what is the best way to treat demo or red mange in dogs?

Question

I have a 10 month old boxer mix that has been diognosed with demo mange. Nothing seems to work. We are giving him a peroxide bath and Mitaban dip once a week. The mange now covers 40% of his body. I really don't want to put him down. Anybody dealt with this? Any wisdom?

Answer 1

Have you had him neutered yet? The hormones of puberty can really flare it up. Plus, you can't breed him anyway....you don't want him to pass this on to any pups (it's caused by a specific defect in the immune system that is hereditary, which allows the mite to reproduce deep in the hair follicles in the skin.) If his breeders had been as conscientious and ethical to do so with whichever of his parents had it, then you wouldn't have to be battling this huge headache right now...and maybe for the rest of your dog's life, if he's one of the ones who has periodic flare-ups.

As to treatment of generalized demodicosis (which is what your dog has...it will not spontaneously clear up), I hope you meant a benzoyl peroxide shampoo bath....not a hydrogen peroxide bath. Benzoyl peroxide helps physically flush out the hair follicles (which helps), but hydrogen peroxide will only make it worse....much, much worse.

Your dog needs to be on antibiotics for the folliculitis (usually for 4-8 weeks in a row), and antihistamines for the inflammation. Under no circumstances can he EVER have any cortisone/steroids in any form....or he might flare up again in the future, even if he appears "cured."

Mitaban can only legally be applied by a veterinarian or an appropriately trained technician. It's regulated by the EPA, and it's against the law for your DVM to sell it to you for use at home. (Assuming you're in the U.S.) That's because of dangers to the environment. It's also dangerous to humans. It has actually been off the market for awhile, so what you have might be expired product....which might be why it's not working. Or, you simply may be using it incorrectly. It's too hard to explain how to do that here. I used to put my techs through a 2-hr training before letting them do it, and only under supervision.

Ask your DVM about treating him with a special dosage regimen of ivermectin. It is given orally. Don't try to do it on your own, or you might kill him. Done correctly, however, I have seen it clear up quite a number of Mitaban-resistant cases....and with much fewer rates of side effects. I have treated well over 100 dogs with this method, and have yet to have a treatment failure as we used to often see with Mitaban. Although not FDA-approved for this use in dogs, it is currently the preferred method of treatment. Every DVM in the U.S. knows about it.....unless he/she just has not read any journals, textbooks, or gone to any continuing education conferences in the past several years.

Burnt motor oil sometimes reduces the itching associated with SARCOPTIC mange....not demodectic mange. And if you use it, you'll likely end up with a dog with significant liver damage due to the toxic substances it contains, which are absorbed into the bloodstream. The pepper didn't prevent the Indian dogs from getting a hereditary condition that they just never had in the first place.

Answer 2

"Red Mange" the Disease When the immune system is compromised for any reason such as when a dog is a juvenile, short haired, malnourished or in poor condition the mites can become numerous in hair follicles. The "dry form" of the disease (75% of cases) usually occurs in pups 3 to 9 months of age. It starts as scaly, rough areas on the skin with slight hair loss. It centers on the fore quarters with lesions first on the head and neck and then on the forelimbs. The early lesions resemble a "rug burn" hence the name "red mange". Occasionally the skin can become hyperpigmented and turn black - "black mange". The "pustular form" (10 to 20% of cases) occurs as the condition advances. Opportunistic bacterea such as Staphlococcus or Streptococcus species colonize the affected areas and the condition spreads over large portions of the body. At this stage of the disease, the skin becomes greasy, red, swollen and scabby and has a characteristic "mousy odor". Itchiness from the secondary bacterial infection occurs. The poor dog appears "mangy and ugly. Lymph nodes enlarge due to the systemic spread of the mites and bacteria. From there, the mites and bacteria can enter the blood stream and affect other organs. If allowed to progress, the condition may become fatal due to the overwhelming sepsis. Diagnosis Diagnosis is accomplished by deep skin scraping in several affected sites. The skin is pinched up to squeeze mites out of the hair follicles, mineral oil is then applied and the skin is scraped down until lightly bleeding. The material scraped up is placed on a microscope slide and is examined for the presence of mites. If large numbers of Demodex mites are present and the dog has the signs listed above a diagnosis is made. If no mites are found and the signs are present then another scraping needs to be done since the mites are often difficult to find if the skin is thickened and severely irritated. Sometimes a skin biopsy must be taken to find the mites.

Answer 3

Being that the tradtional method of treatment isn't working for your dog, have you considered a safer, yet effective natural method?
A great book to have around is Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide To Natural Health for Dogs & Cats. Authored by Dr. Pitcairn, DVM, PHd and Susan Hubble Pitcairn. runs about $18.00 New.

Demodectic mange usually clears up spontaneously without treatment by the age of 12 to 14 months. In a small percentage of those affected, hair loss, skin irritation and bactera can also get established. Further complications such as 'pimples' and a pustular discharge, particularly around the feet. This form of the disease is called generlized demodectic mange.

You really need to get the book for all the information and on how to do certain processes. Fasting helps greatly before trying the recommended natural diet as well as adding supplements to the diet.

You can try these homeopathic medications, which are available in Health food stores, Vitamin Shoppe (in store or online).

