Nutritional Skin Disorders - Donkey

In spite of severe nutritional deprivation, the donkey’s skin remains remarkably healthy unless there is concurrent trauma. The combination of trauma (especially recurrent injury) and malnutrition is probably one of the most significant combinations with respect to the health of the skin. A nutritionally deprived donkey becomes liable to parasitic (lice, mites and Habronema spp.) and bacterial infections. Dermatophilosis is a common isolate in damaged or inflamed skin but it is difficult to know if this is primary or secondary and certainly in the face of nutritional deprivation the severity of the infection can be far worse.

References

• Knottenbelt, D. (2008) Skin disorders In Svendsen, E.D., Duncan, J. and Hadrill, D. (2008) The Professional Handbook of the Donkey, 4th edition, Whittet Books, Chapter 8

DERMATOLOGICAL DISORDERS - DONKEY

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