Molly's Story

Molly is a 5-year-old Cocker spaniel, who had painful lips due to repeated infection in her lip folds. There is a normal fold in the lower lip skin behind the canine tooth, but it can sometimes develop a skin infection (pyoderma). This condition is overrepresented in the Cocker spaniel and can be hard to control medically, as there is often an underlying skin allergy pre-disposing to infection, and it is hard to keep this area clean and dry. She had also started to develop antibiotic-resistant infections and was in danger of needing repeat doses of oral antibiotics. Overuse of oral antibiotics can disrupt the dog’s natural microbiome and increase the risk of developing multi-drug resistant infections, as well as contributing to worldwide antibiotic resistance. Importantly to Molly, whenever the skin became inflamed and/or infected, it would make her unhappy.

Most infections can be resolved or minimised before surgery by using antiseptic wipes on the skin, which reduces the risk of complications after surgery. Photos were taken of her mouth when she was awake to see where the folds sat when she was conscious. When she was asleep, the typical ulceration of lip fold pyoderma was seen. Surgery was performed to remove the excess skin that formed the fold, with careful suturing to avoid creating any new folds. 

Molly has had no further infections and was soon back to her twice daily runs on the common.