15 week old puppy with Demodetic mange

[petee2]

Well-just found out that Petee (15 weeks old) is not having an allergic reaction to his food or insect bites but Demodetic Mange!!! He has about 8-9 spots, 2 on his face and 6 on his body, mostly left side. Vet. prescribed Pyoben shampoo 2 to 3 times a week for 4 weeks along with Pyoben Gel, one to two times a day on spots. I've read up on the info. on Demodix. Worried about his immune system now. He's acting his normal, goofy, biting self! Eating well too--his nickname is Hoover! Has anyone delt with this before, especially a puppy? Any info. would help me, especially to help his immune system. I am in the midst of switching food (slowly) from Eukanuba Large Breed puppy to Nature's Variety Instinct (Grain Free) Chicken.

 

[Howardsmom]

Our Shar Pug Lucy had it when she was about 6 months. She was fine after treatment and never had another mange issue :-)

 

[Twice]

I know nothing about the mange but immune systems I know about! lol

Feed him a high quality, natural food (organic if possible). Make sure there are no ingredients that say byproduct or corn meal and give him a multi-vitamin every day. Try to find one that has vitamin C, A, E and zinc (Abby gets centrum for kids). The nutritionist also recommended something called c-caps. It has milkthistle, ginseng and echinacea in it. I get it from Amazon (it's cheaper there)

oh! and exercise!! The best defense against a weak immune system is plenty of exercise!

 

[2BullyMama]

I have no experience, but there are some here that may be able to help as they work in rescue and tend to see this in some of the strays ---- [MENTION=1930]RescueMe[/MENTION] [MENTION=939]NikkiSchoolcraft[/MENTION]

 

[Vicaroo1000]

It's a common thing in puppies, I'm told. Bo had a bout with it also. It goes away and typically doesn't come back once treated. It's not like the other mange that freaks people out.....

 

[RescueMe]

I used goodwinol ointment on mine to get rid of it...Then I added a good probiotic to their food. I get something at walmart called pearls. Its wonderful. A good quality food and he will be good as new.

 

[KristinMarie]

This is a very common thing for our breed and yes it is related to their less than stellar immune system.

My bully had demodex mange at 7 months. His was pretty bad (6-7 spots) and he was breaking out in hives. My vet felt it was severe enough that he had to get the mitoban dips. You can research this treatment. It is pretty toxic and can cause neurological issues (seizures I think). The dips are done 2 weeks apart for 3 intervals. Rocco survived just fine, but I was a total wreck!. I've heard of other treatments including oral Ivermectin (sp?) that does well. There are quite a few homeopathic treatments out there too. But mine was pretty aggressive so I had to take the most conservative (and scary) route. He hasn't had it since and he is 1.5 years old now. Switching to high quality food is important for building there immune systems. Please read up on switching food, and which food options you should go with. There is a ton of info on this site for that. Also - keep an eye out for potential allergic reactions to the new food (swelling, hot spots, hives, weepy eyes, etc.) this can show signs of allergies to ingrediants in the food. My rocco is very allergic to all chicken products, and most dog food has some form of chicken mean, skin, cartlidge so check the ingrediants carefully. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[kazzy220]

[MENTION=1209]savemejeebus[/MENTION] I believe had to deal with this too ....

 

[izstigspunks]

My Stig had it shortly after we brought him home from the breeders at 5 months. Don't worry, it's common for our pups to get it, even the older ones. The mange mites are always on our pup's skin, but if they're immune system is compromised, the mites take control and hives and/or bald spots show up. The immune system can weaken by almost anything, including stress and low quality food. Your baby may have been stressed from the new environment, for example. With Stig, he was allergic to his food, so the mange was a secondary reaction. It sounds like you caught it early since your vet gave you oral meds and a cream. Keep doing what he suggests.

In the meantime, try adding a spoonful of yogurt in Petee's food. It's a great source of probiotics and will help boost his immune system. The plain, non-flavoured ones are best, including the Greek variety. What food is he eating now? I'm thinking that can be the culprit as well. A lot of members here feed Natural Variety Instict, Fromm and a couple of others. Our bullies are very sensitive to the ingredients, even more so than other breeds.

