If a dog has Foxy Mange, is it contagious to other dogs please?

Question

My daughters dog has Foxy Mange, my own dog is supposed to be staying with her next week I need to know if it is congtagious please

Answer 1

Just as in domestic canids, foxes are susceptible to more than one type of 'mange.' The two types most people mean would be either scabies (also known as sarcoptic mange) and Demodex.

You would have to know which type your daughter's dog has in order to know if it's contagious. ("Foxy" mange is not a real diagnosis...because again, foxes can get more than one type of mange.)

Demodectic mange is not contagious. It is caused by an inherited, genetic defect in a specific part of the immune system. (Dogs who have it should never be bred, even if they are treated and cleared up, but many poorly educated breeders keep doing it anyway...which is the main reason we have been unable to eradicate it as we should be able to do with proper genetic selection.)

Scabies IS highly contagious, but the mites that cause it are pretty species-specific. Sheep, humans, dogs, cats, etc. all have their own species of scabies mite, which will not cause disease in other species. (The mites can get on the skin and burrow/die, creating a temporary rash....but will not cause 'mange' in another species.) Dogs and foxes are closely related enough, however, that they can share the same species of scabies mite.

Summary: What you need to do is simply CALL your daughter's DVM and ASK if what her dog has is contagious to yours or not, and if so, how to prevent it. If it is indeed scabies (which I suspect it is), Revolution is excellent at that. Your dog will need to have a current negative heartworm test before you can use it.

Note to Helen: The info you copied/pasted from your sources is mostly correct and very good information (cannot imagine WHY anyone gave you the thumbs-downs, unless they are just stupid!)....but some of the info about treatment is out of date. (Just FYI.) New and better treatments become available all the time, and Internet articles often don't reflect the newest/best information available about that.

Answer 2

there is no real thing as foxy mange. It will be either demodectic or sarcoptic and yes it IS contagious. I hope she has been to the vet and is getting treatment for it as it can actually lead to her dog sufferring terrible. If you use stronghold (revolution in USA and Australia) drops on your dog, this will help protect her agains one form of mange mite but I cannot recal which. You need to ask your daughter which mange it has (no such thing as foxy) It'll be either sarcoptic or demodectic and ask if it is being treated by the vet. Failure to treat is a prosecutable offence by the RSPCA.
BTW ordinary medicated shampoo will NOT treat it since the mites live deep inside the skin.She needs to get something like 'aludex' (in the UK)

Answer 3

Fox mange is VERY contagious, I'm afraid I wouldn't let my dogs go anywhere near it by choice, can't you get your dog in to a boarding kennel to be on the safe side? I'm assuming your daughters dog is being treated by a vet? Ask your vets advice, even if your dog brushes up against something that your daughters dog has say for instance shed a tuft of hair with the infected skin particles on it your dog runs a VERY high risk of getting fox mange!!
http://www.nfws.org.uk/mange/mange01.htm

Answer 4

Dont know abt the Foxy part ... but mange is contagious as hell. My Mom's dog had it .. and it passed on to my dog (Iknow this sounds stupid ... but we just HAD to keep them together!!). Its hard to get rid of too.

Answer 5

Yes. This is contagious to dogs and also to humans. You need to keep your dog away.

Answer 6

I have never heard of foxy mange. that is a new one for me.

Answer 7

Of course it is contagious how do you think your daughters dog got it !

Answer 8

Mange is common for dogs to have living on their skin. The tiny cigar-shaped parasite burrows into the skin yet most healthy dogs show no signs of infection. However, in dogs with defective immune systems, the parasite can multiply and cause a disease called demodectic mange or demodicosis. Research suggests that certain breeds of dogs have a genetic predisposition to demodicosis. Transmission of the mange is from the mother to her puppies during nursing in the first 72 hours after birth. Mange is not contagious to other dogs or to people.

SYMPTOMS:
There are many expressions of mange and the prognosis for a permanent cure really depends on the type of mange. For example, if your dog has localized mange, it is a mild, self-limiting disease. This kind of mange usually affects dogs 6 ot 9 months of age and clinical signs consist of nothing more than a patch or two of hairlessness with mild itchiness. Ninety per cent of these cases resolve on their own, regardless of whether they are treated or not. The prognosis for full recovery is excellent and recurrence is rare.

On the other hand, there is a generalized second form that results in large amounts of hair loss from all over the body. Dogs that have this form of mange respond moderately well to treatment. However, if there is a concurrent skin infection, the prognosis is more guarded. With this third type of mange, there is usually pain and itchiness associated with it and patients may exhibit depression, inactivity, appetite loss and irritability. A fourth type of mange, called pododermatitis, only affects the dog's paws.

TREATMENTS:
The recommended treatment for generalized demodicosis is a topical treatment called Amitraz (Mitoban). If used once weekly, it has been shown to be almost 80 per cent effective. There is also an antiparasitic medication called Ivermectin (Ivomec) that has been shown to be safe and highly effective against the demodex mite. In order to use it, you must sign a release form authorizing its use on your pet. Since demodicosis is not so much the result of a mite problem as it is an immune-system defect, dogs that have been successfully treated for demodicosis will always be at risk of a relapse. However, there should be no Recurrence unless the patient becomes reinfected with demodex mites.

If your dog or cat scratches excessively or experiences patchy or generalized hair loss, you should consult your veterinarian so that he or she can rule out demodicosis as well as other skin disorders.

Mange is a skin disease found in many mammals and is caused by a mite that burrows beneath the skin. Most people are familiar with mange because of its presence in their pets, often cats and dogs. There are a variety of mange mites, but only a handful of them affect pets:

Mange mites themselves cannot be seen with the naked eye, but the effects of their burrowing can be very dramatic. Some types of mange look like dandruff, but the effects are often short-lived.

Notoedric mange: scaly skin disease that usually starts on the ears but spreads to the rest of the face and body unless treated. This type of mange can be spread between cats, dogs, rabbits and humans.
Sarcoptic mange: extremely itchy skin disease that is sometimes referred to as canine scabies and is common in dogs. This type of mange usually attacks areas without hair such as the abdomen and elbows. Sarcoptic mange can spread to cats and humans but when they do, the mites usually do not survive for long.
Demodectic mange: the mites in this type of mange actually live in the hair follicles and are very itchy. It can spread to the entire body and be difficult to cure, but early treatment is usually successful.
Most types of mange in pets can be eradicated, especially if they are treated early. Veterinarians diagnose mange with a painless skin scraping that is subsequently analyzed under a microscope. Mange mites, however, often burrow beneath the skin, and the scraping does not include actual mites; veterinarians actually inspect the skin sample for symptoms of mange rather than actual mites.

Treatment may include tablets, special dips and/or baths with medicated shampoos or injections. In more extreme cases, shaving may be required, or the pet may be quarantined to minimize the liklihood of transmission.

Answer 9

Yes, VERY and not just to dogs. Humans can catch it from animals too so be warned and take him to the vets ASAP.

Answer 10

yes it sure is do you have a kennel or a cage that you can put the dog in ? her dog i mean and don't send your dog there . you dint want tit to get that has well