What are Skin Mites?

Skin Mites, or Demodex mites, live naturally on the skin of all dogs. A dog with a fully developed and healthy immune system will not display any symptoms of an active Demodex infection, better known as mange.

Mange outbreaks typically occur in puppies between 3 months and 1 year of age since their immune systems are not yet fully developed. Typically a puppy gets the Demodex mite from their mother. The mite lives in the pores of the puppies’ skin, and resided their benignly. However, for currently unknown reasons, the mite can activate, causing mange.

Demodectic mange can also occur in older dogs, and dogs whose immune systems are not 100% healthy, such as dogs who have cancer and are under going chemo therapy.

In puppies, Demodex mites will typically disappear without medication from a verterinarian once their  immune systems are fully developed. The prognosis for an older dog is taken a bit more seriously, but there are effective treatments.

Symptoms and Treatment

The Demodex mite can cause localized or wide spread loss of hair on your dog. The most commonly effected areas are the head and legs. The skin will appear red, and crusty, with all of the hair in the effected areas competely falling out. Amazingly, Demodectic mange does not cause itching in dogs.

Mange can begin as a localized infection and develop into a more serious case. When your dog’s skin is sore, crusty, the pores become clogged with debris as well as the mites themselves. When mange reaches this severity, specific treatment will be perscribed by your vet. Typically it involved topical ointments, bathing with medicated shampoo, and oral medications as well.

The first treatment is the use of amitraz pour on (Mitaban Rx)  every other week for 6 to 8 applications or until 2 consecutive skin scrapings are negative. This treament is around 80% effective based on averaging results from available studies. This is the only approved treatment for demodex mange.

The second treatment is ivermectin given by injection or orally at the rate of 250ug/kg or higher (up to 600ug/kg in resistant cases) daily until two skin scrapings are negative, which probably also works about 80% of the time. This treatment has to be used very carefully in collies and shelties, who are more likely to suffer toxic reactions to ivermectin.

The tertiary treatment that is occasionally used is oral milbemycin (Interceptor Rx) given daily for six to eight weeks and is about as effective as the other therapies. It is probably wise to be cautious about using this therapy in collies and shelties.

 

Note: Manage is not contagious, and will not spread to humans or other dogs. 

Related Links:

- Dog Skin Parasites – Fleas
- Dog Skin Parasites – Sarcoptic Mites (Scabies)
- Dog Skin Parasites – Demodex Mites

 

FURTHER READING

For a complete survival guide on stress-free dog care, including detailed information on when your dog needs to see the vet, how to respond to pet emergencies, dog First Aid, and all common health problems, check out The Ultimate Guide to Dog Health. It’s a complete handbook on dog health care, and teaches you how to take a proactive and prepared approach to knowledgeable dog ownership.

You can visit The Ultimate Guide to Dog Health by clicking on the link below:
http://www.kingdomofpets.com/

Or

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 24th, 2007 at 9:11 pm and is filed under Dog Skin Problems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.