Demodectic Mange

In the picture, you can see her pink nose where the vet
scraped it for a skin sample. Above her eye, in the top
of the picture is a small white patch. This is the
remains of the infection.

Shortly after Bella's experience at the doggie day care I noticed a spot on her head in front of her right ear with three tiny scabs. Because she often bashes through bushes in search of her tennis ball, I attributed the scratches to a tangle with blackberries. However, a week later, I noticed the three tiny spots had coalesced into one big spot and she was losing fur in the area. I am uncertain if she sustained the wound playing at day care or sticking her head in brambles. A few days later, the spot—and fur loss—was even greater. There was also a barely discernible little white patch on top of her muzzle.

I took her to the vet who gave me an antibiotic ointment to clear up the spot by her ear. After ten days, the spot looked better, but was by no means healed. Ten more days of the cream, Entederm, finally seemed to get a handle on it. However, the spot on her nose became more noticeable and there was increasing fur loss there also. The little white patch, though not very big was more prominent and now looked like gray, scaly skin.

Back to the vet. Today's diagnosis is demodectic mange. Non-contagious and usually something you only see on puppies. In fact, my vet said most dogs have these mites on them at all times, but their immune systems keep them in check. Could Bella's system have been compromised because of the infection by her ear? Possibly. My vet felt it was not connected to the day care, merely coincidental.

She suggested putting a little dab of non-cortisonal neosporin on her muzzle twice a day until it clears. I'm hoping while she is with her sister, my in-laws will keep up the care. I hate to leave town with any medical issues, however slight, on the plate.