So Audrey went to the vet today. I said in my intro post that Audrey is new to my fiancé and I. She is a 15 month old female bulldog. She has demodex mange and came from an abusive and neglectful home. She currently weighs a healthy 50 pounds, but in Jnauary, her old owner had starved her to a scant 28 pounds.
So at the vet we found out that in addition to her mange, she has a ton or bacteria on her skin, so the vet has put her onto Cephalexin for the next month. Audrey smells awful and while I thought this was due to the mange, it is actually because of the bacteria on her skin. Hopefully the antibiotic will help take care of the "burnt rubber" smell that is coming off her body.She continues to need baths 3x a week with Pyoben shampoo and a rich conditioner.
Because demodex is a problem brought on by a weak immune system, the vet has also put her on a natural "immune boosting" supplement that contains vitamins, antioxidants, green tea, medicinal mushrooms, and selenium. She has to be on this supplement for at least 6 months.
Audrey already is also taking probiotics, digestive enzymes, kelp, and fish oil. She has been switched to a raw diet (luckily we have a holistic vet who is totally on board with that). The vet has also recommended she start on Apple Cider Vinegar taken by mouth daily.
Turns out Audrey also has entropion on her upper and lower eyelids on BOTH eyes. She said it is not super severe and there is a slight chance she may "grow out of it" when she gets over the mange and her body's swelling and inflammation goes down. If not, then it will need to be corrected with surgery. She has scarring/cloudiness on her left eye. She isn't totally blind in that eye but she cant see out of that eye in the dark at all. They stained her eye and it is not an active ulcer, just a scar.
She also has a Histiocytoma on her chest. It is a small mass. The vet says it is benign (but ugly looking). She said sometimes these rumors disappear on their own over time. Hopefully that will happen.
Audrey also gets idiopathic head tremors. The vet is having us log when, how often, and for how long they happen. She says she is nor familiar with that condition, but I don't plan to put Audrey on any anti-seizure meds for it. Vet says she thinks the tremors may decrease with age.
Audrey also likely has hip dysplasia. When she walks, I can feel her left hip "popping" maybe her right hip too, but the left hip's popping is more pronounced. We are focusing on the mange treatment right now and then we will eventually have her x-rayed so we can address the hips. My fiancé and I are hoping she won't need surgery on her hips AND eyes. That would be SOOOOO expensive.
She has a recheck in a month. The vet is confident she will fully recover from the mange, but it will take several months of aggressive treatment. Once she gets I've the mange, she has many more hurdles to go. Please keep us in your thoughts.
Yay Audrey!
