The previous article looked at why dogs have antibiotics.

The main reason is after an operation or if a dog is bitten. Just like humans bacteria can quickly eat at the skin or escapee into organs and cause major health issues.

However with dog skin allergies, dogs can get hot spots or areas between the toes that are so itchy they lick the area until it becomes massively infected and need antibiotics to stop secondary infection from causing further harm or death.

What kinds of antibiotic treat dog pyoderma

pyoderma is the condition of skin infection by bacteria on a dog that usually requires medicated antibiotics (from a vet).

You will see that a few of these are common names antibiotics that us humans use too;

• Cephalexin
• Baytril
• Clavamox

What is Cephalexin for dog allergies

It is most commonly prescribed in humans to treat ear infections, lung infections,  skin infections and urinary tract infections.

The reason that this antibiotic is suitable for treating dogs is that it attacks the most common bacteria found on the skin and stops it increasing in population.  If your dog has a skin allergy, most likely the ear will be the next thing to get infected.  because many dogs have floppy ears, moisture in the ear, when a dog has a skin allergy will attract fungal growth and bacteria growth.

These Cephalexin tablets can help stop the secondary infection in ears (or any other skin part of the body) from getting out of control.

Baytril (Enrofloxacin) for dogs

Enrofloxacin is an antibiotic used to treat difficult bacterial infections in dogs.

The reason that  Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus bacteria’s were very difficult to treat previously were that no single anti bacterial previously was  able to treat  Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria’s.  It is said that ‘Gram-negative’  bacteria are more resistant against antibodies because of their impenetrable cell wall.

This baytril ( Enrofloxacin) is effective against the two most common bacteria’s found on dogs with skin infections and ear infections.

Clavamox dog anti bacterial

Clavamox is the third drug that can be used for treating dog allergy secondary bacteria infections.  It contains Amoxicillin and Clavulanic acid.   Many people are familiar with taking Amoxicillin.  The reason this is so common is that it is from one of the first human anti bacterial ever made =  penicillin

Amoxicillin  is great because it last longer than standard penicillin, and can resist stomach acid.  Like the above antibiotic it also kills both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Core uses for humans and dogs are to treat cuts and wounds on the body, in the mouth, upper respiratory system, and the bladder.

Clavamox  (and the Amoxicillin in it) has better absorption than a drug that was previously use – Ampicillin.  Clavamox   uses Amoxicillin AND clavulanic acid  because it has been found to be more  effective against Staphylococci as well as other bacteria.