Bacterial skin infections are among the most common dermatological presentations in dogs, with appropriate diagnosis preventing progression to deep, painful disease.
Bacterial pyoderma ranges from minor discomfort to significant pain in deep furunculosis. Dogs with deep pyoderma show obvious pain responses and altered behavior from chronic discomfort. The most welfare-important aspect is identifying and treating the underlying cause - dogs with undiagnosed allergic disease suffer recurrent infections causing repeated welfare compromise. Appropriate antibiotic selection based on cytology and culture provides better welfare outcomes than empirical treatment.