Effie's Demodex came back. :(

[brookitar]

So we took Effie about two months ago to the vet for what we assumed was ring worm that ended up being Demodex Mange. She has been on a liquid concoction since then and it actually began to look normal again until this month. Now Effie is losing her hair on both sides of her face (more quickly this time)...all the hair she grew back is almost gone I'm so upset.

Is Demodex really this hard to get rid of? I'm taking her back to the vet for yet ANOTHER skin scraping.

We did introduce a new puppy a few months ago and she use to be a very finicky eater. She definitely put on at least 5-8 pounds over the past few months could this have rendered her dose ineffective?

I just want my poor baby to get better. I'm starting to consider pet insurance for her since she visits the vet almost every other month it's so expensive!

[teresaserrano]

Tess had demodetic mange a few months ago and it took a while for it to clear. Vet explained demodetic is oportunistic and flares when the dog's imunne sistem is not on it's best for some reason. He said it was probable the mange would come back when Tess had her heat, as being in heat depresses the immune sistem, but that thankfully didn't happen.

When it apeared Tess had a parasite called ancilostome, that's what was affecting her immune sistem. She treated the parasite and did a local aplicattion, every 2 weeks for a couple of months, of an anti parasites thing that works for demmodetic. I also washed the spot daily with a specific shampoo and put some cream on the affected skin.

[Hooper]

How old is Effie, and has she been spayed? Demodex mainly occurs in young dogs. It is often precipitated by stress, which can be lots of things, but coming into season and spay surgery are two things that will commonly push a susceptible dog into having an outbreak. If she is less than a year old, and if the spots are small (like the size of a quarter or so) and if there is only a spot or two, I wouldn't do anything unless there is a sign that there is a secondary infection. It's annoying, but generally harmless as long as it stays localized to a couple small patches. As long as it is the localized type of demodex most dogs outgrow it by the time they are a year to a year and a half old. If it shows signs of spreading or if the patches are larger, or if she starts itching at it or it looks inflamed then a trip to the vet is definitely warranted. The more generalized form of mange does need to be treated, although again most (but unfortunately, not all) dogs will eventually outgrow it.

[mum24dog]

Charlie was picked up off the street with mange at around 5 months. I adopted him from the rescue at around 12 months when his coat was pretty much recovered but he continued to have the odd bald spot appear for the next 6 months or so but he outgrew it without further treatment?

[brookitar]

Tess had demodetic mange a few months ago and it took a while for it to clear. Vet explained demodetic is oportunistic and flares when the dog's imunne sistem is not on it's best for some reason. He said it was probable the mange would come back when Tess had her heat, as being in heat depresses the immune sistem, but that thankfully didn't happen.

When it apeared Tess had a parasite called ancilostome, that's what was affecting her immune sistem. She treated the parasite and did a local aplicattion, every 2 weeks for a couple of months, of an anti parasites thing that works for demmodetic. I also washed the spot daily with a specific shampoo and put some cream on the affected skin.

 

We noticed she started breaking out in mange when I started going to nursing school and we tried daycare out. She didn't really adjust well at daycare and would wait at the fence all day long and wouldn't play with the other dogs. We eventually just took her out once she got mange she wasn't adjusting well. My fiance got a new job and was able to watch her at home while I was at school most of the time. It took until we got her a puppy friend to stop waiting at the door for me to come home.

She get's very stressed emotionally the vet checked her out for parasites and everything. I know she is a lot happier with the puppy but still has that horrible mange!

 

How old is Effie, and has she been spayed? Demodex mainly occurs in young dogs. It is often precipitated by stress, which can be lots of things, but coming into season and spay surgery are two things that will commonly push a susceptible dog into having an outbreak. If she is less than a year old, and if the spots are small (like the size of a quarter or so) and if there is only a spot or two, I wouldn't do anything unless there is a sign that there is a secondary infection. It's annoying, but generally harmless as long as it stays localized to a couple small patches. As long as it is the localized type of demodex most dogs outgrow it by the time they are a year to a year and a half old. If it shows signs of spreading or if the patches are larger, or if she starts itching at it or it looks inflamed then a trip to the vet is definitely warranted. The more generalized form of mange does need to be treated, although again most (but unfortunately, not all) dogs will eventually outgrow it.

 

Effie is 10 months old. She started getting mange when she was 8 months old and she was spayed at 5 months old because of where we live. The first outbreak got a bit larger than a quarter and to make it worse she was attacked by another dog in the same spot which we noticed made it spread so much faster! We think she went through a little emotional stress when I started nursing school since I had been with her since she was a puppy and other people (my fiance/daycare) started watching her instead she would never stop waiting for me to come home until we got her a puppy. I really hope it goes away soon she is almost a year old.

 

We spoke to the vet today over the phone personally. He agrees since Effie has gained a lot of weight and grew the past few months (possibly more food drive since we got the puppy) that she should be re-weighed and give her the appropriate dose. He also wants us to start giving her allergy meds or a cortisone shot because he thinks maybe her bad allergies are contributing to the new outbreak.

 

Charlie was picked up off the street with mange at around 5 months. I adopted him from the rescue at around 12 months when his coat was pretty much recovered but he continued to have the odd bald spot appear for the next 6 months or so but he outgrew it without further treatment?

 

I've heard it goes away without treatment. We ended up taking Effie for hers because it started turning red and flaked off almost like a bad rash. After the dog bit into that area we wanted to make sure it wasn't some kind of infection but it was just mange. I really hope Effie's immune system kicks in around a 1 1/2 years like Charlie. She is always sick with something.

[SoFreshSoClean]

What are you feeding her? What kind of immune support are you offering?

 

I used to foster a lot and we only did ivermectin if the demodex was generalized. Otherwise, we supported the dog's immune system and feed a food that was grain-free.

 

We followed Dr. Pitcarin's recommendations

 

I found this link really quickly as well.

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/holistic-healthcare-library/infectious-disease/61/natural-treatments-for-demodectic-mange-faq.aspx

[brookitar]

Right now we feed a mixture of grain free food with half Purina Salmon flavor. I also give fish oil, coconut oil, and a few raw eggs every week.

We were feeding them Fromm but it made my puppy very sick so we switched back to Purina for both of them. Now we are trying a new food that is going to come out soon grain free Heritage Ranch by HEB that we got at a dog event. When we feed more grain free to our dogs we notice they poop more. The puppy gets diarrhea or will poop in excessive amounts (five times a day). I'm assuming they just can't digest it properly. We ended up taking Loki to the vet because Fromm made him so sick the vet just told us to go back to regular kibble because the protein content was too high for him.

Since Heritage Ranch isn't working out so well I think we will try Taste of the Wild next. My doggies have had a hard time so far adjusting to the grain-free brands. :/ Maybe we just need to find the right mixture that is what we are hoping.