My puppy has patchy skin & suspected demodex. Home remedies aren't working.

The only way to definitively diagnose mange (Demodex) is by skin scrapings which should be repeated every 2-3 weeks during treatment until 2 negative skin scrapings are found. Make sure that the flea and tick medication prescribed will also treat mites (milbemycin or moxidectin) and keep in mind that the dosage frequency is different for mite treatment than it is for flea preventative. Treatment needs to continue for 1-2 months after there is a negative skin scraping. Steroids are usually contraindicated in treatment of Demodex. Demodex mites are not contagious to other animals so your other dogs may not be affected.

Mara needs the medications to treat the mites. Some dogs do need lifetime treatment. The good news is that many dogs will respond to the new oral flea and tick medications such as Nexgard and bravecto which may clear or keep demodex in check. Mara should also be spayed- demodex has a genetic component so she should not have puppies but beyond this each heat cycle stresses her immune system and makes an outbreak more likely. Grain free is not necessary, while it shouldn't hurt her it is a marketing gimmick by food companies and not based on medical research. Please schedule her a veterinary visit asap to get her treated, the skin infections that accompany demodex are severely painful. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A

I believe you have a typo here and you meant to say to that your pet Vito has a demodexx note problem. I am assuming this because of your pets age and breed. The easiest way to cure demodexx these days is to give your pet either Bravecto or Nexgard for 1-3 months. These are actually labeled flea/tick preventatives but they also treat for Demodexx successfully and a lot of my clients have been very happy with the results. They also like The fact that they can give one dose every 1 to 2 months and I have to give daily medication. This makes it very easy to give and the effects are just the same if not better than the old conventional way of treating demodexx which was to give a medication called Ivermectin daily. it is unfortunate that you have not build that trust with your veterinarians, but these medications do require a prescription so please ask them so you can get Vito started on medication right away to treat his skin condition successfully.

Very good information. Yes you are correct that topical shampoo with Benzoyl peroxide is a great addition to therapy to rid the mites. The next step would be to get her an oral treatment, which in my opinion the best and easiest way to treat Demodexx is to give her Bravecto or Nexgard. These are flea/tick preventatives, however they are also labeled for Demodexx treatment and can be given once very 1-2 months to treat Demodexx. The other way to treat Demodexx, which in my opinion is a lot more time consuming and costly, is daily Ivermectin 1%. Both these treatments will require a veterinary prescription first, so it is best to get Nu'u seen by a veterinarian if she hasn't already. It is also important to get repeat skin scrapes every 2-3 weeks during treatment to monitor her progression and also this helps you determine when she can go off her medication.

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!

Poor guy. Based on the patchy areas of hair loss, this may be demodex. YOu will need to visit your vet to have him tested and then treated with prescription medication. There is no over the counter oral medication for demodex unfortunately. There may be some shampoos available at your local petstore. but topicals alone wont' resolve demodex in dogs. Another possible cause for these lesions is allergic dermatitis. I hope that Spade's skin issue resolves soon! Best wishes and take care.

These lesions are non specific and it could definitely be something else. did your vet performed a skin scrape for demodex? if he did and has found the parasite then it is demodex for sure, if he didn't find the parasite or did not performed this test then it is probably something else such as a bacterial infection or an allergy. If it is demodex, i would expect to see improvement by now, i would recommend switching Ivermectin with Bravecto for Demodex, it is in my experience more effective, it's a one time treatment and with less side effects.