Over the last month my family and I noticed that our Frenchie Augie had a strange bump showing above his left eye. The area around one of his whiskers was swollen. As the weeks went on, the bump got a little bit bigger so I decided it was time to schedule a Vet visit to see why his whisker above his eye was swollen.
My Vet diagnosed the swollen and impacted whisker as Folliculitis in dogs. She explained that it was likely a bacterial infection of his hair follicle and she gave me a course of action to follow that I will share below.
Read on to learn more about folliculitis in dogs and how to deal with it.
What is Dog Folliculitis?
In talking to my Vet and doing some research, Folliculitis is a when a hair follicle or skin on your dog gets swollen, inflamed, and itchy. Apparently this can happen to any dog and can be caused by a variety of issues. My Vet said it was likely a bacterial issue. None the less, the area around my French Bulldog’s hair follicle got swollen and inflamed.
Here is a picture of what we saw with our French Bulldog Augie.
Signs and Symptoms of Folliculitis in Your French Bulldog?
For our Frenchie Augie, we first noticed the area around his eyebrow whisker started with a small raised bump. It almost looked like a small zit without a whitehead. From my Vet I learned this is called a “Papule.” It then got slightly bigger at which point it transitioned to a “Pustule.” A pustule is just a bigger version filled with some pus. Ew…
Some people report that when a dog has folliculitis that the area may be itchy but we never saw our Frenchie itching the area.
It is also possible that hair loss can happen in the area (alopecia) and our Frenchie had that to a small degree. Of course the area can get swollen and red which our little guy did experience.
What Causes Dog Folliculitis?
In talking with my Vet at Companion Animal Hospital the Doctor informed me that the irritation of the hair follicle was likely caused by bacterial infection. That was what she suspected in our dog’s specific cause.
She did mention that trauma, viral infections, fungal infections, thyroid issues, or even parasites (like teas and ticks) could potentially cause an issue like this too.
How To Determine If Your French Bulldog Has Folliculitis
This one is simple – go see your Veterinarian. I am not a fan of playing Doctor and trying to be an internet-trained Veterinarian. Its fine to do your own research and suspect what issue may be plaguing your dog but leave the diagnosis to a qualified and trained professional.
If your dog has something like this around a hair follicle I’d recommend paying your Vet a visit to have them diagnose your doggo.
How I Treated Folliculitis on My French Bulldog
Below is the process we followed when trying to determine how to treat our Frenchie dealing with dog folliculitis.
1. Go to your Vet – As mentioned above, the first move in my humble opinion is to go to your dog’s regular Veterinarian and have them determine if it is in fact dog folliculitis.
2. The treatment depends on the cause of the dog folliculitis – As my vet explained to me how this issue is treated really depends on what is causing the issue.
The treatment usually takes the form of a topical application like a medicated pad (this is what our Vet gave us), a topical spray, a medical cream, or a medical shampoo.
In some cases they may even recommend a systemic medication for your dog.
For our dog Augie his dog folliculitis the location of his swollen hair follicle was right above his left eye. Our Vet recommended the medicated pads shown below and she instructed that we be especially careful to not get the medication near his eye.
Pro Tip: Apparently I could have got this off Amazon a lot cheaper than what I paid at the Vet’s office so something to keep in mind if your dog needs this. medicated pads.
Dog Folliculitis – Final Thoughts
I am glad I went to the Vet and found out that my dog had folliculitis as the Vet gave me a course of action to treat our beloved Frenchie. We have now been using the medicated pads to treat his folliculitis for about 4 days now and it is already starting to get a little better so that is good to see!
Hopefully if your French Bulldog has a similar issue this article will have helped point you in the right direction! Go see your Vet and hopefully they can help you get it resolved!
For more French Bulldog health articles check this out: https://frenchiejourney.com/health/
