Demodectic Mange and Sarcoptic Mange in Dogs

Today, I am going to chat a bit about mange in dogs.

I hear lots of questions about dog mange and hope to answer those questions here. First, because your dog has bad looking skin, some baldness, scratching and stuff like that doesn't mean they have mange. Mange is restricted to a mite, which is a bug that truly lives in the skin. There are 2 kinds of mange that we are involved with : one of them is called demodectic mange or the demodex, which is mange that's customarily found in young dogs. The explanation being is that younger dogs don't have immunological systems as strong as older dogs that may fight this off and so these dogs somewhere around 3, perhaps 4 months of age will start to get tiny hairless patches of skin and ultimately we are going to find a mite there that has to be dealt with. The other kind of mange is known as sarcoptic mange-it is a lot more serious.

The sarcoptic mange can be seen on dogs of every age, it is something that's really infective. It can be transmitted between pets and it's also communicable to people and it can be really tough to diagnose. For instance, with demodectic mange, you do a skin scraping, look under the microscope and you can simply see the mites. However, with sarcoptic mange it can be particularly tough to find, a lot of times it is diagnosed and treated as a skin disorder, but the treatment does not work. After treatment options do not work, it becomes apparent there might be mange although we're not seeing the mites, but because your dog could have skin conditions that don't appear to improve, we may treat it for this kind of mange anyhow. This is something that you definitely need to have looked at as it can be really contagious to the family, kids and adults can get it. Needless to say itt isn't something you want to mess with.

Both demodectic and sarcoptic mange pose serious health risks to pets and should be diagnosed and treated by your veterinarian. If your pets are experiencing any of the skin related ailments discussed above or it is important to get your pet to your veterinarian as soon as possible. This articles is meant to provide you with general background knowledge of mange in dogs and is not a substitute for diagnosis and treatment of your pet by your veterinarian.

Dr. Dean Severidt has been a veterinarian for over 30 years and has extensive experience in pet healthcare, includingDemodectic Mange and Sarcoptic Mange in Dogs. Dr. Severidt is the founder of the Pet Doctor Blog, a site dedicated to pet health care. Dr. Severidt is also the founder and CEO of Pet Doctors of America in Jacksonville, FL.