Update on Harley, plus a picture - Paw Talk

Crazy Chin Lady · #1 08-21-2004, 07:00 PM

We took Harley to an emergency vet today, simply because she was scratching so much that she was scabbing up everywhere and losing fur.

They did skin scrapings and couldn't find mites. They thought it may be mange, but it turned out that it wasn't.

They gave her an injection of ivomec and she is going to be on some steroids to help her out. They said that we should see an improvement by tomorrow. We are also going to keep the original appointment that was on Tuesday, just for a follow up.

The picture of Harley I'm about to post is from before the scratching started, that's why she looks so well. Right now she has a cone on, just because we don't want her tearing herself up.

chocolatepuppy · #2 08-21-2004, 08:26 PM

Harley is such a pretty girl! Poor baby I hope she's feeling better and I hope you find out what is wrong with her!

Formula86 · #3 08-21-2004, 11:31 PM

aw! what a cutie!! tell her i'm sorry about her stupid cone!

Crazy Chin Lady · #4 08-21-2004, 11:34 PM

She really hates the cone. Poor dog can't even walk straight with the thing on. But, it prevents her from scratching and possibly opening her wounds more and getting an infection.

I feel so bad for her. She hated being at the vet. Was like a wet noodle on the table.

In fact, right now she's scraping along the carpet with the cone.

Hopefully by tomorrow she's a lot better and won't have to have the cone on. We'll see though.

**kittygurl823** · #5 08-22-2004, 01:13 AM

Awww! Bless her heart!

I hope she starts feeling better soon!! Give her a head pat for me!

She is so cute!!!!!!

DirtySouthChins · #6 08-22-2004, 03:26 AM

Poor Harley.... Ya know what's strange I was talking to my mom about how Dakota and Beau are just constantly scratching and itching and have lost fur in certain spots, and have scabs, and through our trying times of going to the vet's nothing is working, nothing shows up on the skin tests, so they treated it like mange but those med's didn't work either, so we are at a loss.... We are just doing everything we can to keep them comfortable and we are also applying a baby oil / aloe vera combo to help sooth their skin, they seem to be getting better, but those poor babies have been through some miserable months. My mom said one of her doxie's is going through the same thing and that her vet mentioned to her that he is seeing alot of this in dog's this summer, hmmm strange that something could be causing such a skin allergy and yet nobody knows what it is.
Again I'm glad Harley is doing better, it is times like this I wish we had an american vet they just tend to treat things a little better is all.

Crazy Chin Lady · #7 08-22-2004, 10:01 AM

Unfortunately for us, she's still scratching, so the cone had to go on again.

They're treating it like mange here, too. Put her on a certain injection for it. And the steroids, they seem to be working a little, but not much. She still scratches quite a bit.

I just don't get it, either. We know it's not fleas, as she's on Frontline. And the vet said she's too young for allergies. I'm at a loss.

capnsweets · #8 08-22-2004, 12:21 PM

Poor thing, she is gorgeous. I hope she starts feeling better soon!@

DirtySouthChins · #9 08-22-2004, 01:49 PM

too young for allergies? That is strange because Dakota is only a year old and Beau is only 9 months and they are said to have some type of skin allergy just not sure what it is or what is causing it.
Yeah our 2 keep scratching like crazy as well, poor Beau got shaved down today or at least his back 1/2 and he looks soooooo funny, but that is the only way we can apply the baby oil /aloe combo to help sooth his skin. Ours get frontline as well, but unfortunately we can't get frontline plus here and the regular top spot is worthless in my book, so we also use the spray every 2-3 weeks to help in preventing fleas. It is a struggle here with flea control that is for sure. However we know it isn't fleas that is causing this so it is really strange...... I hope Harley feels better soon, because I know our 2 have been going through this since the beginning of spring and it's horrible

dappledoxie · #10 08-22-2004, 04:26 PM

Poor Harley! I love that pic, I do hope that you figure out what's going on.

Millimi · #11 08-22-2004, 04:41 PM

I hope Harley feels better soon.

She's a gorgeous dog! She looks just like the dog my friend and I walk, Bubba, although he's only seven months old.

Crazy Chin Lady · #12 08-22-2004, 11:53 PM

We have some spray that has aloe in it. I told Dan we should really try that, as it may soothe her skin and at least stop some of the scratching for a while.

While she hasn't been persistent about scratching, the steroids do not seem to be helping a single bit.

I'm hoping with her follow up they'll at least find something!! She's just so miserable, and she absolutely hates the cone, but who can blame her on that!?!

By the way, thank you for all the compliments on Harley.

She's getting a big head now because of it.

pihlaja · #13 08-23-2004, 02:02 AM

It's strange that your vet seems to think she's too young to have allergies. Like Kim pointed out, allergies are not an age-related problem but usually rather a genetic one.

Perhaps you should do some research on dog allergies and bring the findings to your vet's attention.

Also, if the itching/scratching seems to get better as fall and winter set in, this should be another clue that it could be allergies (since you said this started at the beginning of spring).

Give poor Harley a hug from me (

) and maybe a little pity scratch behind the ears.

Crazy Chin Lady · #14 08-23-2004, 11:19 AM

Unfortunately for us, it wasn't our regular vet that looked at her. They were booked solid until Tuesday, so I had no choice but to make an appointment then. We went to an emergency vet out here by us, as our other vet is about 15 minutes away.

I love our regular vet. They can tell us almost immediately what's wrong. I also believe it's allergies, as during the spring time and winter time she doesn't scratch. It's just now she is, more toward fall.

I'm at a loss. At first we thought it was her dog food, because we were doing a gradual change to another brand. So, we took her off of that completely, thinking it would help. It was obviously not the food, because she still scratches.

I think the steroids may be helping a little bit now, as I've only seen her truly scratching only a couple of times today. She nibbles a bit, but she's not nearly as persistent as when it first started. Hopefully tomorrow they'll find something out. I'm going to bring the paperwork from the emergency vet to our regular vet tomorrow.

DirtySouthChins · #15 08-24-2004, 04:02 AM

I hope your regular vet can pin point what is wrong.....And please let us know as I'm curious because our poor 2 suffer from the same symptoms and nothing is being done. Well they were on the steroids as though they were being treated for mange, but it didn't work. Poor Beau of course is the worse and now Dakota is beginning to have some hair thinning I truly believe it is the weather here and I am hoping it is only a spring/summer thing and even than I pray we can find a way to control this, so they don't go through this every year.
Keep us updated!!!