Advice on alternative medication

Our Sophie was diagnosed as having Demodex mange when she was just under 3 months old. The vet recomended a course of Pro Meris Duo along with fortnightly antibiotic injections which she had twice. The Pro Meris we administered at 2 week intervals. The dose was 1.33ml as her weight at the time was around 8 kg.

On the third visit Sophie was given the all clear much to our relief as she had suffered after each time we put the Pro Meris on. The vet advised us that we should still use it monthly for life from now on.

Technically, as her weight is now into the next category (11 kg, dosage 3.33ml) she should be receiving the higher dose for dogs weighing between 10 - 25 kg. She is now 5 months and one week old.

We discused our concerns with the vet who agreed it was too high a dosage. We have just used the Pro Meris 1.33ml on her and once again she seems very distressed afterwards which is unlike her as she takes everything in her stride and even when she has her injections it doesnt worry her. It has left her shaking, sweating and not even able to tempt her with doggy choccy drops.

Sophie begged to go to to bed in her bed in her puppy crate and will most likely sleep till the morning.

Is there any other product that could be used instead as it is very upsetting to see her like this.

i am sorry i do not know, but i am sure someone will be along soon who does

hope she is feeling a bit better today, a big hug for Sophie and hugs to you too

I am afraid I can't help you except to suggest have you googled alternative medicines for that specific problem. I am always amazed by some of the info out there.
Yes I hope little Sophie is feeling better too!

Morning all. Sophie's mum here. She is extremily subdued this morning. She slept all night and ate her breakfast but is very docile, sleepy and insecure this morning. She loves 'killing' son's work bag but today just sniffed it and walked away showing no interest in anything.

I have left a message with her regular vet as each time she has had the treatment she has had a worse reaction. We don't feel inclined to put her through another treatment. We do have an on call vet available either to visit or speak to if necessary today.

I will stay with her all day and just keep her quiet and secure.

Many thanks for your kind wishes, will keep you posted but we really need to find an alternative medicine as it really isn't fair to put her through this every month. X

Demodex mites are very common and all dogs do have them but some do get problems I think as her immune system gets stronger she should be okay.If your girls hair has grown back she should be okay and advocate spot on once every other month should protect her for the future.

http://www.thewholedog.org/artDemodex.html

I jusr found this website, its talks about feeding raw meat and bones to dogs with this particular might problem because most if not all food products for dogs have yeast and a few other things which mites love. Take a look though and you could ask your vet what they think.

Alternative/Natural Treatment
Using a combination of a raw, species appropriate diet and supplements you can support the immune system and strengthens it

mites feed on the yeast living in the body, and systemic yeast feed on nutritional yeast and sugars (carbohydrates). If you break the cycle, you weaken or starve the systemic yeast and the mites are not able to colonize in the pores. This is the reason for a no grain diet (ESPECIALLY NO WHEAT OR YEAST OF ANY KIND which includes brewers or nutritional yeast) with only meat and bones (if you feed vegetables and fruits, you will want to stop feeding them or at least cut back on them and use only low glycemic, raw, pulverised fruits and veggies) -- in other words, only foods that do not readily turn to sugar within the system.

I wouldn't use these strong chemicals on such a young puppy, Im surprised your vet suggested it to be honest. Demodex is very common in puppies, especially stafford pups (Think the hair follicles must be quite weak or they have a low immune system when they are young). However, as the immune system establishes itself and gets stronger you will notice the patches begin to grow back. I wouldnt do as others have said. Put an advocate spot-on on her neck every 4-6 weeks and wait for a couple of months, if it still doesn't grow back then think about trying something else.

Chances are the hair will grow back on its own, shes very young and her immune system hasn't had a chance to grow.

After all its only demodex, is it worth making her unhappy when its not hurting her?

How bad was the demodex? Were there just a couple of patches, or was it widespread?

This is something you might consider trying. It's a bit messy, but it does work!
http://www.camrosa.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=99
They are extremely helpful, so if you want to find out more, just give them a ring. I tried this with Dempsey as he had a couple of shows to go to & he had a bald spot on his head & two on his tail - very unsightly! They cleared within 3 weeks and there were no side effects at all.

Oh, dear, I sound like an advert!

As Caryll says camrosa is meant to work really well! I never used it as outs eventually cleared up but worth a try and no side effects?!

Many thanks for all your kind thoughts and replies. The vet called and agreed Sophie won't be having any more Pro Meris and has agreed for her to have Advocate every six weeks or so.

All her fur has grown back and she is growing into a very pretty lady