Zoe a pug puppy was brought to us in March this year when her owners noticed her skin was very irritated. After just a week she was losing hair, and had moisture between her facial folds. Apart from the irritation Zoe appeared to be well in herself but she had been scratching her head a lot.

We did a scraping of her skin and looked under the microscope to find a lot of little mites called Demodex. These mites are alligator shaped mites with 8 legs and when present they produce a skin condition called Demodectic mange.

Zoe had a severe infestation of Demodex. She rubbed her face a lot (although Demodex is not usually itchy) and developed a secondary bacterial infection between her facial folds. This bacterial infection makes the skin very itchy.

A sample sent to the lab revealed she had a serious bacterial infection called Pseudomonas. This bacteria is often very resistant to the antibiotics we generally use on our pets. The swab we send to the laboratory will tell us what antibiotics are best to use to kill this bacteria off.

Zoe needed to have injections twice daily for 6 weeks of a human antibiotic called Ticarcillin. Zoe came in twice daily for her injections and for her face to be cleaned with an antibacterial agent. She was on another daily oral medication to kill off the excessive Demodex present in her hair follicles. It took Zoe 3 months of intensive treatment to recover. Now she has totally normal skin again and looks fantastic!

You and your dog...
Often dogs that get Demodex are not as severe as Zoe and do not get secondary bacterial infections either. Milder cases usually clear up just with a topical medication which they are bathed in.

All dogs can have Demodex mites on the skin normally and if their immune system is working well these mites cause no problems. We mostly see a problem with Demodex in young animals (dogs less than 18 months old) who are still building up their immune system. Dogs older than this that get Demodectic mange often have a problem with their immune system. The immune system development is under genetic control so often a whole litter of puppies can be affected. The puppies that develop Demodectic mange should not be bred from and parents from affected dogs should not be used for breeding again in the future either. Very old dogs may have a lower immunity because the immune system declines with age.

Sometimes we can see Demodex when a dog has been on an immunosuppressant drug like cortisone.

As Demodex is usually secondary to an immune system problem spread to other dogs with a totally healthy immune system is not usually a problem.

Mites - your pet and your health
There are two types of mange; the other mite which can cause mange is called Sarcoptes. This mite burrows under the skin and causes severe itching. This type of mange is highly contagious to other dogs and also to humans (called Scabies in humans). We diagnose this type of mange by a skin scraping as well and looking under the microscope. Often it is difficult to see these mites under the scope however. Age is not a significant factor in this type of mange. Mostly when we see Sarcoptic mange we can control it with a topical wash for at least 4 weeks. All contact animals should be treated for this disease.