Dermatology

Our Expertise

The Dermatology Service is a full-time specialty service with Board Certified Veterinary Dermatologists® specialized to investigate and treat all skin and ear diseases in all animal species, including allergy. We accept patients from throughout Louisiana and neighboring states.

Evaluations of new dog and cat patients are made by appointment, Monday through Thursday, with re-check appointments on Friday. Evaluations of large animals, birds, pocket pets, and exotic species are performed in cooperation with other receiving services in the LSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH).

Our practice functions as part of the LSU VTH, meaning that each of our patients is evaluated by a team. The team is comprised of veterinary students, dermatology residents, dermatology technicians and faculty members. After an initial examination, our students and dermatologists provide each animal’s owner with a tentative diagnosis as well as a plan for further testing. Our goal is to assist pet owners and primary care veterinarians in understanding the root cause of the animal’s skin problem and to then formulate a satisfactory management plan.

dermatology

 

HOSPITAL SERVICESDERMATOLOGY CONFERENCENAVDLAB

 

Services

Diseases and Skin Issues

  • Diagnosis and management of skin diseases in all species including:

    • Resistant or recurrent infections of the ears and skin

    • Allergic skin disease

    • Deep and superficial cutaneous fungal infections

    • Hair loss (alopecia)

    • Itching and inflammation

    • Chronic and severe skin and ear disease

    • Immune-mediated skin diseases

    • Rare autoimmune skin diseases

    • Endocrine diseases

    • Claw, nailbed and pad diseases

    • Skin manifestations of internal disease

    • Lick granulomas

    • Parasites (fleas, ticks, mites)

Testing and Services

We provide the most current and advanced care for our patients due to our expertise and the availability of specialized equipment and techniques. This includes:

  • Itching, dandruff, crusts, oily-smelly skin

  • Allergic skin and ear disease

    • Food allergy workup

    • Intradermal allergy testing

    • In-vitro blood allergy testing

    • Allergen specific immunotherapy

      • Injectable immunotherapy (allergy shots)

      • Sublingual immunotherapy (allergy drops)

      • Intralymphatic immunotherapy

    • Workup and management of chronic ear disease

    • Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation

    • Video-guided otoscopy

        • Professional ear canal irrigation

        • Polyp removal

        • Myringotomy

        • Middle ear culture and drainage

        • Ear canal biopsy

    • Skin biopsies

      • In-house biopsy services

      • Dermatopathology consultation

      • In-house culture facilities

    • CO2 laser-surgery and freezing (cryotherapy) of skin lumps and bumps

State of the art CO2 Laser-Surgery

Our clinicians are specialized in Carbon dioxide (CO2) laser-surgery and our service is equipped with a State of the art CO2 Laser to treat many conditions including:

  • Surgery of interdigital cysts
  • Removal of small skin and ear masses
  • Ablatio of skin tumors
  • Ablation of tissue obstructing the ear canals

Intralyphatic immunotherapy (ILIT)

The standard allergy treatment involving shots/drops may take as long as one year until you see an improvement of your pet’s allergies. A newly allergy shot regimen can reduce this time to 4-6 months, consisting of only shot every 4 weeks, offering a faster and more convenient alternative. Intralymphatic immunotherapy (ILIT; pronounced ” eyelet”) is a newer treatment for allergies that involves injecting small amounts of allergen directly into the lymph nodes of your pet. This helps your pet’s immune system get used to the allergens and reduces allergic reactions over time. With ILIT we can treat any allergen (trees, grass, weeds, dust mites, molds etc).

Our service offers this new allergy treatment. We will give 4-6 injection (1 injection every 4 weeks). The injections are not painful and each appointment will not take more than 15 minutes (except if a recheck or other diagnostics are required).

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

The Veterinary Teaching Hospital offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a treatment modality through the Dermatology and Integrative Medicine Services. Hyperbaric oxygen has been used worldwide for decades (even centuries) in human medicine and its use on veterinary patients is only increasing. Although limited in availability, it is being offered more frequently in the last decade in both veterinary private practices as well as academic settings.

HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY

Hymenoptera (Bee/wasps etc.) testing and therapy

Severe allergic reactions to stings can be life-threatening, especially in pets with a history of anaphylaxis. Our service offers now testing and treatment (immunotherapy) for pets with severe allergic reactions (anaphylactic shock) after a bee/wasp sting. First, your pet will be tested (skin and blood test) to identify what exactly they are allergic to. Then, you will start giving shots to your pet that have a tiny amount of allergen in them. Over time, we will increase the dose until hopefully their body gets used to it. This helps prevent severe allergic reactions if they get stung by a bee or wasp in the future.

Other Information for Pet Skin Conditions

  • Allergic skin diseases in Pets
  • Food Allergy
  • Allergy Testing handout
  • Treatments
    • Allergy Shots and Drops
    • Allergy Tablets
    • Anti-itch Injections

Information for Your Appointment

  • To schedule an appointment with us, a referral from a veterinarian is not required. But please ensure that medical records (including previous treatments, and diagnostics like bloodwork, biopsy, culture, radiographs, etc.) are forwarded to us for review prior to your appointment.

  • Our New Patients Welcome Letter & Guide has more details about our service and will guide you during your first appointment.

  • Please complete the History Questionnaire form before you arrive.

  • Please bring with you any medications your pet has taken previously or is currently taking.

  • Please stop bathing your pet or administrating any ear medications at least 3 days prior to the appointment.

  • If it is possible, please do not feed your pet the morning of the appointment in case sedation or anesthesia is needed. Always allow access to fresh water.

  • We will contact you 5-7 days prior to your appointment, as a reminder.

  • If your appointment is for allergy testing, please stop giving your pet specific medications that can interfere with the tests. For more information, please read our Allergy Testing handout.

  • The first appointment may take up to two hours for the exam and consultation.

Discovery and Innovation

Our team is dedicated to advancing the mission of LSU Vet Med by conducting cutting-edge research aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of pet skin conditions. In the Dermatology Laboratory, we focus on allergy, immunology, applied artificial intelligence, and the skin microbiome. Patients are never used as part of a research project unless it is a clinical trial in which an owner opts for their pet to participate. Each clinical trial protocol is carefully reviewed by both the Clinical Protocol Review Committee (LSU SVM Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences) and LSU’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare and confidentiality.
We teach, we heal, we discover, and we protect!

For more information about our work on the skin microbiome and applied artificial intelligence, please visit the NAVDLab, which is part of the Dermatology Laboratory. If you're interested in learning more about our other projects, don't hesitate to reach out. We'd be happy to share our research with you!

Our Team

Faculty

Cherie Pucheu-Haston

Cherie Pucheu-Haston

DVM (LSU 1992), PhD, DACVD

Professor of Veterinary Dermatology

DR. PUCHEU'S FACULTY PAGE

Neoklis Apostolopoulos

Neoklis Apostolopoulos

Assistant Professor of Veterinary Dermatology

DR. APOSTOLOPOULOS'S FACULTY PAGE

Resident

Marley McInnis, DVM

Veterinary Technicians

Lisa Roundtree

Lisa Roundtree

 

Photo to come

Jessie McCrary