Demodex

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Mange can mean many different things to pet owners. Today let’s look at one type of mite that causes this skin condition. Demodectic mange is one of the more common mites we see in practice. The good news is, unlike sarcoptic mange (which we will talk about next week), this particular mite is not typically considered contagious to people or other animals. What is interesting is while not overly contagious to other dogs it is thought the mites are originally transferred from a mother dog to her puppies. So this mite is actually a normal inhabitant of the skin, however when they overgrow they start to cause issues.

 

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There are a couple different presentations of this condition. Typically hair loss will be seen in the affected areas this can be in just one or a couple spots or it can be all over the body. Occasionally it can be just isolated to the feet. Some animals will be INTENSELY itchy, while others may not itch much at all. In some of the more severe cases there may also be a bacterial infection secondary to the mange that needs to be treated. While most affected animals are young puppies with growing immune systems, older animals can have outbreaks. If this occurs in an older animals most of the time there is another condition occurring that needs to be diagnosed before resolving the demodex. To diagnose we must do a deep skin scrape where we gently shave cells off until we get down to the follicle where the mite likes to live. Most animals tolerate this very well!

 

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A variety of different treatment options are available including topical and oral medications. Depending on breed, severity of the condition or any underlying conditions your veterinarian may recommend one method over another one.

 

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For more information you can visit www.veterinarypartner.com . Their website is full of useful tips and background on many conditions. To visit the page for demodex you can click here