So Upset Over Alfie

[NoMercy]

My little boy has been back and forth to the Vets over the last few weeks and has been treated for eczema. I was told to keep bathing him in the Malaseb (steroidal) shampoo. When he showed no improvement, I took him back and he was given further courses of antibiotics and steroids and I was told to persevere with the baths. I have been bathing him everyday but he's just been getting worse and has no fur left on his elbows and paws.

Took him to a different vet today and she looked alarmed when I gave her a brief outline of his diagnosis/treatment in recent weeks. He hasn't got eczema, he's got friggin mange !! She said it would have come from a fox and when I think back to the home I moved out of a few weeks ago, I shudder when I remember that we had a fox coming into the garden nightly.

Do I have grounds for complaint/reimbursement from the previous vet?

[divegirl]

okay.... were you not given a medicated dip at all? Also make sure you keep his bedding and anything he lays on really clean as if its sarcoptic mange it's caused by a mite [scabies in humans].

Poor boy...hope you get it sorted

Lisa x

[DTCwordfan]

"Hey Mum, if you'll give me a big chunk of that fillet steak you got for dinner tonight, I'll get better quicker. Promise. On the other hand, I'll settle for a huge pile of fresh liver!"

(my sis's redIS loves his liver).

[NoMercy]

Thank you, Lisa.

Alfie will no doubt be by my side throughout dinner, DT. He's a true foodie !

[DTCwordfan]

NoM, my sis is here at the moment and I mentioned the situation with Alfie. She said re hers (she has had/has 3 of them over the years), an early sign is a loss of a hair as a sort of ring around the eyes and nose, fairly faint but noticeable.

[Ratty2E]

As others have said I would ask the second vet to do a skin scrape so that you have conclusive proof that it is mange. If that comes back positive then you will have evidence to back up your complaint.

[chaptazbru]

Good luck with complaining to the RCVS. I tried it once when my beautiful dog was misdiagnosed with an 'infection' when in fact she had a very aggressive form of cancer! It was a nightmare time for me and her and I will NEVER forgive the vet who 'treated her. When I complained to the RCVS, they closed ranks and defended the vet, which made a horrible time even more horrible.

[Smowball]

NoM, that is just awful if the first vet was treating him for the wrong thing. Poor thing must have been sooo uncomfortable.

[wolf63]

I think that it is difficult for the vets to diagnose what is wrong with out little friends. I am not sure whether they just start with the most probably diagnosis and then eliminate ailments until they hit the right one.

I am out of my depth with skin diseases and don't know how easy/hard they are to differentiate. If you feel that the vet was negligent and should have made the diagnosis complain and see what happens.

But if the vet just didn't have the right information or symptoms to make the right diagnosis that is just down to being human.

Try bouncing it off https://www.facebook.com/PeteTheVet and see if he can give you an idea of how easy/hard skin diseases such as this are to diagnose. He also has a weekly problem page in the Telegraph.

I hope Alfie is feeling better soon.

[rsvp]

I hope your dog makes a full recovery. What I would do is collate the information available to you - make out a calm, rational but absolutely factual 'report' - not forgetting to include the obvious distress caused to the animal and present it to the offending vet with the question 'would he/she like to comment on this before you take it further.

[jules77]

I would ask for blood tests, which are more reliable than skin scrapings, before I went for any more treatment that may be unnecessary.

[CatGirl4]

Poor little Alfie,i hope he soon feels and looks better.I think you certainly have grounds for a complaint+reimbursement,they charge the earth any way.