Laurie Soutar
UKC Forum Member
Registered: May 2004
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1253 |
There are two kinds of mange.
Sarcoptic mange is the one that is like scabies, and can be treated with sulphur products - burnt motor oil is high in sulfur, and that's why it works. It is highly contagious, but very easy to treat.
Demodectic mange is most common in littermate puppies, not contagious, much harder to treat, and the tendency to get it is inherited. The demodex mite normally lives on the dog, but a failure of the dog's immune system lets them get all out of control. It can be treated with high doses of ivermectin - up to 1 cc orally daily (in a 4 mth old hound puppy), but start lower, and take up to 4 or 5 days to work up to a dose that high, and continue for 45 - 60 days. It can also be helpful to go to a health food store and get a supplement designed to boost the immune system.
A few small spots of demodectice mange don't need to be treated, they will resolve on their own, and some severe cases cannot sucessfully be treated, but generally, if the spots involve more than 10% of the body, I would start treatment.
It is an inherited problem, a female that produces mange puppies should be spayed, and female puppies that have mange should not be bred.
If you're not sure which type of mange the puppies have, take one to a vet for a skin scraping and make sure.
Laurie
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