I don't know if I can do this anymore!
 

My 1.5 year old Shepherd is a mess! First she was diagnosed with demodectic mange in October and prescribed Ivermectin. At the vet in November the mange was still present so the ivermectin continued. December 8th she tested clear for mange but of course continued her last prescription of ivermectin which we completed no more than a week ago (January 5th I believe).


After not even a week off Ivermectin she is not good…. It started with sores on her paws which we have been to the vet for in the past. I have the antibacterial cream for that and of course Epsom salt soaks followed by a sock afterwards to prevent her from chewing at her paws. Now, the insides of her ears are itchy. She is scratching so bad that her nails caused the inside of the ear to bleed. (this was last night) So, I trimmed her nails, cleaned out the ear with warm water and will look at it again when I get home.

So our shepherd last night had her paw taped up and blood in her ears from excessive scratching...lovely sight!

I am so frustrated. I have been to the vet every month since August of 2012. At what point could this be an immune issue? We were just at the vet on the 5th and spent $160. I can’t keep this up every month…. It’s taxing on our finances and stressful in the house because we can’t seem to catch a break! I just want a normal, healthy dog!

What are you feeding?

I should add that she is on Orijen Adult Dog Food supplimented daily with Kelp, salmon oil & yogurt. No human food and the treats she gets are grain free. Once a week she gets a raw elk bone to chew on.

Could be environmental allergies... your struggle sounds a lot like what we went through. I would recommend making an appointment with a dermatologist, and consider having an allergy test done-- it might give you an idea of where to start.

If it still hasn't been resolved with your regular vet a visit with a dermatologist is in order.

poor dog, I would go to a different vet if I were you

I am sorry you are dealing with this.

What do the sores on her feet look like?

I second the recommendation to go see a dermatologist vet and possibly an internist. I would also ask for his feet to be specifically tested for mange. With the reoccurences, it does sound like there is maybe something autoimmune going on. Has she had bloodwork done?

i know you are at wits end, but you need to see a specialist, or a vet school. it will save you money in the long run to know exactly what you are dealing with. once you know there are some members that can give advice as to what you can do and get life back to just enjoying your dog.

This!!

and look into treating yeast instead of putting an antibiotic cream on it. Did the vet even do a scraping to culture it? Antibiotics do not kill yeast and I think with the paws and ears involved it's more likely that caused by an allergy.

This-- at least with my boy, it was the extreme stress of being in so much discomfort from the allergies that caused the mange to keep coming back!

Also, feeding grain free is great, but he may be allergic to a specific protein in the food-- even if it is high quality food. Try switching to something with a less common protein (bison, duck, kangaroo, etc).