Canine Pyoderma
Pyoderma is the medical term for a bacterial skin infection.
Bacteria are found everywhere in the environment. Normal, healthy skin is usually very resistant to the development of skin infections.
Pyoderma usually is the result of some type of irritation which damages the skin making it more susceptible to infection. Therefore, pyoderma is frequently a “complication” of another type of skin damage or disease.
Causes Of Pyoderma:
Causes of skin damage which increases susceptibility to pyoderma include:
- fleas,
- scratching from allergies,
- dry skin,
- ringworm,
- sarcoptic or demodectic mange, and
- topically applied irritating substances, including many flea sprays and dips.
Animals that develop recurrent pyoderma often have poorly functioning immune systems that prevent their body from fighting off these infections like a normal animal. They may suffer from concurrent diseases such as hypothyroidism or adrenal disease.
Symptoms Of Pyoderma:
Symptoms associated with pyoderma are:
- itchiness,
- inflamed and reddened areas on the skin,
- patches of yellow colored skin,
- discharge from skin lesions,
- foul smelling odor from the skin, and
- hair loss over affected areas.
Pyoderma can make your dog very uncomfortable and irritable.
Diagnosis Of Pyoderma:
Diagnosis of pyoderma involves a complete examination of all body systems.
A routine blood screen will likely be necessary.
Specific skin tests may include skin scrapings to identify mites which cause mange, fungal cultures to diagnose or rule out ringworm, bacterial cultures to identify the type of bacteria infecting the lesion, cytology to evaluate individual cells within the skin lesion, and/or "allergy testing" to identify potential allergens (substances producing allergies).
Treatment Of Pyoderma:
Pyoderma requires intensive, conscientious treatment, sometimes for prolonged periods of time. Some dogs may require life-long medications to keep the problem under control. Some cases may even be incurable.
Your veterinarian will need to assess your dog's condition and determine if any underlying causes are present in order to determine the appropriate form of treatment.
Treatment of the pyoderma may include antibiotics given either systemically (by injection or by mouth) or used topically.
Special antibiotic shampoos, ointments, creams and/or sprays may also be recommended by your dog's veterinarian, depending on the situation.
If underlying problems (such as fleas, allergies, ringworm, mange, etc) are discovered, these will need to be treated as well.
