Imagine:
your ears have enemies, a small army of tiny microscopic insects looking to
devour them one bite at a time. First, they burrow deep into your lobes then they
start their painful feast. Not a comforting thought, right?
Well, that is what many dogs live with every day. Sarcopic mange as vets
call it is a pretty treatable skin disease if caught early. So, why are
so many dogs continuing to lose their ears, tails and other parts of skinned
anatomy to it every day? Because many owners don’t even realize their dogs have it.
Moreover, professional veterinary tests give false negatives close to 70% of
the time.
When it comes to battle with mange, shorter haired dogs are usually luckier. Tips of their ears are easily observable, so scaling and dryness are more detectable than in those with fur. In the medium to long haired dogs, owners get a nasty surprise of separating fur chunks well after the infection is on its way.
Little Sammy came to me after a very serious case of Sarcopic mange already cost him his family. Faced with a lot of care taking, they surrendered him to a shelter hoping somebody else would make him better. How many people you know want to adopt an obviously sick dog? Lucky for Sammy, the rescue I foster for, HART, took him in regardless. Another foster, Kim, saw the little guy through a whole month of treatment while keeping him in total quarantine. And,
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An affected ear outline |
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Normal ear outline |
once his daily antibiotics,
improved diet and hygiene set him on the road to recovery, I got an email asking me to take him over because
of a new side effect: serious case of separation anxiety. Having just regained human
companionship after getting cruelly discarded, he took to his care-taking foster with obsession.
People are no strangers to this phenomenon: how many soldiers fall in love and
even propose to their nurses? Little Sammy fell in love with foster Kim the very
same way. He wouldn’t eat or drink without her presence and pitched a feat if
she paid attention to anybody else. So as a deliberate countermeasure, a very heartbroken
Sammy arrived at my house and joined my happy group of doggy couch potatoes.
Since dogs are pack animals, bonding with their own is easier and much more
beneficial to them when in Sammy’s condition.
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Sammy with his pet squirrel |