We are just back from the vet, but let me back up and catch up the last week. So we tried the borax/peroxide/water dip on Bella for her mange. I should state that we were not positive it was mange since we have never experienced it on any of our dogs, but from everything I could gather it really did appear to be mange. We dipped her on Saturday and things seemed to be getting a little better on Sunday. By Monday it was back with a vengeance. I didn't take her to school on Tuesday because I had a job interview and because she was itching and scratching so much I was kind of embarrassed. By Wednesday it had gotten so bad we decided to dip her again. That did not help at all....not even a little. So we went to the vet today and did a skin scrape. The verdict was demodectic mange. The good news is that mange is not contagious so it won't spread to the other dogs. The bad news is it can be hard to cure. So she is on Ivemectin for the mange for 8 weeks, prednisone for the itching for 10 days, and an antibiotic for the infections and that's for 4 weeks. Yikes.... Looks like I'll need to get her a calendar to keep track of her meds... Once this is all cleared up it will be time to look into spaying her. I have been doing some reading about spaying and I'm a little bit torn about it. I do not agree with spaying tiny puppies, 6-8 weeks old, but I fully understand why shelters do it - humans can't be trusted to do it. But I've been reading that spaying them too soon cuts off production of vital hormones. I don't particularly want to go through a heat with her - though it's not as bad with a dog as a cat - and I sure don't want to chance her getting pregnant. What fun it would be to have doggy maternity clothes though :) But since she is a large breed dog I may just leave the spaying until she is closer to a year. I don't know, I'll have to see when the time comes. Meanwhile we have to get her looking good again. She does not look like that picture right now. She has little hair on her nose and it's all pink - definitely not kissable.
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