Sebaceous adenitis and mural folliculitis in a cat responsive to topical fatty acid supplementation.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a case of feline sebaceous adenitis and mural folliculitis, and its successful treatment with topical fatty acids. ANIMAL: A 5-year-old, male castrated Norwegian Forest cat was presented with a progressive seborrhoeic dermatitis. METHODS: Clinical examination and histopathological examination of skin biopsies. RESULTS: There was severe, multifocal, lymphocytic mural folliculitis and perifollicular dermatitis, moderate hyperkeratosis and sebaceous adenitis on histopathology. Sebaceous glands were either absent or almost completely effaced by a dense lymphocytic infiltrate. Clinical signs began in spring on the face and neck and progressed over an 18 month period to involve the legs. Initially, topical and systemic antibacterial therapy for a mild bacterial overgrowth resulted in partial clinical response. There was no improvement with oral omega 6 fatty acids and surface cleaning. Treatment with a spot-on product containing essential oils, smoothing agents and vitamin E as the sole therapy was associated with a good--but incomplete--clinical response over a 6 month period, with hair regrowth and a marked decrease in seborrhoeic dermatitis. This improvement was sustained until 12 months later when a severe deep pyoderma with associated anorexia and depression occurred. This was symptomatically treated and the cat remained clinically stable for a further 18 months. Periocular and perinasal seborrhoea was a persistent feature. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Topical essential fatty acid therapy may offer a viable alternative to ciclosporin, which has been reported for the successful treatment of this rare disease in cats.

Symmetrical onychomadesis in Norwegian Gordon and English setters.

This study reports the condition onychomadesis affecting multiple claws in Norwegian Gordon and English setters. Medical records of and claw biopsies from 18 Gordon and four English setters with onychomadesis of multiple claws were obtained from July 2005 to January 2007. Only dogs with symmetrical onychomadesis and no signs of concurrent disease were included. Histopathological features varied between dogs, but typically included interface dermatitis with subepidermal cleft formation, pigment incontinence, basal cell vacuolization and necrosis, spongiosis and lymphocytic exocytosis, a lymphocytic, plasmacytic subepidermal inflammation, and fibroplasia. In two dogs, histopathological signs of a superficial infection were present. The age of onset of disease varied between 2 and 7 years with a mean of 3.9 years, and was not correlated with vaccination time. Six of the affected dogs also had siblings with the disease. Due to the close relationship of the affected dogs, pedigree map analysis was not possible. Three dogs were euthanized because of the disease and two had regrowth of normal claws. Seventeen dogs had persistent onychodystrophy that typically was nonpainful during therapy which in most dogs consisted of fatty acid supplementation or prednisolone.