Demodex mites are very difficult to get rid of and require lengthy treatment. Did you do some google searches for remedies? I know that Revolution will kill the sarcoptic mite, but not sure about demodex. Demodex is so much worse and yes it's very contagious.

Thanks, brutuses. I can't find anything very promising about these little beasties. Some of the 'cures' sound almost worse than the problem!

Eliot's mites seem confined to his muzzle. There's no hair loss. We complained for two years about his scratching there, but the vet only did the skin scraping and found the mites this summer. I'm beginning to think vets don't WANT to discover mites, because evidently there's no good way to control them!

Much of what I read says mites get out of control when an animal has a compromised immune system. As far as we know, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Eliot -- except these darn MITES!

Chisue I suggest you find another vet. Whenever I bring my dog in with any skin condition one of the first things they do is scraping. Even when we took her in for hives they did a scraping to make sure there was nothing else. A skin scraping is a pretty easy way to determine quickly if mites exist. My old dog had mites once....we got a special shampoo to use and within a month it was cleared up. Are you sure your dog is not allergic to anything and that mites are really the only problem? If your vet refused to do a scraping I shudder to think what else he has been ignoring.

This does not sound like demodex mites to me, but then again I could be wrong. Demodex usually covers the entire body complete with major hair loss. It's really nasty.

Did the vet do another scraping after the 6 week treatment or just base the decision that the dog is not cured because he's still scratching at his muzzle?

The mites might be gone, but now the dog is troubled by a food allergy. Scratching and rubbing at the face is the number one symptom of a food allergy.

If your vet is not sure what it is, then by all means go see another vet and get an accurate diagnosis. After 6 weeks I would not continue the Ivermec until I'm sure it's mange mites.

I would strongly suggest a second opinion. Ivermectin seems to be the treatment of choice, however this type of mange is very difficult to eradicate, particularily in older animals. Often there is an underlying immune system problem, which if diagnosed may be properly treated.

There is some good info on continued Ivermectin treatments. The MarVista veterinary link recommends daily or every other day dosing. The petcenter link also has photos of demodetic mange in humans - it is highly contagious. Lime sulpher dips are also mentioned.

Links below might help...

Here is a link that might be useful: Mange

tally -- Thanks for the links. I'm confused. Our dog has not lost any hair, which is what I thought 'mange' was all about. The vet identified the mites as demodectic after the scraping almost two months ago. BTW, two different vets refused to do scraping. This is a third vet, and now she sounds unsure about how to treat the problem.

No, there has been no repeat scraping. I'm basing this on the continued -- now increasing again -- scratching of his muzzle.

How would I find a 'doggie dermatologist'? I'm 30 miles north of Chicago.

I need to get some resolution on this soon. While we wait to decide what to use, Eliot is off Heartguard and Frontline. (Don't want to 'double dose' on anything.)

Sue, I would suggest you google pet dermatologist and Chicago. There are a couple in Chicago if you don't mind the drive.

You can also try this site. They have a find a dermatologist search page.

American College of Veterinary Dermatologists:

http://www.acvd.org/

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: American College of Veterinary Dermatologists.

I sympathize with you. We raise Pugs and Boston Terriers, both are pretty subject to demodex mites. This is a recurring problem in these breeds and is generally genetic. If its in the bloodline its best to neuter or spay your pet if this ever gets in a litter of puppies almost all will get it. 70% of the time demodex will clear itself in puppies by adult hood. All dogs have demodex mites to a point, its just not usually a problem unless that dog or puppy has a weak immune system, then the demodex mites will multiply many times over. Please note that I am not a vet, but I have made numerous visits to different vets with this and am just repeating what I was told and also my experiene with it. In an older dog as you have I would suppose it to probably be a weakening immune system. As part of a cure I would suggest extra vitamins, calcium, and a good quality food. Lately we have used the Promesis and have found it to be pretty good as an aid, but we actually have better luck using ivermectin. I use 1/10th of a CC for each 10lbs of weight, this is a very small dose, to prevent overdoseing I generally mix 1CC of ivermectin with 10CC of sterile water in a medicine bottle then administer it at 1CC per 10lbs of dog weight. Then adminiser it orally (not in injected)in the mouth (it really does taste nasty the way they act so try mixing with a little nutri drops or corn syrup) for 30 days, daily. Then skip 30 days to see how it worked and preferrably have your vet do a skin scraping. Ivermectin is hard on the liver so most vets don't like an extended useage, but this was the recipe given me by a vet and seemed to work pretty well. If you can find some lymes dip or sulphur it willl help with the itching, but only if its an outside dog. That stuff really smells nasty. If the demodex is localized just to the nose I wouldn't suggest this route, but if its on the whole body then it seems to work pretty well.Don't be tempted to overdose, ivermectin can be really bad if used wrong. I'd run any attempt at this by your vet for their approval first, as this is only what I do and may not work for you. Good Luck.

Good topic Chisue, as my 12 year old dog, Dakota also has been diagnosed with these mites .. also from a skin scraping. But I was told that these are not contagious.

He's been having variousliver/kidney issues that we're working on, so we know that his immune system is somewhat compromised. I even took him for a ultrasound last Friday to see if there was anything obviously going on, and there wasn't thank goodness.

Dakota does have hair loss on his face and muzzle from these mites. The Vet gave me a lotion to apply, not sure what that is doing or not doing, am talking to her tomorrow about what's next.

