Last week I came across a condition I had not encountered for some 15 years. My patient was a tiny toffee-coloured female Chihuahua puppy named Sophie.
What was very clear was that this puppy was in a lot of pain. Any attempt I made to hold her head caused the poor dog to emit piercing shrieks of anguish. What was also disturbing was that Sophie was a present given by my clients to their young daughter as comfort for the loss of their 15-year-old dog two weeks earlier.
They were therefore understandably dismayed when told that their latest addition to the family was suffering from an uncommon and painful condition that goes by the scary-sounding name of puppy strangles.
During my first examination of Sophie, I was accompanied by a newly-graduated vet from Sardinia. Sara Boccuni is almost at the end of a two-month residency programme in Malta. Having never come across puppy strangles, it was therefore fitting that she be roped in to research and write about it for this week’s column. Sara learnt some very interesting facts about the case.
Puppy strangles is the common name for juvenile cellulites or juvenile pyoderma. It affects puppies younger than four months and may be present in one or more puppies within the same litter. Puppy strangles is so named after a similar condition horses get, which causes the lymph glands located behind their mandible, or jawbone, to swell up.
In horses, the condition makes them wheeze terribly – so much so that they sound as if they are being strangled. The disease is called equine strangles, and this is where the term puppy strangles originates from.
Unfortunately, the cause of this condition in young puppies is still not well understood. Studies show that the disease emerges due to an underlying dysfunction in the immune system of affected puppies. There are, however, breeds such as the Golden Retriever, Dachshund, Gordon Setter and Siberian Husky that seem to be more predisposed to contracting this disease, so it is believed that genetics may play an important role.
Puppies afflicted with this condition develop a swollen face, particularly around the eye, lips and muzzle area. The swellings are usually small, solid, raised masses. These tend to grow into pustules, or pus-filled boils, that erupt and then crust over. The lymph nodes located behind the jawbone become enlarged and very painful. Pus-filled ear infections can also be present. Fever, poor appetite and loss of energy often accompany these outward symptoms. In very serious cases, permanent scarring and even death can result.
Puppies afflicted with this condition develop a swollen face, particularly around the eye, lips and muzzle area
Left untreated, the affected areas will become weepy and alopecia, or permanent fur loss, will result. As an indirect cause of the disease, the affected areas on the head will more often than not become infected. If your puppy is unlucky enough to contract puppy strangles, it would be very difficult for it to go unnoticed because of the pain the dog suffers. Veterinary advice would therefore be imperative. If your vet suspects puppy strangles, various approaches to diagnosing and treating the condition may be taken.
Diagnosis may start with a discussion about the history of the puppy and will certainly include a physical examination. Depending on the severity of the condition, your vet may opt to take a skin scraping for examination under the microscope. Alternatively, a sample of the tissue may be taken for biopsy analysis in a laboratory.
A skin culture of the affected area might also be considered. All these forms of diagnosis will be used to confirm or rule out bacterial or parasitic skin infections such as demodectic mange or mycosis that might be masking the underlying cause of the condition.
Having diagnosed puppy strangles, your vet will prescribe the required medication to treat the disease itself, as well as any secondary infection that has developed as a result of the condition.
The treatment will last some time, but your puppy will gradually improve, the pain will subside and it will feel a lot happier. Sara has outlined some home remedies you can adopt in agreement with your own vet:
1. Apply hot packs to the sore face two or three times daily by wetting a cloth with water as hot as you can take it, then wring out the excess water and wrap the cloth around the puppy’s throat. It will help increase the blood circulation in that area and hasten healing.
2. Soften the pus crusts with warm water and gently wipe them off. Then wash the area with 2.5 per cent benzoyl peroxide cleanser that will help heal the sores. Your vet will provide you with this product. Cleanliness alone cannot cure puppy strangles but could help your pet feel better and respond better to the treatment.
3. If you have children, it is important that they understand that the puppy is in considerable pain and that they need to handle it very gently to reduce its distress.
Sophie still has a long way to go before she is fully recovered from her affliction. Thankfully, she has been lucky enough to be chosen by a family who are natural dog lovers and will go the full way to ensuring she is given the treatment and love she needs to see her through her tough start in life.
thisweekwiththevet@gmail.com
Dr Martin Debattista is a veterinary surgeon.