There seems to be a pattern with us and puppies, yet another one who seems to have an unpleasant affliction not long after getting them. First it was Spider, who took weeks for us to realise was allergic to Lamb (a major ingredient in most puppy foods), then Teasel who managed to misalign her neck and was barely able to move for a few days when she was 3 months old, and now Skiffle has developed a rather nasty problem nick-named 'Puppy-Strangles' or also called Juvenile Pyoderma, is a syndrome where a pup's immune system goes massively into overdrive for little or no reason. They then produce pustules and swelling around the face, and their glands swell enormously. This gives them the appearance of Mumps and the glands in the throat are so enlarged that their breathing becomes restricted (hence the 'Puppy Strangles' nick-name). It's not usually life threatening and is not very common, but it is extremely uncomfortable. Luckily it's been caught early and seems to be coming under control with a strong dose of steroids. The only downside to this, is the steroids have actually knocked out his immune system, so we are having to be extremely careful about hygiene, to prevent any secondary infections etc. and it also means he will have to restart his shots once he's been weened off the steroids in a few weeks time. Thankfully though he is now much better.
Below are a couple of photo's from Saturday, he had already recovered substantially, but you can still see how sore if eyes and mouth were!!
