Any experience with demodex?

agentbunny

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Nov 2, 2013
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San Francisco, CA
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Leo & Lola
Hi Everybody!
I am new here. I have been lurking and reading but this is my first post. I have a question for anyone who has experience with demodex. My boy Leo was diagnosed with it shortly after I got him at 5 months old. They scraped for the mites while he was being neutered so I couldn't start the treatment until 2 weeks later. Unfortunately, I think the stress of the neuter (his was complicated as he had a retained testicle that had to be removed from his abdomen) turned the localized demodex into generalized demodex.

Anyway, the vet game me injections to give him weekly for 6 weeks. We are already 5 weeks into in and he looks worse than when we started. I called and the vet said this was normal, but I am alarmed at the amour of hair he is losing this close to the end of the treatment. He looks all moth eaten, poor thing. I have also been washing him with benzoyl peroxide shampoo every other day.

If you have had to deal with demodex before, can you tell me if it is normal for the dog to lose so much hair during treatment? Will all of it fall out?

Thanks for any insight you can give...
 

TheLost

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Dec 28, 2011
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Molly & Kevin (aka Chunky)
Molly had it when she was a Puppy. If i remember right our vet gave her Ivermectin.. and she had to have a 2nd 'dosage' to clear it up.

Im sure each case is different.. Molly just had small bald spots all around her body. It did continue while she was on Ivermectin, but she didn't go bald :)

It does take a long time for the hair to come back (months). We just made sure she was eating a good quality food and gave her suplements (Omega 3 if i remember).
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Jul 28, 2011
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Poor baby! I have no experience, but I know a few here have dealt with it. I will try to remember and tag them for you
 

g8erjackie

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Dec 13, 2012
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Ruckus had 2 spots of it (the first of which we thought was a spot his harness rubbed, but after switching away from that and it got bigger, we had it scraped and it was demodex....I felt terrible...), which have just now cleared up. It took months and months for him to finally have his beautiful coat back. Our vet gave him Ivermectin, but it made him sick, so we had to stop it. I washed him with a benzoyl peroxide shampoo and used Goodwinol ointment daily. Little by little it cleared up.
 

Davidh

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Mar 21, 2011
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We had one a long time ago that had a little spot, actually it was a Beagle. Our vet put her on antibiotics, a topical ointment, and it took about a month before the hair grew back. It did not get worse before it got better. So maybe see another vet, maybe try to get a good bully vet. They do not need to be dipped as some vets like to do.
 
OP
agentbunny

agentbunny

New member
Nov 2, 2013
353
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San Francisco, CA
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USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Leo & Lola
  • Thread Starter
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Thanks for the replies. I was given six doses of doramectin to inject him with weekly. I have one injection left but his fur seems so ratty now that I wonder if it is getting worse or if the hair loss is the result of the mites dying off and the damaged hair falling out. I researched it on the internet but the discussions vary widely so I am still not sure. The vet assistant told me that it would get a bit worse, like when treating acne for the first few weeks but now we are almost at the end and he still gets new spots everyday.
I am having him scraped again next week but I have a feeling he will still have the mites so I am going to ask for ivermectin oral instead of the shots. I will keep you guys posted.
 

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