Pseudomonas Aeruginosa. I've been dealing with this since last November and have seen 3 different vets (switched vets about 2-3 months ago). It all started with swelling on his front right paw. Then it slowly spread to his face, then to his other front paw. The first couple of vets gave him antibiotics that made no difference, and dug into his paw looking for a splinter or weed. I finally went to a friend recommended vet a few months ago, and we've been trying an all new round of medications. Nothing is working, and it seems to be spreading.

Here we are today:



His ear is red, and starting to discolor on the inside.





His paw is swollen (both front paws.) And underneath its inflammed.



He's been losing the fur around his face, while his skin swells up (and occasionally bleeds). His face used to be a beautiful fluffy white, and now its starting to look rougher by the day.



This was taken this morning and I noticed his face had started swelling again.

We've been taking a variety of medications, this was a snap shot I took before work this morning, and the meds were currently taking (twice a day) didn't make it into this picture:





Does anyone have experience with this sort of disease/infection? It's really hard to see my guy deal with this on a daily basis, even though he's been pretty good about it.

I've repeatedly asked my current vet to take a blood sample and he won't - saying it's a skin infection. How we figured out it was "Pseudomonas Aeruginosa" was he finally scraped bloody skin off his paw and sent that in to a lab for a culture sample about a month ago.

Right now I'm giving him liquid meds by mouth, twice a day, and including some colloidal silver in his water and food.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I just wish there was something more I could do. I'm based in Southern California, so if there are any specialists worth driving to, I would consider it. Not that it makes a difference, but I don't have pet insurance. Is that something I should look into as well? I've been paying for everything out of pocket, and because I love my boy I won't let that stop us from getting what he needs treatment wise.

From what I can tell this bacteria is in dirt and water or really moist areas. If you have a swampy backyard you may try to avoid it or try to find some way to remedy it. What are you feeding? Having him on really quality food will help his immune system and give him a better chance of fighting this thing on his own. Unfortunately it sounds like your vet may have to go through the gauntlet of antibiotics until he finds the one that happens to be effective against whatever strain he has. I would continue with the colloidal silver and you may pick up some coconut oil. Massage the oil into infected areas. Coconut oil has amazing antibacterial properties and should help sooth itchy or sore spots.

Quote from hubby... pseudomonas is a tough organism. Several IV drugs but are expensive. Don't know if safe in dogs. Gentamycin is one

Had he been checked for diabetes? Ear psudomanas is a problem human diabetics. Is a frequent issue in hot tubs.

On my tablet... forgive the typos.

OK - left my tablet. Hubby looked up meds - cephalexin will not cover pseudomonas. Betadine has been found, many years ago, that pseudomonas actually survived in betadine.

He suggests susceptibility tests.

Ciprofloxacin is one - but do not use empirically,

Tell your vet to look up Johns Hopkins antibiotic guide - is for humans but may be helpful

Also, search for immunosuppression.

Wolf had a patch on his snout where the hair got thin and was red and oozed. I took him to the vet when it looked like it was spreading to his nose. The vet didn't find any mange or other mites, but found a lot of bacteria, and took a sample to make sure it wasn't a fungal infection as well. They gave me a topical antibacterial/anti-fungal to put on twice per day. It took two tubes and about a month to clear up. Skin infections are hard to get rid of, and yours seems to be beyond the topical treatment stage. I'd talk to the vet about adding a topical antibiotic as well as the oral. I don't have the tube handy, but I could let you know what it was I used.

Thank you everyone for your responses. I will definitely look into what everyone has said tomorrow, I'm meeting with my Vet on Friday to discuss alternative treatments. We're currently taking Baytril (Enroflaxacin) 1.5CCs twice daily. We've been on that the past 2-3 weeks and showing no signs of reduced progression.

TwisterII wrote:

From what I can  tell this bacteria is in dirt and water or really moist areas.  If you have  a swampy backyard you may try to avoid it or try to find some way to remedy it.  What are you feeding? Having him on really quality food will help his immune system and give him a better chance of fighting this thing on his own. Unfortunately it sounds like your vet may have to go through the gauntlet of antibiotics until he finds the one that happens to be effective against whatever strain he has.  I would continue with the colloidal silver and you may pick up some coconut oil. Massage the oil into infected areas. Coconut oil has amazing antibacterial properties and should help sooth itchy or sore spots.

We're on Nutro Max (lamb). We're also in California, so not very much moisture around us. The only water he contacts is his water dish, which I change out regularly. I will look into Coconut oil.

