So we're off to the vet with Ella, or 'manky eye' as she is now more commonly known as, to see if we can get this eye sorted. We have been putting coconut oil on it but there hasn't been a change. The eye ball is still ok, no weeping or redness but, as you can see, she's missing a lot of hair around the eye and it does seem quite itchy. On the plus side, the oil in her food and regular brushing has left the rest of her coat looking beautiful so I'll keep that up. Her dandruff seems to have disappeared but she's still an itchy dog and now that I've really been paying attention to it, I've realised how much more she scratches than other dogs. Oh, and we're off to try a new vet so fingers crossed we like this one! I was going to give the old vet one last shot but when they told me it was two weeks before I could see the vet I wanted to I decided enough was enough.
Good luck with the new vet and that Ella's eye is sorted soon. It looks as if it's uncomfortable for her.
Yep, that's why we didn't want leave it until her yearly check/vaccinations. Hopefully we can get it fixed for her soon
That's a lot of hair to have been rubbed off, that's bothering her somewhat. Glad you have a new vet. Charlie's eye problems seem to have been sorted with a blitz of antiB cream and washing his face with water after every walk. So far, so good....but if you don't get it sorted quickly with a regular vet, see a specialist. You can't mess about with eyes....
Yep, as it's the first time with this vet (I have had a couple of recommendations from other dog owners though) I'll give them a shot but I will bring up the idea of getting a referral for a dermatologist as I've already done the research and worked out the one I want to see
Ok, interesting vet visit. Firstly, the vet and the nurse that we saw were fantastic and I was really pleased with the way they dealt with both me and Ella. They followed my direction in handling and we're able to easily and calmly inspect Ella's eye, pluck some hairs and take a skin scraping. The vet said to her it looks like a textbook case of mites but the skin scraping didn't show any mites (however they don't always show) and she is currently on a wormer that has mite protection (apparently not 100% effective though). The second option is a fungal issue so she plucked some hairs from the area and we'll have the results in 10-14 days. The third option is allergies. We'll worry about this one if and when it comes to it. As it is so itchy, the vet prescribed some steroid tablets. These will help with treatment and/or diagnosis. If it is fungal or allergy related then the itching should ease within a couple of days and the we just need to wait for the results of the fungal culture. However, if it is mites the itching will get noticeably worse on the steroids so we should stop the tablets and then we can start treatment for mites. I'm hoping for mites or fungus but the pessimist in me has got money on it being allergies .
New vets sound very good and that it was a good experience for you and Ella. Don't worry too much about it being an allergy, it's more likely to be mites or fungal
Sorry you might be in for a bit of a haul in sorting it, on the up side though having a good vet that you feel is on side dramatically improves things! Really good news the new vet seems good.
Poor Ella, no fun being so itchy. I hope you find out soon what it is. We battled for four years with Snowie's itchiness, tried every remedy and medication going. Steriods (prednisone) always gave relief but I always felt we were treating the symptom rather than the cause. We did use the spot-on treatments for fleas/ticks for the first two years of his life and he continued to be incredibly itchy, so we stopped because he is highly reactive to chemicals (and he's epileptic, so didn't want more cause for seizures). However, two weeks ago we gave him a Bravecto tablet (for fleas/ticks/mites) and UNBELIEVABLY his itchiness is all but gone. So I am wondering if it was mites all this time as we never saw any fleas or flea "dirt" after combing, and possibly the spot-on treatment didn't get into his skin (tons of hair, he fidgeted and perhaps I never got it on properly, maybe it just didn't work). Something to discuss with your vet perhaps if you think the dewormer isn't working for the mites. I was terrified of the Bravecto as I have read of dogs having seizures/dying after taking it, but thankfully in Snowie's case he is fine. Best of luck and I wish Ella a speedy recovery.
Thanks, it's frustrating and I want Ella to be well but it's one of those things. We'll keep chipping away and will hopefully resolve the issue for her. Hmm.. Very interesting @MF as the wormer we use (Revolution) that contains mite protection is one of those spot on treatments and I've always been unsure of how effective it is. We'll wait and see if it turns out to be mites before jumping ship though
@MF I've been looking into Bravecto but everything I've read says it is licensed for flea and tick treatment, no mention of mites by either the manufacturer or licensing bodies. Where did you get the advice for treating mites. Also concerned about your comment on the seizures/deaths caused by Bravecto. I've found one documented seizure under a controlled test using a high dosage but no documented deaths. Could you point me to the information source
@MacciD Bravecto contains the active ingredient, fluralaner, which is an insecticide (kills fleas) and an acaricide (kills ticks). "Acaracide" means to kill 8-legged creatures (ticks, mites, spiders) yet the Bravecto box only says "kills fleas and ticks" -- I just checked and you are right, no mention of mites! Fluralaner does kill all arthropods (by paralysis) but it must suck the dog's blood to get the lethal dose. And from what I've read, mites don't suck blood. However, I did read (on my Google journey) that a recent study shows that Bravecto is effective against mites. I also read that Bravecto was only licensed in 2014, so it is very new and info on its toxicity is scarce! Re deaths/seizures, this is anecdotal. But anecdotes were enough to scare me particularly since Snowie is a chemically-sensitive dog prone to seizures. @Emily I used Revolution, Frontline, and Advantix (alternated each month), and Snowie was itchy regardless. That's not to say it wasn't killing the parasites and he was itchy due to allergies, but what astounded me now is that he is no longer that itchy. I'm not sure if it is simply coincidence...
Glad to here the vet and vet nurse were fantastic and took their lead from you in handling Ella. Hopefully you'll get to the bottom of this ASAP.
@MF Bravecto was licensed in Europe in 2013 and toxicity studies have been carried out involving using 5x and 3x the recommended dosage which produced one seizure. Anecdotal "evidence" is purely that, anecdotal with no supporting scientific evidence
I know what you men, I really don't like the ide of animals being used for testing but I'm not sure how else a new product like Bravecto could be proven to be safe even at much higher doses
I read the methodology used for the study that was carried out to test Bravecto and I felt quite sick. Not that I didn't know studies were carried out like this, but I've never read the methodology in such detail, such objectification of the beagles. Reason for me to choose products, like cosmetics, that are not tested on animals.
