me again with new question! thanks for all the advice on my pup with kinked tail very helpful.

I need to know if anyone has used benzyl benzoate recently and at what parts you dilute to? managed to get the 'brand named' stuff called ascorbiol(?) from chemist. With my last litter of pups all got 'walking dandruff' at around 6 weeks that was missed by the vets. Mum has always had a dry area betwwen her eyes and down her nose which apprently is clear - no mites of any sort. vet did a selotape test then looked at it under microscope.

this litter  i noticed with one of the pups at 2 days old had really big bits of skin flakes, brown in colour all over. Rang vet who said yes it could be cheyletiella already. I challenged him as to how when mum had just found to have nothing! he couldn't answer Anyway I frontlined them all and now this has cleared it up. Thought it might have been just left over birth gubbins stuck in the skin that has dried and flaked off(?), one puppy was very dirty when it was born - looked like it had had a poo en route the sac seemed full of it.

I use frontline or strong hold on very regular basis as we have 3 other dogs and walk daily in the new forest, but on reading post from a year or so ago some have suggestd frontline does not work and recommended the benzyl stuff. I dont intend using it on the pups until much older and i have evidence of cheyletiella. I am going to use on ther 3 dogs just to be on safe side as one is a bit scurfy over shoulder area. Only just treated with frontline last week and strong hold about 4 weeks prior to that, so not sure what going on really.

advice on the benzyl benzoate please

vet did a selotape test then looked at it under microscope.

How daft is that?  If he sellotapes the mites, then he'll not see them walking! :( :rolleyes:

It's a very old remedy.  Your Vet should be able to tell you how to use it. :)

Whatever you do PLEASE do a small skin test first before using Benzyl Benzoate. I use it on my 4 1/2 year old dog no problem. I have used it for the treatment of harvest mite/berry bug which is prevalent around here late summer time. Last time I also used it on her daughter, without doing a skin test first. Big mistake!! she licked the Benzyl off her paws, even though I'd made sure it was dry and had a massive allergic reaction. Her face swelled up so she was unrecognisable and she had welts everywhere. Make sure you've got some Piriton handy just in case as this did the trick but it did take 3 days to go away completely.
I am not trying to put you off using it, just a word of caution ;-)

Exactly why I have referred OP back to her Vet. :)  He should be the one responsible for the dilution if OP doesn't have the knowledge herself..

Sorry didn't read OP's post properly. If it was for a litter of puppies I don't think I would use it I was just highlighting the fact that it can cause severe allergic reactions.

No problem. :)  I've used it on a litter at 7 weeks but these are very tiny and so I think that the Vet is the right person to advise. :)

I have used Benzyl Benzoate in the past for the treatment of harvestmites, very effectively, but I do think it would be problematic in treating a litter due the dangers of ingesting it.  In fact, I rather thought it was banned as a treatment these days but not really sure.  So I would definately discuss it's use with the vet.
I would imagine looking through a microscope you would see the mites, not sure they have to be moving at all :) but they do of course have to be present on the area selotaped!  Going for a sample from an area that appears to have been, possibly, affected is a good bet but unless you selotape the entire body the test is always going to be nothing more than a good bet, sometimes they are going to be missed.

The usual method Isabel is to pluck some hair with finger and thumb, put the sample on a piece of coloured card/paper and then look under the microscope.  Cheyletiella is then seem to be moving, normally only a couple in each sample and so if they're stuck to sellotape, they ain't going anywhere! :)

Microscopes allow you to identify many things that have never moved :)  I would imagine it easier if they are moving but if the magnification is satisfactory and the technician is experienced it should not be too difficult to identify creatures with obvious features such as heads and legs for the general detritus of the skin.  This is the little treasure itself.  Would you really need it to move to know it didn't ought to be there? :)

I said in my original post that I would ONLY use on the puppies if they looked like thay had the chelytiella and couldn't get rid of it with frontline as it had been suggested that frontline doesn't really work.

I agree that any creature dead or alive can be seen under microscope. When men have a vasectomy they have to send samples in a few months later, if there is sperm seen its dead but obviously the op hasn't yet taken full effect! Even if its dead its still present.

My vet was no help with the use of the benzyl benzoate, i dont think he wanted me to use it at all not even on adult dogs. He just wanted me to spend pounds on all their stuff I think.

...or he understands BB to be unsafe.  If you think that can't possibly be the case and do not trust your vets professional judgement why don't you try another one.

I have never had Frontline work on Cheyletiella, Ivermectin takes it very quickly without the need for any baths -but of course it is then vital it's not the wrong breed of dog for it.

My friend that's had a major infestation is still struggling last I heard - the vet has prescribed Frontline spray rather than the Spot On but it's not gone yet. Must ask her how it's going!

please let me know how she doing.

since using frontline last week all flakey dandruff in the pup has gone, but i will be second dosing in another week just make sure.