Folliculitis--warning: sort of graphic pics
 

Sunday morning, Ridge began to show some swelling and lumpiness on her muzzle--mostly along the bridge right behind the nose. I called the vet, who thought it was folliculitis and had us start her on some amoxicillin (we have a rather extensive collection of antibiotics on hand because we live so far from the vet and have so many dogs :o), then we took her in yesterday morning. By the time we took her in, her follicles had begun weeping blood, and by the time she came home she looked even worse.

I took this pics after a warm compress this morning had removed much of the bright-red blood that weeps from the sores:

[ATTACH]32379[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]32380[/ATTACH]

You can't see it, but there's an open bloody patch about the size of a 50-cent piece down the right side of her muzzle across the whiskers, as well, and some non-bloody lumps along her lips and on her chin. We're hoping that the antibiotic will clear those up without them breaking open. :fingerscr

She's been switched to clavamox with compresses a few times a day to help draw the infection and we're hoping that she'll be better in a few days.

Meanwhile, though, does anyone have any suggestions on [LIST][*]How to make her more comfortable?[*]How to keep the other dogs from wanting to clean up her face :frustrated:[/LIST]
Poor baby. Believe it or not, though, she [I]does[/I] look better than yesterday--her eyes are brighter, so we're hoping that means she's feeling better.

But no kissies on the muzzle for poor Ridge for a while... :sad:

That looks sooo painful !!!:sad:

Poor Ridge :grouphug: I hope that it gets better soon..:fingerscr

Thanks, breeze... Ridge appreciates the good wishes :dog:

[SIZE="1"] I have to keep making hazel sit down cuz she gets woozy looking at it... :o[/SIZE]

Is there no topical treatment??

just the antibiotics and warm compresses??

Does it itch her??

Doesn't seem to itch too bad, yet, but I'm worried about when it starts healing more.

No topicals--nothing to irritate the skin further or interfere with the draining, I guess. She seems to like the warm compresses.

Sigh...and now the Pack is milling about at the door! :rolleyes: Guess I'll have to go run interference for Ridge so no one tries to play rough with her! :eek: Poor Ridgie....she really likes to play rough :dog:

[SIZE="3"][B]When[/B] it starts [/SIZE]to heel more could you not put a topical cream to take away the itchies??

how long did the vet say it would take to start heeling??

Poor Ridge, that looks so painful.

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;527052]How to keep the other dogs from wanting to clean up her face :frustrated:[/QUOTE]

dip her tail in peanut butter or bacon drippings? that'll keep the others away from her face at least... :rolleyes: (just kidding of course!)

poor baby - hugs to her! Hope she's on the mend real soon!

:grouphug: for poor Ridge. :( That looks very painful. I hope it heals quickly with the meds. :fingerscr

Awwww, poor Ridge. It does look painful.
:fingerscr for a quick recovery for Ridge, and Hazel will be doing double duty to make up for all those missed muzzle kisses

that's what people must feel like when they get a cold sore. I don't get them but I imagine they are equally as uncomfortable.
no advise sorry.
anything I've ever done to comfort my dogs when they hurt never works.

[QUOTE=jessi76;527083]dip her tail in peanut butter or bacon drippings? that'll keep the others away from her face at least... :rolleyes: ...[/QUOTE]

I like that idea :thumbs up :laughing:

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;527052]
Meanwhile, though, does anyone have any suggestions on
[*]How to keep the other dogs from wanting to clean up her face :frustrated:[/LIST][/QUOTE]

Tether the rest of the pack to Dad :eek: :D and ask him to stay away from you and Ridge?

Big hugs to Ridge. Hope she heals quick and itchlessly :fingerscr .

Oh, poor pooch, looks sore! Hope it clears up soon! It's hard on eveyrone when one of the pack is down and out....do you think the other dogs sense it, and that's why they want to clean it for her? :goodvibes: to all!!!

Awwww look at those gorgeous eyes!! Could stare into those eyes forever.

Poor Ridge... hope she gets better real fast.

I guess it's in a bad place to bandage isn't it? Or does that condition do better being able to "breathe?"

That kinda stuff doesn't bother me. Have played nurse and midwife for lots of animals through the years, wildlife, family pets and friends' pets. If I lived closer I would help ya so you wouldn't be so woozy. ;)

Oh poor baby ! :sad: Hazel , the only thing I can think of is putting a cone on her. :sad:

and to give her extra treats :D

You guys are too funny. :p

Poor Ridge doesn't have much of a head, Frenchy. Anything that fits around her neck, she can pull over her head! We used it last night when she wanted to scratch and discovered this little flaw in her physique... :o It didn't keep the others from licking, either :shrug:

[QUOTE=jessi76;527083]dip her tail in peanut butter or bacon drippings? that'll keep the others away from her face at least... (just kidding of course!)

poor baby - hugs to her! Hope she's on the mend real soon![/QUOTE]

This idea actually has merit! :laughing: But she'd be defending her tail from everyone else so she could lick it! :p

[QUOTE=luckypenny;527110]
Tether the rest of the pack to Dad and ask him to stay away from you and Ridge?

Big hugs to Ridge. Hope she heals quick and itchlessly :fingerscr .[/QUOTE]

When he gets back from work, we're gonna try this one! :thumbs up

[QUOTE=Ford Girl;527132]It's hard on eveyrone when one of the pack is down and out....do you think the other dogs sense it, and that's why they want to clean it for her? :goodvibes: to all!!![/QUOTE]

Either that or they just like goop! :rolleyes: Sigh... But they're getting a little better. I think the novelty has worn off. Or it might be that some of the lumps have broken open and now are oozing pus. :yuck: My poor baby :sad:

[QUOTE=CearaQC;527134]Awwww look at those gorgeous eyes!! Could stare into those eyes forever.

