My baby girl has Demodex mites - help!!!

[coripc33]

Yesterday I picked up my puppy (13 mos old Westie) from daycare, and the lady there pointed out some bald spots on her. I had noticed within the past few weeks that it seemed that she had on on the inside of her leg, but I couldn't tell since that area has very few hairs to begin with. However, yesterday I also noticed somewhat of a wound on the inside of her leg - she must have chewed it while in daycare, since it wasn't there in the morning. Long story short, I took her to the vet and the diagnosis was demodex mites.

They gave me an ointment to put on her bald spots, but she keeps licking it off. They did say to bring her back if she keeps doing it, so I'll try again tonight and if it doesn't work out, I'll take her back tomorrow for some pills. The vet told me a lot of things that I found on a google search - most dogs have it, it is only a problem in a few dogs, they usually get it from their mothers, usually it goes away by itself - but I would like to know if anyone has any experience with it and how serious it is. I hate to see those bald spots on her and I want her to be "fixed up" as soon as possible. Not to mention that I don't know how uncomfortable she is because of this - I can't rest when I know she in pain or miserable.

Thanks in advance for any insight you could give me.

Corina

 

[Mordy]

Demodex is faciliated by stress and a weakened immune system, so those are definitely two things you want to work on.

 

[coripc33]

Mordy, thank you for your answer. What can I do about the imune system - I am pretty sure she is almost stress free, she is the happiest dog ever. Are there vitamins she can take, or something like that? From what I know, this has something to do with the T-cells - is there anything that she can take to improve this?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Corina

 

[Samson]

My dog had demodex mites. The vet had me get some vitamins to help his immune system incase that was part of the problem. He also gave me some stuff that I put in water and sponged onto him. It took about 4 months to get rid of it completely so don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t get better right away.

 

[coripc33]

Thank you, this makes me feel better. A friend of mine told me about his puppy, who had it all over her body, and she had to have dips every other week for I don't know how long. The puppy was a rescue and had it on her when he got her. Poor doggie lost all of his fur before he got new one. I guess I should be happy that my girl has only 2-3 spots. I will ask the vet for some vitamins. I was able to put the ointment on her yesterday, she did very good and didn't argue with me. I'll see how it goes...

Thanks again for your replies. In case anyone has any more information, I would appreciate it.

 

[StillandSilent]

Most of the time it is not very serious. We see a lot of it at the shelter, mostly in puppies that have had questionable nutrition and care before we got them. I only recall one puppy out of many that ended up with a terrible infection. We almost lost him, but intensive treatment finally cleared him up.

 

[bubbatd]

Your day care should be notified .... I'm not sure how contagious it is ...

 

[fastpitchchic]

Niko had demodex when I got him from the SPCA. Took forever to get rid of it...as it was pretty bad when I got him. The vet started with vitamins and a special dip. I ended up having to give him ivermectin (sp?) to help get rid of. Also demodex is always present, it's when it grows in large quanities that it becomes a problem, and it is an oppertunistic (sp?) mite...

 

[LEGION_KENNELS]

MY DOG HAD DEMODEX AND IT IS NOT CONTAGEOUS. I TRIED EVERYTHING! MY DOG HAD IT SO BAD THAT I ALMOST HAD TO PUT HIM DOWN. I WAS AT MY WITS END, UNTIL I HAD A VET TELL ME OF AN UNCONVENTIONAL TREATMENT. I USED IVERMECTIN PASTE. IT IS A ANTI PARASITE MED USED ON HORSES. MY DOG WAS LARGE SO I USED A PEA SIZE BALL ON THE END OF MY FINGER ORALLY, ONCE EVERY 2 WEEKS ALONG WITH AMOXICILLAN FOR SKIN INFECTION. I NOTICED A DIFFERENCE RIGHT AWAY. IT CLEARED UP AND HAS NEVER RETURNED. AND HE HAS SIRED 1 LITTER AND NONE OF THE PUPPIES HAD IT! MY HUSBAND ALSO READ RECENTLY THAT RAW APPLE CIDER VINEGAR WORKS TOO. YOU PUT IT ON A COTTON BALL AND SATURATE THE AREA. SEVERAL TIMES A DAY.
GOOD LUCK!!
WWW.LEGIONKENNELS.COM
MY DOGS NAME IS KANE IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE HOW GOOD HE LOOKS NOW.

