My puppy's staph skin infection keeps returning. What can I do?

Question

I have a 6 month old Labrador and she had a serious rash around the hairless parts of her body. The vet said it was a staph infection and gave us antibiotics to give her as well as meds for the itching. It went away for a month and now it's returning and this time the bumps are BIG. They look the same otherwise, yellowish pus and crusty once burst. I tried hydrogen peroxide before and now. Nothing is helping keep it away for good. What is it and is there anything else I can do? Pet's info: Dog | Labrador Retriever | Female | unspayed | 4 months and 22 days old | 30 lbs

Jeffrey Milner · Accepted Answer

I would agree that it appears their is an infection on the skin, but I could not say for sure if this is a Staph infection. These are somewhat common to the skin, but without a culture of the affected region we are truly just taking a best guess. If the condition seemed to resolve and is now coming back, the course of antibiotics that was utilized may have been successful but too short. Recommencing the antibiotics should be discussed with the veterinarian. I would also see about getting her on medication for the itchiness, as well as fitting her with a collar to prevent any self-mutilation. Another possibility is that we are simply dealing with a superficial puppy pyoderma. This is a fancy way of saying simply puppy skin irritation. Many times these can be annoying but will eventually resolve on their own as the dog gets older. Since you are seeing erupting lesions, I tend to lean more towards a true, treatable infectious process. Lastly, I would definitely stop using hydrogen peroxide. Although it may have antiseptic properties, this can actually delay healing in some cases. If you want to scrub the area, I would use something like dilute betadine or chlorhexidine solution. Hope this helps!

My puppy's staph skin infection keeps returning. What can I do?

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