Dog Mange

Question

Mange  

Mange 2   Hello!

I have a question regarding mange. A few weeks ago, my now eight month old German Shepherd puppy developed a small bald spot on the side of his face. We got a skin scrape done and the veterinarian said it was localized demodex mange and that a lot of young puppies develop it. He said it tends to heal on it's own but gave us a cream to put on it once a day to speed up the healing process. For a few weeks it seemed to be growing hair back slowly, and he wasn't scratching it. But recently he's been scratching it, sometimes until he draws blood, and now the skin has turned red and the bald spot is getting bigger. I'm not sure what to do. Should I take him in and get re-tested? Also I was wondering if I could put some Antibiotic ointment on it so that it doesn't get infected from him drawing blood. I know it's made for people, but my mom thinks that it should be okay; but I want a professional's opinion of course. I've attached a few pictures of the spot as well. Thank you so much!

Sarah

Answer
Demodex rarely heals on its own in puppies.  It can go away as the puppy's immune system develops, but that is usually at 1 year of age or older.  If he is itching, then it is probably infected.  Topical medication will not help in this case because this is usually a deep pyoderma when it is associated with demodex because these mites live deep in the skin.  We generally treat the entire dog's body for demodex mange and we use a systemic (oral) antibiotic to treat the associated bacterial skin infection.