If it isnt mange its ...?

[Ruth_F]

Hi
My poor leukemia riddled beagle's skin is really bad. He now looks like one of those RSPCA neglect cases where mange has been left untreated for an age but 2 months ago his coat was fine. He has been to the vets twice in the past 3 weeks.
Vet 1 gave him steriods and thought it was probably due to his cancer.
After it his skin got worse over Christmas we took him back. Saw a different vet who is now treating him for mange (we are nearly a week in and it doesnt seem to be working). We have 3 other dogs and they all sleep together and are allowed on the sofa etc. All the other dogs are fine, so I'm wondering how this could possibly be mange as that is really contagious?
I know we will be back at the vets in a few days, but has anyone got any suggestions as to what could be wrong with his skin I can fire at the vet?

 

[JoanneF]

Any chance of a picture?

 

[JudyN]

I know someone on another forum who has several dogs, one of whom had/has really bad mange - she treated it constantly but he had a damaged immune system so it was very hard to eradicate. To my knowledge, none of the other dogs ever caught it so I wouldn't rule it out as a possibility.

Though there's more than one type of mange and I don't know if one is more infectious than the other.

I hope you get an answer and your beagle is feeling much more comfortable soon.

 

[Ruth_F]

Will do when he wakes up, he isnt the sort of dog you disturb when he's sleeping if you want to keep all your fingers

 

[JoanneF]

The saying 'let sleeping dogs lie' exists for a reason!

 

[Ruth_F]

Photos of my poor boy, although it looks better here than in reality! His undercarriage is very sore, and the fur on his back is the bit that is still in the best nick.

 

[JoanneF]

First a disclaimer; I am not a vet and anything I suggest on any forum post should be discussed with your vet.

Poor boy, he does look sore. It does look like mange, and @JudyN is absolutely right, there are two types of mange, caused by two different types of mite. You could ask your vet to do a skin scrape to identify the presence of mites if he hasn't already done that. My understanding is that one type, sarcoptic mange, is more infectious than the other (which is demodectic mange or demodecosis as some people don't classify it in the same way) so I wonder if demodectic is perhaps the more likely of the two since there isn't any cross infection. All dogs, and humans, have microscopic demodex mites that live in our pores. There was actually a point about this on 'Duck Quacks Don't Echo' last week! These don't normally bother dogs but if he is elderly or ill, they can then cause a flare-up and an irritation. If this irritation is caused by mites, your vet might be able to prescribe something to control the mites (whichever type they are), antibiotics if appropriate for any bacterial infection of the affected area, and/or something to control the irritation. Demodectic mange can take quite a while to clear and that might be why you haven't seen any results yet. I hope that helps.

 

[Josie]

Aw your poor boy @Ruth_F - I hope it clears up soon for him x

 

[Ruth_F]

Barry had a bad weekend, and the vet suspected liver failure or something else equally difficult to treat. To diagnose would have been a battery of tests, blood tests and skin scrapings. His quality of life and age meant it wasnt worth it so he was put to sleep today.
He had a good retirement with us after a long time in rehoming kennels

 

[JoanneF]

So sorry to hear this Ruth and I'm sorry your joining the forum has been under such sad circumstances. I hope you will stay around and tell us about your other dogs.

 

[excuseme]

Dear Barry. RIP.

 

[Josie]

I’m so sorry @Ruth_F :-(

He was very lucky to live out his life with you and his 3 four legged companions

 

[JudyN]

I'm so very sorry :-(