Pirate

November 2006: We got Pirate when my husband and I were fostering Westies for Westie Rescue. It was the end of September when I went to pick him up. He was the cutest little thing, but oh so skinny. He came from a puppy mill in Missouri and was about 8 months old. That is about all we knew about him. Anyway, we quickly decided on the name Pirate and he started to settle into our home. He played so well with our resident Cairn Terrier, Pedro, that we started to worry about how these two would handle being separated. Pedro had seen other dogs come and go, but he really seemed to take to Pirate. It seemed like the two worked in concert. Anyway, after about 2 weeks, we realized that we couldn't let this little guy go, so we went ahead and adopted him.

About a month later, my husband noticed a bloody spot on the bottom of Pirates neck. We didn't know what it was, so we took him to the vet. She looked him over and decided it was a hot spot. She shaved the area, which is standard procedure for hot spots, but a "Hot Spot" is NOT what this was. When they shaved the area, they razor burned Pirate, and the next day the darn thing grew in size and had scabbed over. I read on the internet that this can happen with hot spots, so I just kept on giving him his antibiotic and spraying the thing with hydrocortison.

It continued to grow, and since I live in a university town with a great vet teaching hospital, I decided that I needed to get him into see a dermatologist. Problem was, I couldn't get an appointment for another 2 weeks. In the meantime, Pirates "hot spot" continued to grow. It got so awful and HUGE! I was getting desperate, and was searching the internet for anything I could find to help me deal with this problem.

That is when I came across the WestieMed site. They have pictures of a dog named Millie who had severe Malazessia and it looked so similar to what I was seeing on Pirate. I started taking pictures of Pirate and sending them out to WestieMed, and just for good measure, also to Westie Rescue. Both organizations came to my aid, but I couldn't believe the response that WestieMed gave me. They said it was the worst "hot spot" they had ever seen! My heart sank. What was going to happen to my poor little Pirate?

Then Westie Rescue responded and wanted me to see the vet that they use. I had to drive about 50 miles, but it was totally worth it, because this vet found the REAL problem. Pirate has Demodex Mange! It was never a hot spot to begin with! I was given a stronger antibiotic and was supposed to start dipping in Mitaban as soon as some of his oozing sores healed up.

I waited 2 days and felt that I just couldn't take it anymore. I tried the vet teaching hospital again and was begging them to move up my appointment, but they didn't think they could do it. All they said I could do was to bring him to their emergency room and perhaps if I got lucky, there would be a dermatologist on duty who might be able to look at him. Well, I took my chances and brought him in.

This next part just blows my mind! As I was walking Pirate in, Pedro got away from me and was running all around the parking lot. I was trying to catch him when this nice man started helping me and calling for Pedro. He finally caught him and when I went to get Pedro, he told me that he was my neighbor and that he recognized Pedro from seeing us walk him around the block. He also told me that he works at the Vet hospital and that he is a Dermatologist! Oh my Gosh, this had to be the from the Lord because I couldn't have hoped for anything better. I told him that I was here to get someone to see Pirate and he agreed to see him right away.

Well, he confirmed the diagnosis of Demodex Mange, and also that the bacterial infection was causing major havoc too. The good news was that they have another form of treating Demodex that doesn't involve dipping or waiting for wounds to heal. I could start Pirate on it right away. The only thing was that some dogs don't tolerate it well, so it would take awhile of increasing the doses to see how Pirate is going to handle it. Well, it has been about 10 days now, and Pirate is taking the full dosage, and so far, tolerating it just fine. He is back to being a bouncy little puppy. His ears still flop down though, because he has some demodex sores on them that weigh them down. He also has to wear a collar sometimes to keep from scratching, and he has lost a lot of hair. That doesn't matter to us though, because we would love him even if he was bald.

Our journey isn't over yet. Demodex is largely a disease of the immune system. See, all animals and even people have these little mites living in their hair folicles. It's just that for most of us, our immune systems keep them in check. For some reason Pirates immune system either was compromised briefly or just isn't super strong, probably as a result of poor breeding habits at the puppy mill. Anyway, he will have to take this medicine for a couple of months and have repeated skin scrapings to see if the mites have been eliminated. Hopefully, we will also find a way to boost his immune responses for the rest of his life, but right now getting rid of the mites is the first priority. It isn't going to be the easiest thing to deal with, but I think we are going to get through it.

I couldn't imagine how I would be dealing with this if WestieMed hadn't been around to help. Not only would I be worried sick about Pirate, I would be worried sick about how to pay for all his vet expenses. Some people have had to put their dogs down because they couldn't afford the vet bills. Demodex can be expensive because it takes so long to treat, and some dogs may need help the rest of their lives. WestieMed is giving Pirate a fighting chance, and they are saving Pirates life. He isn't even a year old yet. The people at WestieMed have also been a huge moral support. Best of all, Pirate is getting better! He is a great little dog and totally worth saving. I wish everyone who has contributed to WestieMed could meet Pirate because I am sure they would be reassured that their money, time, and talents are being put to good use. We are all so thankful for WestieMed. It reminds me about a story I heard about a little boy who was walking along the beach one day, and throwing the beached starfish back in the ocean so they wouldn't die. A man came along and said, "son, what you are doing is fruitless. This is just one little beach, and there are thousands of beaches full of starfish who are dying. It just doesn't really matter if you throw these back and save their lives." The little boy thought awhile, and picked up another starfish and threw it back into the sea. Then he said, "Well, it matters to that one." Thanks again Westie Med!