[all4bxrs]

OKay - Gonna blow some steam...I am at my whits end and I just dont know what to do......maybe one of you here can tell me more about this stuff....
So, I took in a little rescue said to have Demodex mange....was SWORN to by a Boxer mentor of mine that it was NOT contagious and there was NO WAY ON EARTH my gal could get it....this poor little guy is a really bad case. So, I brought him in, gave him the love and attention a Mange dog needs to self heal - got him on the proper med cycle and thought all was well. That all started 3 weeks ago today. Last Thursday BOTH my Boxer and I work up with itchy bumps! Thought my gal had hives - common for her, but they were not going away and I noticed that they were getting dry and scabby. Then scabs fall off and with it  a patch of hair. SHe is beginning to both look and smell like my mangy rescue! Not sure yet what I have - had a biopsy done - no results yet, but they look aweful! My gal is getting worse and to top it all off, my other rescue is getting some of the same spots that my gal started with!!! UGH!! 2 well trusted seasoned vets have no idea - blood pannels done on my gal showed nothing irregular - they didnt do a scrape yet, but they did a slide for fungus and for topical "creepies" and nothing.....any ideas???  I have heard that if a "healthy" dogs T-cells are down, then the mites that are dormant could be "activated" when they come in contact with an infected dog - anyone heard this? I need some answers and am not really sure where to go next. I have a skin scrape scheduled for Friday for my gal, but goodness, I have spent almost $400 this month on this and I am not sure how far to go....ANY suggestions??
Again, sorry so long  - I am at the end of my rope and very discouraged!!!!  
THANKS!

 

[BoxerForums]

Oh no  that's terrible. I'll see if I can do some research to find you an answer.

 

[BoxerForums]

I've only found this so far:

Sarcoptic Mange

Sarcoptic mange is a contagious, very itchy disease. The areas that are most commonly affected are the hocks, elbows, ear flaps, and belly, but this form of mange can become generalized. Sarcoptic mange can also affect humans, and human contamination from pets can and does occur.

 

[all4bxrs]

you are cool - thanks - my biopsy came back today - no "bugs"  - a bit of fungus, so now I am wondering if we have ringworm in the house! YUCK! My daughter went to the DR. and she has it - so that may be what it is....know anything about it??? I read via internet that it takes a few weeks to grow it and the vet that did the last one told me in 3 days that there was no fungus, so I will have it done again I guess.....anything that I can start here at home before I spend hundreds? I have searched the net, but no real answers.....thanks SO much!

 

[BoxerForums]

I asked another boxer rescue if they had any ideas for you. This was Amy's reply:


Please read below.. i cant understand why a vet could not tell you this.. but:

This dog didn't have demodex mange it had sarcoptic mange.

 

[all4bxrs]

hummm...no bugs have been found on me......or on my dog.  The scraping of the rescue came back as Demodectic Mites. Not Sarcoptic. I just dont get it. When the patches first showed up on me, I though it was ringworm....but different patches looked different. My biopsy showed fungus. They tested for anything from Rocky Mt. Spotted Fever (this rescue came from Colorado) to bugs, to fungus, bacteria - looked for it all. Just at a loss. I cant imagine that it would be sarcoptic mange, but I have heard that they came sneak away from a skin scrape...so we will do it again on Friday....thanks so much for all of your help!!!!!!

 

[BoxerForums]

No problem, I hope everything works out for you.

 

[BoxerForums]

From Vicki @ http://www.boxerrebound.com

Demodectic mange is not contagious, sarcoptic mange is highly contagious. Also, mange dogs often have secondary staph and/or yeast infections.  The dog must be scraped to accurately diagnose any of these ailments. There is also the possibility of ringworm - very hard to eliminate and very contagious. We had one instance where mange was chronic - that dog had two different kinds of mites and a poor immune system. A healthy, "unstressed" dog will not get Demodex from another dog. At least not that I've ever heard of.
Additionally, every single mange dog we have had has been hypothyroid.

 

[Ladyann]

:idea: Ok, I know this will sound crazy........  When we first brought little sheba home we went through this.  Vet gave us this cream we had to apply.  This went on for a month, sheba did not get better, vet wanted to start the dip process.  My friends mom who we all call mama ceil, she is 80+ years in age told me to apply with cotton ball apple cider vinegar.  I know sounds crazy, sheba and house smelled like a salad.  But guess what, after 1 week of doing this no more areas broke out and it was gone within a month.. I guess there is something to back hill's home remedies???  Good luck.

 

[BoxerForums]

LOL, that is crazy. I like it.