Dog Mange

TYPES of DOG MANGE:

        Demodectic mange (Demodex canis) or “Red Mange” is caused by a mite that burrows itself into the hair follicle (The mite is shaped like a carrot) causing a little itching and a lot of hair lose. Almost all dogs get demodectic mange mites on them shortly after birth from their mothers, but the animals immune system usually keeps the mites in check . If the dog has any infections or malnourishment this can weaken the immune system and can actually allow the mites to multiply faster. The weaker the immune system, the faster they multiply. Red mange is most common in puppies and old dogs because of their underdeveloped or poor immune systems, but it can develop into localized or generalized infestations on any dog if the conditions are right. 

     Sarcoptic Mange ( Sarcoptes scabiei canis ) is caused by a mite that burrows itself into the skin (not the hair follicle) causing a massive amount of itching and some hair lose. The dog will scratch and bite itself until sometimes it will create a secondary infection. Just as in the case of demodectic mange the animals immune system usually keeps the mites at bay, but any infections or malnourishment can weaken the immune system and actually allow the mites to multiply faster. The weaker the immune system, the faster they multiply. I personally think sarcopitc mange can overtake any immune system. The way the dog scratches and bites at itself will eventually cause an infection and eventually the dog will be in such poor shape that the infections caused by the dog itself will kill it, so even though the immune system will help I don’t think it can compete with sarcoptic mange mites. Demodectic mange is nothing compared to Sarcoptic mange! People can also get sarcoptic mange (Scabies), but lucky for us they cant reproduce in our skin, so they eventually die or get washed off.

DIAGNOSIS:

Demodectic Mange is usually found in patches of missing hair around the paws, legs, ears and face with a reddish/pinkish color skin. The problem with diagnosis is that there is all kinds of skin disorders that fits this very description, so you have to think about your dogs state of health up until the very day you noticed the patches of missing hair, scratching and so on. If your dog has been locked up in a pen by itself or with other dogs this can stress the dog which could cause an outbreak.  The best thing to do is to take your dog to the vet and let him tell you what it is and from then on you will know if it returns. Most dogs have demodectic mange mites living in perfect harmony on the dog, but sometimes the animal becomes stressed or is very young or very old and doesn’t have the antibodies or the immune system that keep them from multiplying to fast. The mite itself secretes a substance that can actually undermine the immune system, but thankfully there are multiple treatments for this. Just remember that dogs usually get this type of mite from their mothers shortly after birth and the mite (in most cases) never causes any problems. In alot of cases demodectic mange is just a sign of another problem that is allowing the mites to multiply faster than the animal can control it.  A poor diet, cancer, infection, anyone of these or others could cause it.

Sarcoptic Mange Isn’t anything like demodectic mange. It is extremely contagious (even you can get it ). You will notice your dog scratching within a few days after being infected and even while the dog is walking it will try to scratch and walk at the same time. The dog wont be able to sleep as well either because of the scratching and biting. Eventually you will start to see thinning hair on the abdomen and legs and later on the ears. The ears will seem thicker and crusty at the tips and there may be damage from scratching. Try to remember that the female mites are burrowing under the skin by the  thousands and then burrow away from the hole they just made while laying eggs and causing a massive allergic response. If you’ve ever seen a dog in a bunch of Nat’s buzzing around its face and it jumps up and runs under the truck or in the dog house to get away from them, this is how preoccupied the dog will seem.      Pedal-Pinna reflex is one method used by vets to check if the dog has mange. If the dog has mange its back leg will kick in a scratching motion while you scratch the tips of its ears (ear margins) between your thumb and forefinger. Its like the reflex you see when you scratch a dogs tummy. The dog wont normally have this reflex if it doesn’t have mange. They say this method is up to ninety five percent effective in diagnosing  mange on dogs if done properly.       Skin scrapings is another way a vet can tell if your dog has mange, they will scrape the skin and actually look for the mites under a microscope. This sounds easy but you need to keep in mind the size of these mites, they truly are microscopic.  

TREATMENT:    

 There are several shampoos and dips you can buy and I’m sure they all have some validity, but they didn’t work for me probably because I didn’t use them correctly or because I couldn’t keep my dog out of the water. If you have a lap dog then shampoos and dips are for you. I own a 130lb Lab and any shampooing or dipping and you get the biggest part of the treatment.      

Selamectin is sold for the control of hookworms, fleas, roundworms, ear mites, ticks,  and sarcoptic mange mites. It ’s a derivative of  ivermectin, but is safe to use on the herding breeds that wont tolerate pure forms of Ivermectin itself. Revolution sales a topical treatment based on selamectin that you put between its shoulder blades that absorbs into the bloodstream and eventually makes its way into the oil glands in the skin and hair follicles. When you are treating an outbreak of sarcopitc mange and not just preventative measures you should double the frequency of use, but you should ask your vet to be sure that this wont be a problem. One aplication every two weeks in the proper weight range insted of once a month is what I was told. Probably because of the breeding cycle of the mite itself(2 to 3 weeks).      

