Demodectic Manage

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

At Christmas I took on a very sickly little boy who was diagnosed with Demodectic Manage - not through scrapings but biopsies.

He has it on his 4 feet and possibly a touch on his nose. He was in a very poor condition when surrendered, a cruelty case of neglect but that's another story.

He's on treatment of Ivomectin plus antibiotics for the mange but I was told to bath him once a week in Malaseb and then do a short treatment in between.

I know it is likely to be a few months but was just wondering what other rescuers had done and if there were any other recommendations.

He's itching from head to toe, can't be fleas as I treated him with Advocate on 1st Jan. He's on a good quality dried biscuit (for skin) plus meat etc.

I don't know if all the itching is due to perhaps a food allergy.

Any thoughts/experience would be appreciated as this is my first experience with mange.

[Weasels]

When my girl had demodex it was just a matter of ivomectin and patience. I tried a few other things like green tea and tea tree oil on the patches but no idea if they made a difference (i'd be careful putting those somewhere the dog can lick too). We now have her on Advocate to prevent a recurrence.

Hope you can find the cause of the itching soon, poor little thing

[Crisovar]

At Christmas I took on a very sickly little boy who was diagnosed with Demodectic Manage - not through scrapings but biopsies.

He has it on his 4 feet and possibly a touch on his nose. He was in a very poor condition when surrendered, a cruelty case of neglect but that's another story.

He's on treatment of Ivomectin plus antibiotics for the mange but I was told to bath him once a week in Malaseb and then do a short treatment in between.

I know it is likely to be a few months but was just wondering what other rescuers had done and if there were any other recommendations.

He's itching from head to toe, can't be fleas as I treated him with Advocate on 1st Jan. He's on a good quality dried biscuit (for skin) plus meat etc.

I don't know if all the itching is due to perhaps a food allergy.

Any thoughts/experience would be appreciated as this is my first experience with mange.

Did he have fleas? Some dogs that are sensitive to them will take some time to stop itching. Demodex can make the itchy.

I would be inclined to allow his body to treat itself, by cutting down the chemicals and boosting his immune system with a natural diet, plenty of omegas and let him recover. His immune system needs to heal.

[Everythings Shiny]

Dectomax injections weekly for a minimum of six weeks has worked wonders in some patients :)

[~Anne~]

I treated a couple of Pugs, one of which was really bad. We persisted with her baths and ivermectin (?) by mouth.

It was Winter too and waiting the 10 minutes whilst she turned into an icicle was awful and I couldn't put a coat on her as the Vet said it best to let her skin breathe so she was a cold a lot.

It took time, but she improved greatly.

Edited January 13, 2012 by ~Anne~

[sandgrubber]

I don't know a lot about demodetic mange, but did some hand holding of someone whose dog had a really really bad case.

The ivomectin was very expensive.

Is there any way to cut the expenses by buying Ivomectin packaged for horses, cattle or goats (much cheaper) and splitting the doses?

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Thanks for the feedback, I've now started adding an Omega Flaxseed supplement to his meals. He's had another bath this morning and is still itching from time to time, his paws certainly do itch but not too badly.

He did have fleas when he arrived - his list of things would shock anyone, in fact my vet thought he was would to have to be euthanased but luckily, it turned out not to be as bad as first thought when the specialists did tests etc.

He is getting better slowly. I think I have had another dog that was almost bald from fleas, itch like this in the beginning, It's like everything is coming out through the skin or something. After a while on flea prevention, Malaseb baths and good diet, she came good and grew a brilliant coat but I do recall it took a while. She didn't have Mange though.

Hopefully in a week or so, I'll see more of an improvement.

[NOCTRL]

Sounds as though we're riding the same train! My staffy pup was diagnosed with demodex mites about a month ago. Initially we thought it to be allergic but after elimination with no sucess we inisited on a scraping.

He is on daily ivermectin and weekly malaseb baths too (we were doing the baths prior to this anyways). He is a month in now and is starting to look better, there are no new patches (head, two or three spots on back, front legs) and whilst he looks patchy, i can see an improvement. I understand it's a long road but fingers crossed it works for you too!

We also added Flaxseed oil to his diet as its great for their skin and coat, and the Malaseb DOES dry the coat out.

Those who have mentioned the immune system are spot on. Most dogs and puppies have demodex mites, and it's only when the immune system is compromised that they take over and you see the symptoms you're getting. I'm a big fan of colloidal silver and have been giving him that too. Another natural thing thats meant to be good for immune system support is neem oil, i havent tried it yet but i encourage you to have a bit of a read up on it :)

good luck!!!