Our Golden Retriever has finally found relief. A couple of months ago, what seemed like overnight, our dog started scratching excessively. She rarely ever scratched in the five years that we had her. We nicknamed her "Thumper" because we could hear her scratching from across the house.
The Long Road to a Diagnosis
The first visit to the vet showed no signs of anything obvious. There were a couple of red spots in her ears from which the vet took a scraping to test for mites. The test came back negative and we left the office with the instructions to "wait and see."
The itching got progressively worse so we focused on the fact that it could be allergies. This was spring time so it was easy to conclude pollen was to blame. We also changed her food just in case. She continued to scratch and her skin on her belly began turning black. When she started losing hair on her elbows and we saw the encrusted skin underneath, we returned to the vet for another scraping. And yes, this time the test came back positive for sarcoptic mange (i.e. "dog mites" or" scabies").
Ivermectin Treatment
She was immediately given a shot of Ivermectin; which is a very high concentration of the active ingredient in heart worm medication. We also came home with an antihistamine and an antibiotic. We were instructed to bring her back for three more shots; a week apart. The Ivermectin worked wonders. We saw improvement after the first dose. By the second dose the scratching was all but gone. By the third week she had been off the antihistamine for a couple of days so she was her old bouncy self and she continued to be itch-free.
By the fourth doze, we could conclude that she was healed and the mites were gone. Her skin was regaining its normal color as the black was fading. We haven't noticed her scratch since. It is a wonderful feeling to see her comfortable again. We've learned that although the diagnosis of mites in dogs isn't always easy, the treatment is.
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