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Adventures With Demodex


Guest Quirkderk

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Guest Quirkderk

Well that's a rather cheeky title, but that's pretty much how I feel about it at the moment. :seesaw

 

Hello, hello! So I have TWO greyhounds now, Quirkey and Macy. :beatheart We adopted Macy on July 20th and she is something else. She is a black female and her personality is...well...her nickname is "Mace in your Face" because she just LOOOOOOVES attention, often to the point of being a real nuisance when you are trying to walk anywhere.

 

Anyways, I noticed about 3 weeks ago that she had a spot the size of a quarter on her neck/by her shoulder where the fur was missing. It looked irritated and red so I brought her to the vet. And surprise, it's demodex. The vet gave me pyoben, which I have been using, and started to go over treatment options with me. But I am still a little hesitant if I should start anything because:

 

1) she does not seem to be bothered in any way, no scratching of any kind

2)we did just adopt her in July so I'm sure she is probably stressed, so stressed=immune system weak

 

Her spots aren't red anymore, but she does have a generalized infection so I see little spots on her shoulders and the top of her rump now. And it is approaching winter so she seems to be shedding more. I give her a probiotic once/day, Vitamin C, and fish oil all mixed with her food. My vet is skeptical that she will be able to overcome this on her own, but I know that she has had a lot of big life changes in a short period of time so I'm trying to support her immune system and keep her life stress-free first before I start using drugs. And I do like my vet, but after the experience I had with Quirkey earlier this year (vet saw he had a positive Babesia titer, wanted to treat even though Q had no symptoms, I insisted on PCR first which did turn out negative) I'm just a little worried he advocates meds too quickly.

 

Has anyone else experienced something similar with demodex? Any recommendations for supporting a good immune system, stress free ideas?

 

Thanks! :gh_run2

Edited by Quirkderk
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If it's just a single spot that isn't getting worse, you could just continue with the Pyoben shampoo. But if she develops more areas of thinned hair or bald spots, or if the one she has gets larger, I would definitely recommend treating. Most vets these days prefer to treat with daily oral ivermectin instead of the amitraz dips.

Jennifer &

Willow (Wilma Waggle), Wiki (Wiki Hard Ten), Carter (Let's Get It On),

Ollie (whippet), Gracie (whippet x), & Terra (whippet) + Just Saying + Just Alice

gtsig3.jpg

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Just went through this with our new girl Baby. We treated her with Ivermection, just as Jennifer said, for four weeks and after that a skin scrape showed no more mites.

Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel

Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee

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