Stella has Demodex =(

[beachbumjen]

Our sweet Stella had what we thought was a hot spot between her shoulders back in July. A vet at our Animal Hospital (not our regular Dr., it was a Saturday) had diagnosed her as having a hot spot. He shaved the area, prescribed Neo predef and tetra powder. (He did not do a scrape)
It seemed to get better , the hair grew back and then the spot reappeared again, but smaller. I posted a thread about it here.
I thought that maybe it was allergy related so I changed her food from Blue Buffalo to Fromm. We even brought her to the breeder over the summer for him to look at the spot, he recommended A&D ointment. He said it was possible that it could be Demodex Mange, but didn't really appear that way.
So we were trying the ointment, using the prescription powder and even tried cornstarch. About 2 weeks ago the spot was swollen and red and we stopped putting anything on it and it really seemed to improve until this past weekend. It seemed to be spreading to a larger area. Also my poor Stella stepped on a seashell or something sharp on the beach on Saturday and had a small cut on her left paw pad, that seemed to be bothering her. We took her to the vet (our regular Dr.) yesterday and he did a scrape and it's Demodex Mange.
He shaved the area and gave us a prescription for Goodwinol ointment and an antibiotic too for the cut on her paw. The Dr. wants us to come back for a recheck next week.
I feel so upset because I think she had Demodex all along and I feel like a bad Mommy.
I the ointment helps right away. Does anyone else have experience with this? I am so worried that it's going to take a long time to get rid of.
I wanted to share my experience because I know several others on the forum are having similar issues with skin problems and aren't sure if it's hot spots, allergies or demodex. My advice is go to your vet and have a scrape done.

 

[Davidh]

Poor Stella, hope she gets better soon. No help on the Demodex, none of my bullies have had it, (knock on wood). My beagle got it when she was about a year old and the vet we took her too dipped her, that was 11 years age. They have come along way with treatments since then.

 

[cowsmom]

oh i am no help with mange but i know [MENTION=1906]GatorRay[/MENTION] has experience with it ill tag her and maybe she can help. i so hope they get better soon. i know a few others here have had experience so im sure someone will be along soon to help. i think they said they were given ivermactin or something like that for it.

 

[BruceP]

Don't feel like a bad mommy.... Ive heard it is very common and at least you are catching it early. Mange has a bad connotation but it isn't as bad as a lot of things. May take a while ... or not.

 

[izstigspunks]

Don't fret. The vet giving you an ointment to treat it says that you caught it early. I had to buy expensive pills for Stig because we caught it later. Although I believe a change in food could've stopped it as it was a second reaction to his food allergies. So changing to Fromm will definitely help her, maybe even give plain yogurt everyday until she finishes the round of antibiotics to help boost her immune system.

And sorry she got an ouchie on her pad. Hopefully that heals very quickly.

You're a fantastic bully mom. All we need to do is look at Stella's face and you'd be able to tell how loved she is.

 

[Mary Kay]

I am having the same thing happen with my Chloie. The Vet has scraped her and they aren't sure what it could be. They gave me a medicated power and it seems to dry it up but she has spots all over her.

 

[Telly03]

We went through this with Moe... vet gave us some mustard looking cream to apply daily... we did, and it worked.

 

[Sarah]

Brooklyn had demodex. She had one bad spot on her face but another small one on one of her back legs. So my vet gave us ivermectin to give her daily. One month of treatment and it was gone. We added salmon oil to her food to help her immune system, since having a depressed immune system is why demodectic mange occurs. The salmon oil also made her fur grow back in beautifully.

 

[sitartzm]

Brewer currently has it. He has several spots. I thought it was bug bites at first and applied neosporin. Then when that didn't work and it was spreading I thought it was food allergies. When I switched that and it was still spreading I took him to the vet. So it was prolly a month before I got him to the vet. The vet gave him antibiotics and I have to do dips once a week for four weeks. I just did the second one yesterday and so far I do not see any results. Not very happy at this point that it's not working, but I will wait patiently. i am so upset becuase the dip is basically a pestacide and I am bathing him in that for 20 mins, all the while we are inhaling it. That one vet appt cost me 183$. Come to find out the whole reason he got it was because he had a sinus infection and his immune system was down. Now in two weeks I have to go back and pay another office visit, and more scrapings to see if it worked. Ugg.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Don't blame yourself! I have no idea what it is and I would hope I could find it and treat it as quickly as you did! Ummm..and the first vet sure isn't YOUR fault!

