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Sunday, September 5, 2010

My dog has Herpes

When we picked Henry up from the kennel Monday we noticed a scab forming on his left cheek. Being a concerned mother I called and made an appointment for him after work the next day. All day long my friends diagnosed my dog with allergies, flea bits and the worst mange. Needless to say I was hoping it was allergies and dreading the diagnosis of mange. Henry and I waiting anxiously for the vet who took a few samples of the scab and left the room. I was sure it was just fleas...but when the doc came back in he laid the bad news on me. He has Red Mange! I immediately jumped to the worst...gone in weeks, but with education the vet informed me that Red mange is an immune deficiency that the dog has against a certain kind of mite. Most dogs can fight off the critter but due to Henry's poor genetic combination he just can't. He said the out breaks will go away after 60 days by giving Henry oral medicine everyday. More bad news though is that he could have this problem forever and out breaks will happen with increased stress. Luckily it cannot be passed on to humans, cats or other dogs so he can still be a therapy dog (in between break outs).
I think it is harder for me to deal with than anyone else because I feel like my dog has herpes with all this out break talk. I am hoping he will grow out of it, or at least be all cleared up for his birthday party this month!

Ps. Travis wants me to inform all of you that him being a man-sician ( that is a man who thinks he is as smart as a physician with no actual formal training) did say that Henry had mange before I took him to the vet.

1 comment:

  1. Poor Henry! Lets just hope that this will be a one-time thing from the stress at the kennel and it won't come back..... At least there is medicine to help. Travis, be sure to clean the dog clippers really well. You don't want to re-introdce the mange everytime you clip him. In fact, maybe let his hair grow in completely and not shave him for awhile.

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