Pyoderma is a common dermatological condition in dogs, usually as a secondary illness caused by a primary health concern. In these cases, treating the primary concern will relieve the pyoderma as well. However, in some cases, veterinarians are unable to find a primary cause, so the pyoderma is labeled as "idiopathic," or arising from an unknown cause. In such cases, the goal of the veterinarian is to keep the condition from recurring, which is typically accomplished with the antibiotic cephalexin.
-
A Study
-
A study, published in Veterinary Dermatology, funded by Virbac SA, and titled "Cephalexin intermittent therapy in dogs with 'idiopathic' reccurent pyoderma," was conducted in 2004 by D. N. Carlotti, P. Jasmin, L. Gardey, and A.Sanquer. They assessed the effectiveness of cephalexin "weekend" treatment for dogs with idiopathic pyoderma. By "weekend" treatment, they referred to giving the antibiotic two days out of each week rather than on a daily basis. Before beginning the study, they determined that each of the 28 test subject dogs had a history of idiopathic pyoderma and had no underlying skin condition.
During the first phase of the study, the test subjects were treated with cephalexin to cure their pyoderma, receiving twice daily treatment for a minimum of four weeks and a maximum of two to four months, depending on whether the pyoderma was superficial or deep in the tissues. Once all of the test subjects were cured, the study entered phase two.
In phase two, a few dogs were removed from the study for various reasons, but the others were divided into a control and an experimental group. The experimental group, containing 10 dogs, received twice daily doses of cephalexin on Saturday and Sunday each week for one year. The control group of 13 dogs received a placebo. The veterinarians examined the dogs physically and scored them for clinical signs of pyoderma every two months during phase two, unless a relapse of their condition necessitated an earlier examination.
Results
-
The study found a significant difference between the two groups of dogs. Of the ten dogs receiving the cephalexin weekend treatment, two of them did not relapse at all during the one year period of the study. Of the remaining eight dogs, the average length of time before a relapse of their pyoderma was about 6.6 months. In comparison, the dogs in the control group had an average relapse time of 2.5 months, less than half the time of those receiving the weekend treatment.
The authors of the study concluded that cephalexin weekend therapy was effective for dogs with idiopathic recurrent pyoderma.
-