iPawz

Lick Granuloma (skin lesions) in dogs... a dermatology nightmare

Everyone who has had a dog with a lick granuloma will tell the same story. The skin lesion started as a tiny sore spot on the skin and the dog kept licking at it. Applying medications didn't seem to help much and the darn thing kept spreading outward while thickening. It often would be wet and oozing from the dog licking and chewing incessantly at it.  Finally a trip to the veterinarian revealed a name for this patch of thickened, scarred and irritated skin: Acral Lick Granuloma.   "Well, OK", the owner would say, "so what do we do about it?"

The problem is that we veterinarians cannot give the owner a specific recipe for a cure for acral lick granuloma.  The skin is so deeply affected that even down to the base layer of the skin there can be found under the microscope little pockets of bacteria, broken hair follicles, plugged and scarred oil glands and dilated and inflamed capillaries.  And if these skin lesions are removed surgically, the dog simply licks at the sutures or incision line after the surgery heals, thus creating a brand new granuloma right where the original one was!

The photo here is of an Airedale with a classic case of Lick Granuloma. The dog is perfectly healthy, is on an excellent diet, does not suffer from allergies but does have slight separation anxiety when his owner leaves for work. In this case the "cause" of the licking specifically at the affected area of skin may be self stimulation to help allay the anxiety of separation from the owner. The skin lesions will heal slightly, almost seem like they are going to heal, and overnight (or during the day while left alone) the lick granuloma is activated, licked raw from continuous passes of the tongue. Also with this dog, when one of the attempts to break the cycle of licking involved wrapping the lower leg with a cast to keep the dog away from the lesion, he began to make a new one in the same location on the opposite leg. Now there are TWO LICK GRANULOMAS!

Tips to be a successful pet grooming professional

Pet groomers, more than any other group of pet health care professionals, fill a very unique niche in enhancing pet health. Your profession requires certain attributes not required by veterinarians, trainers, breeders, pet shop owners, kennel operators and pet food retail salespeople.

To be a successful pet grooming professional you must have hands on contact with your subjects, you will be required to carefully observe each subject while grooming, and you will be doing this while patiently controlling the pet. Your job requires you to spend time with the pet in such a manner that you will be able to judge the pet' s physical and mental attitude. No other pet health care professional is required to fulfill all of these conditions in the execution of their job... the professional groomer holds a unique and vital position in pet health care delivery.

Of course there's a huge responsibility you must bear not only to be the best groomer you can be but also to be a healthcare advocate on behalf of the pets with whom you work. With your hands-on contact and acute observational skills you should be prepared to relate to a veterinarian or to the pet's owner any deviations from normal that you detect in the pet.

Every day in my small animal practice the groomer (she happened to be an independent contractor, not my employee, so I refrained from calling her "my" groomer!) would call me in to the grooming room to point out something on the pet that needed attention. Often she had discovered some subtle health problem that had evolved since the last time I saw the pet. In addition, because many veterinarians are pressed for time due to a busy schedule, their observation of the pet may be hurried. The average office call lasts about twelve minutes. So here's where the groomer really has an advantage because you are forced to concentrate on this one subject while you pick at it, scrub it, pluck it and shave it with that old faithful clippers that sounds like a lawn-mower... then you blast a tornado of warm air over it until it's dry so you can then scissor, shape and brush it and then confine it and hope it doesn't urinate in the cage and soil itself before the owner shows up three hours late! Did I forget the bows?

Strange Facts About Cats

Did you know cats sleep an average of 16-18 hours per day? Or that cats respond better to woman than to men? These strange fun facts and more are below...

from ThePetsCentral.com

When your pet has allergies - the RAST test

Well the calendar says it's Spring - between the heavy flooding in the west, the warm, wet, almost snowless east, and all kinds of climatological mayhem in the middle of the country, I'm sure we're all looking forward to some "normal" weather.

Photo by Gofflin, Flickr CC license

But what has this got to do with my pet you say? In a word - ALLERGIES!

Itching, scratching, chewing, sneezing dogs and cats everywhere. All this wet, warm weather has brought the plants out of their winter snooze weeks earlier than usual, and many of our allergic pets are starting to react.

It's that thump, thump at two in the morning as your dog frantically tears at his ears, or that annoying slurping sound as he chews the fur off his rump that has you calling your veterinarian for the first available appointment.

While there are many different ways an allergy may manifest in your dog and many different treatments, one of the tests your veterinarian may recommend is a RAST test - (Radioallergosorbent test). A small vial of blood is drawn and submitted to a laboratory for analysis. Two primary screens are usually performed. The first is a regional test which checks for any sensitivity your dog may have to the common grasses, trees, shrubs, molds and fungi found in your part of the country. The second is a food allergy screen to determine sensitivity to some of the common ingredients in your dog's diet.

Since the very best way of treating an allergy is to stay away from the causative agent altogether, your veterinarian will then be able to recommend certain diets free of ingredients to which your dog tested positive.

Swarm of kittens getting a bath

I remember these days... unfortunately they're now 16 pounds, but still so cute:

Declawing cats: last resort

Pet doctor: Declawing is painful; try some alternatives

Declawing a cat involves removing the third bone of digits and is a painful procedure performed by a veterinarian while the cat is under anesthesia. Veterinarian Christie Long writes that most veterinarians suggest several ways to curtail destructive cat scratching before agreeing to declaw a cat, including adding scratching posts treated with catnip to the home.

