You may remember my post not long ago about my lil' old man, Charlie,
who, for over 2 months has been suffering from some mysterious,
unexplainable "rash" around his mouth and on his lower belly that has
also caused the skin on his paws (mostly the front ones) to become red,
crusty, flakey, extremely tender, and swollen. This has baffled even
our extremely knowledgeable ferret vet but I've finally received the
results of the skin biopsy!!

Although the CAUSE of this is not yet known (and might not ever be
known), it appears that Charlie is suffering from DEEP PYODERMA. Here's
what I've found out about it (in relation to dogs as it has rarely been
seen in ferrets and therefore there is no "official" treatment protocol
for ferrets):

DEEP PYODERMA is basically a bacterial infection of the skin.
1. Pyoderma is an inflammatory destructive disease that is frequently
of unknown origin. Bacteria, primarily staphyloccocal organisms, may
be cultured although in many cases the bacterial cause may be elusive.
This is due to the fact that often the bacteria that is cultured is
normal resident flora of the skin.
2. Pyoderma can be divided into surface pyodermas (infection on the
skin surface), superficial pyoderma (infection within the skin) or
deep pyoderma (infection under the skin).
3. Primary pyoderma often occurs without any predisposing cause and may
be a result of suppressed or compromised immune states. All dogs with
this form of pyoderma are assumed to have suppressed immune systems.
4. The bacteria that has infected the skin can be any of a number of
species of bacteria and more than one species may be present. If
bacterial infection is involved, it is usually one organism as opposed
to mixed or more than one organisms such as in deep pyodermas.

TREATMENT includes antibiotics, possibly in conjunction with topical
medication as well. Charlie *has* been getting the antibiotic
doxycycline for over a week now and I've also been rubbing neosporin
on his paws but neither seems to have helped IMPROVE his condition
(although this could be keeping it from getting worse - I don't know).

I'm going to see what other antibiotic(s) he can get, in conjunction
with Pred, to hopefully clear this up and reduce the swelling in his
paws. Also, I'm going to get some "liquid silver" as I've been told
this could really help as well and be a more natural alternative to
the meds.

IF ANYONE has dealt with DEEP PYODERMA IN FERRETS and has any
information to pass along, please EMAIL ME DIRECTLY in addition to
posting on the FML so that I don't miss your reply!

Thank you VERY MUCH!!! We have greatly appreciated everyone's
well-wishes, positive thoughts and prayers through this challenging
time of not knowing what's going on.

Jennifer & Sir Charles :-)

[Posted in FML 6486]