Mrs. Norah Andrews - Kyina & Talisker Cats Breeders of Russian ...

Eezentu - the Cornrnon SeaurgeEttracts from a paper rearl b7 'tl:t recen.t Tlst Annu.al Congress oJ[r. S'. Jennings, M.R.C.V.S., atthe British Veterinar2 Association.\ the majoritl- of papers on1I animal skin diseases that haver b..n published in the pasr 25r ears the writers appear to havegir"en their general impressions ofskin conditions as gained in thecourse of practice but r,l'ithoutleference to figures based onindividrral records. In the preserrrpaper, therefore, an attempt hasbeen made to confine the obserr-ationsto those made on a series ofcarefully recorded cases. Theu.ork was carried out a feu' vearsaqo. and though many skin caseshad been seen prior to the presentseries, and from which generalimpressions had been gained. aspecial effort has been made toavoid using such unrecorded data.The British Veterinary Associationmade the request that thepaper should be confined to skindiseases of small animals and,while this has been fulfilled, noattempt has been made to presenta comprehensive survey of all skindiseases of small animals and onlvthose facts rvhich it is believedhave not been published hithertoare included.So many attempts have beenmade by dermatologists to defineeczelrna and so many conditionshave been laltelled as eczema thatit has now virtually become a termn'hich is used to describe anyinflammation of the skin thecause or nature of which is unkrrown.Most users of the [erm,however, feel that it is associatedrrith some antigen-cellular-antibodr.reaction and some workershave norn' come to use the term"atopic dermatitis" and "allergicdermatitis" in its place. ButCooke (1947) states that " in noimportant group of commonlyaccepted diseases of allergy is ourknowledge more scanty and moresuperficial, and the dermatologicand allergic literature more contradictirrgand confusing than intl-rat group designated as allergicdermatitis." The term eczerna,therefore, does not necessarily giveanv indication as to the aetiologyrut" conditions bearing this::*:.ti.-^^^ tl"o .,,. ^^-, . -,,.,nonof cats, has a clinical scourgepictureclosely resembling that of eczemain the dog. Seventy-seven caseswere seen in the present series.Holmes (1933) suggested that the]esions are self-inflicted and producedby the rough tongue of thecat. Records of the positions ofthe lesions show that almost invariablythe lesions were within reachof the animal's tongue. The catis able to bend the neck so that itcan lick the skin over the spinalcolumn just behind the scapula.By lf ing and then lifting one hindleg until it points directly upwardsthe cat can reach the whole oftheposterior aspect of the thigh. Themajority of lesions were in thatpart of the leg and on the skin ateither side of the spinal columnlrom the scapula backwards. Infour cases there were alsoIesions on the head and in twothere were lesions on the dorsalaspect of the neck. Scratchingwith the hind ieg could haveaccounted for these, however.