 

[2BullyMama]

Poor baby Stella, hope she gets better soon.. I am no help on the Demodex, sorry. do not blame yourself, these things happen and you are doing the best thing getting it addressed fast. How is her paw... was the cut really bad?

 

[sleet]

Sorry you have to deal with this problem, but hope the salmon oil and meds will help get rid of it. Sending hugs to Stella.

 

[KristinMarie]

Hi there,
Please see my previous postings about my bully baby's experience with demodex mange.

"Hi there, I have an 11 month old bullie boy named Rocco. I noticed a few spots on his back about 6 months ago where the hair was missing. It didn't seem to bother him so I didn't worry about it. At his 6 month check up they said it was probably just a skin mite - and his immune system would kick in over the next few months and fight it so dont' worry about it. It seemed to not be getting worse so I didn't worry about it - per the vets recommendation.

However - over the next month or so he started breaking out in hives (starting under his eyes, on his feet and eventually on his chest and head). I would call the vet and they instructed me to give benadryl and warned it was probably something he got into outside causing the allergic reaction. This helped with the hives - where they would disappear after the benadryl in a few hours. However it started happening more and more frequently - to the point where one morning after having an attack the night before he was covered in hives and is face was so swollen I could hardly recognize him.

I rushed him into the vet and they did some tests - it turned out he had mange. Mange is a parasite that all dog breeds carry - but because the bulldog has a surpressed immune system - it causes it to get out of control and they dogs can lose their hair, have seizures and it can be fatal if it goes un-treated. Of course I was freaked out. He was prescribed Mitaban dips - which also has its own set of side effects including "neuroligical events such as seizures" - but I had to risk it. He had 3 dips 2 weeks apart over 6 weeks. All without issue. Thank god! He is parasite free now and seems to be doing great. No hives or allergic reactions since the treatment finished about 3 weeks ago. His hair is growing back and it should be fully back in a few weeks.

They told me I should keep an eye on it until he is 18 to 24 months old - at which point his immune system should be more developed to help keep the parasites in check. They also suggested I look into supplements to help boost the immune system. I'm trying different foods recommended for bullies that include supplements that help boost the immune system.

If you haven't gotten him checked for parasites, mites or mange (all the same thing, but the vets seem to call it different things). I would get this looked at right away. I also have a friend with a female bully that gets hot spots that get infected all the time. They said it was allergies that cause them and are doing weekly injections to help - so far so good).

Good luck and please keep us posted. Find a new vet if you think your vet isn't aggressive enough or not making you feel like they know what they are dealing with. Never accept the first opinion - do your research and make sure you have all the data to make informed decisions about your bullies care. Take care and all the best!!!"

 

[Vicaroo1000]

Demodex Mange is quite common - althought it's heartbreaking when the vet says YOUR little guy/gal has it! Dr. Terry tested Bo for it the last time we were in there and found three adult mites - no other life stages - so he felt it was best NOT to treat it as he was likely on the tail end of it (pun intended) anyway. It's a puppy thing I guess - quite common - but anything called "mange" seems terrible, doesn't it?

 

[beachbumjen]

Thank you all for the kind words and advice

[MENTION=2514]Sarah[/MENTION] and [MENTION=3513]sleet[/MENTION] Where would I find the salmon oil? Whole Foods or similar or pet store? Is there a specific brand? How does it smell? I would really like to consider using it.

[MENTION=1274]Mary Kay[/MENTION] What type of medicated powder? Did you get the results of the scrape?

[MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION] The cut is a small puncture wound, it's not a slice or anything, but we could tell right away that it was bothering her. The vet checked to see if there was anything (seashell, glass etc) in her pad but couldn't find anything. The vet said to use neosporin. It's looking a little better and she's not favoring it so much.

[MENTION=2913]KristinMarie[/MENTION] Thank you for reposting your story. The vet did diagnose as demodex mange, he did the scrape and saw the mites under the microscope
He wants to try starting with the ointment and only use the dip as a last resort since it's in a localized spot. We really like our vet very much.
The one that my husband met with for the issue the first time isn't our regular Dr.
I don't blame that Dr., it's just when it could have possibly been treated already, that's what I find so upsetting.

We gave Stella some plain greek yogurt last night, she seemed to really enjoy it.
I will definitely let everyone know how she is doing.