My dog has demodicosis. Are his treatments right & will it recur?

HI and thank you for using PetCoach. Poor Tyson. I would recommend taking Tyson back to his veterinarian for a recheck. Often dogs with Demodex may develop secondary skin infections that require antibiotics to treat as well as treating the mites. There are some oral medications that may be used to treat Demodex mange as well, however I am not sure if they are availabe in your country. I would ask your veterinarian if there are any other options to treat Tyson if he is not improving. This article may give you a bit more information about Demodectic mange. https://www.vin.com/veterinarypartner/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951505

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Tyson. Poor guy! He does look uncomfortable. I would continue everything you are doing treatment wise. Is the benzoyl peroxide cream a shampoo? If not, I would a shampoo as bathing can help. This helps to flush the mites out of the hair follicles. He will likely need an antibiotic as I suspect that he has developed a secondary bacterial infection. This is common. This should help the skin heal as the mites are treated. Good luck!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Judging from the photos, it appears that the demodex is becoming less severe and the head is in the process of healing with all of the scabs present. If the hair does not grow back and it seems like the demodex is still there, I would try other medications such as Fluralaner (Bravecto) or Afoxolaner (Nexgard). If Tyson is not on an antibiotic right now, it might help him as well as washing him in a Benzoyl Peroxide shampoo twice weekly. I hope this helps and that Tyson recovers fully soon! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

Poor thing! It sounds like his immune system is really compromised. I would recommend an antibiotic for the pyoderma as well as a probiotic. Often skin health is linked to gut health and when you use antibiotics for certain infections you kill some good bacteria as well which makes taking a probiotic important. I would also recommend oral Nexguard or Bravecto for the demodex. Although Amitraz has long been used, I think your dogs reaction is secondary to the effects of Amitraz on the natural flora of his skin. It is important with disorders of the immune system to ensure he is on a good, high quality diet, and resides in a low stress environment. I hope this helps!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Poor Tyson looks like he is quite uncomfortable dealing with this skin infection. He likely needs a course of an antibiotic as well as the Ivermectin to treat this infection and it may take a week or so to see improvement. His right eye is closed and appears that there may be some discharge as well. I would recommend discussing with your vet getting an oral antibiotic and an antibiotic eye drop for him. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please remember to rate this answer as helpful or not. Thank you!

Hello, sorry to hear about Tyson. It looks like his condition is improving. There are other recent medications that can be used to treat this disease such as heartguard, nexgard, and interceptor have been used. Recently, Nexgard has been used more often due to the ease of use since it is given orally. This will likely improve the demodex, but will likely not treat the decreased appetite. He may need to have bloodwork to make sure that there are no concurrent conditions that affect his appetite such as liver disease, anemia, or kidney disease. If his appetite continues to be poor, contact your veterinarian immediately to have him evaluated and to discuss the use of alternative medications for his demodex. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Amitraz (Mitaban) is one of 3 recommended treatments for demodecosis. It is applied every other week for 6 to 8 weeks or until there are 2 consecutive negative skin scrapes. The other two treatments are ivermectin injectable or oral given daily and Interceptor preventative administered daily. Both are administered for 6-8 weeks as well or when there are 2 consecutive negative skin scrapes. Protecting him from excess sunlight, which may cause sunburn on bare skin, is indeed recommended. Keep him in the shade, indoors or limit outside activity. An essential fatty acid supplement, such as a fish oil, may promote healthy skin and coat. Demodex infection may take months to fully resolve.