Good Afternoon to all.
I am emailing for a friend of mine, she is about to have a breakdown. She has a litter of Golden Retrivers, and three of her puppies came down with this virus. She has seen the vet three times, and he put the puppies, on a stronger antibiotics. She has the three pups, in a different room . The three pups came down with it when they were three weeks old, Now this Sunday they will be eight weeks old. She has spent over $ 300.00 in medicine, and still the puppies have a very, very, bad case of it. The one pup, is three times his normal size, from all the blisters, in his mouth and all over his body. When she had finished the meds for a day, he got worse again. The vet said that it would have to run it's course. I have read that it takes, from three to 14 days, but this is a bit much now. Also ! No one will answer her question, is it contagious to humans ? Her children are there helping her take care of them, they wear gloves. Now yesterday she, my friend, woke up with a very large swollen gland, but she does not have a sore throat. Also How much antibiotics can these puppies take. They can't have there shots with this. They have been ready to sell, but she wants to know, if there will be any repercussion when they get older. Also what are the chances of the infected puppies, will they make it, the meds, don't seem to work. Does anybody out there, have any advice that I can give her. I have breed Old English Sheep dogs for many years, and have never seen anything like this before. Thank God. Can the others pups come down with it also, even though they have been apart, when first noticed? And again I'll ask Is it contagious!!! I know when a horse gets it, and if not treated in time, the horse dies. I should say that the infected puppies are eating, and drinking, but she can't put them out of thier pens to get exercise, and that they do need. Please can anyone give me some advice for her, I am not kidding when I said, she is ready to lose it, these are her babies. I should say, that the infected pups are all in the same pen. I told her that if it were my puppies, I would keep them each in thier on pen. I fell that the three puppies are bringing it back and forth to each other, am I wrong, even though they are all on antibiotics, even the healthy one are on the antibiotics. Would greatly appreciate any help .
Thank you
Lavenderblue

I haven't had this problem myself but I know those that have and the pups do recover. Go thro' to Champdogs breeders section and contact a couple of them. I am sure they will be only too pleased to advise you.

Puppy Strangles or Puppy Head Gland Disease as it is sometimes called is nasty but with luck the puppies will get over it. It usually puts the puppies back a bit in their development as you would expect but given time they catch up. A friend of mine had it in a litter of puppies she bred. Also Goldens! Although there is no link between this and Golden retrievers, it is just as likely to affect any breed.

The big thing is that once a bitch has produced puppies with this she should not be mated again and the puppies also should not by bred from or used for stud. To my knowledge it is not contagious, certainly it was not passed on the any other dogs belonging to my friend.

Regards, John

Hi
*If* this is definitely puppy head glands disease (puppy strangles) then it is NOT contagious - to people or other dogs - nor is it a virus. It is thought to be an autoimmune condition. I experienced this condition with two puppies in the only litter I bred. It is genuinely an awful thing to see pups go through - pustules over their heads, anuses and other glands, tremendous pain when touched, hair loss round the face. Your friend has my sincere sympathy. It doesn't respond to antibiotics - steroid treatment is the only effective way to deal with it. I was very wary of giving steroids to a 6 week puppy but was told by both my vet and the breeders who had experienced it that this was the only reliable treatment. Of my pups - Luke showed symptoms first - at 6 weeks when he was still with me. I kept him till he recovered at about 14 weeks. He is now 5 and is happy and healthy - though still has thin hair round his lips and eyes. Ben came down with it in his new home at about 10 weeks. He was vaccinated when he was showing symptoms which I don't think helped. He was on steroids for several months before he recovered - but he did. I have just spoken to his owner and he appears now to have anal furunculosis - not sure if there is a connection. Interestingly the mother has since developed hypothyroidism although she tested clear as a youngster (before she was bred from) - that is an automimmune problem as well. I can't help feeling they are all related. All are now neutered.

Please ask your friend to see the vet again or seek a second opinion - antibiotics will not cure puppy head glands!

Best wishes
Janet

Hi Lavenderblue, welcome to the board.

Best wishes, John

HI Janet

I disagree with your comments below regarding antibiotics not curing puppy head gland disease.

We had a weimerana puppy that we collected at 8 weeks old - he looked perfect apart form a small sty in his eye. He was very wobbly on his feet and would often fall over and not want to stand again for 10-20 minutes. We thought this was just normal puppy behaviour - especially as we had a tiled floor!

