Dog Mange Info And Treatment Recommendations

People should be concerned about the dogs itch, because it is considered a zoonosis, where-in mites can be transmitted to humans. In humans, the mites can cause an itchy rash in the abdomen, chest and arms areas.

When the dogs are successfully treated for the disease, the humans disease can usually be resolved.

When a dog is diagnosed with scabies, the dog's hair is cut so that the treatment will be effective.

Primary care treatment is the use of acaricidal dips. The dog should be dipped in solutions of lime-sulfur, malathion or Paramita once a week, for two weeks.

After the disappearance of the symptoms, treatment should continue for at least three weeks.

Another option is to use the Amitraz dip once a week for three treatments. Injections of ivermectin has been used off-label (not intended for use in dogs) of treatment.

If the infection is bacterial, antibiotics are given to remove the infection. Other dogs in the house should be treated the same way.

Dogs with scabies will experience intense itching. This is caused by a hypersensitivity reaction to the mites burrowing into the skin to lay eggs.

The dog will lose hair and have a rash on the affected skin. The most common sites for this rash is on the belly, chest, ears, elbows and legs.

Dogs that are frequently groomed may just have the intense itching but no rash. Due to the itching, dogs will frequently get a secondary bacterial skin infection.

Signs of skin infection are crusting sores and warm, reddened skin. As the disease progresses, the skin will become thickened, lymph nodes will swell and the dog will lose weight. Untreated severe cases can cause death.

Scabies is diagnosed through examination of the physical symptoms. The scabies mite is transferred through contact with affected dogs, so exposure to other dogs with scabies is an important part of the diagnosis.

A Professional will lightly scrape the dog's lesions with a scalpel blade and then examine the resulting material under a microscope. In some cases, multiple scrapings will be neccessary, as the mite can be hard to find with a single exam.

The dogs areas and padding should be throughly cleaned and disinfected. Any materials that cannot be safely cleaned and disinfected should be disposed of in a proper manner or burned immediately.

Humans and especially children should be isolated from infected dogs, cats or other possibly infected animals until an "all clear" is provided by a Vet.

Jim is a retired operator of several brick and mortar businesses and has been blogging over two years. Several projects include http://affiliatenmarketingprogram.com/dogs.html and http://dogscabies.net