Itchy skin, recurring ear infections, and stubborn allergies are more than a nuisance — they wear pets and families down. Dogwood’s dermatology service, led by Dr. Marley McInnis, offers a deeper diagnostic workup and a long-term plan built around your pet.
The service combines advanced tools — including digital video otoscopy and dermatologic laser surgery — with the full workup of an experienced, residency-trained veterinary dermatologist.
Leadership
Residency-trained veterinary dermatologist leading Dogwood’s dermatology service, sitting for board certification this year.
Advanced Tools
Digital video otoscope for deep ear evaluation and treatment, plus dermatologic laser surgery for masses, lesions, and problem areas.
Full Scope
Allergy workups, chronic ear disease, autoimmune skin disease, biopsies, cultures, cytology, and long-term management plans.
Dr. McInnis leads Dogwood’s new dermatology service and brings full residency training in veterinary dermatology, with board certification exams scheduled for this year. Her work spans everything from complex allergy and chronic ear cases to autoimmune skin disease and dermatologic surgery.
Some skin and ear problems can be diagnosed with a good exam and cytology. Others need a closer look, a targeted procedure, or a treatment approach that a general practice simply cannot offer. Dogwood’s dermatology service is built around two tools that expand what we can see and what we can do.
A digital video otoscope lets Dr. McInnis look deep into the ear canal at high magnification, image and record findings, flush and clean the middle ear under direct visualization, retrieve foreign material, and take targeted biopsies. For pets with chronic or resistant ear disease, this often reveals what a standard otoscope simply cannot see.
Laser surgery gives us a precise, minimally invasive option for removing skin masses, cysts, warts, and chronic lesions, treating certain problem areas of the ear, and addressing focal skin disease with less bleeding, swelling, and post-op discomfort than traditional surgery. It pairs especially well with dermatology cases where healing and comfort matter most.
Dogwood’s dermatology service provides the full range of care you would expect from a veterinary dermatology specialty practice — and works closely with your primary veterinarian to keep everyone on the same page.
Environmental (atopic) allergy testing, food-trial guidance, and long-term allergy management including allergen-specific immunotherapy.
Video otoscopic evaluation, deep ear flushing, middle-ear disease workup, and long-term management plans.
Bacterial and yeast infections, resistant staph, ringworm and other fungal disease, and parasites.
Pemphigus, lupus, and other complex diagnoses that need biopsy, immunosuppressive planning, and monitoring.
Hair loss and skin changes tied to hypothyroidism, Cushing’s, and other hormonal disorders.
Cytology, skin scrapes, fungal cultures, bacterial cultures with sensitivity, and dermatohistopathology.
Laser removal of skin masses, cysts, and lesions, and targeted procedures for chronic ear disease.
Skin and ear disease can look almost identical from the outside — and be caused by very different things underneath. Below is a general overview of the conditions our dermatology service commonly diagnoses and manages.
This list is not exhaustive. If your pet has been scratching, chewing, losing hair, dealing with recurring ear infections, or on a cycle of antibiotics and steroids that never quite fixes the problem, dermatology may be the next step. We’re happy to help you decide.
Skin is often a window into what is happening elsewhere in the body. Chronic ear disease may involve neurology when the middle ear is affected. Autoimmune skin conditions may need internal medicine and long-term monitoring. Suspicious masses may need oncology input.
Because Dogwood is a full specialty and emergency hospital, Dr. McInnis can consult in real time with our internal medicine, surgery, oncology, neurology, and critical care teams — without asking families to chase appointments across multiple practices.
Whether you are a pet owner tired of the itching-scratching cycle or a referring veterinarian with a complex derm case, our team is here to help. Reach out and we will get you scheduled with Dr. McInnis.