Morgan

Morgan is having a rough start to 2010. A few weeks ago, we noticed she had a patch on her leg where the fur had fallen out. We didn’t think much of it, because she had a similar thing in the summer and I took her to the vet because I was convinced she had ringworm. Anyway after several tests and lots of money, our vet told us it was nothing to worry over, and a few weeks later, everything was back to normal. So I thought it might be a similar thing. But the patches started spreading and when we picked her up from daycare after Christmas, she had patches on her neck, by her ear, on all of her legs… pretty much everywhere except her back. So, we went back to the vet. More tests. This time she was diagnosed with demodectic mange. Mange! I could not believe it. I always thought mange was something that homeless dogs got, or dogs that were sickly. Not spoiled dogs like Morgan. We feed her premium dogfood topped with EVOO, bathe her regularly, and keep her in a clean environment. But apparently there are several types of mange and the kind she has is something that all dogs carry, it just becomes inflamed during certain times, like if they are stressed or have a weakened immune system. Since Morgan is still young, the vet said it was really common in dogs under 1 ½ since they are still developing, so that’s probably why she got it. It is not something that humans can get, nor can she pass along to other dogs.

The bad news is, it is expensive to treat and it takes a long time to heal, and sometimes never fully heals. The treatment we are trying (Promeris) is supposed to take 8-12 weeks. Even though I know that she can’t pass it to other dogs, I am still nervous to take her to the dogpark because I don’t want to have to explain that she has the “non-contagious” form of mange. I know if someone would have told me that I would have been thinking “yeah right, get your mangy dog away from my dog!” Anyway, I will spare you a picture of mangy Morgan and will post more when she is better!