Dermatology

When trying to diagnose demodectic mange, try plucking the hairs around lesions in addition to scraping the skin.

A 9-year-old castrated male Persian cat was referred with a four-month history of non-pruritic crusting and alopecia involving the face and abdomen.

Over thousands of years, greyhounds have been bred and selected for speed. This selective breeding may explain a number of the idiosyncrasies we see in the breed today. Retired racing greyhounds are becoming more common pets and more common patients in veterinary hospitals. It is estimated that about 18,000 greyhounds are placed into homes as pets annually. This article will familiarize practitioners with some idiosyncrasies in greyhounds that can affect their medical care.

MINNEAPOLIS- 8/1/05 - Five veterinarians won a trip to the George H. Muller Veterinary Dermatology Seminar in Hawaii this November for their written and photo submissions of dermatological cases in the practice setting.

Fungi are commonplace in the environment and some are even considered normal inhabitants of the skin, gastrointestinal tract and other mucous membrane surfaces. In most situations, healthy birds can ward off infection if their immune systems are intact and fully operational. In other cases, however, the immune system may be compromised leading to the development of serious infections. Paramount to properly managing fungal infections in avian species is the ability to recognize infection early in the course of disease, to administer appropriate antifungal medications for the location and severity of infection, and to continually assess a patient's response to therapy. The scope of this article is to provide a brief overview of several fungal diseases in companion avian species.

Since a deep secondary pyoderma is usually present, a culture and sensitivity is usually performed.

Some cats with food-storage mite allergy present with facial excoriation and recurrent otitis.

A 2-year-old intact male Siamese cat was presented to the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine's Dermatology Service for evaluation of self-mutilation and psychogenic licking of the forelimbs and abdomen.

In a recent study, oral dextromethorphan hydrobromide was evaluated in 14 dogs with atopic dermatitis to determine whether the drug had any effect on repetitive behaviors associated with or suggestive of pruritus.

Immunotherapy is still the therapy of choice for long-term treatment of atopy.

Ulcerative dermatosis of Shetland sheepdogs and rough collies is an inflammatory, erosive skin disorder of unknown etiology.

A 1-year-old 66-lb (30-kg) intact male Labrador retriever was presented to the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine's Dermatology Service for evaluation of severe pruritus and skin eruptions on its trunk and distal extremities.

A 9-month-old neutered male Labrador retriever was referred to the Small Animal Teaching Hospital of the University of Prince Edward Island for evaluation of a one-week history of pyrexia, a markedly swollen right tarsus, pronounced submandibular lymphadenopathy, and progressive pustular to erosive, nonpruritic, crusting skin lesions.

Instead of using regular acetate tape strips to collect samples to help diagnose Malassezia dermatitis, use packing tape.

The internal medicine service at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine requested a consultation on a 7-year-old intact male Boston terrier in which pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism had been diagnosed one month earlier.

Feline nonhealing nodular or ulcerative dermatoses can present veterinary practitioners with diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.

Feline AMP is an uncommon infectious disease of dermal tissues and subcutaneous fat.

A 6-year-old, 11.2-lb (5.1-kg), neutered male domestic shorthaired cats was presented to South Athens Animal Clinic for evaluation of a large cutaneous wound.

In my multi-specialty, referral-based veterinary hospital in the heart of San Francisco, with all our many bells and whistles, including access to numerous specialists within our clinic (internal medicine, surgeon, radiologist, dentistry, holistic, oncologist, acupuncturist and ophthalmologist), I still continue to feel very frustrated with a common skin disease: canine pyoderma.

How much success have you had using topical tacrolimus as a single agent once or twice a day to treat perianal fistulas?

Cyclosporine is an immunosuppressive drug that suppresses T-helper and T-suppressor cells and inhibits interleukin-2.

A 14-year-old, 41-lb (18.5-kg), spayed female collie-mix presented for evaluation of intense pruritus and gradually worsening skin disease of more than one year's duration.

Previously, differentials of feline facial pruritus were discussed to include ectoparasites such as flea allergy, otodectes, Notoedres and cheyletiella, food allergy, atopy including possible food storage mite allergy and demodicosis. Less common differentials include infections such as dermatophytosis, viral, and bacterial pyoderma, Malassezia dermatitis, Pemphigus foliaceus (PF) and idiopathic facial dermatitis of the Persian cat. Clinically, many of these diseases appear similar including Pemphigus foliaceus and bacterial pyoderma which can be difficult to differentiate both clinically and histopathologically.

We have pretty much resolved ourselves to pigeonholing our pruritic dogs into the categories of atopy, food allergy and ectoparasites as a reason for their itching.

For those nonseasonal pruritic patients where food elimination trials haven't been helpful and steroids seem to help or those patients with nonseasonal recurrent otitis or pyoderma, an allergy to house dust mites or food storage mites should be considered. Dust mites are the leading cause of allergy/asthma in humans. In dogs, it appears to exceed flea allergy as the most common intradermal skin test reaction. An estimated 30-80 percent of atopic dogs and cats skin test positive to dust mites (Photo 1). Of the two types of dust mites, Dermatophagoides farinae and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, cats tend to be allergic to

Test your dermatology skills on the following cases. What would you do first? Which diagnostics would yield the most information yet not break your client's wallet? Are you seeing an unusual disease or more commonly, an unusual manifestation of a common disease?

Q. I have a cat with a rodent ulcer that used to respond to steroid injections. Is there anything new for this?

In my last article, I discussed skin diseases that result from not enough sun exposure, i.e. seasonal flank alopecia or light responsive alopecia. With the coming of summer, it is timely to offer attention to skin diseases that are exacerbated by sunlight.

Editor's Note: In our ongoing telemedicine series, Dr. Johnny Hoskins presents medical case studies. The format is heavily focused on radiology and ultrasonography and details complicated, yet fairly common cases most veterinarians will be exposed to in practice.

Coming off of a long, dark winter as we are in the Midwest, we're confronted with a unique disease seen in certain breeds of dogs. Light responsive alopecia or seasonal flank alopecia is most often seen at this time of the year.