Tink is the pug we adopted last summer. She's a pug and she has a really bad case of demodex.
The demodex is actually going pretty well -- we've done it all with avoiding triggers, the frequent bathing/rinses and boosting the immune system with vitamins, supplements and herbals, and with a good support of homeopathy/homotoxicology from Dr. Joe Demers here in Orlando,
But we just can't quite kick it and she's a year old now and really with the support we've given the body she should truly have been able to mature past it.
Now given .... her's was a horrific case (go to my photos and you'll see "lulu" - as she was called then -- as she looked in June in the "original" picture that looks like a horror mask *sigh*) and she had been very neglected. We have obviously come a LONG LONG LONG way.
BUT ... I've been talking to the vets (regular, acupuncture, and homeopathic vets) ALL of them ... and they agree we should be 'further' than we are. SOOOO next is to find out what else could be going on that is keeping the poor immune system so beleaguered. Bloodwork has been done (on several occasions recently) -- a small infection found and treated, but still -- her liver values remain high, no matter what we do!!
Soooooooooooooo -- since a stressed (or genetically sucky) liver could most certain cause skin problems to not rectify, we're looking further. She went up today to my regular vet to get a bile acids test (and another chem blood panel, and a full urinarlysis just to be on the safe side) and we'll see what THAT shows.
Keep her in your thots and prayers please? She's not "sick" but I know this dog well enough to know that she's certainly not 100% -- it's gradually getting a bit worse (altho the skin isn't -- but something is working against 'maturation' here I think). She is a sweet sweet girl.
We're suspecting some sort of genetic liver problem *maybe* (she's not sick enough for a liver shunt, nor is she 'tiny') -- nothing is certain, but I can feel it. There IS something going on.
Whatever it is we'll deal with it. But we do a lot of work with demodex dogs, and I'd rather Tink would be with us than anywhere else. Because I always tell people OVER and OVER ... if you have a dog with demodex, and you're trying to build the immune system, avoid triggers, keep them ultra clean and mite free but you just can't get past it after several months of leading the body to wellness, then FIND OUT WHAT IS UP!!!
If you just try to shove ivermectin or milbemycin at them for years, ultimately the liver gives out, and the dog dies VERY young. I'd really like her to be around a long time. She's a sweetheart and she's going to make an awesome therapy dog. But ... good thots and prayers go a long long way. Thanks!
P.S. If you're looking at the original pictures in my profile, we changed her name -- b/c we already had a "luna" -- from lulu to Tinkerbell. And yes, that is her in my signature. She's an almond-eyed pug -- kinda rare, but definitely cute!! LOL