Mange versus dry skin

[corgimom]

As some of you may remember, when Colleen's foster mother found her, she had a serious case of mange. We were told to keep an eye on her because it could come back.

At Colleen's first grooming appointment, the groomer said that she used moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, because Colleen had severely dry skin. Lucas' mom, who was a dog groomer before being disabled in a motorcycle accident, was not surprised to hear this. Apparently, in our climate, collies are prone to skin problems. For Christmas, she (Lucas' mom) gave Colleen a groomer quality moisturizing shampoo and a skin/coat supplement to add to her food. Too soon to tell if it will help.

For the past couple of weeks, Colleen has consistantly had one or two spots that she'll itch to the point of creating huge thick scabs, and minor hair loss. Then it will heal up, and she'll pick another spot. Her skin in general looks very red, scaly and dry. It looks alot like my elbows do at the moment, just typical symptoms of dry skin (my skin dries out in the winter because of the heater running).

Because it is so localized, I really do think it is just dry skin, but because of her past experience with mange, I just wanted to check in here and see what you all thought. You can't even notice that there is any hair missing at all, until you go to the spot that you know she's been scratching so that you can clean it for her. Then you can notice that the fur on top of the scab is thinner that the rest of the fur. She has no actual bald patches or anything like that.

Thoughts? And any idea how long it should be before we can expect to see results from the food supplement?

[Formula86]

Penny (my Yorkie) has itchy skin, too. I would think that with mange it would be all over. ??? Also, wouldn't the areas be pretty bald?

Try putting some all natural anti-itch cream on it (like Aveeno) and then some baby powder on top of that. That should help. Also, you can give her an oatmeal bath after bathing her with the special shampoos and conditioners. But try to bathe her as little as possible.

Maybe you can bring a skin scrape to the vet.

[Leo]

I would call the vet... what you are describing sounds like it could be the beginning stages of mange... it will be easier for the vet (and cheaper) to fix it in the beginning stages than waiting to bring her in until you are for sure it is mange. If it isn't mange, at the very least they should be able to give you something to help with the itching that is specifically for dogs.

[corgimom]

Update: I left a message for my favorite vet in the office to give me a call so that I can discuss this with him and get his opinion on whether or not she should come in for a skin scraping, or if we should wait a week or so and see if the supplements/shampoo help at all. He is in surgery right now, so I just need to wait for him to call me back.

[Formula86]

I'm glad you called the vet. That's always the best thing.

[corgimom]

Update: vet didn't call me back. I'm guessing his surgery ran late and he didn't get his messages before he left.

Unfortunately, the redness/hair loss seems to be spreading. I am NOT going to wait for him to call me back tomorrow to get an opinion over the phone. I'm going to call first thing in the morning and see if they can get her in the same day. I have the day off of work due to the holiday, so I can take her in at any time.

Please keep Colleen in your thoughts. This is not looking good at all. She has thinned fur in places where she does not have any scabs from scratching. I am very concerned that this may be mange.

eta: In the meantime, I have some doggy hydrocortizone cream on it, to help with any itching. Unfotunately (for Colleen), I had to spray some bitter apple on top of the hydrocortizone to keep her from licking the cream off.

[Leo]

Yikes!!! I will be keeping her in my thoughts and prayers... poor baby... I hope she is feeling better soon.

[mulder]

Best Wishes

[Vanilla_Rat]

Awwww...poor baby! I have you guys in my thoughts!

[sara8]

Awww I will keep you both in my thoughts today. Give us an update as soon as you know something!!

[corgimom]

They were booked for today, so I made an appt for 8 am tomorrow. The vet did call me back this morning, but I was in bed and missed his call. I just called back and left a message for him letting him know that I made an appt for tomorrow.

I'll update tomorrow morning when we get back from the vet.

[mulder]

*fingers crossed*

[sara8]

Quote: Originally Posted by mulder *fingers crossed*

me too!!