Doggie dermatologist finds Demodex!
After two months watching hair grow slowly, slowly, finally some real progress is at hand. My 11-year-old boxer, Homie, has visited the fountain of youth.
The thyroid medication added to two sulfur baths a week seemed to be clearing up Homie's skin problem slowly and giving him a bit more energy, so I'd about decided not to do the expensive allergy testing. But this last vet visit, there was a new doc, a sub. She took one look at Homie and said "Allergy dog!" So, I plunked down the $300 for testing and we gave blood. But she also referred us to a dermatology specialist.
Turns out that on the far back side of a huge complex of different types of human medical practice offices there is a little building occupied by veterinary specialists. Who'd a' thunk it? It was very much like going to see my own occasional specialist except that one office with a very long counter accommodated several different specialties, each with its own intake station. The waiting room was a lot more interesting, a bit like an all-breed dog show. I kept my distance from the jet black, long-legged, long-nosed weimeraner mix with the uneasy owner and a leash looped suspiciously around her muzzle.
The dermatologist was very young (probably fresh out of grad school), friendly, and sharp. She looked and listened, then shook her head and said, "Definitely not allergies, just doesn't fit." She whisked Homie into another room. When they came back, she had a big smile and a triumphant expression. "It's Demodex! Lots of them!" She invited me into the lab to look at it in the microscope.
Demodex is a genus of mites with elongated body and very stubby legs that lives in hair follicles. She drew me a little sketch of how they reproduce, fill up the follicle, and plug it. Heck, I know all about Demodex. There is a species that lives in human eyebrow and eyelash hair follicles. I used to always tell my squeamish students about them, how they crawl out of the follicles at night and have sex on our faces. The upside, I tell them, is that at least they don't poop on our faces because they have no anus!
Only when the immune system is compromised do they cause any problem, in dogs or us, because then their population growth explodes. Homie's low thyroid and the stress of being abandoned for so long while I took two long trips could have impaired his immune system, plus just being old.
So we went home with a nasty liquid medicine, two syringes for measuring and squirting it into his mouth, and a new medicated shampoo that flushes hair follicles (among other things). After two days he was clearly improving. We went back to the regular vet to have another thyroid test done (to see if his dose of medication is enough). We canceled the allergy testing and got my money back. Our regular sweetheart of a vet was so embarrassed at missing the Demodex and so happy that somebody found it that we all oooohed and aaaaahed over Homie for nearly an hour. We checked his weight and found that he had gained four pounds in two days and was back to his normal weight for the first time in over two months!
I'm so relieved. The toes on his front paws had been swollen and bright pink in between, and already they are getting skinny and less pink. Hair is filling in faster, his coat feels healthier, he is perkier, he licks less and gets comfortable faster when he lies down. Today he ran around in the park! He was having fun!
The dermatology appointment cost $371 and was worth every penny.
The thyroid medication added to two sulfur baths a week seemed to be clearing up Homie's skin problem slowly and giving him a bit more energy, so I'd about decided not to do the expensive allergy testing. But this last vet visit, there was a new doc, a sub. She took one look at Homie and said "Allergy dog!" So, I plunked down the $300 for testing and we gave blood. But she also referred us to a dermatology specialist.
Turns out that on the far back side of a huge complex of different types of human medical practice offices there is a little building occupied by veterinary specialists. Who'd a' thunk it? It was very much like going to see my own occasional specialist except that one office with a very long counter accommodated several different specialties, each with its own intake station. The waiting room was a lot more interesting, a bit like an all-breed dog show. I kept my distance from the jet black, long-legged, long-nosed weimeraner mix with the uneasy owner and a leash looped suspiciously around her muzzle.
The dermatologist was very young (probably fresh out of grad school), friendly, and sharp. She looked and listened, then shook her head and said, "Definitely not allergies, just doesn't fit." She whisked Homie into another room. When they came back, she had a big smile and a triumphant expression. "It's Demodex! Lots of them!" She invited me into the lab to look at it in the microscope.
Demodex is a genus of mites with elongated body and very stubby legs that lives in hair follicles. She drew me a little sketch of how they reproduce, fill up the follicle, and plug it. Heck, I know all about Demodex. There is a species that lives in human eyebrow and eyelash hair follicles. I used to always tell my squeamish students about them, how they crawl out of the follicles at night and have sex on our faces. The upside, I tell them, is that at least they don't poop on our faces because they have no anus!
Only when the immune system is compromised do they cause any problem, in dogs or us, because then their population growth explodes. Homie's low thyroid and the stress of being abandoned for so long while I took two long trips could have impaired his immune system, plus just being old.
So we went home with a nasty liquid medicine, two syringes for measuring and squirting it into his mouth, and a new medicated shampoo that flushes hair follicles (among other things). After two days he was clearly improving. We went back to the regular vet to have another thyroid test done (to see if his dose of medication is enough). We canceled the allergy testing and got my money back. Our regular sweetheart of a vet was so embarrassed at missing the Demodex and so happy that somebody found it that we all oooohed and aaaaahed over Homie for nearly an hour. We checked his weight and found that he had gained four pounds in two days and was back to his normal weight for the first time in over two months!
I'm so relieved. The toes on his front paws had been swollen and bright pink in between, and already they are getting skinny and less pink. Hair is filling in faster, his coat feels healthier, he is perkier, he licks less and gets comfortable faster when he lies down. Today he ran around in the park! He was having fun!
The dermatology appointment cost $371 and was worth every penny.
posted by Cranky Ol' Lady at 12:08 AM
1 Comments:
What a relief! When things go wrong with our furry kids we feel so helpless! We just got a new puppy who still has a hard time sleeping through the night. A gal at my office told me to "put him in the basement." THAT's not gonny fly. When she shared with me her 5 month old grandson who doesn't sleep through the night is spending a weekend with her, of course *I* said "Put him in the basement!" Same thing.
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