Floyd Posted August 28, 2002 Report Share Posted August 28, 2002 Hi. We have a half B.C. puppy of 9 months old. He has just started scratching and biting all over his body. The vet took a scrapping for mange/mites. These were negative but the vet did not rule out mites. He gave us Amitiaz (Aludex) to put on his legions once a week. He is no better.I have no confidence in our vet now. From what i can see its not dry skin and there are no common fleas. He has a healthy diet and is in fine health otherwise. Can any one recommend shampoos or diets or explanations to this anoying problem please ? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted August 28, 2002 Report Share Posted August 28, 2002 I would find another vet. If the scratching is not getting better I would ask for blood work to be done in order to rule out a medical condition like pancreatitis. I had a german shepherd who had a very slight case of it that was chronic and her only symptom was severe scratching...Get a second opinion You could try an oatmeal based shampoo or hypoallergenic. Kim Centreville, VA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEL Posted August 28, 2002 Report Share Posted August 28, 2002 Your vet may have been referring to demodectic mange. All dogs have some of these mites, so a skin scraping may show some mites...what determines if there is a problem is if there are symptoms...such as what you are saying. Your pup is at a common age for a spot of demodex - the immune system can sometimes be playing catch-up in a growing adolescent, and the mites temporarily get the upper hand...hence the itching. Usually, the recommended treatment is none for localized spots of demodex, especially in a puppy. The reason is that the pup should grow out of it as his immune system matures. Pups that have it so bad as to require treatment, or who do not grow out of it, should not be bred, and their breeder should be notified, as this type is hereditary and can lead to Generalized Demodex, which involves multiple lesions all over the body and is a bugger to treat - pun intended! If your pup just has a couple of itchy lesions, you can get goodwinol ointment from many wholesale dog supply catalogs. The most common prescribed treatment for demodex is the Mitaban Dip [active ingredient is Amitraz] The thing with the dip is that you must first shampoo with a benzoyl peroxide shampoo to open the hair follicles...otherwise the amitraz doesn't get at the mites. My old dog has been battling Generalized Demodex for a couple of years now. We did the Mitaban dips first, and the problem subsided...but came back with a vengeance about a year later. We treated him with Interceptor this time - a double dose, daily, for 3 mo - and it worked great! Its important tho to remember that it is normal for the dog to have *some* demodectic mites....so when your vet said he couldn't rule out mites, he probably meant that he found some on the slide, but without a "baseline" for your pup there is no real way of knowing if the concentration of mites was "normal" for him. Giving you something to treat him is a good bet to confirm - or not - the diagnosis. If he responds, then chances are he did have a touch of the mange...if he doesn't, then you know to look elsewhere for the problem. Here is a link to an article that says it all much better than I: http://www.marvistavet.com/html/demodectic_mange.html janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OCDBC Posted August 28, 2002 Report Share Posted August 28, 2002 Also check for allergies. Daphne has reactions to something from time to time, and starts scratching alot. I give her oatmeal baths and benadryl until it calms down. Good Luck! ------------------ Cindy & Daphne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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