Fur not growing back from Mange

Hi!

I am fostering a dog with Demodex Mange. She is on oral meds and was sprayed with Happy Jack for 30 days. She seems to be doing great and fur is growing back except on her torso area where she wears sweater. Could sweater be preventing fur growing? We keep it on her because it's cold here (5 degrees) and with not much fur it helps keep her warm. And when we take it off all she does is scratch.


Any ideas/suggestions on what may be going on????

Thank you for any help!
Michele

Hello Michele, and first of all you sound lovely - fostering such dogs cannot be easy, so you much be special!

I know that one or two people on here have had experience with mange, so hopefully they will get back to you soon, but in the meantime I can only say that even if the jacket is preventing hair regrowth, if it stops further scratching then surely leaving it on is the best option, and in any case it sounds as if it is too cold at the moment to leave the poor soul "bare".

Good luck, and I hope that you get some good answers soon.

Hello Michele I doubt very much that the lack of hair is due to wearing a coat. When a dog has had mange, occasionally the hair fails to grow back properly in all areas of the body.
The first coat to grow back is usually on the neck area .

Hi,
Seems like the fur is trying to grow back but, it's coming in everywhere except for the area covered by the sweaters she wears. Also, her neck is the barest area on her body. Just not sure and was trying to avoid going to the vet.
Thx1

Michele,maybe just needs a little more time in the covered up areas Wish you both well(( hugs))

Hi Michelle where exactly is the hair then?
I really wouldn't worry, the main thing is that she is warm and comfortable, not scratching herself raw.

I find that sometimes, once hair falls out... it never grows back. I shaved my puppies inner legs and tummy to keep the wee smell down which splashes all on him because he squats to wee and it's yucky.

I haven't shaved him in a bit... but the fur is barely growing back. My previous dog lost lots of hair due to F.A.D. and it also never grew back on his lower legs.

I'd not worry about it. So long as the mange is gone and the doggy is happy... who cares about some missing fur, right? I am almost certain the sweater has nothing to do with it.

Also... and please don't be offended by this, but your breed is called a Shih Tzu and not a ****-zu. If you didn't want the site's edited version in your breed description, you could change it. Again, not trying to be mean... only trying to help you.

From experience I would suggest the sweater could be stopping it, when mine get their natural winter coats if I cover them with a coat and keep them warm those areas do not come in thicker and winterised. So I would imagine if the coat keeps the area warm enough then the hair would not need to grow back very quickly.