Am not interested in using ivermectin or anything like that at the moment until we figure out what else is going on with him.

On a side note, my sisters puppy also has these mites and was here visiting Mother's Day. So could he have caught them from the puppy? My other dog, 5 years old, does not have any skin issues, I keep checking!

Now to go read some of the links you all provided.

countrypuppy -- I spoke with our vet yesterday, and she is willing to try your 30-day invermectin regime. She didn't know why you dilute with sterile water though. Eliot willingly ate bits of shortbread cookie doused in straight invermectin when we were doing it once a week for six weeks. He's only 16 lbs. so it's not a large amount of the stuff.

So...no Frontline or Heartguard while we're giving invermectin, right?

This is from a search I did online (and my vets handout confirms that this type of mange is NOT contagious.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2101&aid=729

rjinga -- Your information comes just in time! This past weekend I noticed some new locations of red, itchy skin on Eliot's muzzle.

The Foster & Smith article mentions using topical treatments for localized infestation: 1% rotenone (Goodwinol) OR 5% benzoyl peroxide. However when I search their website for these products there's only a shampoo containing 2.5% benzoyl peroxide. I'm going to ask our vet about these. I don't see dipping the entire dog when the infestation is localized and the dipping harms some small breeds. (Eliot is a Westie, 16 lbs.)

BTW, after seeing a specialist for skin allegies, my DH threw out his soap, shaving cream and shampoo and the rash cleared up using products that do not contain preservatives. (This dermatologist is wonderful. His webpage contains a chart of allergens in OTC products: www.scheman.com He is Dr. Andres J. Scheman at North Shore Center for Medical Aesthetics in Northbrook, IL 60062) Maybe I should ask HIM what to do for Eliot! LOL

I see from reading the article that although all mamals may have these mites, some are specific to dogs, to cattle, to humans -- no cross-transference as with ringworm.

i wouldn't agree with you about applying topical products. just want to add that demodex must be eliminated with natural - topical products, chemicals just won't work here. i was battling the mites for few years, finaly found out that the immune system is what controls the mites. So, the antibiotics - chemicals are no help here because they will suppress the immune system. Look up Ovante's demodex products, they have lots of stuff to treat demodex. I only used their facial cream but i hear that some falks have the mites even on eyelashes and scalp??!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Ovante's Anti Demodex Site

thought I'd chime in here in case anyone reads this thread in the future... be nice to get an informed point of view in this discussion though I doubt the original dog and owner starting this thread will still need any input at this time.

Demodex is a mange mite. Dogs basically get two forms of mange, this one and scabies. This one is the more serious form in adult dogs (far less serious in puppies usually) and takes more time to treat, but it is certainly NOT contagious in any form. Demodex rarely causes much itching, but secondary Staph infection (aka pyodermas) are common, can cause some itching, and often need to be treated as well. Scabies, on the other hand, is contagious and causes intense itching. Fortunately it responds very quickly to many forms of treatment. Both Demodex and Scabies are species specific. We can get Scabies from a dog but ony for a very short time and then the mite will die off. However, during that time, we can be pretty itchy, too. We have our own species of Scabies mite (commonly known as crabs) and it, too causes severe itching.

All dogs have some demodex on their skin at all times... people do, too. These mites normally do not cause a problem unless present in large numbers. Large numbers only occur if there is some immune problem. Some puppy breeds end up with Demodex infestations since their immune systems have not matured yet (particularly pit bulls and chihuahuas). Puppy demodex is usually self limiting, meaning it will go away on its own. However, it can cause serious problems while puppies have it, so we still treat it.

Adult demodex is more serious as there is some fundamental problem with that dog's immune system, and most dogs with demodex as an adult end up battling it for a long time, if not the rest of their lives. It is best to look for other reasons if an adult dog has demodex (eg Cushings, diabetes etc... some cause of immune dysfunction) and treat those if found.

But Ivermectin is usually a good choice to treat this infestation. Mitaban Dips (Amitraz) are another option, but more toxic and sometimes less effective. Promeris has been touted as another option, but I have not found this to work very often and the stuff frankly stinks horribly. Ivermectin weekly rarely does anything for demodex (as that poor Westie at the start of the thread was being treated). Daily is usually what is recommended and I have yet to not have this work in the many many hundreds of cases I have treated (some dogs were never cured, but all were well controlled). Only dogs I did not treat with ivermectin were the breeds sensitive to that drug (Collies, Aussies, Old english sheepdogs etc.). But those dogs did well on other drugs such as Milbemycin (lots more expensive, however).

Demodex is a pretty easy mite to diagnose, so second opinions on its existence are rarely necessary (though obviously second opinions on how to treat i properly are needed sometimes). Scabies mites are much more difficult to diagnose and sometimes the mites simply cannot be found... so then we just treat for assumed Scabies and see what happens.

Demodex can occur in cats, too, and hamsters as well (and probably many other species). So far most respond well to ivermectin.

I agree that Neem oil may be safe, but it will have no effect on Demodex mites... they live far below the skin surface and require almost no oxygen to live. You can 'drown' this sort of parasite like you might a tick. Oils tend to make fur very goopy and unkempt so I would not recommend them for pets (particularly cats, but dogs would probably be pretty unhappy as well).