Skin Inflammation (Pyoderma)

Pyoderma is very uncomfortable for animals and treatment can last for several weeks.

Definition

Pyoderma is a bacterial inflammation of the skin. It can either only affect the superficial layers of the skin, or it can go deeper. The appearance and the intensity of the itching are variable.

Causes

The normal skin flora includes different types of bacteria, their number is regulated by the healthy skin environment. If the skin environment becomes imbalanced, as can be the case with a poor immune system, allergies, parasite infestation, or something else, some bacteria suddenly multiply very quickly and inflammation occurs. This skin infection causes itching, and scratching makes the skin infection worse. In order to break this vicious circle, it is important on the one hand to treat the infection consistently and on the other hand to find out the root cause.

Pyoderma is not contagious if normal hygiene measures are observed.

Treatment

If pyoderma is suspected, cytology of the skin is made and stained, we do this here in-house. A suitable antibiotic can often be selected based on the cells and bacteria in the preparation. In some cases, however, it may be necessary to cultivate the bacteria and carry out a resistance test in order to find the optimally effective drug.

The outer layers of the skin in particular are difficult for antibiotics to reach because they are not directly supplied with blood. As a consequence, skin-acting antibiotics in dermatology often have to be administered for weeks to months (!!) in order to achieve a sufficient effect. If you also treat the outside with shampoos, lotions, or similar, this accelerates healing.

Complications

Unfortunately, there are also more and more bacteria in veterinary medicine that do not respond to antibiotics, i.e. are resistant. It is therefore particularly important to choose the right antibiotic and to administer it for a long enough time. Do not stop taking antibiotics yourself before you have checked whether the skin infection has actually healed. The most resistant bacteria survive the longest. Even if the complexion already looks good, these germs can still be on the skin and multiply again after stopping the antibiotic.

In the case of recurring infections, in particular, the root cause should be worked up as quickly as possible, since only treatment of this leads to the skin without irritation in the long term.