[susan]

Hi. I have called our vet again about Biscuit. To start, he came to us covered in lice. That's was taken care of immediately. But, then we found mites in his ears. Now, I am worried about Mange. He really doesn't have any sore patches or hair loss but his skin is so pink. His ears also look dirty again. Tonight, when we were taking a walk he kept shaking his head. And, he itches quite a bit.

The vet said he could would do a skin scraping and if necessary, an injection. I have read that mange can be difficult to get under control if a dog's immune system is compromised. I also read that with a puppy, mange is passed from the mother. The first 12 months is the worse.

Anybody had similar problems. Our first priority is to get our puppy healthy. He has had a rough start and he's a real sweetie. After, I get all my ducks in order I am going to call the breeder. But, right now I am too mad to speak with him. :x

Thanks for reading.

Susan & Biscuit

 

[Maureen]

Oh Susan, I'm so sorry about your itching woes with Biscuit!
The CKC magazine just did a 1-page article about "demodectic mange" which, if I understand, is a skin problem that comes from a compromised immune system, and IS hereditary- or the weakness that yields to it is hereditary. I wish I could photocopy the article for you but with copyright problems I think I would just recommend calling or contacting CKC to see if you can get a copy of it, ok? (www.ckc.org)

I don't have any experience with demodectic mange or ear mites (thank God) but I do have 2 poodles and 1 doodle that have needed their ears disinfected from time to time and it's a process that takes several days, or it doesn't really get cleared up, and seems to come back - altho I just didn't really finish the process of clearing it up. Take that for what it's worth.

Our good neighbors had a heck of a problem with their little boston terrier... if you would like, I would ask them for permission to give their email address for some info and a little understanding. Just let me know.

 

[wannadoodle]

Susan, I can certainly understand your frustration. I went through many of the same things and several different...I never did calm down enough to contact the breeder......All I can do is empathize with you. I do know that the head shaking goes with the ear mites. We cleared those right up with one round of drops. I don't remember for sure what the drops were, but I will look when I get home if you would like.

 

[sleepyhollowkennel]

It sounds like ear mites for sure, but not mange. Ear mites are tough to clear up. The trick is to thoroughly remove ALL mites and debris before treating with ivomec.

You need to use cotton swabs or hemostats with cotton wrapped around them to get down into the warm, mosit crevices that are the favorite hiding places for the mites.

There are several good solutions for cleaning, but ever since I tried the genetian violet?boric acid/alcohol concoction it has been our cleaning solution.

Ivomec should kill all mites in one dose, but I follow up with weekly treatments just to make sure. You can use as much as 1ml per 5 pounds of dog squirted in the ear.

If your dog has mange then Paramite or Mitaban are the only things that truly work to rid your dog of mange. Dogs get mange, mites, and lice from the grass so it can be a problem that is had to manage if it is in your area. The best thing for your Doodle (over 12 weeks of age) would be to get him on Revolution monthly and then he won't contract any of these pesky buggars.

 

[susan]

Hi. The vet said that Biscuit does not have mites anymore and his skin scraping came back negative for mange. But, he has a yeast infection. He was put on drops 2 x a day, for 10 days and he's on a steriod/antibiotic 2 x day for 10 days. He goes back in a couple of weeks for a checkup. It costed $100.00 for everything.

The vet said that the yeast infection could be indicating that the dog has allergies. He is on a lamb/rice kibble dog food.

The vet said not to change anything until he see's Biscuit again.

I was so relieved that it was not mange. We will have to see what we end up with.

Thanks for all the support.

Susan