Services

We offer full service referral dermatology care for your pet.  LVVD specializes in all skin, allergy, ear, hair and nail disorders. 

Allergy testing:  Skin allergies are the most common cause of skin itchiness in pets.   Dr. Palmeiro has advanced training in testing and managment of allergic skin disease in pets.  The most reliable test for skin allergies in pets is an intradermal allergy test.  Allergy test results are used to formulate an allergy vaccine (allergy immunotherapy) that is specific for your pet's allergies.  At LVVD we have an in house allergy lab that makes allergy testing and formulating your pet's allergy vaccine convenient and accurate. 

This is an example of an allergy test in a dog with numerous positive reactions   

Microscopy: Various skin samples may be taken during consultation with Dr. Palmeiro.  These samples include skin cytology, skin scrapings, trichograms (a test that evaluates the hair) and ear cytology.  Cytology of the skin is used to identify infection and cells that are indicative of autoimmune disorders or cancer. A slide is pressed to the skin, picking up samples of the cells and microorganisms present.  The microscope is used to evaluate the samples and determine the cause of your pet's skin problem.  Below is an example of a skin scraping from a pet with a demodex (mite) infection.

Skin culture:  Resistant skin infections are becoming more common in our pets.  The dermatologist can obtain skin cultures in order to determine the most approrpriate treatment for a resistant skin infection.

Skin biopsies:  Skin biopsies are a very useful test in the diagnosis of certain skin disorders. During a skin biopsy, the dermatologist will take small pieces of the skin that are processed into thin sections and examined under the microscope.  Skin biopsies are particularly useful in the diagnosis of autoimmune skin disorders and various forms of skin cancer.  

Video Otoscopy:  Veterinary dermatologists also specialize in the management of chronic ear diseases.  At LVVD we have a state of the art specialized video otoscope that is used to better evaluate your pet's ear.   It utilizes a highly magnified camera to examine the deeper parts of the ear canal, eardrum and middle ear. The video scope is useful in identifying abnormalities of the ear drum, infection of the middle ear, foreign bodies and tumors/masses in the ear canal. Instruments can be inserted through the video otoscope to flush debris from the external and middle ears, perform surgeries on the ear drum, and also to remove foreign bodies from the ear,    grasp objects in the ear canal and biopsy/remove masses in the ear canal.  The video otoscope is a very useful tool that allows for accurate diagnosis and treatment treating of chronic otitis externa and otitis media (external and middle ear infections). Below is a video-otoscopic picture of a normal dog ear drum: