localized demodectic mange in puppies

[Aleron]

It does take awhile for the hair to grow back but treatment doesn't really help that. The vast majority of cases clear up with no treatment, yet many vets strongly push treatment right away. Treatment which tends to be rather toxic unfortunately. If you want to know that it is for sure Demodex, you will need a skin scraping. However, be aware that your vet may urge you to treat and know ahead of time if you want to or not.

"Two clinical forms (localized and generalized) of the disease exist. Localized demodicosis occurs in dogs <2 yr old, and most of these cases, especially the nummular forms, are thought to resolve spontaneously. Lesions consist of areas of focal alopecia, erythema and/or hyperpigmentation, and comedones. Pruritus is usually absent or weak. A percentage of these cases, especially the diffuse localized forms, progress to the generalized form. ... Nummular localized demodicosis can be left untreated. The prognosis for this form is usually good, and spontaneous recovery is frequent." http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/72005.htm"]

"Localized demodicosis occurs as isolated scaly bald patches, usually on the dog's face, creating a polka-dot appearance. Localized demodicosis is considered a common puppyhood ailment and approximately 90% of cases resolve with no treatment of any kind." http://www.marvistavet.com/html/demodectic_mange.html


"Localized mange usually heals spontaneously in six to eight weeks, but may wax and wane for several months. " http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/demodectic-mange-dogs

[chowNcharge]

I will see if it is demodex or not (i am so sure it is.)
but I decided that i am not going to treat it at this point.

I am pretty close to my vet, she is actually a friend of the family. i do not think she will have a problem with doing a scrapping and not treating it.

[Southpaw]

Wow sorry I hadn't heard anything about Promeris being bad! The only time I've ever even heard of the product was when Juno had demodex and that was 2 years ago. My bad
Guess it's a good thing we decided not to treat her with it!

[chowNcharge]

it IS demodectic mange. and i have decided to not treat it, because lots of what i read says that nothing suggest treatment even helps it heal any faster.

however Rajah is itchy.

any suggestions on what to do?
I am taking him to work with me for an oatmeal bath and either a hot oil treatment or dead sea mud bath..
also getting him on benadryl.

he is on grain free food, but it does have potatoes in it.

[chowNcharge]

benadryl has helped a LOT!!! (with itching)
he is also on fish oil and vit C

he got his oatmeal bath and dead sea mud bath a couple of days ago. smells good, didnt do much for itching. im glad the benadryl did

[kady05]

We tried the "wait and see" route with Piper when she was a pup and had Demodex. Wish I would've just treated it then, because when I had her spayed at 6 months she looked like she had been attacked by moths a week later.. stress of the surgery made the Demodex flare up.

So we treated it then. I believe she was on Ivermectin for 8wks. and it completely cleared up!

[chowNcharge]

here are some better pictures.








and this is what i am doing:

Feeding Taste Of the Wild- high prairie puppy (it is the best that i can afford)
Adding fish oil 1000 mg, vit c 1000 mg
benadryl 25mg twice a day (sometimes only once)
NO grains, potatoes (there is some in his food, cant find a grain free without that i can afford) no sugars, nothing dyed or artificial. Basically besides his dog food he only gets freeze dried chicken and chicken liver
Weekly bath (in soap free, dye free, sent free, coconut based tea tree shampoo--dried with force dryer with no heat--

[chowNcharge]

he is lookin better!!!

[jenv101]

Glad he is getting better!

I think as long as you can keep him stress free without any major changes in his life (or surgery as was previously mentioned), he should be fine and grow out of it! Riley had it when he was 10-11 months old, started out as a small spot on his chin, but then we went away and he was in a kennel for a week and the stress made it flare up to the whole bottom of his chin. Took quite a while to go away, but it did.

[Aleron]

Glad to hear it's getting better!

Originally Posted by jenv101

Glad he is getting better!

I think as long as you can keep him stress free without any major changes in his life (or surgery as was previously mentioned), he should be fine and grow out of it! Riley had it when he was 10-11 months old, started out as a small spot on his chin, but then we went away and he was in a kennel for a week and the stress made it flare up to the whole bottom of his chin. Took quite a while to go away, but it did.

It's pretty normal for it to flare up after surgery or something which challenges the immune system but that's not really a sign that it "should have been treated sooner" or that it won't clear up on it's own. As I posted earlier, the vast majority of cases will clear up with no treatment at all. People get antsy because their dogs looks...well mange-y but really, IMO and IME the treatment is worse than the problem in most cases. And if the treatment takes 8 weeks to clear it up....well there's no way to say the treatment worked or didn't. It easily could have gone away on it's own in that time.