Pyoderma in dogs
Pioderma name itself suggests pus in the skin. It can be caused by infectious, inflammation or neoplastic ( cancer) in origin. It is defined as any condition that results in neutrophilic accumulation beneath the skin, it is mainly due to bacterial skin infection.
Etiology :
Most common reasons for pioderma in dogs are bacterial infections ( staphylococcus, streptococcus, micrococcus etc).
Other reasons are
Flea infestations
Mite infestation ( demodicosis)
Allergies ( food allergy, atopic dermatitis, flea allergy)
Internal diseases ( Hypothyroidism, hypo adrenocorticism)
Seborrhoeic conditions ( seborrheicgland disease).
Pioderma can be classified based on the depth of the infection into surface, superficial and deep pioderma.
Surface pioderma :
It includes acute moist dermatitis, fold pioderma and bacterial overgrowth syndrome ( erythema with large number of bacterial growth but without other clinical signs).
Superficial pioderma :
It is a bacterial infection confined to the upper layers of skin and hair follicle. The infection is mainly secondary to local trauma, keratinization disorders, harmonal imbalance, Parasitic infestations or allergies. In dogs superficial pioderma is the most common form of pioderma.
In skin cytology presence of inflammatory cells and neutrophils is the most common findings.
Deep pioderma :
Though deep pioderma is less common but most dangerous of all because it spreads to dermis of skin. It is commonly due to immunodeficiency and in most of cases associated with demodicosis.
Clinical symptoms :
It is a common disorder in dogs and can occur at any age group. Some of the common symptoms associated with pyoderma are
Blood or pus on the skin
Crusting
Foul odor from the skin
Hair loss
Itching
Rashes
Redening
Scaling
Swelling
Ulcerative skin
Papules.
Certain conditions like diseases that compromise immune system or allergies may contribute to pyoderma becoming chronic. Environmental influences such as hot, humid climate may also increase the chances of pyoderma becoming chronic due to stress developed in dog. In some cases dogs develop temporary pyoderma, due to dogs immune system they will recover of their own.
Diagnosis :
Based on the clinical symptoms, incase of superficial pyoderma some of the clinical signs like
Multifocal areas of alopecia
Follicular papules or pustules
Crusts and scales
Incase of deep pyoderma some of the hallmark symptoms like crusting, odor and exudate of blood and pus.
Other methods of diagnosis include collection of skin scrappings, these samples are used in microscopic evaluation of skin cells. An overabundance of bacteria, neutrophils, inflammatory cells can used to detect of pyoderma in dogs, other tests like complete blood count, biochemistry profile etc.
Treatment :
Identifying and controlling the underlying causes is important to prevent the reoccurrence.
With the spread of methicilin resistant, multi drug resistant staphylococcus bacteria which produce beta lactamase, emperical use of antibiotics like
Pencilin,
Ampicilin,
Amoxicilin is to be avoided.
Depending on the likelihood of their effectiveness against staphylococcus they are classified into first line and 2nd line of therapy.
1st line of therapy include clindamicin, 1st generation cephalosporins, amoxicilin clavulanate, potentiated sulphonamides.
2nd line of therapy includes using of fluoroquinalones etc.
For superficial pyoderma the treatment should be extended to 7-10 days whereas for deep pyoderma should br extended to 14-20 days.
Topical shampoo application has given good results. Some of the most common antibacterial shampoos like
Benzoyl peroxide ( 2.5-3%) is an oxidising agent that disrupts the bacterial cell membrane.
Chlorhexidine ( 2-4%)
Kills the bacteria by coagulating bacterial cytoplasmic proteins and detoriating bacterial cell membrane.
Sodium hypochlorite (0.005%)
It is a anti - septic and also acts as anti inflammatory agents
Giving immuno-modulators also works well in the fast recovery of the animal.
Note :
Incase of any quires regarding your dog please feel free to contact on
Youcanmaildoctor@gmail.com
Thank you.
Thank you for the information. My dog was getting recurrent pyoderma atleast once in 3 months. So can you please advice
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Coming to your request. There are many reasons for the recurrence. Some of them which we have to rule out are
1. Cleanses of floor where your pet used to stay or Rome
2. Proper usage of course of medicine
3. Breed suceptibility also one of the reason etc
With Proper managemental practices we can control almost 50% reduction in chances of recurrence