Mites and Mange!

[Don]

Our 10 month old "rescued" rott that we have had for 2 months, has been itching and scratching herself for the entire 2 months. It has progressively gotten worse, much worse. She has areas on and around her ears where she has scratched off the hair. She has bald spots on her arm pits and a sore there too. She has been losing hair on his stomach and literally scratches herself 24 hours a day! We took her to a Vet who prescribed prednisone and special diet for food allergies. WE have been giving her benadryl and other antihistamines with no result. The prednisone increases appetite and thirst and caused her to pee all over the house. Finally, we took her to another vet, who diagnosed her as having mites, which cause mange. This is Sarcoptic mange, I believe. Our other dog, contracted it also. It is highly contagious. For those of you who responded to my itchy scratchy story before, this seems to be the diagnosis. It is treated by injection to kill the mites, prednisone for a couple more days to help with itch, and then a dip to help kill any remaining mites. We also need to completely sterilize all the bedding. These mites are contagious to humans too, but cannot live on humans apparently so treatment is not necessary. If anyone else has undergone this experience, please respond. The injection used was Ivermectin. At last, an answer, a diagnosis and a treatment that definitely looks encouraging! There were 2 others out there experiencing the same symptoms. Have your Vet do a skin scrape to look for these miserable little mites that can cause so much damage! Even death eventually if left untreated! I had never heard of this before this rottweiler. It is also sometimes referred to as scabies.
I felt the need to give as much information as possible here for those of you who were like me, unaware of this condition.


------------------
Brina's mom