My dog's paw furunculosis isn't healing; prednisone helps. What now?

If the skin lesions became worse on prednisone one has to seriously consider that these lesions may be caused by mange mites. Your vet would need to take a skin scraping and hope to find a mite in the scraping (this is not easy). Mange mites do emit a sort of sweetish odor, so this would be another giveaway. Of course this could also be caused by a fungus or bacterial infection, however the lesions should have improved with the antibiotics given. You will need to take Buster back to your veterinarian for a recheck.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Bodie, it sounds as if he has had a rough three days. Bodie's lesions on his paw could certainly be related to an underlying environmental or food allergy that resulted in the development of a severe superficial and possible deep pyoderma, which can be difficult to treat if the bacteria present are resistant to normal antibiotics. Other potential causes could include fungal infections (depending on your location), and neoplasia (cancer). For lesions that do not respond to typical therapy with antibiotics and anti-itch medications (such as corticosteroids, Apoquel, Atopica), it may be necessary to perform a culture/sensitivity of the lesions to determine what type of bacteria present (if any) and what antibiotic it is sensitive to, or even a biopsy which could help rule-out certain fungal infections or neoplasia. I would recommend having Bodie re-evaluated by a veterinarian if the sores do not resolve to determine what the appropriate next step will be.

I am very sorry to hear about Rocky. I would recommend he be examined by a veterinarian for this issue. I would be concerned he could have something more than a simple infection based on these photos, that require more treatment than a course of antibiotics. We could have a fungal infection, an eosinophilic granuloma condition, or unfortunately we would also be concerned about tumors of the skin. The vet may recommend additional testing such as cytology, fungal culture, needle aspirate or biopsy based on their examination which will help guide their treatment.

Oh my. Poor guy. This infection is severe. I would have cultures taken of this skin immediately if the broad spectrum antibiotics that your vet gave aren't working. I would also consider getting biopsies of this thing. The area may need surgical debridement as well, because there is some diseased and necrotic (dead) tissue there that will prevent this from healing well if it isn't removed. I am so sorry your pet has such an aggressive skin condition. This certainly will need further medical management from your vet for sure. With the suggestions above, you should be able to get a better handle on this thing. Best of luck and take care!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I’m sorry to hear Lollipop is having skin issues. If her issue has been so persistent, if she hasn’t had more focused diagnostic testing, I would recommend considering doing a culture to try to isolate any yeast or bacteria that is causing her issue, and possibly a skin biopsy to ensure that it is secondary to an allergy. If it is an allergy, there is a new injection that is used to treat allergies called Cytopoint. I would recommend reaching out to your regular veterinarian to discuss either further testing or treatment that she may need. Good luck!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Romeo! Labs are very allergic breeds. It is likely that Romeo has allergies to his food, the environment or has atopy. I would recommend testing for demodex or putting him on Nexgard, Bravecto or Simparica to cover for the possibility of demodex mites. I would them recommend a skin cytology to see if the infection is bacterial and or yeast in nature. Then put him on ORAL antibiotic or anti-fungals for a minimum of 3 weeks, likely longer. He also, if licking his feet, should be put on something to decrease the itch like apoquel or cytopoint. Most dogs with allergies need to be on multiple medications: antihistamines long term, apoquel long term, Omega 3 fatty acids, and a novel protein diet. I recommend changing his food to a non chicken based diet. Try Venison, Beef, lamb, pork, all fish or duck. You need to give the diet 2-3 months and he can not be given any other types of food or treats. I hope this helps and I wish Romeo the very best!

Hello, & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Poor Archie seems to have a case of pododermatitis, an inflammatory condition sometimes associated with allergies. It may, indeed take a few days for the antibiotics to kick in. Hopefully, he is on an oral antibiotic, but I will also recommend a topical one, as well. This would involve bandaging up the foot so the antibiotic does its job. You can talk to your vet about some pain medication too. In the meantime, soak the foot in warm water & dilute betadine or 2% chlorhexidine. 1/4 cup of the solution in a cup of water should do it. Try to soak the paw for 5-10 minutes 3 times a day, rinse & dry the foot. This will help in the healing process. Hope Archie is doing better soon. Take care.