Are there alternative treatments to antibiotics?
See Q4 above. There are a number of highly effective shampoos, gels, washes and ear cleaners etc. Autogenous vaccines, made from cultures taken from the affected animal, are sometimes used in idiopathic recurrent pyodermas (i.e. without a known cause). A veterinary surgeon will be able to advise which products would be most suitable for individual cases. 6. Should antibiotics be started before cultures have been analysed? See Q2 above. Many cases won’t require cultures. In those that do the decision to treat will de-pend on the consequences of any delay. 7. What general rules should owners know about the use of antibiotics in infected dermatitis? It is difficult to apply rules as every case is different. Generally the antibiotic should be effective against the bacteria involved (although this doesn’t always require culture), be given at the appropriate dose (it is always better to slightly overdose rather than underdose) and be given for long enough (superficial infections usually requ
