Today Harriett picked up three, 3-month old Redbone Hound pups from the Champaign County Humane Society. The puppies are from a group of five and are being treated for demodectic mange (aka “demodex”). Donald, Pluto, and Daisy have a severe form of demodex and will be with us for at least a few weeks.
To be honest, I had reservations about putting these three in the blog for two reasons:
1. They look terrible and pictures might be disturbing to some people.
2. These three pups have a very bad case of demodex and there is no guarantee that they will recover and be able to go up for adoption.
I decided to go ahead with the blog posts because I think it’s important that people are aware of the fact that cases like this come to the shelter on a regular basis. As an open admissions shelter, CCHS takes all comers, including pups like this who are very sick. So with the blessing of CCHS Executive Director “Tief” and Shelter Manager Michelle, we’ll follow these guys here, come what may.
The skin of every dog contains the mites that cause demodectic mange. Normally the dog’s immune system keeps the mites in check, but if the immune system is impaired the mites get out of control. Minor cases of demodectic mange usually do not cause much itching but might cause pustules on the dog's skin, redness, scaling, hair loss, or any combination of these. In the severe form that you see in these three pups, hair loss occurs in patches all over the body and can be accompanied by crusting, pain, enlarged lymph nodes, and deep skin infections. These pups do, in fact, have enlarged lymph nodes and we’ll be keeping a close watch for signs of infection.
Demodectic mange is not contagious to people, and because all dogs already have these mites, it’s not contagious to other dogs. These mites are transferred from mother to puppies by direct body contact. Signs of mange usually appear on the pup’s face and head first because that’s what’s pressed against the mom while the pup is nursing.
Our job is to get rid of the mites until the puppies’ immune systems matures enough to be able to fight them off itself. The pups get medication every day and get bathed in benzoyl peroxide twice a week. The big question is whether or not their immune systems are permanently impaired or just slow to mature. Only time will tell.
Our puppy room is being redecorated so we’re keeping the pups in an X-pen with a kennel attached. These guys won’t be on PuppyCam because we only have the puppy room itself wired for the camera. I will post pictures every now and then so you can check their progress here.
Even in such heartbreaking physical condition, they look like very sweet, very lovable puppies. I hope that they recover soon. It's so lucky that they are under your and Harriett's gentle care.
ReplyDeleteOh, those poor babies. I'll never understand how someone could let any pet get into that condition. At least they are in good hands now and will have a better chance of recovery.
ReplyDeleteAnon & Vicki: Thanks for the comments. They are very nice pups and if they recover from this problem they will make very nice companions.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all you do for the dogs at the shelter. They do look very cute, despite the loss of hair. When I adopted my dog Mya from the shelter, she was almost completly bald, but that was due to untreated hypothyroidism. I wish the best for the puppies, and know that whatever the outcome, they are being treated with love and kindness...........
ReplyDeletePrior to us adopting our older dog (Casey), he also had a bad case of mange, on par with these pups - we have a photo from the foster home. Fortunately he recovered fully but we've always been thankful to the family that got him through it. Keep up the good work and good luck.
ReplyDeleteHow bad is the mom's condition?
ReplyDelete