Kjs - Mange?

[witzend]

Well, our little Miss Mandy has developed a scabby balding spot under her eye, and another on her cheek where she had one of those real course mole type hairs. She sheds nearly explosively! We don't know her age but guess her to be about 10 - 12 months. We also think it is demodectic mange. Poor girl, we have been bathing and brushing trying to make her feel better.

I have an appointment at the vet tomorrow. It's our second in 6 weeks, the last time it was for a staph infection. At $200! I know that they treat severe cases with a series of 6 - 8 dips at $75 a pop, not to mention the testing and office visit expenses. I'm hoping that if this is what it is that since it's only a couple of spots that they can treat it with topical ointment. Maybe we can make that come in under $200 this time.

So, Kjs, what ended up happening with yours? I looked at the back postings and I didn't see anything updating the situation. I'm hoping you can give some advice...

 

[Hound dog]

Goodness Witz I hope they don't have to go thru all that to clear it up!

Did kjs dog have mange? I'd suggested she ask her vet, but I haven't noticed if she'd replied about what he'd said about it. Now that poor doggie has suffered this summer.

Hugs

 

[witzend]

Thanks, D. Kjs said that she looked it up and saw photos and that's what it sounded like.

I was looking at Mandy's chest today and she has lost a lot of fur there as well, so I'm not as hopeful. I should have made an appointment on Tuesday, I guess. I hope I didn't let it wait too long.

 

[mrscatinthehat]

It's not ringworm is it? We have battled that. And that can transfer to humans!

Beth

 

[witzend]

I hope it's not ringworm! The one by her eye is asymmetrical, so I'm hoping that's not it. She's the right age for Mange, and none of the other dogs in her play group (tee hee hee!) have it, so mange is probably one of the better things she could have because it can only be passed from the dame to the litter in the first few weeks of life. Then they either have a bad reaction in their first year, or not. I'm unclear as to whether they continue to get it if you clear it up.

All the same, we are washing and sweeping and vacuuming like crazy! And boy do I ever wash my hands!

 

[Star*]

Witz,

We foster dogs all the time and had one that our son found as a pup 3-4 weeks, in a tied trashbag thrown from a car into a ditch. She had no hair and scabs over most of her body.

We had to give her an oral medicine, and bathe her in special shampoo. We kept the other dogs away from her and merely made sure we washed our hands after handling her. She was such a love. Eventually about 7-8 months she got 'puppy' hair. You could still see her crusty type skin (but no scabs) and she eventually got adopted to a couple who fell in love with her as their "only" child.

I hope it's just allergies, but then you have to figure out what is causing the allergies.

We give our dog Benadryl to help with the itching, and digging and all. Plus he has thyroid problems and in on Synthroid. Even with all that? He still itches himself nearly 1/2 to pieces. Poor soul. Bathing in special shampoo 2x a week is the only thing that helps. That and....cookies. ahah.

Hope all is well or better by the time you read this.

Hugs
Star

 

[Star*]

Witz,

We foster dogs all the time and had one that our son found as a pup 3-4 weeks, in a tied trashbag thrown from a car into a ditch. She had no hair and scabs over most of her body.

We had to give her an oral medicine, and bathe her in special shampoo. We kept the other dogs away from her and merely made sure we washed our hands after handling her. She was such a love. Eventually about 7-8 months she got 'puppy' hair. You could still see her crusty type skin (but no scabs) and she eventually got adopted to a couple who fell in love with her as their "only" child.

I hope it's just allergies, but then you have to figure out what is causing the allergies.

We give our dog Benadryl to help with the itching, and digging and all. Plus he has thyroid problems and in on Synthroid. Even with all that? He still itches himself nearly 1/2 to pieces. Poor soul. Bathing in special shampoo 2x a week is the only thing that helps. That and....cookies. ahah.

Hope all is well or better by the time you read this.

Hugs
Star

 

[witzend]

Thanks, Star. Mandy is on benadryl at least twice a day as a maintenance to keep her from getting itchy and making things worse. She's sensitive to staph, so if she starts to itch, that comes into play as well. She's a big Labrador mix, so there is no way I want to bathe her twice a week forever! Even getting husband to do it, he would be a big old baby and insist that he had done his chores for the week and couldn't do anything else. It would be a big old fight all of the time. I guess I'll know by this time tomorrow, for sure!

 

[Kjs]

be sure to keep this post updated. I am extremely interested since still battling issues with my dog. She is also a Lab mix. Long hair with some thick shorter undercoat. She weighs about 70 pounds so the bath is just so hard. But the prescription shampoo is the only thing that really has worked.
After all the vet visits through the summer, they never ever tested her for anything. Just keep saying allergies. But after reading about mange, I would put money on it that's what it is.
I believe it developed after the first "hot spot" which became infected. Then it just spread over her entire body. She is my baby, and I just feel so bad for her.
She took Prendisone for most of the summer. This caused a lot of weight gain...just what we were trying so hard not to do. She lost ten pounds after we found out she had hypothyroidism. Then after two months of prendisone she looks as if she gained it back.
Even with the Thyroid medication, anti-biotics, prendisone, benadryl and Omega-3's...she still had open soars and scabs/flaky skin all over, including the bald spots all over. None of that medication helped. Only started getting better after the shampoo.
How long before the bald spots fill in?

 

[Marguerite]

If it's mange you need to eradicate the mites, then the skin has to heal and the hair follicles finally get going again. It takes time.

Also, if it's mange, prednisone is one of the worst things you can give the dog because it suppresses the immune system and the mange is even more likely to get out of control. Maybe less so with sarcoptic mange, but frankly, steroids are not a good idea unless you're sure it's just allergy.

With parasites, the dog's immune system also plays a part in fighting the infestation.

Skin scrapings need to be done but it's still difficult to find the mites responsible - and it DOES look a lot like allergy (at least, sarcoptic mange does).

The puppy in the sack - it probably had demodectic mange, it used to be considered incurable. A lot of dogs carry Demodex mites on their skin but with absolutely no problems. A mother will pass the mite onto her puppies but very few will get symptoms - only a few who are somehow vulnerable to it will go on to develop the problem. And in the past, these were often dumped or killed as puppies. Nowadays it's treatable, although the genetic susceptibility is hereditary and so any pups from that dog are likely to also have problems. That's for demodectic mange.

Kjs, your dog initially presented as if it had allergies - this really sounds more like sarcoptic mange. A skin scraping or skin biopsy may not be positive but treatment should still work. Talk to the vet, see what he says. Also, read up on what you can find out, plus anything the vet says to use, be sure to really read the manufacturer's instructions because you need to use these things carefully.

Marg

 

[Kjs]

We stopped the prendisone 3 weeks ago. I did not like how she was looking or acting. Just cut it down like we had done before. And, correct..it did not help. Nothing helped until the medicated shampoo. Which is prescription. I see it out on different web-sites to purchase OTC, but it is not the strength I have. demodectic mange seems to be the lesser of the evils from what I am reading. This is the one that seems to have all the symptoms for. The shampoo says it is a hair follicle cleanser. So, if I can keep up with the 3x's a week she seem's to be healing. She seems much more frisky than she has.
The pup we have is not her pup. but tempted to shampoo her with this shampoo also. Trying to wait until the heat cycle is complete before I bath her.