# demodex



## Tammy St. Louis (Feb 17, 2010)

SOOO just my freekin luck , my new pup Vandal has demodex , he Just turned 4 months yesterday went for his last vaccine and i had the vet check out a couple balding spots one on his face and one on each front leg, skin scraping, and result is demodex
he is on ivromectin daily for one month then back to vets for another scraping, 
anyone else go through this , i am pretty upset about it , I have seen what it can do to some dogs ( in my classes ) and dont want him to end up like that, hopefully i caught it soon enough..
he was eating welleness and urban wolf I am now switching him over to nutros ultra as he was getting soft stool a bit , so he is on half and half at this point and doing better 
2
any tips ?
any reasons why he would get this also , I know sometimes stress brings it out, such as rescue dogs or pound dogs, but he really is not a stressed dog in any way, very cool about everything 
the pit bull i just rescued from our local pound was found to have demodex also , I brought her into the vets on tues to be spayed and skin scraping, I know its not contagious , but it seems coincidental that now less then a week later my guy has it 
the pit bull does not live here but traveled in my car to the vets, any chance of it being transfered ?
i understand about it , that all dogs have it and it seems a weakend immune system is the cause for it , any reason he would have a weak immume system 
I am doing the Jean dodds vaccine protocol with him also


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## Tamara McIntosh (Jul 14, 2009)

Tammy St. Louis said:


> SOOO just my freekin luck , my new pup Vandal has demodex , he Just turned 4 months yesterday went for his last vaccine and i had the vet check out a couple balding spots one on his face and one on each front leg, skin scraping, and result is demodex
> he is on ivromectin daily for one month then back to vets for another scraping,
> anyone else go through this , i am pretty upset about it , I have seen what it can do to some dogs ( in my classes ) and dont want him to end up like that, hopefully i caught it soon enough..
> he was eating welleness and urban wolf I am now switching him over to nutros ultra as he was getting soft stool a bit , so he is on half and half at this point and doing better
> ...


Hi,

My boy had demodex as a young puppy (6 months). He had one small spot in his right armpit area. We treated it and it went away, never to be seen again. The hair never did grow back tho. 

I would feed the dog some yogurt after the ivomectin is done, to help the gut bugs come back again (feeding it while giving the dog ivomectin is redunant as everytime you dose the dog it will kill the bacteria).

Puppies are more prone to it as they have enormous physical stress from growing and biological process. Maybe the puppy hit a particularly hard growth spurt and got a little run down, who knows.

best of luck!

Tamara McIntosh


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## Katie McLellan (Jul 22, 2008)

My mali had problems with it around the same age. She was on the meds for a while, and by the time we finished up with them, the demodex was under control. Haven't had any problems since. I know it's stressful and I was worried myself, but it turned out ok. I don't think it's contagious. I was told that it's naturally occuring and that all dogs are born with it, but if their immune system can't handle it (ie in situations of stress), that's when you see the hair loss and such. (feel free to correct me if this is wrong, just what I was told.)

Good luck!


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

And they gave him the vaccine anyway. :roll: That will likely cause it to get worse before it gets better. NO vaccines for a demodex dog!! That's pretty much a given! Ivermectin will kill the mites, but to beat the disease you need to boost the immune system (which is why no vaccines).

Please see Zoey's page on my website to learn more about the 'disease' and how I successfully treated a nearly fatal case. She could barely stand when she was surrendered.





BTW, this is Zoey just a couple of weeks ago:


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

Tamara McIntosh said:


> I would feed the dog some yogurt after the ivomectin is done, to help the gut bugs come back again (feeding it while giving the dog ivomectin is redunant as everytime you dose the dog it will kill the bacteria).


Just a correction - Ivermectin is not an antibiotic. Ivermectin kills parasites by interfering with their nerve and muscle function (and in case of sensitivity or overdose, the animal you're treating will have neuro symptoms too). While feeding yogurt wouldn't hurt, it is not really necessary because the gut bacteria aren't affected.


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## Tammy St. Louis (Feb 17, 2010)

they gave him the vaccine first , then i told them about the spots, so it wasnt them really


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

Zoey looks awesome now! :thumbsup:


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Tammy how close is he to starting teething? I'd expect he's probably started or very close to. It'd be my guess about why - now. What I mean is if there's a "good" or usual time for it to come up teething and around the first heat appear to be typical.


