Effects of an ethyl lactate shampoo in conjunction with a systemic antibiotic in the treatment of canine superficial bacterial pyoderma in an open-label, nonplacebo-controlled study.

An open-label, nonplacebo-controlled study was designed to compare systemic cephalexin therapy versus systemic cephalexin and ethyl lactate shampoo therapy in the treatment of canine superficial bacterial pyoderma. Twenty client-owned dogs diagnosed with generalized superficial bacterial pyoderma (SP) were alternately assigned to oral treatment with cephalexin (25 to 30 mg/kg every 12 hours) or treatment with cephalexin (as for Group 1) and twice-weekly shampooing with a 10% ethyl lactate shampoo, which was left in contact with the dog's skin for 10 minutes. On Days 14 and 28, skin lesion severity scores, assessed by the investigators, were significantly (P <.01) lower for the group treated with cephalexin and shampoo than for the group treated with cephalexin only. On Day 14, dog owners gave better scores to dogs treated with cephalexin and shampoo for haircoat appearance and body odor than for dogs treated only with cephalexin. Clinical and cytologic resolution of SP occurred significantly (P <.02) sooner in the cephalexin/shampoo group (29.4 days) than in the cephalexin only group (37.8 days).