parakeratosis

Question
I have a mini pig who has been diagnosed with parakeratosis. He is going on 12 wks old. He weighs 4lbs 1oz. At this time his vet as him on clindamycin hydrochloride drops, 1cc twice a day. His rashes are itching him terribly. Is there anything else you could suggest? Thank you.

Answer
I am not a veterinarian and can not make a medical diagnosis or prescribe treatment over the internet. Clindamycin hydrochloride is often prescribed for wound treatment, especially for infected wounds.

Parakeratosis is a skin condition where the skin cells are not working properly, resulting in an uncomfortable rash. In pigs, this condition appears between 4 and 16 weeks. It may start as small brown spots on the legs.

Studies have connected parakeratosis to a deficiency in zinc and/or excessive calcium. Calcium prevents the body from absorbing and using zinc. So if there is plenty of zinc, but too much calcium, the result could be parakeratosis. The balance between these nutrients is the key.

Check the ingredients on the food you are using. Zinc should be a minimum of 125.00 ppm. Mazuri Elder Pot-Bellied Pig Food has a minimum 250.00 ppm of zinc. If the food you are using has zinc content within this range, then the amount of zinc should be adequate.

Calcium should be no more than 1.3%, Mazuri Elder has between .5% and 1% calcium. If the food you are using has more calcium, then you'll need to switch to a different food.

If the bag says the feed falls within the proper range for zinc and calcium, throw it out and get a fresh bag. Mistakes do happen. A few years ago in Ohio a feed company mistakenly put antiboitic laced chicken feed in alpaca/llama feed bags, and hundreds of animals died from poisoning. Food might be stored in poor conditions during shipping and handling, causing mold or loss of nutrients.

Switching piggy to a nutritionally balanced food (or at least replacing the current bag of food with fresh from a different store) should fix the problem permanently. Because of the complicated interaction of calcium and zinc within the body, I think any extra vitamin or mineral supplements might do more harm than good. Most have extra calcium, which will not help if the problem is too much calcium already. If your vet did not do blood tests for this kind of nutritional imbalance, you might ask him to do that.

You can use any product made for human skin on a piggy. But when the core problem is poor nutrition, no skin lotion can cure it. But any soothing ointmen should relieve some of the itchiness.