Audrey Hepbull
New member
- Apr 23, 2012
- 70
- 4
- Bulldog(s) Names
- Audrey Hepbull
Where do I begin?
I guess my last update left off with it being a month now that Audrey has had abnormal stools. By abnormal I mean that she has been having soft stools. Somewhat like soft serve ice cream or cow patties. Nothing we have done has helped her. She had been eating Acana Grasslands since January. About a month ago upon adopting Audrey, we switched her to raw (starting with beef). Things were going great for about a week and then when we switched her to raw chicken, the runs began. We then moved her to raw lamb hoping maybe that would help and while her stools improved from pure liquid to soft serve, the never quite got back to normal. So we tried putting her back onto the kibble she was originally on. That did nothing to help so we mixed in some kibble with oatmeal (Acana Singles) into her Grasslands kibble to see if the fiber from the iats would help. It didn't. So then it was on to Hill's I/D canned food. This didn't help at all either so upon her vet's advice we made the most recent switch onto California Natural Lamb and Rice canned food and kibble. It is specifically formulated to be easy to digest and good for skin/coat and digestive issues. So far we STILL haven't seen improvement in the stools though.
During this whole process, Audrey has been off her mange medication and skin antibiotics because her doctor felt those could upset her stomach even more. Well in the last week Audrey has begun to scratch herself raw. I cam down stairs one morning and there was blood EVERYWHERE. It looked like a murder scene. It was smeared all ov my carpet and was wiped all along the side od the couch. Audrey had slice marks on the inside od her ears (from her claws) it looked like someone cut the inside of her ears with a razor blade..
I called the vet in tears and they said this would not be caused by her demodectic mange. The mites live in the hair follicles and don't bury into the skin like sarcpotic mange, so it rarely itches. They recommended she be seen ASAP. So off to the vet we went.
They did another skin scrape and said there really weren't that many demodectic mites, they did see TONS of bacteria on the slide though. Unsupeisingly, she has a pretty severe skin infection. With her tearing her skin up, the vet is very concerned about a major systemic infection unless we get her on her antibiotics again. She also mentioned she has concerns that Audrey may have SARCOPTIC mange IN ADDITION to the demodetic mange! Can I please die now?
She asked if Copernicus (my other dog) has been itching at all. I told her yes, he has been recently but I wasn't sure why. He is on Frontline and has no fleas. I even had the groomer at my work shave him down short (he is a papillon with long fluffy hair) so I could be SURE that he had no fleas because lord knows that is the last thing Audrey needs! Though no sarcoptic mites turned up on the slide, her vet thinks that with as itchy as she is (and Copernicus is) it may be possible that Audrey originally had SARCOPTIC mange many months ago and that the stress on her body from dealing with the sarcastic mange caused her to break out in a DEMODECTIC infestation. With her having been off of the Ivermectin for the last month because of her poop, the mites could have resurfaced. She said because I am giving Audrey 2-3 baths a week (like I should be doing)with a skin flushing shampoo (Pyoben) that could be why no sarcoptic mites turned up on the skin scrape. She said to put my other dog onto Revolution (instead of HG+ as his monthly HW preventative) because Revolution will treat sarcoptic mange......on the off chance that is why he is so itchy. FML! Sarcoptic mange is contagious! To people and pets. She asked I'd any humans in the house were itchy. I said no. NOW I am itching up a storm but I think it's just because I have the herby jeebies.
So long story short, vet said to put Audrey back on her skin antibiotics and ivermectin IMMEDUATELY so she doesn't develop a severe systemic infection. She said to keep her on the California Natural and as long as her poops aren't diarrhea and they are just soft, to let it be for one because we MUST get her skin under control before she develops a severe infection.
Audrey is now on:
Ivermectin (for her mange)
Cephalexin (for her skin)
Benadryl (for her skin)
Ear meds (for her torn up ears)
Eye drops (because of her eye ulcer)
Immodium (for her poop)
Proviable probitoic (for her poop)
Gastroplex (for her poop)
Please keep us in your thoughts and hope she can just get better already! She keeps getting worse and worse. I cried my eyes our when I saw her all bloody and oozing. I just want my sweet angel to get better!