Does declawing a cat cause pain? I have no doubt that it does. Amongst veterinarians and those involved in animal welfare, declawing is extremely controversial, with many veterinarians refusing to perform the procedure and entire cities in California and elsewhere enacting bans against it.

full article here

Exposure to pets by age 1 helps reduce allergy risks

And living with a cat or dog in infancy may even be protective, researchers find.

Teens who were exposed to cats before age 1 were almost 48% less likely to develop allergic reactions to the pet, according to a study in the journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy. Researchers also found a 67% lower risk of dog allergy in both male and female teens born via cesarean section who were exposed to dogs before age 1.

To see what effect, if any, childhood exposure to cats and dogs has on the development of pet allergies in children, the researchers tested blood samples gathered as part of the Detroit Childhood Allergy Study for the presence of a substance known as animal-specific IgE. The presence of this antibody would indicate that an individual was "sensitized" to that animal, which indicates an allergy. The study began in 1987.

Results of the study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit are published online June 13 in the journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy.

At age 18, about 560 of the study's participants agreed to participate in this follow-up study. They provided additional blood samples and pet histories.

During their first year of life, 184 teens had an indoor dog and 110 had an indoor cat.

In males, the risk of having a dog allergy was decreased by 50 percent in those who had a dog during their first year. This association wasn't found in females, however. But when the researchers looked at teens born via cesarean-section delivery, they found that both males and females had a 67 percent decreased risk of dog allergy when they lived with a dog during their first year of life.

Wegienka noted that babies born via C-section aren't exposed to the diverse microflora that babies born vaginally are, which might make their immune systems more susceptible to allergies.

The researchers said that exposure to animals at other times in childhood didn't appear to be as significant as the first year. But, Wegienka cautioned that this study doesn't prove a cause-and-effect relationship between having a pet and avoiding allergies, just an association between those two factors.

full story here.

Otitis externa, a.k.a. Stinky Ears

Otitis externa, a.k.a. inflammation of the soft tissue of the outer ear, a.k.a. "Stinky Ears"

It's inevitable. If you own a dog, no matter what breed, sooner or later he is going to have a "bad ear". With luck it may happen once or twice in your pet's lifetime and may not inconvenience either of you too much. But, if otitis is in your pet's future, be prepared for one of the most common and frustrating problems encountered in small animal medicine.

The causes of otitis externa are so varied and complex that a definitive diagnosis and treatment may not always be possible. In many cases, those infected, red and smelly ears are just one of the signs of a more generalized skin condition. Some of the more prevalent primary causes include (i) parasites e.g. ear mites (ii) foreign bodies e.g. grass seeds and (iii) direct trauma to the ear.

There are also certain factors that predispose the ear to inflammation and infection. Some examples include the conformation of the ear canal. Breeds such as the terriers and poodles often have long deep canals with heavy growth of hair in the canal itself. This can lead to an increase in moisture and poor drainage. Another breed with frequent ear problems is the Shar Pei. Here the canals are usually narrow and twisty which results in excessive wax accumulation, irritation and eventually infection. Another unfortunate, but common predisposing factor is the over zealous pet owner. These well-intentioned individuals clean and pluck their dog's ears every few days, regardless of whether they need attention or not. The result is usually a painfully inflamed and infected ear, which requires prompt veterinary attention...

Ear mites in cats and dogs

(view of an infested ear canal of a cat - click image for more detail)

Ear mites in cats are one of the most commonly seen veterinary health care problems. Treating ear mites in cats has finally become a relatively easy experience now that veterinarians can prescribe safe and effective medications that do not require applications every other day for weeks. Caused by a little mite called Otodectes cynotis, the mites generally live along the surface of the ear canal, but can also be found on other areas of the body or in the environment. These mites can, but seldom do, infest humans. If present for long periods, hey can lead to serious ear difficulties in cats and dogs.

As ear mites move about and feed along the cat or dog's ear canal they create substantial irritation and subsequent inflammation. The mites feed on tissue debris and secretions from the ear canal lining. With repeated irritation, the ear canal thickens and debris builds up within the ear canal. This debris, caused by mite waste products, dead tissue and fluid resembles coffee grounds. In chronic (long term) cases of ear mites in cats and dogs, there often is secondary bacterial and yeast infections present that complicate the treatment and create even more stress on the animal.

The challenge of chronic dermatitis in dogs

Understanding that there are over 160 different skin disorders of dogs, some of which create chronic difficulties, Veterinarians try to solve all kinds of chronic dermatitis problems will lead you to a patient and cooperative relationship with your veterinarian. As a team, you and the veterinarian should be proactive in defining the problem accurately and in a timely manner. Satisfactory results will require the doctor's expertise and perseverance coupled with your permission and financial commitment.

There are few challenges in veterinary medicine more daunting than treating a patient for a long-term skin disorder. Chronic dermatitis cases take up about ten percent of animal hospital file folders; and these patient folders tend to be the thickest due to the multiple pages of patient history, lab test results, biopsy reports, medications and supplements dispensed, and even dermatology specialist referral summaries. Reading through all that data you would find an oft-repeated theme. Control is the goal since for sure there's no cure.