After 2 days we noticed that mucus / goo of a reddy brown colour was being discharged from his eyes and his snout was becoming quite swollen.

We took him straight to the vets and he was diagnosed immediately. Our vet could have given us steroids but she said that as he was so small the steroids may affect his health more than the disease and could impact on his temperament long term.

So we were given antibiotics and anti inflammatory pain killers. Within hours of having the medication he was running around and being boisterous with our 2 1/2 year old weimerana.

Over the next 6-9 weeks the puppy became more swollen - everywhere - but his spirit was always there! His ears swelled up beyond belief, his snout became red, inflamed and very swollen, his anus, penis and testical's swelled up which made any toilet activity painful and his glands under his chin looked liked he was hatching golf balls.

All over his body - wherever there was a secretion gland we found little lumps that filled with goo and burst emitting red puss that left him scabby and scarred.

We were given plenty of povidine / iodine mix that we were instructed to bathe any sores with and then bath him once a day in the sink in it. He smelt of blood and illness constantly but was one of the most cuddly and loving puppy ever.

After much nursing and worrying, our puppy came out the other end as a pretty normal puppy. He still has to have his ears clean as they regularly fill with dark wax, and he cries a lot as his tear ducts were damaged but he is fine.

It appears that in most cases the first signs are sty's on the puppy's eyes so if you ever encounter this take the puppy to your vets immediately and raise the question of Puppy Head Gland / Strangles - its not very common and your vet might not identify it straight away.

HELLO, MY WEENY DOG WAS DIAGNOSED W/PUPPY STRANGLES AT 8 WEEKS OF AGE, SHE IS NOW 8 MONTHS OLD AND STILL HAS IT. SHE HAS BEEN ON STEROIDS AND ANTIBOTICS BOTH ORAL AND INJECTIONS. DO YOU KNOW OF ANYTHING ELSE MY VET AND I SHOULD BE DOING? ALSO THE LESIONS ON HER BODY I HAVE BEEN TREATING W/BETADINE AND NEOSPORIN, SHOULD I TRY SOMETING ELSE. ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
THANK YOU

I have had a puppy with this awful condition. He started with it at 5 weeks and was put on very high dosage of steroids. IT is the only thing that will help. He did recover but it took time and he is now a healthy happy 3 year old dog. He has some residual scarring to his muzzle but no other problems. PM me if you like i will try and dig out the info. I did a diary of his problems and can send a copy if you like.
Don't give up it can be sorted.
Aileen

Don't know if this will work but Heh Ho here goes.

ROVERS STORY. By Aileen Trevett.

At last the long awaited day had arrived and after 9 weeks of waiting Treacle produced her puppies. It was a reasonably straightforward birth, a bit long and needing a couple of Oxytocin injections but the result was five beautiful pups.
Four boys and a girl!
The first five weeks went well with all pups feeding and growing on as expected, we got the weaning process going and they were doing fine. Then disaster struck!
This is the story of Rover one of the boy's so named as he was born in the car in the vets car park!

Rovers Diary:                       

