judymomrn
11-24-2003, 10:26 PM
I have a Brittany that is 8 months old. She has been diagnosed with localized demodectic mange. In Aug. she was spayed. Just the other day her incision line developed2 quarter sized puss pockets. I took her to the vet. Also along the sides of the incision are 2 hard noduales. At the same visit I showed the vet a few areas on her head and mouth where she is missing some hair. They did a skin scraping and I saw the parasites under the microscope. I couldn't believe it. She eats high quality dog food and is taken care of so well, that I couldn't understand how she got this. Since I have researched this. The first vet perscribed ivomec and then followed by some strong dips. The dips can make the dog sick. I took her to see another vet and was perscribed Goodwinol ointment to the facial areas. If it worsens we will have to start the dips . Hopefully the ointment will work. Has anyone had any experience with this and the treatment plans that work. Desperate to cure my Sadie.
RWDVM
11-25-2003, 02:00 AM
Hi there. I am a vet. I have seen demodectic mange in practice quite a few times. It is important that you do not confuse this disease with the infectious mange mite - sarcpotic mange, aka, scabies.
Demodex mites actually are a normal resident of canine skin. They exist in small numbers, kept in check by the natural immuno-protective properties of oil secretions in the skin and the normal shedding of skin cells. When these normal skin residents overproduce to the point that they cause clinical disease, it is because a deficiency in the puppy's immune system, probably due to age. We call this juvenile onset demodectic mange.
I always treat this disease aggressively, with 3 bi-weekly subcutaneous injections of Ivomec at 0.1 cc per 10 pounds of body weight. During this time, I concurrently do lime sulfur dips once a week for six weeks. If the problem does not clear or worsen, I then try immune stimulation with the immune messenger molecule transfer factor.
When this occurs in puppys, they stand a fair chance of eventually clearing this problem with treatment as they grow stronger and their immune systems develop. The adult onset demodex, unfortunately carries a poor prognosis, and many of these dogs have to be euthanized. Good luck to you. Please feel free to drop by my veterinary advice and health mangement website at the url listed below.
Roger L. Welton, DVM
Veterinarian, Webmaster http://www.askdvm.com