Puppy Strangles - Mar Vista Animal Medical Center

PUPPY STRANGLES

(ALSO CALLED “JUVENILE CELLULITIS” OR
“STERILE GRANULOMATOUS DERMATITIS AND LYMPHADENITIS”)

Juvenile Cellulitis
(Photocredit: Public Domain Image via Wikimedia Commons)

(Graphic from Dr. Patricia Lechten.
Used with permission)

Puppy strangles is a classical disease though fortunately not a very common one. It comes up suddenly manifesting as marked swelling of the muzzle, eyelids, and face in a puppy between the ages of 3 weeks and six months of age. The owner may be inclined to think the puppy was bitten by a stinging insect or a spider.

Soon, the lymph nodes of the throat become spectacularly enlarged giving the puppy the appearance of having the mumps. It doesn’t take long for the swelling to give way to pimples which rupture, bleed, and crust. The inner surface of the ear flaps are commonly involved as well and occasionally lesions in other body areas occur. Lesions are painful more than they are itchy.

Fever, joint swelling, and loss of appetite occur in approximately 25% of patients. If treatment is delayed, permanent hair loss can result in the most severely affected areas. If the puppy is sick enough, the condition can be life-threatening.

Predisposed breeds include: the Golden Retriever, Dachshund, and Gordon Setter.

(original graphic by marvistavet.com)

Golden Retriever
(Photocredit: Morguefile.com)

Dachshund
(Photocredit: Morguefile.com)

Gordon Setter
(Photocredit: Public Domain Image via Wikimedia Commons)

TREATMENT

Despite the extreme inflammation and secondary infections the heart of treatment for this condition is immune-suppression. High doses of corticosteroids such as prednisone are needed as this condition is an immune-mediated disease and no specific underlying cause has been identified. In other words, the immune system of the puppy is acting excessively and inappropriately and it must be subdued. Antibiotics may be needed for the secondary infections but antibiotics alone will not treat this condition. Once suppression of the overly active immune system occurs, improvement is usually rapid.

Puppies with strangles have a fairly characteristic appearance and are usually diagnosed on that basis. That said, because the treatment involves suppression of the immune system, it is best to rule out conditions that might look similar but for which immune suppression would be inappropriate. Generalized demodectic mange, an infection involving mange mites, also has a facial orientation and can look similar to juvenile cellulitis. Skin scrapes can be performed to check for the presence of mites. A skin biopsy should settle any questions about what condition is present.

A severe infection can be ruled out by looking at samples of the pimple contents under the microscope, noting that no bacteria are present despite the dramatic number of inflammatory cells. A secondary infection, though, can be present in which case the doctor must use clinical judgment about the appearance of the lesions and the patient’s history to make the diagnosis.

The condition generally resolves in 10-14 days and does not recur.

Page posted: 2/21/2009
Page last updated: 6/8/20209
Page last reviewed: 3/31/2024