Hispanic Heritage Month always gives me a reason to pause and reflect on the path that brought me here.
I am a proud Latina and the daughter of immigrants from Peru. My parents came to the United States hoping to build a better future for our family. Through their sacrifices, they allowed me to pursue a dream I had from a very young age: becoming a veterinarian.
One of the greatest gifts my parents gave me was the Spanish language. It allows me to explain a complicated diagnosis to a worried pet owner in the language in which they feel most comfortable. It also allows me to teach veterinary dermatology in Spanish and connect with colleagues and communities that might otherwise feel left out of these conversations.
For me, speaking Spanish is about much more than communication. It creates trust, understanding, and a sense of belonging.
Latinos remain underrepresented in veterinary medicine- and even more so among veterinary specialists and practice owners. That is why visibility matters. I want young people who share my background to see that there is a place for them in this profession and that they, too, can become doctors, specialists, educators, and business owners.
I am deeply grateful to serve my Miami community as a Latina, veterinarian, veterinary dermatologist, woman, and independent practice owner. I hope that by being visible and sharing my journey, I can help make the path a little easier for those who come next.
And, thank you to @boopapparel , @latinxvet, @juancho.dvm for this awesome cap!
When “seasonal allergies” suddenly look very different… investigate further!
This dog was referred to us for having developed severe swelling, thick crusts, erosions, ulcerations, and bleeding after starting a new allergy medication. Antibiotics and steroids provided little improvement- and cytology still showed numerous bacteria despite swab culture based antibiotics.
Skin biopsies revealed the real problem: 🦠 Tissue culture: MRSP 🔬 Histopathology: Demodex mites
The lesson? When the presentation or treatment response is severe and unusual, don’t assume it’s “just allergies” that have worsened. Sometimes the skin is telling us to dig deeper.
When Apoquel suddenly “stops working”… look for infection.
This dog is atopic and had been doing very well on Apoquel for years. Then this summer, he suddenly developed bumps and extensive crusting over his trunk and thighs—and surprisingly, he wasn’t even that itchy.
His skin looked BAD.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean his Apoquel stopped working.
Apoquel controls allergic itch and inflammation. It does NOT treat a bacterial skin infection.
Skin cytology from these lesions revealed numerous cocci, confirming a significant bacterial infection.
So instead of changing his allergy medication, we needed to treat what was actually happening on his skin.
💊 Antibiotics 🛁 Frequent medicated baths 🔬 And reassessment once the infection is controlled
The lesson: When an allergic dog suddenly develops a new or unusual skin flare—especially papules, pustules or crusts—do cytology.
Steroids for ear infections are not always a bad thing.
In fact, I think we sometimes underuse them in ear disease.
If I see a dog with an ear that is so inflamed and painful that I can barely get my otoscope past the entrance of the canal, one of my first priorities is getting that inflammation and pain under control.
Because if the ear canal is swollen shut:
We can’t clean it properly. We can’t get medication where it needs to go. We can’t see what is going on deeper in the ear.
And that last part is really important ... If I have a dog with a one-sided ear infection, could there be a growth or polyp deeper in the canal that I simply can’t see? If I have a dog with chronic ear infections, is the eardrum still intact? Is there disease in the middle ear? I may not be able to answer those questions if I can’t even get an otoscope down the canal.
Sometimes we need to get the inflammation down before we can truly evaluate the ear and decide what needs to happen next.
For these patients, I will often use steroids, sometimes both topical and oral, for a few weeks and then reassess. The goal is to decrease inflammation, relieve pain, open the canal and give us access to the ear again.
Of course, steroids are not appropriate for every patient. We have to consider the dog’s overall health, the dose, the duration and what else may be going on.
But in the right patient, at the right dose, steroids can be a very important part of treating ear disease.
They don’t treat the infection itself. They help us create an ear that we can actually examine, clean and treat.
And sometimes, getting that inflammation down is what allows us to finally figure out why that ear keeps getting infected in the first place.
Feline allergic skin disease, also known as Feline Atopic Skin Syndrome (FASS) is one of the most common skin diseases among cats. We are currently enrolling cats in a clinical study to better understand this condition and explore potential new treatment options. If your cat has been diagnosed with allergies or is showing signs of itching or skin irritation, they may be eligible. Email us at miamivetderm@gmail.com for more information. #catallergies #cats #catsofinstagram #clinicalstudy
Ear cytology is one of the easiest and most useful tests we can perform for an ear infection. It can be done right in the clinic, it’s relatively inexpensive, and results are available within minutes.
Yet, we still see far too many patients with recurrent or chronic ear infections who have been treated repeatedly without ever having an ear cytology performed.
Cytology tells us: • Are bacteria present? • Is yeast present? • How many organisms are there? • Is there inflammation? • Is the treatment actually working?
Ear cytology isn’t just for the first visit. Rechecking cytology helps determine whether the infection has resolved. If an ear is infected, cytology should be part of the workup. Every time.
This is an 11-year-old FS Australian Cattle Dog who has been my patient for several years. We have managed her allergies with Apoquel and sublingual immunotherapy, and she has done well. We’ve been seeing her every 6 months and have an idea of what her skin normally looks like.
On a recent exam, we noted several slightly raised dark spots between her toes and on her legs and underarms. At first look, these could be mistaken for age spots or “moles”. But something about them didn’t seem right for age spots- a bit too dark and slightly raised- verrucous, so we decided to biopsy a few of them.
The biopsy came back as viral pigmented plaques, a condition caused by canine papillomavirus. Most of us think of papillomavirus as causing warts in young dogs, but there are actually different papillomaviruses that can cause different skin lesions. Pigmented plaques are seen more commonly in breeds such as Pugs, French Bulldogs, Miniature Schnauzers, and a few others, although any dog can develop them. We believe these develop when the immune system in the skin isn’t able to keep the virus under control. That can happen for different reasons, and in some dogs we never find an exact cause. In some breeds, there also appears to be a genetic predisposition. For this patient we were concerned about the use of Apoquel so we lowered the dose.
These plaques are considered benign and usually do not go away on their own unless the immunosuppressive cause is addressed. There is a small risk that some can eventually develop into squamous cell carcinoma, therefore it’s important to monitor them.
This case is a reminder that not every dark spot on the skin is “just a mole.” If something looks different than expected, a biopsy is often the best way to get an answer.
This is a 5-year-old FS Sharpei that presented with multiple nodular lesions affecting the caudal half of her body.
When the first lesion appeared, her referring veterinarian did the right thing and biopsied the growth. The biopsy result came back as a plasmacytoma. However, as time went on, more and more nodules developed, eventually progressing to what you see here.
This no longer fit with plasmacytoma, as plasmacytomas are typically benign solitary growths. This was much more generalized.
We discussed with the owner that there was a discrepancy between the original biopsy result and the overall clinical picture, so repeat biopsies were performed.
The new biopsies revealed cutaneous non-epitheliotropic lymphoma. This is a different type of cutaneous lymphoma from the epitheliotropic lymphoma we more commonly hear about. Unlike epitheliotropic lymphoma, which primarily targets the epidermis, non-epitheliotropic lymphoma affects the deeper dermis and subcutaneous tissues.
Clinically, it can present with nodules, plaques, redness, swelling, and lesions that may mimic allergic disease, hives, infections, or other inflammatory skin conditions.
I will admit this diagnosis was not on my list for a dog this young, but this case is a good reminder that sometimes biopsies need to be repeated when the pathology report does not fully match the clinical presentation.
