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- What is pyoderma in cats?
- Causes of Pyoderma in Cats
- Symptoms of Pyoderma in Cats
- Diagnosis of Pyoderma in Cats
- Feline Pyoderma Treatment
- Antibiotics for pyoderma in cats
- Prognosis of feline pyoderma
Pyoderma in cats is an infectious skin disease caused by an increase in the multiplication of certain bacteria, especially Staphyloccocus intermedius,a sphere-shaped type found in the skin of our little cats. This multiplication can have several causes and cause injuries in the cat's skin, such as erythematous papules, crusts, epidermal collarettes or hyperpigmented spots due to the inflammatory process, among other clinical signs.
Diagnosis of this skin disease in cats is based on isolation of the microorganism or study of biopsies, and treatment consists of antibiotic and antiseptic therapy combined with treatment of the causative reason in order to reduce the possibility of future recurrences. Continue reading this PeritoAnimal article to learn more about pyoderma in cats, its causes, symptoms and treatment.
What is pyoderma in cats?
Pyoderma is a bacterial infection which is located in the skin of our cats. It can occur at any age and has no racial predisposition. In addition, pyoderma also favors infections by yeasts and other types of fungi.
This infection occurs due to one or a few circumstances that cause inflammation or itching and therefore alter the cat's natural skin defenses.
Causes of Pyoderma in Cats
The main bacteria that cause this skin disease in cats is called Staphylococcus intermedius, although it can also be caused by other bacteria, such as bacilli. E.coli, Pseudomonas or proteus spp.
Staphylococcus is a bacteria normally found in the skin of cats, therefore, pyoderma only occurs when this bacterium proliferates beyond normal due to changes in the skin, such as the following:
- Injuries.
- Hormonal problems.
- Allergies.
- Skin maceration after exposure to water.
- Immunological problems.
- Parasites.
- Ringworm.
- Burn.
- Skin tumors.
- Immunosuppression (medicines, retroviruses, tumors...).
Symptoms of Pyoderma in Cats
Pyoderma can produce a variety of symptoms, presenting as papulocrust and erythematous dermatitis. You clinical signs of pyoderma in cats are as follows:
- Itching (itching).
- Interfollicular or follicular pustules.
- Erythematous papules.
- Crusty papules.
- Epidermal collars.
- Scales.
- Crusts.
- Eruptions.
- Post-inflammatory hyperpigmented areas.
- Alopecia.
- Wet areas.
- Miliary dermatitis.
- Feline eosinophilic granuloma complex lesions.
- Pustules that may bleed and secrete purulent fluid.
Diagnosis of Pyoderma in Cats
The diagnosis of pyoderma in cats is performed using, in addition to direct visualization of injuries, a differential diagnosis of other skin problems that cats can suffer from, as well as collecting samples of the lesions for microbiological and histopathological studies. In this way, the differential diagnosis of feline pyoderma should include the following diseases that can produce common lesions on feline skin:
- Dermatophytosis (mycosis).
- Demodicosis (demodex cati).
- Dermatitis by Malassezia pachydermatis.
- Zinc-responsive dermatosis.
- Pemphigus foliaceus.
The presence of secondary lesions, such as epidermal collarettes, hyperpigmentation due to inflammation and scaling, strongly favor the diagnosis of pyoderma, but it is always necessary to prove with the sample collection. The simplest way to do this is to aspirate the contents with a needle to perform a cytology, where degenerated and non-degenerate neutrophils will be identified, as well as coconut-like bacteria (Staphylococcus). This will make the diagnosis of pyoderma even more reliable. However, bacilli, indicative of pyoderma due to E.coli, pseudomonas or proteus spp.
THE bacterial culture and the gallery of biochemical tests will determine the causative organism, mainly Staphylococcus intermedius, which is positive for coagulase.
After obtaining a sample of the lesions and sending it to the laboratory, the definitive diagnosis will be given by the biopsy, where histopathology will reveal that it is feline pyoderma.
Feline Pyoderma Treatment
The treatment of pyoderma should be based, in addition to antibiotic therapy, the treatment of the root cause, such as allergies, endocrine diseases or parasites.
O antibiotic treatment will vary depending on the microorganism that has been isolated. For this, after the culture, it is necessary to take an antibiogram to know which antibiotic it is sensitive to.
It can also help to add therapy topical with antiseptics, such as chlorhexidine or benzoyl peroxide, to treatment with systemic antibiotics.
Antibiotics for pyoderma in cats
In general, coconuts like the Staphylococcus intermedius are sensitive to antibiotics such as:
- Clindamycin (5.5 mg/kg every 12 hours orally).
- Cephalexin (15 mg/kg every 12 hours orally).
- Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (12.2 mg/kg every 12 hours orally).
These antibiotics must be administered by at least 3 weeks, continuing for up to 7 days after the resolution of the skin lesions.
Already the bacilli, like E.coli, Pseudomonas or proteus spp., are gram-negative bacteria, and sensitive antibiotics should be used according to the antibiogram. An example that may be effective is enrofloxacin, due to its activity against gram-negative bacteria. In this case, the drug should also be administered for 3 weeks, and it will be necessary to wait 7 days after the disappearance of clinical signs to stop the antibiotic treatment.
Prognosis of feline pyoderma
Pyoderma in cats usually has a good prognosis if treatment is followed perfectly and as long as the original cause is treated and controlled. If this cause is not controlled, pyoderma will reappear, becoming more and more complicated if the imbalances in our cat continue.
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.
If you want to read more articles similar to Pyoderma in Cats - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment, we recommend that you enter our Bacterial Diseases section.