From what little I have read it is caused by allergies. And it is in line as a yeast issue. I would stop feeding Nutro or any type of food that contains yeast, which grains turn into yeast. If you feed a chicken based Nutro, feed a different protein, such as a lamb based kibble. Here is something of interest for you to read, and why I base my assumptions that it's root cause is allergy.

http://www.allergyearskincare.com/animal-care/component/content/article/81.html

Ask the vet if this is a type of yeast infection, probiotics should also help. if you have the money you may want the vet to do an allergy test. Lastly, I would seek out a dermatologist for dogs, someone who specializes in dog skin issues.

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa is a gram negative bacterium, not a yeast.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/226748-overview

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudomonas_aeruginosa

Amy, reread what I said, I said it is in line with a yeast issue. I do not know if you read the link I provided but they clearly state that this is a common issue caused by allergies.

"Control your pet’s allergies. Allergies can cause damage to the ear making it a good “home” for Pseudomonas to take up residence and allergies are the most common cause" also this "implicated in hot-tub rash In humans, possibly due to excessive warmth and moisture of the skin causing increased susceptibility to infection. Theoretically the same would be possible in dogs who spend a great deal of time in the pool or hot tub"...not saying it is yeast, however, according to these dermatologists for dogs this type of bacteria infection is similar to a yeast. I would consult a dermatologist for a dog, and not spend any more of my money and time with a vet.

PA is an opportunistic infection, particularly difficult to eradicate in immunocompromised individuals. Diabetes, HIV those kinds of things make a substrate vulnerable.

Interestingly enough, the links provided by Amy are for humans, and no indication that it maybe from allergies, however, the link I provided does imply the ear and skin infections of this nature is caused by allergies. With a food that is fed with a large amount of different grains, my conclusion would be the food. A dermatologist would be a better place to go to than a regular vet, who will only treat the symptoms and not know of the cause. If the OP can not locate a dog dermatologist, I would consult the vets from the link I provided, and perhaps they could give a recommendation to someone closer to the OP. Treating the symptoms, means the issue can come back, or in this case wont go away. Finding the cause of the infection is the key, then treat the infection. I, in a round about way have dealt with this with Sofie. Her ears were inflamed, however no "yeasty" smell to them, figured an infection that was bacterial. Vet did treat her ears with some goop substance, and said no infection, however, had I waited longer it would have been infected. And she believed it was allergy related. Once I stopped chicken in Sofie's diet, I never feed wheat, corn and that type of grains, everything stopped. What Sofie had, imho, was the start of what the OP's dog had, again imho, it is allergy related, whether it comes thru as a yeast or bacterial infection, they both are infections, and they both are commonly cause by allergies. Treatment with antibiotics will be different because of the nature of the infection, sure, but finding the root cause, and eliminating that will result in no more issues. With dogs most issues come from the inside out, adding a probiotic, should not hurt, regardless of what type of infection, you want to replace bad gut flora with good gut flora, to help treat. So yes, not a yeast infection, but an infection is an infection.

The problem with PA is that it can become widely dessiminated, with cellutis progressing to bacteremia...a life threatening condition. Once you have cellulits - while you may get away with an oral floxin like Cipro, it is highly likely to need high powered IV antibiotics - powereful and expensive and I don't know about there use in dogs.

FOr people, by the way, this is a very common organism in public (and private) not well managed swimming pools and hot tubs. Most will get a prickly rash...some are in trouble as described above.

I did see that about antibiotics, Amy, the one that the OP said he is now currently using, is the one generally prescribed for dogs with this severe issue. and that it is commonly antibiotic resistant. I feel terrible for the OP and his dog, and I will again recommend going to a dermatologist vs regular vet.

I don't have personal experience with this kind of problem, but I've heard of other people who have. In addition to the medications, they decided to change their dog's food. When they did is when they also started to see improvements. It's like that old Chinese belief that the first thing a doctor should look at is what the patient is eating. Fix the diet and the health of the body follows.

I avoid Nutro because of my past experiences with it. The dogs I fed it to had health problems that cleared up when I switched to something else. I know it's supposed to be a high quality food, but I cringe whenever I see it in the store or hear someone is feeding it. I know most people don't experience problems with it.

It certainly couldn't hurt to try a different food and see if it helps. If it doesn't, you can always switch back if you really want him on it.