Ivermectin  is what i personally used on a lab to treat the mange. It is used by farmers to deworm their cattle, but the little known effect of ivermectin was that it was also killing the mites and some species of lice that were on the animals that they were treating.       I know a man that has been using it on his dogs just for deworming, but he doesn’t have mange problems either. He has ten or fifteen fox hounds and never an outbreak of the highly contagious sarcoptic mange and five or six of these dogs are always running loose in the yard not to mention that he hunts with  three or four of his buddies and each of these guys has about the same amount of dogs and they let them all hunt together in one big pack. Keep in mind they are chaseing a fox and these foxes are usually eat up with mange. The pack can, will and do catch these critters and that would be direct contact with sarcoptic mange. Coyotes is another animal they routinely run and we all know how bad they usually look. If there was ever an opportunity for an outbreak of sarcoptic mange this should be the place.    

Now for the downside, some breeds of dog mostly herding breeds can die if given ivermectin. They will have a mutated gene that was passed down to them from long long ago. This mutation has something to do with how well toxins are isolated from the brain. The mutation can be found in Shetland Sheepdogs (Shelties). Australian Shepherds, Old English Sheepdogs, German Shepherds, Long-haired Whippets, Silken Windhounds, collies, healers, grayhounds, and others. 

That being said, a study was done to see just how toxic ivermectin is to collies and they used up to 16 times the minimal dosage for the prevention of heart worms with NO signs of toxicity in the collies. In order to treat scabies in dogs this dosage would be up to 50 times higher than the minimal required for preventing heartworms, so their is a possibility of toxicity. Collies are the most ivermectin-sensitive breeds(about 75% of all collies have the mutant MDR1 gene). Also you need to be sure that your dog doesn’t have heart worms. Ivermectin (in higher dosages) will kill all of these worms at once and the dead worms will block arteries and cause stroke or death.  In lower dosages it only kills the larva(Adult heart worms can live 5-7 years in dogs). The dosage I used to treat sarcoptic mange can be sent to you via the newletter signup on the top right of this page. I would love to put them here, but they can and would show up in the search engine results and someone might use it without knowing the risk.

collie breeds

    If you noticed in the paragraph above i have German Shepherds listed as one of the breeds that you shouldn’t use ivermectin on, well just so happens that this was the very animal that infected all the dogs around my house with Sarcoptic mange. My mother, being concerned with all sick animals, decides she is going to fix all the dogs problems starting with this mange infested mutt that someone had thrown out, so she talks to some people that have a lot of dogs and she comes up with this ivermectin potion. This dog had NO HAIR and looked like death warmed over. I kid you not, in 3 days the dog stopped scratching and in two weeks the dog was covered with brand new (very short) hair,  yet this is one of the dogs listed as having the mutation. She never showed any signs of toxicity. My mom didn’t know about this mutation issue.

If you treat your dog for sarcoptic mange then all other dogs in the area need to be treated at the same time even if they dont show any signs (asymptomatic carriers ) and then isolate them for a while. The beading areas need to be sprayed with bleach because the bedding areas may still have mites. The isolation is so you can be sure the mites are no longer infective(breed and ready to lay eggs), but the mites can live for weeks off of the host. The trick is to get the number of mites down so low that the probability of a female mite getting her eggs fertilized is slim to none.

    I would speak to a vet and tell him/her the breed of dog you have then ask if they had any objections to using ivermectin for the treatment. They should tell you about the risk and will probably recomend another product (a much more expensive product). If I had used Revolution on my 130lb labador it would have cost me 79 bucks for 6 treatments. I used 1% ivermectin in a 50ml bottle for 25 bucks and its enough to treat my dog 50 times. If i had a 50lb dog it would treat that dog 100 times. So you do the math and decide on your own what you want to do.

Ivermectin for the treatment of sarcoptic mange on dogs is in common usage and has been for years. There are several drugs based on ivermectin in the US that have been approved for the use on dogs, IverHeart and HeartGard are two heartworm preventatives that use ivermectin exclusively, but the FDA seems to be dragging their feet here in the US approving higher dosages of ivermectin. This is some what understadable when you take into acount that you can not make a 100 percent determination of toxicity dosage levels in dogs, so the easyest thing for the FDA to do is not to approve its usage in larger dosages. Iverheart and HeartGard are very low dosages, but just enough to kill the larva stage of heart worms.

     Turtles can get the mange as well. I read that it will eventually make the turtle lose its shell. I’m sorry, but the  image of that turtle in my head is pretty funny.

Thanks for reading and I hope this info was what you were looking for.