Any vets around need some advice

[cedmonds]

Hi
One of our border collies has had saw back legs which she will chew and lick constantly.
She went to the vet today as they are looking really sore and inflamed. They said they think its Sarcoptic mange she has advocate on regular as do all the dogs and cats. They have said that it is no effective at treating mange and said to use stronghold. They also said that its not infectious and she doesnt need to be kept away from the other dogs. We have a litter of young pups at the moment so obvioulsly i dont want them to get anything.
What is your veiw on it?

Ok not a vet but I am confused by your post

As far as I know there are two types of mange sarcoptic mange and demodetic mange

Sacoptic is highly infectious and dogs need to be isolated from other dogs especially puppies and bedding destroyed etc

Demodetic mange however is less infectious although can be passed from mum to puppies.

I also thought that advocate was the first line of treatment for mange (although being careful with collie types dogs as some have an issues with the invermectin)

Lets hope Lizcat pops along soon to tell us!

Minimuu is absolutely right two different types of mange as she described. Has your dog had proper deep (skin oozes blood) skin scrapes as this is the only way to diagnose both of these and seeing the mite you can tell which one it is.
Advocate has claims for sarcoptic and demodectic mange though in practice it is only partially effective. Sarcoptic is very infectious to other animals and people, demodectic is an individual animal problem and in an older animal is linked a weak immune system.
Stronghold has a sarcoptic mange claim though still only partially effective.
Aludex (contains Amitraz) is the only really effective treatment for both of these. It is pretty nasty stuff and dogs need several treatments. Due to the nasty nature most vets do this themselves in the practice.
I have to say if your dogs legs are really red and inflammed it would sound to me like there could be secondary infection that also needs dealing with.
Your dog really needs a through skin work and then appropriate treatment this is going to take time and probably be fairly expensive.

Thanks for clarifying Lizcat

Hi thanks for replying ive been out all day. The vet said it was possible sarcoptic but she didnt need to be kept away from the other dogs?? She has had no scrapes etc done but they were talking about doing it if she didnt get any better. Her legs have no crusty bits or sores just very red and no hair on them.
I think i might take her to see another vet what would you do?

Ps she is insured which helps