Poor Ridge... hope she gets better real fast.

I guess it's in a bad place to bandage isn't it? Or does that condition do better being able to "breathe?"

That kinda stuff doesn't bother me. Have played nurse and midwife for lots of animals through the years, wildlife, family pets and friends' pets. If I lived closer I would help ya so you wouldn't be so woozy. [/QUOTE]

Thanks, Ceara! Yep...better to let it ooze...gotta keep it open. But despite the drainage, it does seem to look a little better this afternoon--not as bloody and swollen. Drainage is good, I hope :fingerscr Macie had demodectic mange when she first came here but there was never anything as bad as this...

Oh you poor baby Ridge! That looks ouchy! I too hope it heals up quickly... :grouphug: :goodvibes:

Awwwww....poor Ridge. :sad: I just want to reach out and cuddle her. :grouphug:

Sending lots of good wishes for a speedy recovery. :pray: :fingerscr :fingerscr :goodvibes: :goodvibes: :goodvibes:

And, a big bunch of fairy dust....

[img]http://bestsmileys.com/magic/3.gif[/img] [img]http://bestsmileys.com/magic/5.gif[/img]

Good lord that looks awful! Poor Ridge, I bet those hot compresses feel fantastic. :o

How does one get folliculitis? Bacteria somehow gets into the hair follicle?

Aww Hazel,look at those beautiful help-me-eyes:sad:I am glad it looks better already,you can still give her lots of cuddles and kisses(on top of her head)hoping it's all gone soon:pray:[img]http://bestsmileys.com/dogs/4.gif[/img]

Thanks, everyone. I think she's a tiny bit better tonight. She seems to be drying up some and the infection doesn't appear to be spreading! :thumbs up

She's enjoying all the attention. She's getting lots of kissies on the back of her head. As long as she gets them, she's not too fussy about where we plant them! :D

[QUOTE=Stacer;527329]Good lord that looks awful! Poor Ridge, I bet those hot compresses feel fantastic. :o

How does one get folliculitis? Bacteria somehow gets into the hair follicle?[/QUOTE]

Yep, that's exactly right. The follicles got irritated when she rubbed her nose while in her crate one day a few months ago and a few got infected on top of her nose. The infection drained twice--once two weeks ago and then again last Saturday--and then it spread into the skin and just took off. By Sunday morning, I could see the hair over a few square cms looked different--sort of standing on end--and the swelling had started and the skin was darker in color. The bleeding started Monday morning. I can't believe how fast it all happened! :eek:

Thank Dog it seems to have improved some today :fingerscr

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;527453]Thanks, everyone. I think she's a tiny bit better tonight. She seems to be drying up some and the infection doesn't appear to be spreading! :thumbs up

[/QUOTE]

I'm glad it's drying a bit , so she's not licking anymore ?

I got back from my meeting and her nose was a mass of blood. :sad: It's worse again--the top split open and drained and the bumps along her lips and on her chin are draining now, too. I suppose that's good--:fingerscr that it's getting rid of the infection--but it's scary.

This is how she looks now since I cleaned her up some with a compress.

[ATTACH]32416[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]32417[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]32418[/ATTACH]

Tomorrow I'm going to call the vet and see what they'd recommend for pain meds. Much as I hate to abuse her poor tummy with something above and beyond the antibiotic, this has got to really hurt! :eek: She doesn't seem to be whiny or pacing or showing discomfort, but don't you think that must be painful? :sad:

OOOOH NOOOO....poor Ridge. :sad: :cry: :grouphug:

[QUOTE]Nasal pyoderma is characterized by painful swelling of the tissue on top of the nose, erosion of the skin, ulceration and crusting. Antibiotics and wet soaks are appropriate therapy. [/QUOTE]

The above quote is from this website:

[url]http://devinefarm.net/rp/rpskin.htm[/url]

OK Hazel, I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't do this but....it sure looks like you duct taped poor Ridge's feet to the floor to take those pictures! :eek::eek::eek::eek:

Ugh, i'm wracking my brain for some crumb of knowledge that might help but i'm not finding much more than cobwebs.:sad:

I've got to take my little girl to bed. She's finally stopped dripping for a while. :sad: thanks for the site, rainbow. I'll be talking to the vet tomorrow and see if we can get some pain meds, too...

:laughing: The duct tape is on the inside of the DEC (dreaded elizabethan collar) that we finally had to resort to. She's been pawing at her owies... :o The duct tape pads the seams so she doesn't rub her face even rawer. :thumbs up

[SIZE="1"]thanks for the laugh, otter...hazel needed that! :D[/SIZE]

I know.... I just couldn't resist pointing out what it [I]LOOKED [/I]like:laughing:

I sure hope the vet can help. Maybe you need something for [B]your [/B]pain too. It must be heartbreaking to see her like that.

I agree....it's heartbreaking for me to see her like that. :sad: :o


:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[QUOTE=otter;527567]OK Hazel, I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't do this but....it sure looks like you duct taped poor Ridge's feet to the floor to take those pictures! :eek::eek::eek::eek:[/QUOTE]

That's exactly what[I] I [/I]thought :laughing: .

More :goodvibes: and :fingerscr that she gets better [I]really, really[/I] soon.