Itching

Question
QUESTION: Hello,  I have a 6 month old female english bulldog.  We found out after a skin scrapping that she has demonex mites, which she is now on Ivermectin.  She has been on this for about a month now.  She constantly scratches herself.  The vet said to give her benadryl 2 to 3 times a day.  The benadryl I don't think seems to help with the itching. I know when the mites are dying it will make her itch more, but if your not around she will itch until she makes herself bleed.  I feel so bad I sometimes sleep with her so I can stop her from scratching so bad.  Any advice?
ANSWER: It's unusual that she would be itching after a month on Ivomec. The dosage my vet recommends is one 10th of a cc per 10 lbs. of body weight given every other day for 2 weeks and then a scraping. If there are still live mites, back at it for another 2 weeks. Once there is a clean scraping, he recommends keeping the dog on Ivomec for a month, but only one dose per week unless new lesions appear.

There is a shampoo you might use that would help flush out the dogs hair folicles called Pyoben. You would have to get that from your vet.  This should help with the itching. I don't think Benadryl is of any use at all.

After she's over the demodex, I do hope you're planning on having her spayed.  

Good luck.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the quick response. She is 27 lbs and we give her .05 cc per day which we mix with her food. I definately want to have her spayed, but since we brought her home she had pneumonia and than this.  she was on anitbiotics for about 2 months then she developed this because of her immune system being down.  Is that correct?  Since we brought her home she has been at the vets office every 2 to 3 weeks.  She goes back in 2 weeks. He thought maybe she had a food allergy, but she has been on z/d for over a month now.  Do you think we should have her tested for Allergies?

Answer
First of all, that's quite a hit of Ivomec for a puppy that size, but in the food I understand. You might try giving it to her directly in her mouth. They hate it but I think it's more effective. I have given it by injection under the skin, but you're not prepared for that I'm sure. IMO the Ivomec may be causing her to lose her appetite given on her food.

Yes, a poor immune system is the cause of all your problems. Generally once the puppy reaches adulthood, all this goes away. You could give her immune boosters like echinachia and golden seal which you can find in the vitamin section of any store. It won't hurt and you can give her the human adult dosage.

You could have her tested for allergies and you'll probably find them, but again, this is immune system related and nothing will change until it kicks in. You'll just spend hundreds of dollars at the vet.