c.l.

Our little girl (3 yo F Lab) has had a skin rash for awhile that has got
progressively worse. Last Monday she went to the vet and he suspected staph
or funal infection so she was on cephalexin and a medicated shampoo 2x/week.

Last night her rash "exploded" to the point where she couldn't sit or lie
down. She paced about and panted all night to the point I took her to the
emerg clinic to rule out bloat.

This morning she went to the vet again and now he's thinking more of a
parasitic infestation than the staph/fungus of earlier. He's leaning
towards mange. So we got the dip he gave us and did that this afternoon (my
goodness how messy).

Quesion: if it IS mange how long before the dip has an effect? At what
point of seeing no change can we say the dip wasn't effective and therefore
probably not mange?

In the meantime we're keeping her doped up on Benadryll so she doesn't
scratch her arm off. The poor thing had me up all night. We're just
hoping she gets better.

emily carroll

What are you feeding her?

Can have a LOT to do with skin issues

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wolfje

To the OP.... Your questions are very good. You should be asking them
of your vet. Dogs are as individual in their reactions to all
medications as people are.

The vet did do a skin scraping to look for the mite that causes mange,
didn't he?

Jo Wolf
Martinez, Ge****a

pat

That reminds me of my last German Shepherd.
Skin scraps...tablets ...baths..etc.
It seemed like it was never ending.
Bonnie was so sore and red I could have cried for her.
Then on the 4th visit to the vets he said they thought they knew what it
was.
It turned out to be Chicken.
Just a thought that may be worth sharing.
Pat.

buglady

2x/week.

...........for one thing there's no way to know if it's fungal or not without
taking a culture. Did the vet do that? Did he do a skin scraping looking
for mites? Sometimes you cannot find mites though it is better than
guessing at what the problem might be. Does your lab swim somewhere on a daily basis?

So we got the dip he gave us and did that this afternoon (my


...........What kind of dip? Lime/sulfur dips take care of most of the
parasitic skin problems dogs might have - mange or fungal and are pretty
non-toxic to boot. I canpt remember if it takes care of Staph right this
minute, though you could check on the web. Mitiban dips can be dangerous
and do nothing for fungal problems so shouldn't be used unless nothing else
works and you're sure it's mites. Even then I think they use Ivermectin off label now for mites.

.........Last Dec. I took in a skeleton of a dog. Since then we've been
doing weekly lime/sulfur dips. He had one kind of fungal infection, then
another. Unfortunately neither of these fungal species can be found by
blacklight, so I'm stuck doing fungal cultures. Not being starving and on
her last legs (this dog was so debilitated even the ticks weren't
interested!) your dog will recover much quicker unless her immune sytem is
compromised for some reason. And any dog that ends up with Staph, a normal
skin critter, probably has something going on internally. The first thing I
would do is make sure that they do skin scrapings, a fungal culture and
maybe get some basic bloodwork done.

......Yes Benedryl can help as if it is fungal the dips won't take effect
right away.

........And as someone else mentioned, food can have a lot to do with it.
Try keeping a daily log of food and activities, noting when the scratching
gets worse.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

c.l.

She's on Nature's Recipe Veggie Allergy formula.

On Monday, she got a shot of something (just can't remember the name). The
fact that it hasn't been effective by Saturday is what made the vet think it
wasn't an allergy issue.

c.l.

No no and no.


It smelled like turpentine. Mixed a ounce to a gallon of water and it was
milky looking. . .I have the bottle downstairs but don't recall the name offhand.


She gets a cup twice a day of NR Veggie Allergy. Not much more than that.

Keep the ideas coming!

c.l.

I've seen one too many of these replies to hold my tongue any longer. . . .

Do you think I would take the time to come to these newsgroups if I wasn't a
responsible owner? Or go to the vet three times in one week? These
arrogant responses have no place in this forum. You offered absolutely no
help, merely succeding in ticking me off.

I come to these groups to get advice and hear people's first hand stories of
how THEY dealt with similar situations. I can then take THAT information
with me when I go to the vet. See how it works? An informed patient is a
healthier patient. I do the same thing for myself--doesn't mean I don't go
to the doctor!

So the next time someone wants to say "take your dog to the vet" or
something of the like, save it.

c.l.

I remembered to bring it up with me!!! Haha.

Synerkyl Pet Dip. Active Ingr: Pyrethrins and Piperonyl Butoxide Technical.
Hope that helps.

Oh, so the original question: How long will it take before we notice a
difference (if it IS mange and this dip works)? We call the vet back on
Tuesday so I'd just like to know what sort of reactions we should/shouldn't
be seeing. Thanks!

sunflower

If your vet didn't perform skin scraping both to look for the mites and to
culture for bacteria and fungi, then you need another vet. Guessing what the
problem is and treating it with an steriod injection and an insecticidal dip
that won't treat a fungal or a bacterial infection and is pretty iffy for
mange as well is malpractice. If it were mange, and that should be fairly
evident if you take multiple site scraping samples, then that would have
showed up right away under the microscope at the office and would be
treatable with a series of simple ivermectin injections. One poster
suggested lime sulpher dip, which WILL work on bacterial and fungal
infections and is available for low cost at your local co-op. Using it is
also "guessing", but at least it isn't a guess by a supposedly trained
professional. Your vet should have also suggested testing for allergies as
well. Guessing what a problem is and only prescribing band aid solutions is
not the sign of a competent vet.