Pasqualina, Our Newly Rescued Mastiff!

My rescue partner Amy picked up a gorgeous new Mastiff girl last week from the East Valley Shelter here in Los Angeles.

We named her Pasqualina because we thought she was an Italian Mastiff; now we’re not so sure of her breed. She may be a Neapolitan, but she also may be a Great Dane, or an English Mastiff or maybe some combination thereof. She’s probably about 18 months old, and weighs in at 92 pounds. That may sound like a lot, but she actually quite underweight.

Part of the reason we can’t tell Pasqualina’s heritage is that she has demodectic mange. All dog have the mites that cause “demodex” as it’s known, but when dogs don’t get proper nutrition, their immune systems sometimes can’t control the mites and these nasty little buggers begin to reproduce causing skin irritation and hair loss. 

In Pasqualina’s case, she has almost no hair left because her previous owners let her mange progress quite far. They then turned her into the shelter.

Demodex isn’t contagious, but it can be difficult to kick if you don’t know what you’re doing. But fear not for sweet Pasqualina, she is being fostered and will be getting the affection, nutrition and treatment she needs to get well soon.

I will keep you posted on Pasqualina’s Progress!

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