Do dog food allergies make them more likely to get sarcoptic mange?

Mange is caused by mites. There are two types of mange, sarcoptic mange and demodex mange, each caused by a different mite. Sarcoptic mange is highly contagious to other animals and humans, while demodex mange is not. The symptoms depend on what type of mite is presents. Yes a skin allergy could potentially look like mange, but a vet will be able to diagnose the underlying cause. You will need to take Mister Brown into the vet. Best of luck.

Allergies and mange would be at the top of my list. A vet can easily check for intestinal parasites (mange) and then figure out a treatment plan for allergies if you don't have any parasites. There are many many different way to treat allergies, depending on how much you want to spend on medications/testing.

This could indeed be mange, an allergy or a bacterial or fungal skin infection. Sarcoptic mange and a fungal infection are contagious to people so I strongly suggest you make an appointment with your vet for a skin exam. Your vet will do a skin scrape and look at it under the microscope, hopefully finding a mange mite. He may also take a brush sample to try and grow a fungus in a test tube. Please make an appointment today.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Even though mange cannot be ruled out, this pattern would be more consistent with allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

It depends on what kind of mange they have. Sarcoptic mange (also called scabies) is contagious to other dogs as well as humans, so it's common for multiple dogs in a household to be affected. Demodectic mange, on the other hand, is not contagious and is normally inherited or caused by an immune deficiency of some kind. In that case, unless the dogs are all related, there is no good reason why three dogs in the same household would have this problem. I'm not sure if the dogs have actually been diagnosed with mange by a veterinarian - but if not, I would definitely recommend a vet check. There are many things besides mange that can cause itching and hair loss in dogs, including allergies, fleas, or a bacterial or fungal skin infection, which can often affect multiple dogs in the same house.

Since there is a smell, severe pruritus (itch), and hair loss this is very suspicious for sarcoptic mange, especially since both your dogs are affected. You will need to take them to your vet for a skin scrape to verify that it is indeed mange. Mange is relatively easy to treat with an injection of an avermectin. Sometimes a second injection is needed. Unfortunately sarcoptic mange is contagious and if you have other pets (dogs, cats) they should all be treated. You will also need to watch out for itchy skin conditions as humans can also be affected.

Gluten allergies are extremely rare in dogs (most food sensitivities appear to be to meat origin or preservatives/colourants etc) and as a general rule of thumb allergies present as primary itching followed by skin damage. It is much more likely that non-itchy patches of hair loss/scaling are related to demodectic mange