Uncommon dermatologic manifestation (paronychia) in a cat with diabetes mellitus.

A 3.5-year-old male intact domestic short hair cat presented for a chronic wound and crusts over the claw and claw folds over several months. The cat was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus based on the presence of persistent hyperglycemia, glucosuria, and compatible clinical signs which consist of polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia, and weight loss. Glipizide (Glucotrol XL, Pfizer, Indonesia) 2.5 mg orally twice daily was prescribed. By the seventeenth day, the patient's claws and skin around the paw had normalized and the abnormal claw sloughed off, revealing a normal claw underneath. Blood glucose, urinalysis and serum fructosamine were also normalized by the thirtieth day. The patient underwent diabetic remission, and the skin and claw lesions have remained in remission and not recurred since the treatment of the diabetes mellitus. This is the first report of a diabetic cat with dermatologic changes to the skin and claw regions. As the diabetes mellitus went into clinical remission, so too did the dermatologic manifestations, even without any specific dermatologic treatment.

Chronic paronychia in cats with patellar fracture and dental anomaly syndrome.

CASE SERIES SUMMARY: The aim of this case series was to describe the clinical features and treatment of paronychia in cats diagnosed with patellar fracture and dental anomaly syndrome (PADS). Clinical records, photographs, microbiology, cytology and histopathology reports were collected, and follow-up was obtained. Five cats with paronychia were included. All five cats had multiple digits of multiple limbs affected and eventually underwent amputation of the third phalanx of one or multiple digits. A total of 36 digits were affected, 17% (n = 6/36) resolved with medical management and 83% (n = 30/36) were eventually treated successfully by amputation. The cats had treatment with numerous courses of antibiotics (range 7-20; mean 11 courses) over periods of time ranging from 10 to 67 months (mean 32 months). RELEVANCE AND NOVEL INFORMATION: Chronic paronychia may be an additional clinical feature of PADS and the probable mechanism involves poor integrity of osteopetrotic bone, loss of normal nailbed anatomy and secondary osteomyelitis of the distal phalanx. Medical management with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory therapy and steroid treatment may improve the clinical signs in the short term; however, in severe instances, amputation of the third phalanx of the affected digit seems to be necessary to resolve repeated recurrences and discomfort. Additional information on the long-term outcome is required. In any cat with atraumatic patellar fractures and/or retained deciduous teeth, paronychia may require surgical management if medical management is unsuccessful.

Evaluation of cytology collection techniques and prevalence of Malassezia yeast and bacteria in claw folds of normal and allergic dogs.

BACKGROUND: Canine bacterial and Malassezia paronychia are common secondary complications of atopic dermatitis and adverse food reactions. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare three different sampling methods for claw fold cytology and to evaluate the numbers of bacteria, Malassezia yeast and inflammatory cells. ANIMALS: Sixty client-owned dogs were classified into three groups: (A) normal dogs; (B) allergic dogs with no clinical evidence of claw disease (brown staining, erythema, swelling, crusts or exudates); and (C) allergic dogs with clinical paronychia. METHODS: A prospective, blinded, split-plot study design was used. Claw folds from each dog were sampled using either a toothpick, tape preparation or direct impression smear. Slides were evaluated by two investigators for inflammatory cells, nuclear streaming, debris, corneocytes, yeast, intracellular (IC) cocci, extracellular (EC) cocci, IC rods and EC rods. For each parameter, data were compared between groups and between methods. Inter-reader agreements were calculated. RESULTS: Group C had significantly higher values of EC cocci and corneocytes than Groups A or B. Although Malassezia organisms were more prevalent in allergic dogs than normal dogs, the counts were not significantly different. There were significantly higher numbers of Malassezia organisms (P = 0.0016) and EC cocci (P = 0.0106) retrieved from samples collected with a toothpick compared to other methods. Tape preparations were associated with significantly more debris and corneocytes (both P < 0.0001) and impression smears with significantly more nuclear streaming (P = 0.0468). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Sample collection using a toothpick optimizes the value of cytological results when sampling allergic dogs with clinical paronychia.