Thank you everyone for your responses. Wow, I learned more from your discussion than I have from my vet visits. I will talk to the vet about getting an allergy test done.

Renee, unfortunately I can't reach your link:

This site can’t be reached

www.allergyearskincare.com’s server DNS address could not be found.


....NEvermind, had to get rid of the 'www' part!

Jessie, thanks - I didn't know of dogs having health problems eating that brand. I was actually getting Purina 1 Premium when this issue first started appearing. I will consider a different, grain free brand. I actually need to buy dog food this weekend. Luckily I have a feedstore a few blocks from my house that sell a variety of quality alternatives.


Thank you everyone so far. This has been an ongoing (losing) battle, and I hope there's light at the end of the tunnel.

I am ordering true colloidal silver

http://www.amazon.com/MesoSilver-Colloidal-Silver-250-8-45/dp/B000ZK1NVK/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1464897084&sr=8-1&keywords=true+colloidal+silver

I believe the colloidal silver I have been using was in fact, Ionic Silver (I can verify when I get home.) I will start my boy on this and spray his infected areas.

Also getting... Coconut Oil, and am going to try this:

http://www.amazon.com/Purina-Pro-Plan-Sensitive-33-Pound/dp/B003R0LLIU/ref=sr_1_18?s=pet-supplies&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1464897856&sr=1-18&keywords=taste+of+the+wild&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011

Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach and Skin. It has some really good reviews, especially with dogs having allergies and infections. Thoughts?

Edit: it has "brewers dried yeast" according to DogFoodAdvisor.

I know there are some great grain free foods out there, Natural Balance, Wellness Simple come to mind and about $10 more than what you were paying for the Nutro. I would opt for lamb, fish or even rabbit as the protein source. The two I mentioned I believe do not contain brewers dried yeast, nor brewers rice, which can be found in the Nutro limited ingredient. I sincerely hope you can get to the bottom of this. and I also hope you were able to read the link I provided, there was a ton of info for your pups condition, and personally I would call them and see if they can recommend some help for you. Continue to update....

Oh, and btw, try to buy small bags, to cut out cost until you know he will eat it. Typically changing a diet because of allergies takes up to 8 weeks to truly know and see a difference. I would also stick to one brand and one flavor and 0 treats of any kind, that way you know exactly what is going in him, and then if he continues with issues, you can compare his old food to the new, and see what items are the same, although getting an allergy test would be the best option, that way you would know what exactly he is allergic to.

We've been on Lamb for the last year, so we're going to switch it up to salmon. I really am considering the Purina Focus, only because of the amount of positive reviews on that exact dry dog food. It seems other dogs with skin infections and stomach issues were healed up by switching to that formula.

But I will continue to look into other foods some more before making my purchase. Thanks again.

Vet thinks he could have a zinc deficiency. At this point I think they're guessing, we're going to look into a recommended dermatologist out here.

jordan.gonzales wrote:

Vet thinks he could have a zinc deficiency. At this point I think they're guessing, we're going to look into a recommended dermatologist out here.

Do you have a veterinary school near you? Have they done new cultures to rule out the PA? The ZRD could very well have been the skin insult that allowed the PA to poliferate. But I would want to make sure the PA was eradicated as well...or that the original culture was contaminated and not accurate.

jordan.gonzales wrote:

Vet thinks he could have a zinc deficiency. At this point I think they're guessing, we're going to look into a recommended dermatologist out here.

It's really interesting you would say that because when I first saw the photos, my immediate thought was zinc deficiency. It looks exactly like it. But when you had posted what the veterinarian said, I didn't say anything because I figured the vet would know way better than I would. With zinc deficiency being unbelievably common in Siberian Huskies, it makes total sense that's what it might be.

Check it out: Zinc deficiency in huskies (photos)

Your boy looks identical to those.

It may or may not be what's wrong, of course, but if the vet is coming to that, then I think it's worth a shot to try a treatment for it.

Well anything can be possible, but again the vet has to do skin scrapings to confirm ZRD, I imagine a dog dermatologist could confirm this as well, and since it is a bad skin case of whatever, imo, best to go the dermatologist route for treatment, since they specialize in doggy skin.

Yes, I think a dermatologist that specializes in canine skin disorders would be ideal. There is a chance it isn't zinc deficiency (though it honestly wouldn't surprise me if that's what it was), and if they can pinpoint exactly what's wrong, there's no more guesswork and experimental treatments to find something that works. Your dog also gets better faster.