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| Charlie |
My foster dog Charlie went to the vet to get checked out for some missing hair, and we learned he has demodex mange. This is not contagious to other dogs, but it will require several months of treatment. So in addition to medicine for the mange and medicine for secondary skin infections, Charlie will also be receiving weekly baths. Poor guy is not very happy with me right now!
Charlie's not the only hairless dog around here though. Meet Bogey, a Shar-Pei mix. He's missing a lot more hair than Charlie, but he doesn't have mange or any other skin conditions that the vet can find. They're doing some tests to try to determine the problem, but it may just be that Bogey is going to always be mostly hairless.
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| Bogey |
Bogey came to my house after escaping his previous foster home and going on the run for a week. He had countless volunteers out looking for him and was spotted several times but was too shy to approach anyone. Eventually he was caught in a live trap and came here. He used to be best friends with Charlie at the shelter they both lived at, so I thought they might like seeing each other again. However Charlie seems to think that since he was here first, he should get all the attention and he's not making Bogey feel welcome. Poor Bogey is very afraid of me, doesn't want to play with the other dogs, and just looks really sad all the time.
He's also getting medicine for ear infections and an injury he received while on the run, so I'm playing doctor a lot these days. Hopefully Bogey will start to settle in soon and feel better.
12 comments:
I have heard that Sharpeis need a grain free diet ,do you think that might be it since he is a Pei mix ?
I remember a Sharpei that used to blog.. a long time ago.. and she had to be on a grain free diet.. and watched like a hawk beclaws she would Snitch bread crumbs and stuffs.
Poor pups I hope they get hair back soon!
this blog had a dog whose coat/skin looks a lot like Charlie, she covers her allergy diet in detail: http://awinnieday.blogspot.com/search/label/Allergy
Yep, pei's can be very grain-sensitive. Try a food switch!
Aw, hair or no hair, they are good looking. I hope you can get to the bottom of Bogey's problem. We know Charlie's will clear up. Once again, they're in the best of hands - yours!
Do u say u pulled him from a place that had to get rid of a ton or they'd all be put to sleep because of funding? Something like that. Was he from dent county?
All - I will try a grain free diet and hope that helps! We're also doing blood work and testing his thyroid to try to rule out any other issues. If none of that works, I'll keep trying various foods to try to find one that works well for him.
Ashton - Yep both Charlie and Bogey as well as Fanny came from Dent County. They do a great job with saving dogs, but have so many dogs given up in that area that they can't get them all adopted, and had to give up some due to not enough space. Most people don't spay/neuter their pets and just dump them when they get tired of them. Dent County was great about letting me take some of their special needs/old-timers which I specifically requested. Oh and I asked for Fanny who isn't special needs or anything, just because I love Basset Hounds. :-) I really enjoyed working with Dent County to get these dogs - they are all very caring and great volunteers!
We (heartland) took 5 from dent county as well. 2 dogs and 3 kitty's! I thought your post from earlier sounded a bit like a familiar situation! Glad to see you pulled some too and helped them out. :)
Did the vet do a skin scraping on Bogey? Poor fella looks like he has "elephant skin" (lichenification, if you want to get scientific about it!) - something that happens after a lengthy bout with yeast infections.
A grain intolerance, allergy, fleas, impacted anal glands and a bunch of other things can contribute to a battle with yeastie beasties (which are easy to clear up, but'll keep coming back if the underlying problem is still there, and then the poor pup will end up looking like Bogey.) Sometimes yeast gets missed on a routine exam as a cause of skin issues like Bogey's because the yeasties aren't present (or are present but in normal amounts) even though the damage is already done.
It's just a thought and something to bring up with the vet - if it is elephant skin, it's easy to clear up, relatively cheap to treat, but time consuming...really bad cases can take up to five months to go back to normal!
Poor little fella. Wish I could give him a hug!
Hi Caitlin, thanks for that info! The vet did do a skin scrape with no findings. His skin isn't itchy and never seems to bother him, but who knows! I will talk to the vet about that and see what she thinks.
On the hair loss...if you haven't found the cause it could be allergies. I was sure Cinnamon, chihuahua, had mange but all she has was allergies. We changed the food to a corn free variety and put her on benedryl (as prescribed dosage by our vet) and her hair has almost fully grown back. her new adoptive pawrents have mentioned she is getting better and better. Good Luck!!!
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