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Is it safe to treat a nursing dog for mange while she has puppies?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | American Pit Bull Terrier | Female | 25 lbs

My dog has the mange and she just had puppies a week ago can she talk medicine while nursing

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on April 28th, 2018

This is a difficult to answer question. So we have a mother with mange, and this means the puppies will likely be infected with mange also.
Therefore the risk of the puppies dying or getting severely ill from mange vs adverse events from medication is higher, and therefore I would treat the mother;s mange. You will however have to find out what kind of mange mites are present. Your vet should be able to tell you after an exam and then should prescribe a medication for mother and possibly puppies.
There are several medications that will kill mites such as avermectins, (Revolution spot on, ivermectin or doramectin injections, Bravecto, Nexgard, etc.) Please take Diamond and her puppies to your vet for an exam and prescription.

3Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM
Veterinarian
Published on December 13th, 2018
Oh my. Poor girl. It looks like she has mange. : ( Mange medication is not safe for nursing mothers. I would highly recommend taking Gowri in to your vet to have her skin scraped to confirm this suspicion first. Then if she does come up positive for mange, the vet will likely recommend an alternative treatment (i.e. Simparica- even though no studies done on lactating mothers, it can be tried) that has to be prescription. If you don't want to risk any adverse effects on the puppies, then I would suggest weaning them off of mom and hand feeding them until they are old enough to eat on their own. This is a daunting task for most owners since it requires feeding the puppies every 1-3 hrs. You may elect to wait a few weeks until the puppies are a bit bigger and require less frequent feedings before starting the mange treatment.

Also it looks like she has a severe secondary skin infection, which will need to be treated for with antibiotics. Clavamox is typically safer for nursing mothers, and therefore can be prescribed by your vet and started now.

After you are done going through this whole ordeal with her, I recommend having her spayed. Her skin condition is genetic and will likely be passed on to her puppies, so it is best to not breed her anymore.

Best wishes with Gowri and I hope her skin is able to clear up soon! Take care.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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