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!!
