Demodectic Mange

[Sarah]

Hi, this is my first post on the site. We got our baby Brooklyn about 2 months ago and she is now almost 5 months old. We've kept her on the same food (Natural Balance Alpha the fish one) that the breeder had her on. About a month after we got her she started losing fur above her nose, I had read about possible allergies and switched out the plastic bowls I had bought her before I knew better and replaced them with stainless steel. The area didn't seem to bother her, no itching or anything. It then started to turn red and crusty and I thought she may have an infection and started cleaning the area with a hydrogen peroxide solution. It didn't get better and I noticed a spot of hair missing on her side about the size of a dime. That is when I came across demodectic mange online while researching other possible issues she may be having. I called the vet and they said they were busy and couldn't see her for 10 days. I have now switched vets. My new vet took a skin scraping and said that it is in fact demodectic mange and gave her ivomec as well as an antibiotic for any secondary infections. It's been a little over a week and she is looking about the same. Her energy level is the same but she doesn't gobble up her food as she used to and instead eats it in intervals, still finishing it all. She also has thrown up a few times in her crate (I only know because there was a few little bits she had not reinjested yet when I returned home). The first time she did was the same night she torn up her bed and I thought she may have eaten some stuffing and it upset her tummy. But now I'm wondering if it is one or both of the medicines. Any thoughts or similar experiences? Thanks in advance!

 

[NikkiSchoolcraft]

Ivermectin is a strong drug and can irritate their yummy. Are you injecting it or giving it orally? Orally, it takes about 3 weeks (daily) and injected (twice) about two weeks to notice a difference. This is standard treatment for demodex but you may want to consider a bland diet if the upset tummy persists.

 

[Sarah]

I give her .7 cc orally once a day. and the antibiotic (a capsule) she gets twice a day.

 

[NikkiSchoolcraft]

[MENTION=2514]Sarah[/MENTION] it will take some time to see a difference. It will take about 3 weeks to kill the mites and then the hair will start to grow back.

 

[golfrmom64]

Good Afternoon - I am sorry to hear that about your puppy. We just found out that our 5 month old EB has the same thing. We have started on the antibotic last night and we do the first dip this afternoon - the one thing that the vet told us to make sure was to make sure she kept eating so eating is a big thing. He also told us after a dip - she will probably not feel good the next day as they are trying to kill the mites. I wish you luck and keep us posted.

Concerned EB Mommy

 

[Sarah]

Why did your vet recommend doing dips instead of ivermectin? I've read a lot of bad things about the dips, my vet didn't even bring them up as a treatment that she'd use.

 

[lexterwayne]

We have had 2 outbreaks of mange with our baby.. He is mange free finally, but our vet did antibiotics and a cream the first time which it went away. A month before his first bday he had another outbreak. Our vet did dips and finally used promeris and it cleared it up very quickly. I have never hear of invet before another post about a month ago. But if you actually search mange you will get lots of threads!

 

[Luvin My Bullie]

invermectin is the most common med used to treat demodex. my boston had it and we used promeris as well. invermectin is the active ingredient in promeris. good luck