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Tess Buncombe
by Andy Fullerton BVSc(Hons), MRCVS

Tess was presented to us in February with a long-standing skin problem involving hair loss and itchy flaky skin. The whole problem had started as a small circular patch of hair loss and spread now to all down the back of her legs, over her back and up to the top of her head. It initially was not itchy but had become itchier as the weeks progressed. Her coat generally appeared thinner than normal. We carried out skin scrapes and a test for the fungal disease ringworm. Although it looked like ringworm, the test came back negative.

The major finding was a mite called Demodex on the skin scrapings.


Demodex Facts

Unfortunately, Tess was not getting better by herself.  The outbreak was associated with her vaccines and moving to a new home.  Aggressive treatment was required to get the problem under control.

Treatment

A spot-on type treatment had been prescribed by another vet.  Whilst licensed for the job, it didn’t appear to be working well enough. Our opinion is that sometimes a different approach is required..
We decided to bath Tess in a specific anti-mite shampoo called Aludex, repeated weekly until all skin scrapes were negative.  It took 8-9 baths before we resolved the problem!  I’m happy to say that Tess is like a new dog. There was no underlying reason for this infestation and her owner says that she now is much happier and behaves like a puppy should do!

TOP TIP:  Don’t ignore skin problems in your pets, even if they appear mild. Often they are fully treatable with professional help.