raw, good for dogs with mange?

Question

I have a question about dogs with demodex.

I am currently feeding my dogs raw, I buy the meat from a butcher.
I've been feeding them raw for about 3 months now, because I "thought" it was good for dogs with mange, that's what someone told me.
But now someone told me the opposite, the lady who is helping me treat my dog with mange told me that dogs with genetically impaired immune system should not eat it, it's more than a dog with a genetically impaired immune system can typically deal with and you kind of open the door for all kinds of serious problems.

She is not against it, she just don't reccomend raw for dogs with weak immune system.

I would like to know what you guys think. Does anyone here with a dog with mange feed raw?

I am really curious now, I wanna do whats best for my dog, she also suggested me to homecook for her.

Some things that I noticed is that my dachshund looks much healthier with raw, her coat is perfect, more energy. my pits coat is not so great,

Answer 1

I would contact Marina Zacharias. If there is anyhing that can be done, she would be the one to know. I have asked her permission to post contact info on this forum..She replies quckly to emails, and if you phone, she is in PST zone. Her consults are free> http://www.naturalrearing.com/how_to_contact_us.htm
She has helped me many times over the past 20 years.
Marina is a holistic practioner, and she really knows canine diet, and adheres to raw..
she would be happy to give you an expert opinion..

Answer 2

I think she is wrong but here is a site that can help you:
http://www.rawdogranch.com
I'd contact the people there and ask them. That lady may be right. A food that is not raw food that may help is any premium brand with Venison that does not have wheat.
Nature's Recipe Venison and Rice is the most readily available quality Venison formula that I am aware of.
Ask your Vet about 3V Skin Caps (they have Omega 3, Vit A, D and E in them) supplements daily.
You can also add a bit of Dan Active Plain yogurt to the dog's food daily.
How is the dog with the mange looking, comparatively, since you started the raw diet?

Answer 3

With this type of mange, quality food is vital in improving the immune system. Raw can be good, but you have to be sure the dog is getting the correct nutrients, getting vegetables, and you are giving supplements. Read "Raw Dog Food" by Carina Beth MacDonald, if you haven't already.

I highly recommend and feed the Fish and Chips formula from http://www.frrco.com/121668 because it uses human grade ingredients, is baked, no sugars, preservatives, fillers, etc that can potentially increase the amount of recurrences of demodex mange, as well as ear infections, allergies, etc.

Also, getting your dog spayed or neutered has been shown to help control this mange as well...

Hope this helps!
http://www.libertydogtraining.com

Answer 4

Your dogs need medication from a veterinarian NOT raw meat.

CURRENT TREATMENT OF CHOICE -- IVERMECTIN

Ivermectin is a broad spectrum anti-parasite medication generally used for food animals and horses. It is licensed for use in dogs and cats as a heartworm preventive and as a topical ear mite therapy at this time thus the use of this medication to treat demodicosis is not approved by the FDA. When ivermectin was a new drug it was hoped that it could be used against demodectic mange mites. At first it was found ineffective but later it was determined that daily doses are needed (most other parasites can be controlled with wormings spaced several weeks apart.) Ivermectin is inexpensive relative to Milbemycin (see below) and involves no labor intensive bathing. It DOES, however, taste terrible if given orally (it may be necessary for the owner to learn how to give ivermectin as an injectable treatment.)

Answer 5

Sometimes dogs with illnesses are the dogs who need an appropriate raw diet most of all.

I have not tackled demodex while feeding raw diet, but I most likely would. I do believe that cooked home cooked diets are lacking, and would avoid it until unavoidable. Someone on the Yahoo! group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding is likely to have encountered this -- it would be a great place to find someone who had experience raw feeding immuno-comprised dogs.

Was your pit's coat the same level of poor or worse after switching to raw?

One thing I have had luck with in the past with demodex was a Chinese herb called Si Miao San (or Si Miao Wan), also known as Four Marvels powder. I don't know whether it's commonly helpful with demodex, but I do know that it kept demodex at bay for my senior lab who was immuno-comprised due to long term prednisone prescription. It's not cheap, but might be worth looking into.

Answer 6

There are two types of mange, Sarcoptic mange (Scabies) caused by the sarcoptic mange mite, and there is Demodectic Mange (Demodex) caused by the demodectic mange mite. Sarcoptic mange is acquired and the dogs pick the mites up from other dogs etc. Demodectic mange is an overabundance of the mite that lives naturally on the skin. Demodex is not picked up from other animals. Sometimes dogs that are infested with demodex have a weakened immune system. Demodectic mange is often called puppy mange. However, to answer your question, the diet you feed will not treat or prevent either type of mange. You will need to go to your Veterinarian and have them treat it.

Answer 7

Mange is caused by parasites. You can get parasites from raw fish. I say buy a good brand of dog food (I use Iams) and ditch the lady helping you treat the mange and take your dog to the vet. If it's Demotectic Mange....your dog is going to have flare ups from time to time. Diet won't fix it. See a vet.

Answer 8

My vet never told me that, my vet always told me to put the old fashioned yellowish color original listerine on the affected areas once daily for a month or so and you should see an improvement. It was a fairly small area so it didn't take long for it to clear up so not sure if this would help your situation much if it's pretty spread out.

Answer 9

Raw is in my opinion the best diet you can feed a dog. It will help boost their immune systems, since they don't have to deal with all the nasties in "dog food".

I would direct this question to a group on livejournal. They have many very very experienced raw feeders there who are always happy to answer questions.

Here is the link to their profile there, the profile page also has some great resources as well.
http://community.livejournal.com/rawdogs/profile

Answer 10

I answered your previous question but I noticed you posted that your small dog eats a chicken drumstick in 5 minutes. Just as a frame of reference, my dogs weigh about 10 lbs each and it usually takes them anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to eat a drumstick.