Demodectic Mange

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NellRosk

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Is there a chance my dog can catch this off a dog that has it? I've just googled it and it says it's usually passed from mother to pup but the dog in question that has it is about 6... My friend has acquired it from somewhere and as we keep our horses at the same yard will be bringing it down tonight. Obviously I am not wild about this prospect, is my dog at risk of catching it? As I'll leave her at home if she is!
 
twiggy2 said:
yes foxes can get/carry it and horses can (rarely) get it to dog should not be mixing with others and vets should have advised this-people can get it too I believe
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Oh great! I've just found this quote online though:

'Transmission of mites may also occur during direct contact between older animals, but demodectic mange is not contagious as most animals that develop generalized demodicosis are thought to have an underlying immune defect'
 
NellRosk said:
Oh great! I've just found this quote online though:

'Transmission of mites may also occur during direct contact between older animals, but demodectic mange is not contagious as most animals that develop generalized demodicosis are thought to have an underlying immune defect'
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I have just had a read up too and yes it appears to be a condition that brings on the symptoms as a reaction to the mites so ignore my previous post I was talking poo
 
I'm still a tad worried though! Yard has tiny puppy on it too, I wouldn't be happy if I were the YO and liveries were bringing mangey dogs to the yard and I've tried implying this to her and been shot down so.. not really much more I can do :confused:
 
Dermodectic mange is not contagious. It's the other type of mange, sarcoptic mange, which is contagious and dogs with sarcoptic mange should be isolated.
Dermodectic mange is afaik usually something which starts at around 6 months' old and wears off around 18 months, and related to the immune system: an allergy to mites - if I've remembered that right! It's not very nice for the dog. We had a pup who stayed with us who had it,and the vet advised that it was perfectly OK for the pup to mix with other dogs.
 
teacups said:
Dermodectic mange is not contagious. It's the other type of mange, sarcoptic mange, which is contagious and dogs with sarcoptic mange should be isolated.
Dermodectic mange is afaik usually something which starts at around 6 months' old and wears off around 18 months, and related to the immune system: an allergy to mites - if I've remembered that right! It's not very nice for the dog. We had a pup who stayed with us who had it,and the vet advised that it was perfectly OK for the pup to mix with other dogs.
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Great thank you :) He is a rescue dog from oversees.... which I won't get into as I don't particularly agree with bringing more dogs over here but I gather he's had a pretty tough life so won't have the best immune system.
 
Poor thing - might have had it most of his life, then. The pup who stayed with us had a skin scrape tested so that they could determine which type of mange it was - your friend's dog has definitely been tested, I assume? It cost the owners a bomb in medication etc.
 
teacups said:
Poor thing - might have had it most of his life, then. The pup who stayed with us had a skin scrape tested so that they could determine which type of mange it was - your friend's dog has definitely been tested, I assume? It cost the owners a bomb in medication etc.
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Well she took him to the vet yesterday and they said he had it... but after googling it this morning I read that it needed a skin scrape like you said to diagnose it! So I don't know! I'm sure I'll get more info tonight when I see her. She's not really keen to discuss it though because apparently the charity who imported the dog could get shut down for travelling a dog with mange.
 
Perhaps in older dogs it presents more obviously as one type or the other? I can imagine you might be tempted to leave your dog at home/in the car until you've spoken to her in more detail about the vet's advice.
I don't know what all the rules are for travelling a dog into the UK, but would have thought it would need a vet's certificate that it is free of certain diseases, amongst others?
 
Hmm maybe yeah? Good plan! I'll leave her in the car and take her for a walk after I've done the horses as I really don't want to risk anything. You'd imagine so wouldn't you? It will have come with a passport saying it had had it's rabies vaccination I would assume, but not sure what other health checks are done. Apparently it is very scabby and it is clear that it has a skin problem.
 
Demodectic mange is caused by a reaction to demodex. Demodex lives in the skin of a large % of animals and humans. Some animals may develop a reaction to the demodex: Young animals may be predisposed due to a genetic condition, and older/sick animals may be affected due to immunosuppression. It is not contagious, sarcoptic mange is. Demodex is usually diagnosed with skin scrapes or hair plucks. Demodex can bury themselves deeper into the skin than other mites, so hair plucks are better. Treatment is usually advocate and regular aludex baths.

