Puppy Head Gland Disease

[Fwaggle]

I am trying to get some information on Puppy Head Gland Disease but all I can find are other  owner's experiences and whilst these are really helpful and informative, I would like to try and get some information from a veterinary/professional point of view.

Can you help?

[Fitzmee]

Thank you for the info. Our vet diagnosed it a week ago in our now 12 week old English Springer Spaniel puppy. She had surgery for an umbilical hernia. A week later she had a huge abscess on the back of her neck (possibly from vaccination) which he had to remove (14 stitches down back of neck). She then started to ulcerate round her eyes, then ears and mouth. Her eyes seem to be clearing up but no eyelashes left and one ear and side of mouth are looking better but far from good. She really is a sad case, not eating very well either and her brother had to be farmed out in case he caught her scar when playing. Stitches come out on Friday so her brother will be able to come back home to play and hopefully encourage her to eat properly as she will have competition at the feed bowl again.

[Goku2911]

Our dog has strangles too. How much does this cost to fix? I'm afraid for him

[Jaybay]

Why, thank you!  Glad I could help.  How's the pup doing?  Is he a Staffordshire?  Looking past the infection on the picture, that sure is a cute little face!  

Reminds me of my first dog we rescued and named Travis.  He was 6 weeks old; completely infested with mange; had maybe 1/4 of his hair left; had the worst skin infection you can imagine from the mange and covered with pustules; and to top it off - his guts were packed full of round and tapeworms.  He was worth everything we had to do to treat him for 4 years before eradicating the mange, and was with us for almost 14 years.  I have a picture of him on the photos tab of my profile if you want to see how he started and how he turned out.  :-)

[Fwaggle]

You're a star!  Thank you for that, I really appreciate it.  You have managed to find far more than I could over the past few months.

[Jaybay]

This condition is more commonly known as "Strangles".  Here's some info I found on it for you:

http://www.acacanines.com/canine_puppy_strangles.htm

Puppy strangles

Puppy strangles (Juvenile cellulitis) is a misnamed disease suggesting
respiratory difficulty. The term cellulitis more appropriately describes
the condition. Usually puppies contract the condition early from 4 weeks
to 4 months of age. There is no predisposition to breed or gender. Not
all puppies are affected in the litter but, the entire litter can be
involved. Early signs include redness around the outside of the ear
associated with edema (fluid under the skin). The disease quickly
progresses to ulcerations of the skin and deep tissues around the ear,
followed by draining tracts that can extend into the adjacent lymph nodes
of the face and upper neck.

The cause of the disease is open. Historically, a bacteria has been
suspected, in particular streptococcus species. However, bacterial
cultures never confirm any bacterial infection. Antibiotic therapy alone
is ineffective and helps to rule out a bacterial cause. More recently,
immune reactions have been suspected. Research suggests a
hypersensitivity reaction possibly to a previously eliminated bacteria.
More importantly, the disease seems to respond to immunosuppressive
therapy with consistency.

Treatment for strangles consists of support by keeping the areas clean
and dry with diluted hydrogen peroxide and astringent (Burow¹s solution)
washes several times a day. Additionally, oral corticosteroids are used
for 1-3 weeks on a reducing schedule. Oral antibiotics are frequently
prescribed over 2 weeks for ancillary therapy. The coarse of the disease
is usually less than 2 weeks but can last 4-6 weeks on more severe cases.
The prognosis is usually very good but some pups may require special
nursing to insure adequate hydration and nutrition.