My pet has pyoderma. Could fleas be the reason for its skin infection?

Deep pyoderma is a bacterial infection which involves the deeper parts/layers of the skin. Usually Gram positive type of bacterial are involved (streptococcus and staphylococcus), but other type of infections are possible.

This looks like moist pyoderma which is a focal bacterial skin infection. They can be very mucoid and smell as well as inflamed. Sometimes removing the hair and applying topical antibiotic medication works but other times oral medications are needed for this to clear up.

Skin lesions can be caused by bacterial, parasitic or fungal infection, dietary or environmental allergies or sensitivities, immune system disorders, or a combination of the above. Logan may indeed have pyoderma, but further testing is needed to help determine if this is the case. Make note of if there is a seasonal recurrence of the lesions, as environmental allergies often cause recurring irritation. I recommend making an appointment to have Logan seen by your veterinarian to help determine the cause of the red areas you’ve noticed and to make sure they are treated appropriately. The vet may want to look at a sample from the area under the microscope to determine if there is an infection and to figure out what medication is appropriate for treatment.

Pyoderma is a skin infection. Often times if it recurs I will treat for a longer period of time and I will also start looking for other problems that could be making a skin infection more likely such as skin mites or food allergies. I would encourage you to have a follow up appointment with your veterinarian soon. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

Hi, thanks for using Boop by Petco! Thanks for the pictures. It appears as though Sparky may have a bacterial skin infection, or puppy pyoderma. A lot of times puppy pyoderma resolves on it's own. If it gets worse than this I would recommend taking Sparky to the Vet to be evaluated and prescribed oral antibiotics. You can try a medicated shampoo: bath every 2-3 days and allow the lather to sit on the affected skin for 10 mins before rinsing. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=27306 I hope this helps and I wish Sparky the best!

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

It looks as if your dog has a skin infection, most commonly caused by an allergy, a skin mite (Demodex) or fleas. The allergy could be a due to a protein in your dog’s food or an environmental allergy like to dust, pollens, grasses, etc. The allergy causes your dog to itch and chew at the skin which breaks down the skin barrier. This then leads to infection. Skin infections are typically characterized by large areas of hair loss, redness, crusting, flaking, and pustules. A thorough skin examination by your veterinarian should be able to determine the cause of the itch so it can be treated appropriately. Your dog will most likely need antibiotics to help clear up the infection and possibly an allergy/anti-itch medication like Apoquel, Atopica, or Cytopoint to give some relief while the infection clears up. A medicated shampoo may be beneficial as well. I would also recommend he be on a good flea control routinely too. Once the infection has resolved a long term allergy medication

Scrappy appears to have a very wide spread pyoderma (skin infection). This is most likely composed of bacteria and yeast. It is usually due to an underlying allergy and possibly a low thyroid level. Your vet can run lab work to check the thyroid level and correct that if needed. They do make medicine to help control allergies but she will need long term antibiotics with medicated baths to clear the infection. It typically is not contagious to other animals or people

It looks like your dog has a pyoderma (bacterial skin infection). He should be examined and treated by your vet as he needs an oral antibiotic to help resolve the infection. He might also need a corticosteroid and/or other medications to treat. If he has a history of allergies, ask your vet about Apoquel or Cytopoint to help control his allergies. Most skin infections are secondary to allergies.

Thanks for using Boop by Petco! These skin lesions are likely pyoderma or superficial bacterial infection. Your veterinarian can prescribe an antibiotic and a medicated shampoo to treat them. The main thing is checking to see if there is any indication that she still have some evidence of fleas that could be causing these secondary bacterial infections in which case your veterinarian could consider something like Capstar to get rid of as many fleas as possible at once. Good thing is that these lesions are likely to resolve uneventfully. Good luck!