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## Tammy St. Louis (Feb 17, 2010)

he is probably very close to starting teething, he Just turned 4 months, but all his teeth are in there right now, no loose ones at all 
is this kinda a breed thing too , with weaker immune systems? I know the pit bulls as a breed are pretty prone to demodex, but i didnt think the mals were


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Tammy St. Louis said:


> he is probably very close to starting teething, he Just turned 4 months, but all his teeth are in there right now, no loose ones at all
> is this kinda a breed thing too , with weaker immune systems? I know the pit bulls as a breed are pretty prone to demodex, but i didnt think the mals were


 
Years ago I had a Dobe with a few demodex spots. The vet gave me a cream to put on them, vs doing the whole body dip thing, and it worked well. I don't remember what the cream was called though. I can't say that I've never heard of this in a Malinois, but I wouldn't call it a breed thing, I can't think off hand of any Malinois I personally know who have had it. I do know a DS who had it as a pup who is fine now, but I wouldn't call it a breed thing for the DS either.


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

Goodwinol ointment, most likely.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Kristen Cabe said:


> Goodwinol ointment, most likely.


That was it, I figured someone would know the name. It worked really well and I definitely liked the idea of minimizing the chemicals as much as possible. Not to mention it was just easier to use then a dip.


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## Konnie Hein (Jun 14, 2006)

Based on what I've read, localized juvenile demodex is a pretty common thing.
QUOTE: "_Localized demodicosis is considered a common puppyhood ailment and approximately 90% of cases resolve with no treatment of any kind_." 
Source: http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_demodectic_mange.html

I had a DS pup with it - a spot around one of the eyes - and it cleared up on its own with no treatment. I have known of three other pups with it recently. One Mal, one GSD and one DS. All three of those dogs were treated with ivermectin, and it cleared up in about the same amount of time as it took for my DS's to clear up (with no treatment). The above link mentions several times that treatment is not necessary for the localized version of the condition.

It is not considered contagious, however, according to the above link:
QUOTE: "_Classically Demodex mites have been felt to only be transferable from mother to newborn pup. After the pup is a week or so old, it has developed enough immunity so that infection is no longer possible. In other words, after age one week or so, a dog will not longer accept new mites on its body._
_Recently this idea has been challenged as occasionally multiple unrelated dogs break with demodicosis in the same household. It is not clear if some species of Demodex are more contagious than others or if some contagion is possible under certain circumstances. Current thinking is that mites actually can be transferred from one dog to another but as long as the dog is healthy, the mites simply add into the dog's natural mite population and no skin disease results. Isolation of dogs with even the most severe demodicosis is still felt to be unnecessary; though, in rare circumstances contagion is possible_. "


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Kadi Thingvall said:


> Years ago I had a Dobe with a few demodex spots. The vet gave me a cream to put on them, vs doing the whole body dip thing, and it worked well. I don't remember what the cream was called though. I can't say that I've never heard of this in a Malinois, but I wouldn't call it a breed thing, I can't think off hand of any Malinois I personally know who have had it. I do know a DS who had it as a pup who is fine now, but I wouldn't call it a breed thing for the DS either.


Demodectic mange is normally a comensual critter and lives without consequence on us and dogs. I heard once we have like 10 demodex mimtes in each eyebrow or something similar. Sarcoptic mange and cheyletiella mange are the contagious variety. They think there is likely a strong genetic component to susceptibility in German shepherds from immune suppression.


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> They think there is likely a strong genetic component to susceptibility in German shepherds from immune suppression.


However, I read something about how one could take a bitch that produced demodex puppies, build up her immune system, and subsequent litters did not have it. I can't remember where I saw it now, though.


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## sandra sakalauskaite (Jun 2, 2009)

we have the same problem, after taiking female from a kennel 6 month with demodex.First two months owner of the dog do nothing, but then the dog became to horrible thing, then we went to vet.The vet gave us an Advocate and fluid from the flea and ordered to starve č weeks, plus do not give a dog any vitamins.a month later changed to fully dog It becomes from stress, bad food and everyone dog has it!BEFORE(APRIL)
















NOW


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