Friday 20th May 2005, Rover was a little quiet today, not ill, eating and drinking as usual but just not quite right somehow. Nothing to bother the vet about, the puppies had been wormed on the previous day and we put it down to a bit of tummy ache. They were wormed with a preparation called Milbemax
Sat 21st May: Rover is not happy today, he is sitting in a corner and shaking his head a lot. Looked in his ears and the right one is swollen and sore, He is in obvious discomfort and so a call to the Vet brings out the on duty vet who prescribes Canaural ear drops to be applied twice a day, and he confirms he thinks it is an ear infection.
Sun 22nd May: Rover worse today his ears are puffy looking on the earflaps and very swollen inside, the ear canal is completely blocked and he is grumpy with the other pups. Call Vet out who agrees he is very uncomfortable and prescribes Dexadreson by injection 2mg/ml 50ml per ml. This is a steroid to help reduce the swelling and reduce the pain, also Synulox 50mg one twice a day to fight the infection and continue with the ear drops three times a day. Rover is eating a little still and will come for a cuddle but is wary of the other pups puling on his ears. Try to contain him alone but he is more miserable and prefers to be in with the rest of the pups.
Mon 23rd May: Obviously no improvement overnight and much more depressed puppy this morning. Rover is very lethargic and will not eat very much. His nose and lips look a little sore and swollen and he has a sore on his top lip this morning.
A trip to the vet is in order first thing and a different Vet (My usual one luckily for Rover).
As I walk into the consulting room she takes one look at poor Rover and announces, "He has got PUPPY STRANGLES"
(A word here to warn every one of this horrible disease, I had heard of it, I am a great reader and have read most of my collection of dog books from cover to cover but you don't relate to things properly until they happen to you!!  A paragraph in J.M. Evans and Kay Whites Book Of The Bitch was the only piece I could find on it and it put the fear of God into me!)
A thorough examination by the vet confirms her worst fears, a very high temperature 103.5ºF depression, swelling to the pinnae (ear flaps) and lips, his age (It affects puppies between the ages of 4 to 16 weeks) his glands are inflamed in his neck and under his jaw. It is time to give some intensive treatment, and this is the most crucial time in this illness to act with very high doses of steroids and some anti-biotics to contain the infection of the broken skin
My vet admitted poor Rover into the surgery for the day and started intra-venous drips of steroid and anti-biotics: Augmentin IV 25mg/kg and Dexadreson ½mg/kg, with a dextrose saline fluid replacement and careful nursing.
I call on a regular basis throughout the day and he is doing OK. His temperature is dropping and he has had his doses of drugs for one day so he can come home overnight. I go to pick him up at 6pm and find a sad little puppy with a very red and swollen muzzle and purple bumps on his nose and lips.
Home we go armed with some high calorific food to try to get him to eat and an appointment for the next morning with the vet. At home Rover wolfs down some of the dog food and I give him a little cooked chicken, it disappears faster than the eye can see so no problem with getting him to eat! He is happy to be re-united with his brothers and sister and settles down to sleep with no problems overnight.
Tues 24th May: Rover is looking poorly again this morning, off his food and lethargic again. Back I go to the vet who declares that he will be fine to be nursed at home as he is drinking well and she gives him his intra-venous steroids, a smaller dose .25mg/kg, and anti-biotics and checks his temperature. It is raised again 102ºF but not as high as yesterday morning. The glands in his neck and jaw are the size of walnuts and the vet is worried they may break open and discharge the pus out causing deep wounds and scarring. There is some swelling to his anus and his little willy is spotty but does not seem sore. Armed with some prednisolone (Steroid) 5mg one twice a day and some Synulox 250mg Half a tablet twice a day and an appointment to see the vet again the next morning we set of for home. During the day Rovers ears seem better, not so swollen and less sore but his lips and nose are very angry looking and the purple bumps are breaking open and weeping, all in all he looks awful!  However by the evening he is eating well and although not too keen to get involved in puppy scrapes he will stand on the sidelines and bark encouragement to the other pups as they play. The others seem to know he is sore and if they bounce up to his face they lick rather than bite him! I think he has given one or two sharp nips and they know he means business!
Wd 25th May: No trip to the vet today Rover is about the same. Glands in his neck still up but no bigger he will eat well and play a little today. All the sores around his mouth and nose are weeping and I clean them with warm saline and Mum helps too!
This morning his eyes are showing small bumps on the eyelids, I think they must have been there before but very small and now the fur around them looks thinner so I can see them better. Continue the 125mg Synulox and 5mg Prednisolone twice a day. His anus and willy are no worse and we hope we have reached a plateau with this illness. 
Thurs 26th May: A brighter happier puppy awoke this morning. His face looks awful and the sores are spreading into all the oedematous areas as we expected, it seems to run a pattern of swelling and weeping, purple bumps, open sores then scabbing over. Some of the first sores are now scabbing over. Luckily the swelling in his ears has gone down and they did not open up on the outside just on the insides of the flaps these sores are drying up well now. His eyes look about the same today, lets hope they will not get worse. Continue the Synulox and Prednisolone as before.
Fri 27th May: Continues to improve. Appetite normal now and will play with me. He still does not want to join in with the other pups but will bark at them and bounce around on the sidelines! He looks like a panda this morning with bald eyes and his muzzle has lost most of the fur as well. He is rubbing his face in the grass today and I think the scabs must be itchy. Tried bathing with a tea tree lotion 50g/litre, which seemed to help the itchiness but he does not like the smell much! Still if it helps its worth a try. Continue the drugs as before.
Sat 28th May: Back to the vet this morning for a check up. Temp still slightly raised but not anything to worry about. The vet decided to try dropping the Prednisolone to one 5mg tablet once a day so will drop this evening's dose. A good day for Rover today with him playing a little with the other pups and far happier in himself. Eating and sleeping well, sleeping a little more than the others I suppose but not lethargic like he was earlier in the week.
Sun 29th May Another good day. Eyes looking spottier and definitely bald. His anus has broken into a weeping sore and I am now bathing regularly to keep clean. The spots on his willy are about the same not sore just there!
Mon 30th May This morning Rovers eyes are sore and the spots have started to weep. Phoned vet and increased Prednisolone to 1½  (7.5mg) daily to try to damp the eyes down a bit. We are doing so well we do not want to step backwards at this stage. Apart from that he is a happy little chap and much more like a normal puppy now.
Tues 31st/Wed1st June/ Thurs 2nd: Gradual improvements as the days go on. All sores starting to dry up and scab over eyes going through the weepy open sore scabby routine as the rest did. The glands are now almost back to normal with non of them bursting open thank goodness!
Fri 3rd June: Back to vet for a check up. Reduced the Prednisolone again to 1x 5mg tablet once a day. Synulox staying the same (this is actually a reducing dose because as his bodyweight goes up the dose per kilo actually reduces). Vet very happy with him and wishes to see him again next Friday to reduce the prednisolone and hopefully discontinue the Synulox and wish him well for the future.
Sat 4th: Three of Rovers siblings go today and he is left with one brother to play with. He is now playing quite well if still a little careful of his sores. I feel he is about a couple of weeks behind the others in size but hopefully will rectify this as he continues to improve. There is a possibility that he will never make the size he was destined to be, but a little smaller and well is better than not being here at all!
Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs: Every day a small improvement as the spots burst and scab over Rover gets more like a normal (If horrible to look at) puppy. But we love him all the same, and his new owners waiting patiently to take him home love him too.
Fri 10th June: Off to the Vet again for what will hopefully be our last trip. She is very pleased with his progress and reduces the Prednisolone to one 5mg tablet every other day and discontinues the Synulox. She is happy to hand over his treatment to the new owners vet who will continue the reducing dose of Prednisolone until finally stopped, and will fax them through his history. So he has been discharged and is well on the way to a complete recovery. (We all hope!).

