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Well, Diggity has been itching her outside hind legs intermittently since we got her. We thought we were over-bathing her (about every 2 weeks) but we added a rinse per our vet's instructions and cut back to once a month. But last weekend we noticed a few patches of missing hair so we saw the vet yesterday. He said it could be mange but didn't think it was likely. He checked for fleas and such but no luck. Then he did a skin scraping and found that is was in fact mange. However, he said it was a less common form, demodectic mange. Apparently it's picked up from the mother and it's a VERY good reason to have Diggity spayed. (Which, BTW is good news. I wanted her spayed, the wife didn't :hi: )Anyway, the treatment he said can be toxic! He said they have dips and such that on a big dog can leave them dizzy and not want to eat for days. But, we're trying the less-traumatic approach first obviously. She's on an antibiotic and a flea collar. It's a Preventic collar that would normally last 3 months but we're changing it out every 2 weeks to get the full effect of the Amitraz. Also, her neck was shaved to provide full contact with the collar. That seems to be her biggest problem is wanting to scratch at the area and the collar, we still hadn't gotten her used to wearing one yet. Her appetite seems OK but she's having a hard time keeping stuff down. Also, we have to avoid beef products because it tends to reduce the affects of the medicines. Wow, there goes all the treats we just bought and most of the food. This really stinks. She's so not herself and just wants cuddling which we're happy to do. I just hope this course of treatment works and we don't have to do anything harsher.
