My dog is a rescue and roughly 6 or 7 years old. She is 40 lbs and a mutt. A little medical background: when I adopted her she was heartworm positive. She is being treated with Triheart via the slow-kill method, but is still testing positive. She is fixed but had a litter of puppies right before I adopted her. She also had a history of skin infection, which was treated successfully with a chlorhexidine shampoo. Last vet visit the vet drew a CBC, which came back as unremarkable. She has no known allergies and I have not changed anything about her diet or bathing.
Recently, she has been itchy, with patchy hair loss on the inner aspects of her front and back legs, as well as her belly. However, she has no open lesions, just mild erythema and pruritis in the affected areas. Chlorhexidine shampoo has not helped, so I suspect it might be demodectic mange. I have another dog with no significant medical history who is unaffected. My question is, is this presentation consistent with Demodex, and are there any drugs (like high-dose ivermectin or anything else to treat that condition) that would be contraindicated in a heartworm-positive dog? Alternatively, are there prescription shampoos that can treat the condition?
I will be taking her to the vet this week to ask for a skin scrape but wanted to get some information on the subject before I do.
Recently, she has been itchy, with patchy hair loss on the inner aspects of her front and back legs, as well as her belly. However, she has no open lesions, just mild erythema and pruritis in the affected areas. Chlorhexidine shampoo has not helped, so I suspect it might be demodectic mange. I have another dog with no significant medical history who is unaffected. My question is, is this presentation consistent with Demodex, and are there any drugs (like high-dose ivermectin or anything else to treat that condition) that would be contraindicated in a heartworm-positive dog? Alternatively, are there prescription shampoos that can treat the condition?
I will be taking her to the vet this week to ask for a skin scrape but wanted to get some information on the subject before I do.