This disease is not well known and when Rover was first diagnosed with it I tried just about every breeder I knew to see if they could shed any light on it. I was surprised that so few had ever heard of it and the cases recorded in Bernese are minimal. I only found one other breeder who had had a case.
Through some digging on the Internet and phoning all and sundry I have gathered some information we should all be armed with if venturing into the realms of breeding a litter.
The disease has many names; Puppy Strangles, Canine Juvenile Cellulitis, Juvenile Pyoderma and Puppy Face are some of the ones I have heard. The Veterinary definition of the disease is, and I quote a book on skin diseases of the dog and cat, "Canine juvenile cellulitis is a granulomatous condition of puppies, affecting the skin of the face, the pinnae and the submandibular lymph nodes." It is not considered to be hereditary although there is some evidence for a hereditary factor as some Breeds, and some lines within a breed may be pre-disposed. As far as I can trace back there has been no other incidences in the last 5 generations of Rovers breeding. If fact there are so very few Bernese that have ever contracted it as to assume it is an extremely rare condition in the breed. There is some information to point to it being more prevalent in some breeds; Dachshunds, Labrador Retrievers, Golden retrievers Lhasa Apsos and Gordon Setters tend to be the most commonly affected, though there have been cases in most breeds if very isolated. Puppies are usually febrile (high temperature) depressed and sometimes anorexic. There is acute swelling of the muzzle lips and eyelids. Sterile pustules often develop in the skin of these areas as well as on the surface of the earflaps. After the pustules rupture, small ulcers, draining tracts or crusts develop. Submandibular (under the jaw) Lymphadenopathy (Swelling of the lymph nodes) occurs and, occasionally the lymph nodes will abscessate and drain. Permanent areas of hair loss and scarring may result if the lesions are extensive.  It is a condition that requires large doses of steroids, prednisolone being the drug of choice; the dosages may be reduced once the open sores and swelling of the glands start to reduce. If a secondary bacterial infection is suspected (and it's very difficult to keep out due to the nature of a puppies habits!) some form of systemic bactericidal antibacterial drug can be used concurrently (hence the Synulox in Rovers case)
The prognosis is usually very good as long as it is treated correctly and quickly. Apart from the possibility of permanent scarring or hair loss the puppy usually does well and lives a normal life. The few people I have spoken to in detail who have had cases of the disease report a full return to health and a normal happy life. I found only one incidence who reported hair loss or scarring, however that is not to say that there are plenty of cases where this was the end result. I understand from others that I was lucky to pick up Rovers case very quickly and very lucky to have a vet who trusted her knowledge and went ahead with the steroids immediately. Many vets will do skin scrapings first to rule out infections and days may be lost waiting for results to come back, days that are crucial to the puppy who needs the steroids immediately (steroids are NOT the right treatment for infections!) Getting those steroids in as soon as possible seems to be the key to successful treatment with the least amount of lasting scars.
I am not a vet or have any more knowledge than most laymen but when something like this happens we tend to gather what information we can. As always some of that information is not correct and I have tried to present the facts as I have found them to be true. I found a lot of 'Old Wives Tales' and tried to stick to what I know to have been true in this article.  It has been an awful time with Rover but he is well on the way to recovery now and we hope he will have a happy life.
I wrote this diary in order to spread the word about a disease that can appear at any time in any litter. I feel the more we know about it the better chance of treating it successfully. It does not pay to be blind in our faith that these things happen to others and not us. Let hope through our experiences others can have a better understanding if they should be unlucky enough to encounter this awful disease and have a problem with it.
I think Rover came out of it very well, it could all have been so much worse without a vet who knew what she was looking at!

