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Me and my girlfriend have a 10 month old Chihuahua and her right eye lid appears swollen with small bumps and the hair around it is falling out. She previously had mites on her head and had to get dipped multiple times to get rid of them. We took her back to the vet for her eye and the doctor said the same type of mites were back and that was the cause for the eye lid irritation. Supposedly the mites have become immuned to the dipping liquid they used. The vet gave her some kind of ointment for a temporary fix and told us that she would have to take some kind of toxin for a month to get rid of the mites once again. It sounds like a good idea until the doctor said 1 in 12 dogs die from this toxin that rids these mites. So now we don't know what to do. It's kind of a big risk to take to get rid of the mites but supposedly there’s nothing else to cure them. We may get a second opinion from another vet. Anyone else ever heard of this? Any help/advice is appreciated.

Thanks

>>Me and my girlfriend have a 10 month old Chihuahua and her right eye lid appears swollen with small bumps and the hair around it is falling out. She previously had mites on her head and had to get dipped multiple times to get rid of them. We took her back to the vet for her eye and the doctor said the same type of mites were back and that was the cause for the eye lid irritation. Supposedly the mites have become immuned to the dipping liquid they used. The vet gave her some kind of ointment for a temporary fix and told us that she would have to take some kind of toxin for a month to get rid of the mites once again. It sounds like a good idea until the doctor said 1 in 12 dogs die from this toxin that rids these mites. So now we don't know what to do. It's kind of a big risk to take to get rid of the mites but supposedly there’s nothing else to cure them. We may get a second opinion from another vet. Anyone else ever heard of this? Any help/advice is appreciated.
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>>Thanks

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Find out what kind of mites and what the exact drug is that the vet plans to use, and submit your question to www.veterinarypartner.com in the Ask a Vet window. It's free. But also, take your dog for a second opinion in person. And ask for a more complete explanation from the vet you are using. Write your questions down beforehand, and then call the vet and take notes on the answers.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Thanks for the prompt response and the advice. I wrote the rest of this reply so I can post it on that other site. You already know most of this but here is the entire medical history again, haha!

Okay so here is the past medical history of Izzi (3.5 lb, female, 10 month old Chihuahua). In May 2006 her hair began to fall out on the top-middle of her head. We took her to the vet and she was diagnosed with Demodectic Mange. The doctor gave her 10 dips of Mitaban over a period of three months. The infected hair fell out and by August 2006 she was completely cured of this episode of mites. Well it’s now November and her left eye lid has become red and a bit swollen with small bumps. The hair around her eye is falling out as well. So we took her back to the vet and she has been re-diagnosed with Demodectic Mange. The vet says that the Mitaban dips probably won't work again because the mites returned so quickly and she has already had so many dips that immunity may be a problem. I would think that the dips would work again considering they worked last time but hey I am not a veterinarian either. So the vet prescribed Triple Antibiotic Ophthalmic ointment to help it topically I guess. She also prescribed Clavamox Drops for any secondary bacterial infection. She said that these were just to help her cope with the mites but wouldn’t rid them. She suggested giving her an oral treatment with Ivermectin for 4 to 6 weeks but we haven’t agreed to this yet. The veterinarian also told us this was a high risk remedy considering the side effects especially for smaller dogs. The vet is supposed to be contacting us at the end of this week to propose her plan for the scheduling and dosage of the Ivermectin. We were thinking about getting a second opinion from another vet to see what other options might be present. Does anyone know anything about this Ivermectin cure? Any help/advice with the situation is appreciated. Izzi will surely appreciate it!

Thanks,

Steven

This is the response I got from that site, www.veterinarypartner.com. (Ask a Vet window)

"It has been nearly 15 years since I have dipped a dog. I use only ivermectin (unless the patient is of collie heritage). Ivermectin is now considered the drug of choice for demodicosis. To be sure you don't get intø any trouble with side effects I would recommend a "test" schedule for at least a couple of days (more like 5-7 days if you are very anxious) where a non-therapeutic dose is used to see if the dog develops any telling signs that would indicate that the full dose cannot be tolerated. There is also a blood test that can screen for sensitive individuals. Please read the Demodectic mange sections in the library."