Sebaceous Adenitis (S.A.)

Sebaceous Adenitis is a hereditary skin disease that occurs primarily in Standard Poodles. Signs include excessive dandruff, greasy or dry scaling, darkened skin, a musty odor, thickening of the skin and hair loss ranging from scattered to total baldness. These signs are caused by an inflammation of the sebaceous (oil) glands in the skin. As the disease progresses, the sebaceous glands and hair follicles are destroyed, leading to loss of hair. As part of the inflammatory process, secondary skin infections can occur. There is no cure for SA, but it can be treated. Frequent baths and oil treatments have been found helpful in removing scale and lubricating the skin. Antibiotics are used to treat secondary infections.  If your dog has not responded to treatment for another problem, please ask your vet about the possibility of SA. SA appears most often in young adult dogs, but unfortunately, can occur later in life. SA can take many forms, from so severe that the dog is euthanized, to so mild it can go unnoticed. A punch biopsy of the skin is required for diagnosis. SA is often cyclic in nature. The inflammation subsides, the hair grows back somewhat, and then the cycle recurs. There is also a subclinical form of SA that can be detected only by biopsy. Therefore, since SA is probably hereditary,  related dogs should be biopsied before breeding them. In Poodles, biopsies are done two yearly on dogs as late as age 10 to make sure the condition does not exist. unfortunately, there is no genetic testing yet, so there is no way to determine if a dog is a carrier. In Poodles, testing has shown SA to be inherited as a simple autosomal recessive trait, and the carrier rate in this breed may be as high as 50 percent. The cost of the biopsy is £30. The procedure is quite simple. If there are no clinical symptoms, the vet will take a minimum of two 6 mm. Punch samples from the dog's back between the top of the head and the withers. If there are any scaling or hair loss areas, those areas should be tested too. The area should not be scrubbed or cleaned at all for this procedure. A local anesthetic such as Lido Cain into the sub cutis is recommended. The biopsy sites are usually closed with one or two sutures. All very simple! It is usually not necessary to anesthetise the dog. The samples are then put in a leak-proof, crush-proof container of 10 percent buffered formalin for delivery to the Lab.