Aileen i love reading this story and have read it so many times in the breed book. So good to see he survived and its a credit to you and your vet to keep him going.
Its interesting and its never something i heard of until i read this in the club book..
So for that i say thanks, and i hope others find it of great help to them as well.

Aileen, thanks so much for the information. Everything you said has happened to my pup, from the symptoms to the treatments for the symptoms. It has been 5 months since she was diagnosed with this, and I pray every day for her to be cured. My vet caught it right away too, but after a while, and no progress,  I went for a 2nd opinion, which was a waste of money. I went back to my original vet and he has sent me to a more advanced hospital(LSU), so we can all put our heads together and try and get her well. She has been on pred for so long that it has started to effect her liver and kidneys, so treatment for PS has to be put on hold until her infection is better. Again, thank you so much, it really helps to hear about other people who have been through this. It has been a very stressful time, but hopefully my Cassie can get over this.

Chalette

Hello again, this is Chalette, my pup was started on this IV medication called Immunoregulin today. She gets 2 injections each week for 2 weeks, then 1 injection a week for 12 weeks, and finally 1 injection per month until all symptoms have gone. From my understanding this is something to boost her immune system quickly to fight off infections. Has anyone ever given this to their pup w/puppy strangles? Just curious b/c I thought the steroids are supposed to lower the immune system when a pup has PS, so how is administering both this medication and steroids going to work together to get rid of PS. If anyone has any info, once again it would be appreciated.

Chalette

We have a 9 week old female chocolate lab-mix puppy.  The tests are being run, but the vet is pretty sure she has the puppy strangles CONDITION.  Yes, after consulting with other vets, this is a CONDITION not a virus or infection.  The condition happens when the puppy's immune system goes haywire and starts attacking the puppy's lymphatic system and soft tissue. There is really only ONE treatment to consider:  Months of Prednisone, Antibiotics (the antibiotics are ONLY to help protect the puppy from future bacterial infections because of the open pustules, and because the puppy's immune system will be compromised or subdued due to the antibiotics.) and Tordal (or other pain meds.)  The vet did say that some puppies will get better on their own as the condition runs it course.  The antibiotics have NO effect on the condition, and are just prescribed to help fight any bacterial infections due to the open soars. (Even if it were a VIRUS antibiotics have NO effect on viruses, they only work on bacterial infections).

Puppy strangles, from what I have been told and researched, is rarely fatal.  It looks worse than what it is.  Usually if a puppy does die from this condition, its is usually from a bad bacterial infect, or the puppy's throat swells shut and they die from asphyxiation or from not eating and drinking.  Sometimes they will die from the steroids suppressing their immune system and they contract the Parvo or other deadly virus.

No, it is not contagious to other animal of humans.  Remember, its is an immune or auto-immune problem.