The Further Adventures of Frodo the Faller - Regaining the Limelight

The Further Adventures of Frodo the Faller – Regaining the Limelight

Cooling his paws

Following what everyone believed to have been a successful conclusion in the case of his atopic dermatitis, resulting in ongoing treatment, Frodo decided to throw another conundrum into the mix.

Bumps beginning to appear . . .

Last week we noticed there were a couple of small bumps on his left flank. They were not ticks; for some reason he doesn’t attract those - they seem to prefer the dense fur of the Labradors. Within a couple of days the bumps had developed into pustules, looking remarkably like dermatitis, though they were not irritating him or causing him to rub himself against any available firm surface (my legs, for example!) The pustules erupted and his fur looked much as the fur on his head had done. I shampooed him and watched as his fur fled the scene. Our beautiful Dalmatian was now a white dog with black and red spots. His skin looked very sore but he was untroubled by it. 

A trip to Phil-the-Vet clarified that this was not a further outbreak of dermatitis but was possibly fox mange. Frodo returned home with another course of antibiotics for himself and pipettes of broad spectrum insecticides to treat all the dogs. Nothing that sucks, bites, burrows or nests in our dogs will survive!

Fox or sarcoptic mange (also known as canine scabies) is highly contagious. It is caused by mites (Sarcoptes scabiei) but is readily treated. Foxes are not usually fortunate enough to receive veterinary treatment and die within four months. Though the mites may transfer to cats or humans they do not survive long away from the host species and will not cause any problems.

The things Frodo does to get himself noticed!!