It may be that they have "diagnosed" it by the clinical signs (typically on the forehead and around the eyes) although they should have done a hair pluck and skin scrape to confirm?!
 
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No skin scrape test done means no definitive diagnosis. That new owner is being very careless if she lets that dog mingle with a puppy!ii would not allow my own dogs to mix unless demodex was confirmed with deep skin scrapes and the whole plethera of other potential causes for hairloss in a former stray ruled out.she has no idea of this dogs history.it sounds like the charity deserves to get more than a smack on the wrist for bringing a potentially unhealthy and carrying infectious disease dog into the country if he's slipped in with this issue undocumented. Rabies vaccination is done 3 weeks before travel so he may have been ok then but
the animal should have been seen by a vet before the ferry the crossing to get its antiparasitic drugs and get signed off as fit to travel.this shouldn't happen if the dog is scabby with an un diagnosed skin condition.if all is above board the charity should have a record of its skin condition and diagnosis already. Demodex itself is not infectious.everyone carries the mite but when populations grow to large numbers or there is an issue with immunocompromise them demodex mange can occur in individual dogs.
 
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I seem to remember the scrape results took a few days to come back.
The pup's owner met someone who had a pup from the same litter a couple of months later by chance, and the other pup had developed dermodectic mange at roughly the same age as hers.
 
What an interesting thread. Mostly qualified and generally well informed opinion. I've lived the life of the blessed (or the lucky!), and for 50 + years, had dogs which were unaffected by disease, mostly!

I did once have a Pointer in my kennels, and he hailed from Sussex, and after about a month, he developed sarcoptic mange. What ever I did, I couldn't rid him of it. No other dog (5 or 6) was affected. Odd.

Alec.
 
Umbongo said:
Demodectic mange is caused by a reaction to demodex. Demodex lives in the skin of a large % of animals and humans. Some animals may develop a reaction to the demodex: Young animals may be predisposed due to a genetic condition, and older/sick animals may be affected due to immunosuppression. It is not contagious, sarcoptic mange is. Demodex is usually diagnosed with skin scrapes or hair plucks. Demodex can bury themselves deeper into the skin than other mites, so hair plucks are better. Treatment is usually advocate and regular aludex baths.

It may be that they have "diagnosed" it by the clinical signs (typically on the forehead and around the eyes) although they should have done a hair pluck and skin scrape to confirm?!
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Thank you Umbongo, that's very helpful! I have no idea what's been done at the vets! A skin scrape may have been done yesterday and they're awaiting results!
 
Aru said:
No skin scrape test done means no definitive diagnosis. That new owner is being very careless if she lets that dog mingle with a puppy!ii would not allow my own dogs to mix unless demodex was confirmed with deep skin scrapes and the whole plethera of other potential causes for hairloss in a former stray ruled out.she has no idea of this dogs history.it sounds like the charity deserves to get more than a smack on the wrist for bringing a potentially unhealthy and carrying infectious disease dog into the country if he's slipped in with this issue undocumented. Rabies vaccination is done 3 weeks before travel so he may have been ok then but
the animal should have been seen by a vet before the ferry the crossing to get its antiparasitic drugs and get signed off as fit to travel.this shouldn't happen if the dog is scabby with an un diagnosed skin condition.if all is above board the charity should have a record of its skin condition and diagnosis already. Demodex itself is not infectious.everyone carries the mite but when populations grow to large numbers or there is an issue with immunocompromise them demodex mange can occur in individual dogs.
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He won't be mingling as such as the puppy is usually locked in the garden but I do still worry if they're sniffing through the fence or if YOs let pup out which they sometimes do. Either way if I had brought a dog from oversees with a skin condition I would not be bringing it to a place where people had dogs, just out of respect really.

Thanks Aru, very informative about demodex!
 
sarcoptic mange can be caught. demodex is passed from mother to pup, but they wont necessarily show symptoms until their is another underlying problem, so usually treating the initial problem resolves the mange, I believe.
 
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