[DexTheWrecker]

So... Dex is a very, very itchy puppy. About two and a half months ago when we first started asking our vet about the itching, he asked a couple of questions and immediately diagnosed with scabies-- without a skin scraping, and yes, Dex had a tiny patch of missing hair near one of his hips. He put him on Revolution treatments every two weeks foorrrrr the last two months. Dex was also getting big scabs, so the vet put him on cephalexin (sp?) so they wouldn't turn into staff pustules (gotta love the technical terms).

Well, the itch wasn't going away and I was nervous about putting such a young pup on meds for so long, so I got a second opinion. There was another tiny hairless patch (smaller than dime-sized) near his belly, so the second vet did a skin scraping with clear results.

That was right before New Years. The itch is still there. Now he's itching at his eyes and his nipples. We've changed his diet because the vet thought it was allergies- he is now eating I.D. food. He doesn't get any treats aside from goldfish crackers. One vet even suggested using Selson Blue incase his skin was just really dry due to the cold, but that hasn't worked either.

I just noticed that when I pull the skin right under his eyes flat, the corners right in between his eyes and his nose are pretty bare. It's not a spot I've paid particular attention to before, so I can't honestly say if anything has changed. Is that normal?

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Poor little thing is up half the night scratching!! :roll:

 

[sharonL]

Well......of course it could be a number of things but.....the issue of him itching all the time, the patch of hair missing and the thin hair around the eyes does all point to sarcoptic mange.  I am not sure why the first vet did not scrape but just because the second vet came up clear does not mean they are not there, because they are very hard to find some times.....

You did not say how old your puppy was so it is hard to make suggestions, but I can say that using Revolution to treat it would be a very slow process and in the meantime the mites are still there and moving which would cause the continued itch...

Here is a pic of a dog that has it and it shows how the hair thins around the eye area....

How old is your dog and maybe we can come up with some suggestions to talk to your vet about

 

[DexTheWrecker]

He's only five months old. His eyes don't look that bad...yet...  and the bare spots are really only noticeable when you stretch his wrinkles out.

 

[sharonL]

My personal favorite, at the present time is ivermectin treatments in the office, but your vet may have another choice, such as lime-sulfur dip which can also be bought at places like this


http://www.entirelypets.com/limesulfur16.html

It smells bad but it works FAST!  Good Luck!

 

[DexTheWrecker]

Thank you! I appreciate it! I'll ask my vet about that on Monday.

 

[tazboxer]

I dont know if this could help you but my dog had generalized demodectic mange recently, and since scabies and mange are skin issue ill tell u wat i did.
our vet told us to give him dips and all this complicated medicine but we ignored him and didnt do the dips or any of that other crap.
Instead we changed his food, we put him on pre-made raw diet by mountain dog food as staple(costs about 70$ a month to feed a our 7 month old), and gave him raw fish, eggs, and upped his vegetable intake on the side. We also bought organic apple cider vinegar the one that looks like its unfiltered and bathed him in that weekly, put some in a spray bottle and sprayed it on sections where he was itchy throughout the day, and put some in his food/drinking water.
In 1.5 months his golden fawn coat has grown back perfectly, skin 100% healed and healthy. Last week we took him to get his skin scraped test and no mites were found at all. 300$ saved. ps he was 6 months when all this started.

 

[nano]

My dogs had the scabies this last year, possibly picked up from other animals in our yard we didn't know about.  I think that it is very difficult to always diagnose with a skin scrape.  We just went ahead and did the treatment without the scrape.  All signs pointed to the scabies. We treated with the Ivermectrin once a week for four weeks.  It took care of the problem and they were much happier.  They didn't seem to mind the Ivermectrin that we gave orally at all.  They say it doesn't taste good, but we just squirted into their mouths once a week and I gave them a treat afterwards.  It takes the entire 4 weeks to knock them  out though, so is still a slow process.  Poor little guy.

Nano