# Puppy might have some kind of mites?



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

The kids got a puppy a week and a half ago. She was on a farm, no real hands on stuff like shots, worming, etc. 
She was covered in fleas, so we treated her for fleas and haven't seen anymore on her.
She's been scratching/digging behind her front legs and ears.
So I got a good ear mite medicine at a local feed store, and it seems to be helping, she's not stopping every 5 seconds to scratch.

But she has itchy spots, and a few scabs behind her legs, and what looks like bite areas on the inside of her back legs, some balding areas around her butt.
I read that petrolium jelly is good for smothering them of that's what we're dealing with, but all I have is baby oil. So I rubbed some on the areas and it seems to be helping.

Is there anything anyone could recommend that I should try? 

I've used Permectrin spray in the past on some goats that had mites and that worked, should I use a little on the affected areas daily to see if that helps, or try petrolium jelly?
Or something over the counter I can buy?

Otherwise she seems happy and healthy. She's 13-14 weeks old Great Pyrenees/Lab mix.


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## redtailgal (Mar 29, 2011)

It sounds to me like she may be having a reaction to the flea bites. The thin tender skin of a puppy creates a snowball effect when there are alot of fleas..the fleas bite, puppy scratches further damaging the skin and making it itch more, so puppy scratches and you get the picture. The skin would be dry and itchy just like when we have a large area of damaged skin healing.

The baby oil helped ease the itching associated with the dryness. Be careful using it though, when puppy licks the baby oil off, she may get some rather nasty poops. You can take human grade VIT E capsules and break one open to use the oil inside on the wounds without worry of gastric upset, and the VIT E will really help the skin heal.

You can wash her in a mild sulphur bath, the sulphur shampoos should be in the pet department and will smell like a people dandruff shampoo use to smell..that stinky harsh smell. If you cant find that, try looking in the people shampoo section for desonex. It will help kill cooties and will it may sting a little at first, will disinfect the raw skin, allowing it to heal faster.

THEN

I'd give her an oatmeal bath. Fill the tub, sink, or basin with hot water, add in some oatmeal (instant is fine). Let it sit for a few minutes, then add cool water to bring it to a comfortable temperature, and let her soak for a while. It should sooth the skin.

You also may want to consider taking her in for a skin scrape. With that sort of neglect, it's very possible that she may have demodectic mange. That will need vet treatment and is highly contagious to other dogs and cats (not sure about livestock).


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks so much! I hope and pray that's all we're dealing with. I should still have some vit e gel caps, I could try that for now until I can get out <my 5yo daughter is home sick from school today  >.

If it doesn't show signs of healing by Wed, I'll put a call into the vet and make an appt. to get a skin scrape done. Poor baby, she's just so sweet and easy going, breaks my heart knowing she was covered in fleas so bad, and is so itchy. Not having mites would be excellent. I can't imagine what would happen if she were left on that farm...


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## BlueEyedFainters (Aug 18, 2012)

totally agree with redtailgal.. and on top of it in the meantime, you can give her a benadryl to help with the itching. 1mg per 1lb of body weight.


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## mmiller (Apr 3, 2012)

Sounds like she could still be having a reaction to the fleas if she had a high infestation of them. You might also consider that she could have mange if she wasnt takin care of very well. Could you post some pics of her?


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Is the area she is scratching red? dry or flakey? 
The vit E is a good suggestion.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

I agree with the others that you could be possibly dealing with flea bite reactions but if it is mange- I would look what the dog mange treatment ingredients and % of premethrin on the dog mange dips are and if it is possible to treat with your goat premetherin spray a bit more diluted. I think there is a %mix on the bottle for dogs also but not sure.(can't remember.) 
a puppy vitamen supplement might help. O.. and .. I have used neem oil for all sorts of skin, mange, flea disorders. It is hard to find tho..It kills mites too and is excellent for skin. Realistically is difficult to get unless you have a health store near you but is a wonder treatment. (mix 1/4 teaspoon -1tsp with
shampoo into a warm water small bowl.. sponge over puppy ...suds him up ... and rinse.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks so much you guys are awesome! I will post pictures later when my kids get home so they can hold her for me.
I don't recall the skin being red or flaky, but she's scratched hair off, and there is a small area of scabbing, not sure that it's mites, or where she's scratched herself with her claws. 
Her rear end has hair loss, and on the inside of one leg. There are some scabs here and there on her legs, but nothing she's itching. I figure if that were mites she'd be digging at those areas too? 

I'll check on line for the Permectrin info. and we do have a health food store one town over from us.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I wasn't able to get pictures yesterday  But she did look a little better behind her leg, and between her back legs. It looks more like bites on her rear legs, no scabs, etc. and some hair loss. Do mites typically cause scabbing?
Her ears are still itchy this morning, I need to go put more mite med drops in, but it was starting to storm and I was trying to get errands done before it started pouring rain.

I'm stuck home again today, my 5yo daughter's fever returned this morning  so no school. Thankfully she's been fine for several hours now, so hopefully she'll be over this. 
Tomorrow I plan to get everything we need for the puppy. She's such a darling. It's so nasty out she's in a stall today and is NOT happy, but she doesn't understand what the dog house is all about. At least in there she can see the goats through the stall wall, has her food, water and chew bone that I gave her to help with boredom. Toys are a must while I am out getting her stuff tomorrow


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## redtailgal (Mar 29, 2011)

Does she have a lot of black "goop" in her ears? Ear mites poop in the ears, leaving a black icky goop substance behind.....its very itchy. If so you can take a Q tip dipped in a little olive oil and gently clean that stuff out. There may be some sores under all the goop, thats normal and it will burn and itch for a few minutes (she may whine a little). You can then take a clean Q tip dipped in some oil and dab it onto the sore spots to soothe the itch.

When you put in the mite drops, grab the "ball" of her ear, and massage the meds in pretty good......the massaging should feel good to her and it will help the meds penetrate into the little burrows that the mites have made, as well as push the meds down deep into the ear.

Just keep up with the vitamin E on the bald itchy spots on her body, you should start seeing improvement by the weekend.

As for her dog house........get an old towel and sleep with it tonight. Put it under the covers with you. It should really smell like you by morning. Then put it in her dog house......it may encourage her to use it.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

Hope your daughter feels better. I now look back at those 'sick' times in a rather sentimental way.. good times with mom(me) to watch movie-talk - make special soup and enjoy the quiet time I had to have a day home from work with a sick kid.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks Merry  She had a fever this morning, then was fine all day long. Then about 5:30pm I took her temp and it was 100.5. I thought maybe it was my thermometer <new>, but my temp was fine on it after checking it a couple of different times.
She says she feels just fine though? If the fever is still coming/going tomorrow I'll have to put a call into the doctor.

Bella, as we've FINALLY named the puppy lol was stuck in the barn for much of the day. It was a rainy/nasty/stormy/cool day. She was so happy to get outside and run, but until I can get her to go into the dog house.... silly puppy.
She's upset right now, had to put her in the pen next to the house so everyone could come in and eat. She's been running towards the road, so we can't let her out unsupervised.


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## dobe627 (Oct 16, 2007)

I agree could be from fleas. But also sounds like it could be mange or even ringworm. A skin scraping is gonna be the best bet as the different manges get different treatment. But more importantly you should find out just incase it is something that can be passed to humans.


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