Homeopathic - Sulphur 6X . Repeat dose of once per day for four weeks.. Place just one pellet or tablet on the tongue or down the throat. Provide no food for ten minutes before and after giving the medicine.
If you see some evidence of improvement (but not a complete cure) after four weeks on this schedule, then continue the treatment as long as it keeps helping - up to several months duration.

Herbal- Lavender (Lavendula vera or L. officinalis): Paint on oil of lavender (the pure oil diluted 1:10 with almond oil or an already prepared formula that contains oil of lavender) once a day until the hair begins to grow back.

Your dog will get better. Don't give up. The Mitaban can be causing the body to break down due to the toxins. This can create other health problems for your dog, and also lower his resistance to other disease as well.

I wish you and your dog all the best.

Answer 4

"Treatment is often unrewarding - at best it is only about 70% successful. This is because if a hereditary condition or other systemic illness continues to depress the immune system the mites can never be erradicated. Many times, young animals must be treated four to six times until the immune system develops with age. Often, entire litters are infected. These dams should not be bred as the condition is heritable.

Treatment involves clipping the hair from the affected areas and then shampooing the skin with a good quality degreasing shampoo. The skin is then rinsed with clear water and towel dried. A dip solution containing amitraz (Tactik or Mitoban®) is then sponged over the entire dog and allowed to air dry. A word of caution: Amitraz can be toxic so protective gloves, eye and face protection should be worn by the person applying the dip. This process is repeated every two weeks until skin scrapings reveal all dead mites. This may take from 4 to 8 treatments. If bacterial infections are present, appropriate antibiotics are also administered. It is very important to not stop treatment too soon. We suggest that the dips be continued on two separate occasions two weeks apart AFTER skin scrapings reveal all dead mites. This ensures a complete kill of all stages of the demodex mite (egg-larva-nymph-adult).

Other treatments include oral Ivomec® which is an injectible cattle wormer. In mild cases this may be curative in itself or may be included in combination with amitraz dips to improve efficacy.

In dogs unresponsive to amitraz or amitraz/Ivomec® treatments, milbemycin oxime has been used with success. This is an expensive medication but very effective."

Answer 5

VET VET VET
Demodectic mage is cured by giving shots of ivermection once per week and the next week a dip type bath.
You may have to treat this stuff for a very long time. Keep in mind it is like an auto immune things as stress can make it come back. Many dogs have one outbreak and onced cleaned up are ok for the rest of their lives but others have problems all the time.
You are going to have to work with the vet to get this cleared up as there are no home remedies that work on this type of mange.

Answer 6

Is he neutered? Neutering and spaying have been found to help.
Put him on a quality dog food like fish and chips from http://www.frrco.com/121668 to boost his immune system, which can help with this type of mange. It seems more expensive, but you feed a lot less than most commercial dog foods, so it really only costs a few cents more per feeding. Free shipping to. Just remember to keep him on the food for a couple of months to give it time to make a difference.

It's formulated to help with skin and coat as well.

Also, this type of mange could indicate an underlying medical condition. It can also take several months or more to clear up.

Please do not consider putting him down until you switch his dog food, get him neutered, and do several months of dip treatment.

Good luck. Please email me and keep me posted on his progress. Unfortunately, this type of mange is hereditary and is passed from mom to offspring, so you need to educate the breeder you got him from, if you got him from a breeder.

Dogs with this condition should never be bred. Share the http://www.friendsofanimals.org site with them to get low cost spay and neuter.

http://www.geocities.com/libertydogtraining

Answer 7

My husband had a dog that had a mange and just like Da Ghost said my husband used burnt motor oil on all there animals that ever got it and we had found a stray and it had mange and we did that same remdy and it really works, here is what you do... just pour the burned motor oil on them and leave it on there for 24 hours and then wash it off and with in a couple of days you will notice that it has worked,,, I really hope you take this advise and try it out please dont put your dog down with out trying this first cause you will see that it will work,,, good luck

Answer 8

ok...peroxide not good..only irritate more. ya shudda use pepper in his diet...My grandmother(bhh) used to put a shake or two in the dogs food twice a week and theyve NEVER had mange...it will take care of it...dont put him down give it a try...and constant use of pepper more humane than using vet stuff that may cause side affects..mangs must be an internal thing or it wuddnt work for the ones we've treated...and it gives them a very healthy looking coat...cats too need small tiny spots of pepper in there moist foods ....it really helps...it'll take about two weeks to notice difference.but in the mean time keep hope...he's ur friend and lifelong companion...take care of him...

Answer 9

This site is an excellent source of information on th red mange and treatments.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_demodectic_mange.html

Answer 10

Hi there, i know exactly how you feel, i had the same problem with my puppy when i got him now he is 2 years old and has no problem. i used all sorts of shampoos and fnally gave him a special aloe shampoo and conditioner and proper nutritional dog food which is very cost effective. i supply the aloe to people as i am now a distributor as my dog has had brilliant results the product is in 62 countries let me know how we can get in contact and i will try to help you. the food i give him now is performer by Cameron it is amazing stuff and has made a huge difference to my doggie

Kindly
Caryn Rich
[e-mail]
South Africa