Demodex Treatments and other...

[lisastrathern]

My baby bully (now nearly 6months) Guinness was diagnosed with Demodex a couple of weeks ago. The vet has him on weekly shots of Dectomax (a derivitive of Invermectin) and twice weekly baths in Pyophex medicated shampoo. He also has had one antibiotic shot and is due for the next one today when I take him for his followup. So far its a bit two steps forward one back, hes continued to lose hair on his legs and now on his face and top of his head and behind his ears, but his belly spots do seem to be getting a bit better. I have spent ages on the net researching other more natural therapies and am now making up a lemon peel spray with some tea tree oil drops to put on the skin. Im hoping that it will help him with the itching as he scratches himself bloody. I have got a small "puppy pool" just a container of cold water outside that I stand him in when the temps are getting too hot (its summer here in Aus) which he seems to like and stops him scratching for a little while afterwards. After last weeks dectomax shot at the vet it was time for his frontline plus treatment which I applied and it seemed to cause a really bad reaction in him afterwards, very subdued and hyper scratching with swelled up paws and his face got all red. Wont be putting that on him ever again!! It was the second time I put it on him, the first two weeks prior was the same day as his last vaccination at the vet and when the demodex started to go wild so I think the combination of it all must have given his immune system a hit

I had him on Royal Canin medium junior food but have switched to Canidae All Life Stages grain free. He definitely prefers the new food and will sometimes eat it without any kind of "treat" on top which never happened on the RC. I have also been putting wild fish oil on his food in the last three days and cottage cheese occasionally. After reading more I might go get him some plain yoghurt to help his immune system as well.

My question for everyone is how long before you started seeing any kind of significant improvement? He looks so sad and sickly with his hair loss and the scabs on his legs and under his chin (we joke that hes our acne ridden teenager). I cant wait for his beautiful coat to come back properly. Hes otherwise in generally good spirits, still active but the past couple of days has been sleeping more and wolfing his food which I think might be a growth spurt.

 

[Sarah]

@lisastrathern We saw improvement in Brooke in about 3 or 4 weeks. But we didn't do the injections, we did it orally. And I would definately continue with the fish oil too. It takes a little while of regular use before you see the benefits.

[MENTION=2450]sitartzm[/MENTION] I did hear it can cause death but that it was mostly in hearding dog breeds and that they follow "white feet don't treat" due to reactions in white footed herding dogs. I had read about possible death from injesting any of the dip solution which scared me.
[MENTION=3767]Georgiadog[/MENTION] I never heard of Ivermectin causing blindness. I know they could have done injections of it or how we did it orally. I've never heard of it for flea and tick prevention, just for heartworm as it is the active ingredient in heartguard.

 

[cowsmom]

i know nothing of mange thank goodness but there are some foods you can get. blue buffalo wilderness has a puppy food, fromm has 2 grain free formulas, natures variety instinct limited ingredient has 2 formulas and is grain free, if you want to stay with natural balance you may want to try the alpha dog formula has more protein and vitamins and such which may help, canidae has several grain free formulas and one called single grain plus which you maybe interested in. good luck i hope your puppy gets better. thats so hard to have this going on with them so little. keep us up to date please.

 

[lisastrathern]

Little Guinny is slowly improving now, the scabs under his chin and behind his ears are gone, and the spots on his legs definitely look smaller. He's not scratching as much which definitely is helping the healing process. Now if only I could get him to grow some hair back! poor thing balding at 6months, especially with summer here and my bully thinks sleeping in the sun is a great idea. I may need to sunscreen him but am so nervous of anything else on his poor skin. Locking him inside is another option, even if it sets him back with potty training. Crossing fingers I see hair growth soon!