Poor Sweet Jimmy, just a pup and already life has handed him more than his fair share of troubles. 
Separated from his litter mates and momma at too early an age, already under stress and malnourished…..the perfect opportunity for Demodex to thrive.
Separated from his litter mates and momma at too early an age, already under stress and malnourished…..the perfect opportunity for Demodex to thrive. 
Demodex is a mite. Check out the magnified electron microscopic picture of a mite attached to this story.
All dogs have a few Demodex mites, they in general don’t cause a lot of harm, living on the skin and hair of the animal. It is only when the immune system is suppressed that Demodex becomes a problem and without treatment the mites can take over. When they start to flourish they attack the animal, just like poor Sweet Jimmy is experiencing. The extreme infestation causes damage to the skin making it itchy, sore, and inflamed, the animal scratches and then secondary bacterial infection or a fungal infection usually sets in. Jimmy needed our help so badly.
Jimmy needed our help so badly. He now also has a severe eye infection that has caused his eyes to be glued shut and is fighting a bacterial skin infection on top of the mites.
The good news, in all of this, is treatment is usually pretty successful. First kill the mites (our vets will recommend the best treatment), then treat the infection on his skin and in his poor eyes. He will be treated to some nice spa baths with special shampoo, and eye drops to soothe and heal. In a matter of weeks, he will look like a different dog. Before and after pictures are usually pretty impressive and we will post them as soon as he is better. Sweet Little Jimmy is not currently ready for adoption, but will be once we get rid of those nasty little mites!
