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Maltese on prednisone: new red skin spots. Is it an infection?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Maltese | Male | neutered | 7 years and 2 months old | 11 lbs

My Maltese pup is currently immunosuppressed and has a lot of issues with incontinence. He’s on high dose prednisone and anti seizure medication due to encephalitis. Just over the past 2 days I noticed he has skin issues which he never had before. These red spots are appearing out of nowhere and his neurologist won’t see him for any conditions involving the skin. Could this be an infection? MRSA? Bacterial or fungal problem? He’s not that itchy either

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Published on September 21st, 2019

The circular areas in the second picture almost look like bruising, which may be related to the medications or the primary medical issue. If the neurologist won't examine Casper for this issue, then I would recommend taking him the primary care veterinarian for evaluation. If they are bruises, blood work should be performed to make sure Casper can clot appropriately. If they aren't bruises, then cytology can be performed to see if there are bacteria and/or yeast present. Some dogs on steroids can have difficulty healing simple skin issues.

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