Odin
Canine Pet of the Month - January 2024
Odin is a sweet, young German Shepherd Dog. Odin presented with very little hair, very itchy, and very crusty and scabby skin. Odin has fought skin infections and allergies for several months with limited control of the skin infections and itch. Poor Odin was quite miserable.
We started Apoquel, an allergy medication, to combat itch and skin inflammation. Skin scrapings and cytology testing were done to see what pathogens may be on or in the skin. Odin had bacteria and Malassezia, or skin yeast, on his skin, which were secondary. Malassezia is very itchy for an animal when it overgrows on the skin. In addition to allergy medication to stop the itch and help Odin be more comfortable, antibiotics and antifungal medications were started.
Three weeks later, Odin came in for his reassessment. Odin’s hair had mostly regrown, the scabs were gone, and there was very little itch. Odin looked like a new dog and was so much more comfortable. Odin will be on allergy management for the rest of his life. Skin disease/allergies are typically not curable and have to be managed as there are often genetic components, and removal of allergens is simply not possible with seasonal allergies (Atopy). Allergic skin disease also often needs a lot of follow up as secondary skin infections change and evolve, as with Odin.
Odin responded very well to therapy, and we are so glad he is comfortable again! That is why he is our canine Pet of the Month!
Kam
Feline Pet of the Month - January 2024
Kam is a 9-year-old domestic shorthair cat that came to our hospital a couple months ago for what appeared to be a raw spot on her belly. Whenever a pet comes in with any kind of skin lesion, the first thing that your vet may recommend is a skin cytology. This is a diagnostic test in which a sample of your pet’s skin is taken and evaluated under the microscope to determine if an infection is present. It is important with skin lesions to determine if, and especially what type of, infection is occurring to best guide treatment. There is a variety of different ways that a skin sample can be obtained. At our hospital, this is usually performed by pressing a piece of tape to the skin, which is a quick and non-invasive method. Kam did very well for her skin sampling and the cytology revealed a lot of bacteria. In these situations, infections are usually secondary, which means that they occur due to another underlying cause. Kam was placed on oral antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication for 2 weeks. We also discussed with our client the possible underlying causes. The most common primary causes of skin infections in cats are parasites (fleas, mites), stress-induced overgrooming, and hypersensitivity reactions (granulomas).
Kam was placed on monthly parasite prevention (Revolution Plus) and stress management with the use of pheromone diffusers (Feliway), gabapentin, and a stress diet (c/d Multicare Stress) was highly recommended.
When Kam returned for her recheck, the spot appeared to have improved, did not fully resolve. It was recommended to transition to topical antibiotic ointment along with continuing monthly flea prevention and at-home stress management. Despite continued treatment efforts over multiple rechecks, Kam’s spot did not resolve and came back even worse than before. At this time, Kam was reevaluated, and a trial of high-dose steroids was recommended to address a suspected hypersensitivity reaction (granuloma) as the underlying cause.
This hypersensitivity reaction is an immune system response more commonly characterized as the feline eosinophilic granuloma complex. This complex is composed of a variety of skin lesions, including plaques, granulomas, and indolent ulcers, which can appear in different locations of the body. Although the exact cause of these lesions is unknown, it is suspected that this condition is partially genetic or inherited. It is very important to address all other potential causes prior to starting high-dose steroid therapy since the treatment aims at suppressing the immune system and does not come without certain risks.
Kam returned for her recheck 2 weeks later and the spot showed significant improvement with even better results compared to previous therapies. Although we suspect that Kam’s condition is consistent with an eosinophilic granuloma due to the positive response to high-dose steroids, a skin biopsy would be needed to confirm this diagnosis, which is not always pursued.
Kam is doing very well and will continue to be closely monitored on long-term steroids, which will be tapered to the lowest and most effective dose to control these lesions. We are happy to call Kam our kitty Pet of the Month!
**Pictures show variations of skin lesions similar to Kam’s, but we do not have pictures representing Kam’s skin condition.