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Mange- What To Do


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Just wondering if there is potential for me to treat a puppy I have seen wandering around town, has nearly no hair from mange and the skin is very red and inflamed. The dog is not mine, RSPCA/ council not interested and I'm about to leave for a month so I can't do much other than try and make the dog more comfortable

I have Malaseb but not sure if I'll make the skin worse by washing with that. Can dogs recover from very bad mange? I'm limited in what I can do treatment wise other than giving the poor thing a quick wash or applying a soothing cream of some kind and the bush vets have not long come through here so won't be back for a while.

Any ideas would be appreciated

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malaseb may not be much help ..if it's sarcoptic .. some malawash bath , or ask someone about ivomec? If it's really bad & he is malnourished he may have a hard time though...

Some mange cases when they get bad are just torturous ..the poor skin becomes dry and cracks, and gets infected ... a downhill run ...and they need good food, AB's etc too.

:(

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Hi it took me months, my dog was what was known as a leatherback when I got her. she had ivermectin and washes with maleseb as well as phisohex, she still gets patches breaking out to this day though, so it most likely will be ongoing.

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Thanks, might have to try and address it when I get back then. I think its sarcoptic, worst I have seen around here for a while.

Can they die from it?

They can't die from it but they can become very sick from secondary infections and the condition can be very painful and uncomfortable. :(

If it is sarcoptic it is also contagious. The longer the pup is hanging around the more chance there are of more dogs being affected.

I agree with the Revolution tip however if it is so bad then the pup needs more than a haphazard treatment plan. Being a camp dog it is in for a battle with life as it is. It might be kinder to round it up and euth it now instead of prolonging its misery.

Edited by ~Anne~
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You could try advocate fortnightly.

We use ivomec liquid but as it's a sheep product it's off label for dogs and it's quite important the dose is exactly correct for a pup.

You could send an email through to amrric.org to see if there's a camp dog desexing program near you - they may be able to get an animal management worker to treat it.

ETA: Oh meant to say, don't euth it unless you are absolutely sure no-one owns it.

Edited by Staff'n'Toller
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Thanks for all your responses, will do what I can if I see it today or tomorrow and then when I get back I can attempt to do a more extensive treatment.

We do have a bush vet who visits every three months to desex and treat injuries in the camp dogs, they have not long been and we have no animal rangers in our local council.

It is not for me to euth the dog, desex it or anything else that would be obvious to the owner. It still belongs to someone despite the state the dog is in and sadly there is a whole different standard of animal cruelty up here.

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Update- the puppy is now in our quarantine stable and has been given frontline which is all we had. My husband was asked to put the dog down but his off-sider and I decided to give the dog a chance to recover. My neighbor is going to care for her while we are away and give her another dose of frontline in 2 weeks and also a malaseb bath. I'm going to bring back advocate and more malaseb and if that fails to help we'll have to consider what the other options are. If an owner turns up at least the advocate treatment is pretty easy to give every couple of weeks while I understand that the ivomectin is a daily dose.

The puppy is also more like 6-12 months I am guessing, she has very clean white adult teeth and has been through a heat I think.

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Frontline won't work. You need to administer Ivomec. You can buy the liquid horse drench & dose orally 1ml per 50kg, ie 0.5 ml per 25kg. The product has a wide safety margin so don't get too panicky about overdosing, you can use an insulin syringe to measure smaller volumes. Dose once per week for four weeks. This works quicker & more effectively than Revolution.

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And the vet is an amrric member

See if you can contact them and if they will help with dispensing from Darwin via remote consult if the advocate is not working.

You really need the correct dosage, and a correct weight of the dog. For a non-vet to tell you the dose rates is prescribing, and that is illegal unless you are a registered vet.

Skinny camp dogs can and do die from ivomec toxicity, particularly if they have other health burdens, which often they do (as you know). :) Ask them about adverse reactions, what to look out for etc. It's generally not daily dosing but you also need a duration given to you depending on how the dog responds and if there are any reactions starting to become apparent. :)

Murphy's Law if the dog dies on your property from ivomec toxicity (not that you would do anything irresponsible of course) someone will come knocking on your door claiming they were the owner.

Edited by Staff'n'Toller
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I spoke to the vet yesterday and strangely as we live in a town with 2 town camps but not strictly an aboriginal community, they do not cover the costs of treatment for camp dogs although they will visit and provide treatment if I cover the cost. I know I've spoken to you before StaffnToller about amrric, do you still have the contacts for Darwin (the vets that visit me are in Katherine)?

Anyway that aside, I have spoken to the vets about ivomec and that will be the next step when I get back if the advocate doesn't work. They said that the dose rate was critical and that it is easy to overdose.

If someone comes forward as the owner then the ivomec treatment is out just because finding the dog on a daily basis is impossible.

We'll see what happens in a month, at least in the mean time she will get fed properly and be safe from other dogs and people, she is a very sweet little thing, I got a little tail wag this morning when I took her some food.

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Hiya,

By the sounds of it I am guessing it's Aboriginal Veterinary Services, which is a separate entity to AMRRIC. http://www.ntvet.com.au/AboriginalCommunityVeterinaryServices/tabid/27425/Default.aspx Maybe try them first and see if they are responsible for those town camps?

If you're heading into Darwin you might be able to get some ivomec dispensed from The Ark Vet but they might want to see the dog via skype or something?

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Hiya,

By the sounds of it I am guessing it's Aboriginal Veterinary Services, which is a separate entity to AMRRIC. http://www.ntvet.com.au/AboriginalCommunityVeterinaryServices/tabid/27425/Default.aspx Maybe try them first and see if they are responsible for those town camps?

If you're heading into Darwin you might be able to get some ivomec dispensed from The Ark Vet but they might want to see the dog via skype or something?

No thats our vet, I'm a bit confused!?

Anyway I have ordered some advocate in the post and the vets will see the dog in a couple of weeks at which point they will probably prescribe the ivomec.

I've noticed that the puppy has a bad eye so that will be another issue, euth is still on the cards. The other lady who is going to look after the puppy has possibly found the owner who has no less than 10 dogs.

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