Here are a couple of short articles our members wrote that may interest you:

http://www.englishbulldognews.com/f...g-Dog-Food-Labels-and-Finding-Bad-Ingredients

http://www.englishbulldognews.com/forums/content.php?r=219-Dog-Food-Ratings

 

[petee2]

[MENTION=1209]savemejeebus[/MENTION]- Hi, thanks so much for the info. The Vet. just gave me the Pyoben shampoo and gel for now-no antibiotics. It has been a week using both off and on and 3 more spots popped up. Next appt. is April 24th. I just ordered today Goodwinol ointment and shampoo rec'd by another member. I've read some good reviews and info. on the product. I figured if I didn't see any releif soon, I would atleast have a back-up. Then might have to do the Interceptor treatment, problem is it's expensive and short supply to none available right now because company in process of moving and they shut down the plant. As a matter of fact, this months heartworm preventative will be Heartgard, not Interceptor like he got last month because vet. ran out. I am transitioning Petee from Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy to Nature's Variety Instinct (grain free) chiken meal formula. I bought a small bag of that because the store did not have the small bag of the beef and lamb meal formula. Next bag will be the beef since I know he likes Nature's Variety Instinct. I also added Alaskan Salmon Oil once a day. I've read some owners giving a daily vitamin too but don't know what kind and if I should even be doing that since he will be on a high quality food. To much vitamins could hurt him? I want to boost his immune system but not sure if what I'm doing now will do so. I will start him back on the yogurt. 1 tablespoon once a day? I took him off because switching him to new food + milk product + demodex diagnoses could = the runs! Hope to hear from you and anybody else with some more information.:D

 

[petee2]

[MENTION=4408]Howardsmom[/MENTION]- What treatment was used on Lucy and how long did it take?

 

[izstigspunks]

@petee2 - The vet prescribed 6 weeks worth of Interceptor for Stig. We only went through 2.5 weeks worth because he got 100% after a food change, which is why I recommended changing food. If you're going through with the food change, go slowly. 20% new 80% old the first couple of days, then 40/60 the next couple and so forth. Try to take at least a couple of weeks for a full transition. A spoonful of plain yogurt for both breakfast and dinner. No treats! Use the kibble as treats if you must. When Petee gets better, then you can introduce treats again.

Wondering if your vet checked for any other parasites. Not sure what can cause symptoms similar to mange, so I'll tag the most knowledgeable members here @desertskybulldogs @Davidh @Sherry

 

[bullmama]

Diet plays such an important role in the immune system, hopefully with the change of food and a cleaner envoirnment (not sure what type of housing or cleanliness was administered by the breeder) he will heal quickly.

The key factors to the immune system are diet, cleanliness and stress. Any of those can cause the takeover by mange, and the reason it is so common in puppies is because usually breeders feed low quality food, and depending on how diligent they are at keeping/bathing the puppies area clean, and last of all, the stress of leaving their litter. It is very important the puppies are well socialized with humans during their weeks of growing to help bring down the chances of a stress of leaving their litter. We hold the pups and take turns holding and playing with them from the time they are born.

Please keep us posted, and well wishes for getting your baby back to good health.

 

[Davidh]

Don't have that much experience with this, but have heard it's mostly caused by a low immune system. I would think the vet would have given an antibiotic to help. The yogurt should help some also. Sorry not much help on this.

 

[petee2]

[MENTION=1209]savemejeebus[/MENTION]- vet did a centrifuge fecal test. No parasites seen. Petee was dewormed several times. I know most of members will not be happy but I did get Petee at a pet store- my oldest son fell in love with him, Petee was good with the kids and of course, my husband and I melted at first sight of him and his sister. They did give the names of the breeder and I did contact the store about petee's diagnoses. I felt they should know, especially since his sister was there and if new owner called by chance about the same thing. Store owner was contacting breeder. I will be doing a slow change with the food. Man! He has bad gas! As I'm sitting here writing this he's literally stinking me out of the room. Lol! I think I will call vet tomorrow and ask if he should go on antibiotic. Spots are very pink but don't seem infected. He does have a stench to him, always after the next day of his treatment bath which I have been doing three times a week. Thanks again for the help!