Carmella Has A Mean Itch But A Warm Bed

The past week has been one of pestilence for both Carmella and I; me with the flu, and Carmella with the most nasty and aggressive case of Demodectic Mange. If you've never seen it before this is what it looks like up close and personal!

Within just 7 days it seems the little mites are eating her alive.

So far it has not reached the top side of her, but all down her chest, neck, face, stomach, and now one leg, there appears to be an enemy army invading, pushing the borders further each day.

It's as if some unseen force is determined to do her in. Her hair comes out in my hand as I put ointment on her twice a day, and I'm not sure the antibiotics are doing any good at all.

It has even made its way to her eylids. You can see why it's dubbed "Red Mange".

Tomorrow she goes back to the vet to be dipped in the morning. The vet tech the other day told me they had hoped the ointment and the antibiotics would do the trick, but I wish they'd just done it last time she was there because maybe then it would be getting better now instead of worse and she'd be on her second dip. Given Carmella's history they don't need to take any chances. The "wait and see" approach in a dog like this could be disasterous and unless the risk of treating her health problems aggressively is extremely high then I figure why not? At some point we will find out what she's genetically susceptible to and then there will be no need for guesswork.

Once this Mange is out of the way there is the snorting problem and the possible hip dysplasia to look into. I hope that will be all the health problems she has. She has certainly had more than her share of adversity already!

Today I was at Sam's club to do some grocery shopping and found this beautiful dog bed for her!

I brought it home and put it in the kitchen and she jumped right in it.

Before she had to sleep on some tiny black pillows from the bed she had way back in July that she'd chewed the bottom of. I've been looking for a nice durable and comfortable one, and just happened to luck out today.

This one is nicer than all the dog beds at PetSmart and I got it for a much better price too!

It's actually flannel on the outside and the stuffing is so soft and cushiony I actually lay down on it for awhile. It made me wish I had something like that to put on top of my mattress.

You can tell by the photos that Carmella is really enjoying her new bed and doesn't notice her itchiness quite as much. The Pedi-paws I bought to file down her toenails she was not as thrilled about. That will take some getting used to.

Tomorrow she should feel a little better once Dr. Norwood brings out the heavy artillary on the little bastards in her skin.

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