. Waiting until an infection is deep and festering takes a lot more trouble than getting it sorted earlier.
My Dogs Wounds Are Cause By Self Trauma? What Should I do?
Self-trauma wounds are trickier to prevent. I have written an extensive selection of dog skin problems, conditions, and what to do about them.
You can find them all here: Problem Dog Skin
The use of t-shirts, booties, and e-collars can be helpful short term. However long-term management of your dog’s underlying skin condition is what needs to be addressed. Consider seeing an Animal Dermatologist near you and booking a skin assessment.
If your dog is self traumatizing it is most likely a skin problem that needs addressing. The key is to find the cause of the problem. The infections are only a secondary problem to the main issue which is a skin condition.
Common skin conditions include atopic skin disease, food allergies, and flea or parasites. You can read more about common skin conditions here.
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