I guess my last update left off with it being a month now that Audrey has had abnormal stools. By abnormal I mean that she has been having soft stools. Somewhat like soft serve ice cream or cow patties. Nothing we have done has helped her. She had been eating Acana Grasslands since January. About a month ago upon adopting Audrey, we switched her to raw (starting with beef). Things were going great for about a week and then when we switched her to raw chicken, the runs began. We then moved her to raw lamb hoping maybe that would help and while her stools improved from pure liquid to soft serve, the never quite got back to normal. So we tried putting her back onto the kibble she was originally on. That did nothing to help so we mixed in some kibble with oatmeal (Acana Singles) into her Grasslands kibble to see if the fiber from the iats would help. It didn't. So then it was on to Hill's I/D canned food. This didn't help at all either so upon her vet's advice we made the most recent switch onto California Natural Lamb and Rice canned food and kibble. It is specifically formulated to be easy to digest and good for skin/coat and digestive issues. So far we STILL haven't seen improvement in the stools though.
During this whole process, Audrey has been off her mange medication and skin antibiotics because her doctor felt those could upset her stomach even more. Well in the last week Audrey has begun to scratch herself raw. I cam down stairs one morning and there was blood EVERYWHERE. It looked like a murder scene. It was smeared all ov my carpet and was wiped all along the side od the couch. Audrey had slice marks on the inside od her ears (from her claws) it looked like someone cut the inside of her ears with a razor blade.
. I called the vet in tears and they said this would not be caused by her demodectic mange. The mites live in the hair follicles and don't bury into the skin like sarcpotic mange, so it rarely itches. They recommended she be seen ASAP. So off to the vet we went.
They did another skin scrape and said there really weren't that many demodectic mites, they did see TONS of bacteria on the slide though. Unsupeisingly, she has a pretty severe skin infection. With her tearing her skin up, the vet is very concerned about a major systemic infection unless we get her on her antibiotics again. She also mentioned she has concerns that Audrey may have SARCOPTIC mange IN ADDITION to the demodetic mange! Can I please die now?
She asked if Copernicus (my other dog) has been itching at all. I told her yes, he has been recently but I wasn't sure why. He is on Frontline and has no fleas. I even had the groomer at my work shave him down short (he is a papillon with long fluffy hair) so I could be SURE that he had no fleas because lord knows that is the last thing Audrey needs! Though no sarcoptic mites turned up on the slide, her vet thinks that with as itchy as she is (and Copernicus is) it may be possible that Audrey originally had SARCOPTIC mange many months ago and that the stress on her body from dealing with the sarcastic mange caused her to break out in a DEMODECTIC infestation. With her having been off of the Ivermectin for the last month because of her poop, the mites could have resurfaced. She said because I am giving Audrey 2-3 baths a week (like I should be doing)with a skin flushing shampoo (Pyoben) that could be why no sarcoptic mites turned up on the skin scrape. She said to put my other dog onto Revolution (instead of HG+ as his monthly HW preventative) because Revolution will treat sarcoptic mange......on the off chance that is why he is so itchy. FML! Sarcoptic mange is contagious! To people and pets. She asked I'd any humans in the house were itchy. I said no. NOW I am itching up a storm but I think it's just because I have the herby jeebies.
So long story short, vet said to put Audrey back on her skin antibiotics and ivermectin IMMEDUATELY so she doesn't develop a severe systemic infection. She said to keep her on the California Natural and as long as her poops aren't diarrhea and they are just soft, to let it be for one because we MUST get her skin under control before she develops a severe infection.
Audrey is now on:
Ivermectin (for her mange)
Cephalexin (for her skin)
Benadryl (for her skin)
Ear meds (for her torn up ears)
Eye drops (because of her eye ulcer)
Immodium (for her poop)
Proviable probitoic (for her poop)
Gastroplex (for her poop)
Please keep us in your thoughts and hope she can just get better already! She keeps getting worse and worse. I cried my eyes our when I saw her all bloody and oozing. I just want my sweet angel to get better!
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for Audrey to get better real soon! 