 

[coripc33]

Demodex is not contagious, and I notified the day care as soon as she was diagnosed with it. They knew it wasn't contagious, and they have no problem at all with her being there. In fact they told me that they have 2 other dogs with the same problem there.

She is now on Ivermectin, as well as on antibiotics and on a special shampoo that I'm supposed to bathe her with every other day for 2 weeks, after which it can be twice a week.

Demodex is something that most dogs have, and in most dogs it is not a problem. It is a mite that lives in the hair folicule, and puppies get this from their mothers in the first few days of their lives. This is the only way that it can be trasmitted from one dog to another.

I just wanted to share what I found out through my research so far. I feel better about her treatment now, and I will add some supplements to boost her imune system (thank you, Mordy ). The only downside is that it takes forever to get rid of this (up to 4 months or sometimes more), but it can be done, and - at her age - it will probably be taken care of for good. One of my friends told me that their dog had it, and they stopped treating it after the first clean (negative) scrape test. Well, it turns out that it came back worse than before, so it is recommended to have 2 negative tests at least 4 weeks apart before treatment can be stopped.

I know some of what I said here has been said before, and I appreciate everyeone's input - now I have a better understanding of what's going on with her. Plus, this is a great opportunity for her to be more spoiled than before (I don't know how that's possible, but we are trying... ).

Thanks again,
Corina

 

[showpug]

All dogs have the demodex mite on their skin. It's the ones that have a weakened immune system that can't keep the population in check. I would highly recommend you focus on feeding a top quality food and look into a supplement by Solid Gold called Life Exxtension. It is suppose to help boost the immune system.

I don't know if it has been said yet, but keep in mind that there are two types of demodex. Localized and generalized. Localized is less severe and generally clears up on it's own. Generalized can be very serious and hard to treat.

You may want to consider giving your puppy a break from daycare as that can be a very stressful environment for some dogs and stress definantly plays a huge role in the onset of demodex.

Good luck

 

[rij73]

Just want to share that my pooch has demodex too. We do Ivermectin daily, benzoyl peroxide baths, he was also on antibiotic (Simplicef) for a while). He is a shelter rescue, so it was due to malnutrition and stress. Now I have him on super good food plus vitamin E, vitamin C, and echinacea. Also he takes a digestive enzyme supplement and Missing Link. I check him daily for burst follicles (look like pimples) and when I find one, I clean it with antiseptic and put Halo's Derma Dream on it.

Just got home from the vet who says I'm doing an amazing job. But, yes, it may take months to fix him up. Plus I gotta take him to the vet every two weeks for skin tests which will cost me $100 every time! I could've gotten a purebred Lab from a good breeder for what this will all cost me, but it's so worth it. This poor little guy was doomed to certain death, and he's just the sweetest dog imaginable. Poor baby...

 

[Bobsk8]

Just want to share that my pooch has demodex too. We do Ivermectin daily, benzoyl peroxide baths, he was also on antibiotic (Simplicef) for a while). He is a shelter rescue, so it was due to malnutrition and stress. Now I have him on super good food plus vitamin E, vitamin C, and echinacea. Also he takes a digestive enzyme supplement and Missing Link. I check him daily for burst follicles (look like pimples) and when I find one, I clean it with antiseptic and put Halo's Derma Dream on it.

Just got home from the vet who says I'm doing an amazing job. But, yes, it may take months to fix him up. Plus I gotta take him to the vet every two weeks for skin tests which will cost me $100 every time! I could've gotten a purebred Lab from a good breeder for what this will all cost me, but it's so worth it. This poor little guy was doomed to certain death, and he's just the sweetest dog imaginable. Poor baby...

I have spent some money on Smokey since I adopted her from a Rescue shelter in the last couple of months, but I feel the same was as you, somebody had to help this dog, and she is worth every penny I have spent on her, and more...