Demodicosis in dogs: symptoms and treatment of a serious illness. Demodectic mange or subcutaneous mite in dogs: treatment at home, symptoms and visual photos Demodicosis in dogs initial stage

A four-legged pet in the house is a full member of the family. For many, he becomes the second child, and for some couples even the only one. Sincere love and respect for their owners requires a response. The dog needs to be monitored, cared for, and if health problems arise, it must also be treated. should be alarming. Perhaps the pet's skin has become infested with mites.

Manifestation of demodicosis in a dog.

Demodex mite under a microscope.

There are several reasons why the disease begins to progress:

1. Reduced defenses.
2. Hormonal disbalance.
3. An oncological disease that undermines the immune system and gives impetus to the development of demodicosis.
4. Treatment with strong chemicals can also cause an intensification of tick-borne infection.

Risk group

Puppies are at risk.

The disease usually develops in puppies or old dogs . Certain breeds of dogs suffer from demodicosis more often than others - these are pugs, sharpeis, bull terriers, Rottweilers, and bulldogs. The disease usually occurs in autumn or spring. It is during these periods that immunity decreases.

Pugs suffer from demodicosis more often than other dogs.

Is it contagious to humans?

The disease cannot be called contagious to humans.

You cannot get demodicosis from a dog.

Treatment methods and regimens

Fish oil can be used as first aid for an infected dog. All balding areas of the skin are generously lubricated with this fat. In addition, you should review your diet and enrich it with vitamins, especially retinol.

Fish oil is used to lubricate balding areas of the skin.

When visiting a veterinary clinic, a treatment regimen for the animal will be selected. It will vary depending on how far the disease has spread.

If there are isolated places of baldness on the pet’s body, then we are talking about a localized form. Moreover, in the absence of treatment, the disease very quickly transforms into a generalized stage, when all the skin is covered with scales, wounds, and there is practically no hair.

Approximate treatment plan:

1. In case of isolated spots of baldness, the pet is bathed using an antibacterial product for bathing animals. Then a special ointment or lotion is applied to the affected areas. During treatment, it is recommended to visit a veterinary clinic and take skin scrapings to monitor the disease. How often to take the analysis will advise the doctor. Usually 2-3 visits to the veterinarian are required during the month of treatment.
2. If the disease is advanced and has reached a generalized stage, we will require complex treatment. Some drugs will be aimed at destroying ticks, while others will be aimed at eliminating the attached bacteriological infection. Preparations for internal and external use should be selected by a specialist, taking into account the breed of the sick dog.
3. Otomodemodecosis is effectively treated with Amitraz solution (20%) diluted with mineral oil in a ratio of 1:9. The remedy is applied externally, rubbed into the affected areas daily.

Effective drugs for demodicosis in dogs

Sea buckthorn oil relieves itching and irritation on the skin.

Complex treatment involves the use of intravenous or intramuscular injections and external agents.

If a tick-borne disease is detected in a domestic dog, you can use not only veterinary drugs for treatment. Treatment at home can be carried out using folk remedies. Let's look at some recipes:

Folk remedies cannot be called a panacea in the case of demodicosis. It is better to visit a doctor and follow all his instructions, and use traditional methods as additional ways to combat ticks.

To prevent an animal from contracting demodicosis, it is very important to monitor its health, as well as its fur and skin. Combing the fur and examining the pet will help to identify signs of illness in a timely manner.

To prevent the disease, you need to monitor your dog’s diet.

• Nutrition is of great importance in prevention . It is necessary to monitor your dog's diet. Periodically conduct courses of vitamin therapy. Avoid monotony in food. You can use special high-quality dog ​​food; in this case, regular food is not given.
• When walking, you need to make sure that the pet did not play with unknown stray dogs . Typically, such animals have weak immunity and are carriers of many diseases, such as demodicosis and helminthiasis.
• In residential areas where four-legged pets live It is necessary to regularly carry out wet cleaning using disinfectants . The animal's bedding is regularly washed and ironed.

If a pet is sick with demodicosis, all its household items are boiled or treated with chlorophos solution.

Video about demodicosis in dogs

This is a disease that is quite difficult to treat. At first, this disease seems harmless, because the pet is quite active, has a good appetite, and the itching is not too strong. But if this disease is not treated, the signs of the disease will appear more and more clearly, and the disease will also affect the internal organs, which can lead to the death of the animal. In this article we will try to understand what demodicosis in dogs is and how to treat it.

Causes

These microscopic mites feed on loose fiber and skin. Typically, the disease can manifest itself between April and September, but in stray animals, which are often located near heating mains, sewers and other infected stray dogs, it can spread at any time of the year.

Did you know? The spiked collar was invented in Ancient Greece. There they were used to protect the dog's neck from wolves.

Symptoms

The disease can be localized, that is, affect one part of the body, or generalized, when the entire body of the animal is affected. Localized demodicosis in dogs usually has mild symptoms when the legs, torso or head are affected.

With the generalized type of the disease, the symptoms are more severe. The dog develops severe scabies (itching), alopecia (baldness) begins, the skin turns red, and peculiar lesions appear in the form of scales on the skin.

Forms of the disease

The disease manifests itself in three forms:

• The focal (localized) form is the safest. The disease manifests itself as 3-5 small areas of hairless, flaky skin. The areas are located randomly on the body. Most often, lesions are located on the dog's paws, chest, stomach and head.

Diagnostics

It is necessary to carry out diagnostics exclusively with the help of a veterinarian. He will scrape the skin and conduct a test. You may also need to conduct a urine test and other tests. In any case, after all these manipulations, the doctor will be able to accurately determine the presence of a specific disease and prescribe effective treatment.

Treatment

Once the presence of demodicosis in a dog is confirmed, treatment should be carried out in a veterinary clinic; you should under no circumstances buy drugs at your own discretion or try to restore the animal’s health at home.

All procedures will be aimed at ensuring that destroy the pathogen - tick. You will also need to get rid of purulent lesions on the skin (pyoderma). After this, you should help the dog restore its immune system, remove toxins and generally support and strengthen the animal’s body.




Important!You cannot self-medicate. This is a direct path to worsening the dog’s disease; the consequences can be irreversible.

Medicines for the disease

There are two ways to destroy the pathogenic mite. To get rid of adult pathogens that are located next to blood vessels, the drugs Doramectin or Ivermectin are prescribed.

The latter, by the way, is deadly for Sheltie and Collie dogs, so only Doramectin is acceptable for them and only under the careful supervision of a veterinarian.

Yam and Aversectin ointments can also be used. Purulent lesions of the skin can be eliminated only after analyzing the condition of the area. First, the specialist must determine the type of microbes, as well as their sensitivity to various types of antibiotics.

Only after this will he be able to select the correct and effective drug, also taking into account the condition of the sick dog and the presence of concomitant ailments. Antibiotics for bacterial infections are prescribed in 90% of cases.

Sulfur ointment, Chlorophos, Sebacil, Amitraz, and Ronnel are also used for local skin treatment. In the form of an injection suspension, Ivomec or its analogues can be prescribed for a dog to support the functioning of the animal’s liver.




To increase the overall resistance of the body, immunostimulants are also used. A diet for a sick dog is a low content of B vitamins, as well as a decrease in the amount of protein in the diet.

Important! A sick dog should be in a dry and clean room, humidity and drafts are strictly excluded.

Prevention

Prevention of demodicosis in a pet consists primarily of excluding its contact with homeless stray individuals.

You also need to carefully examine your pet from time to time in order to quickly identify the presence of an illness if it manifests itself. You should take care of your dog's coat and skin, using special dog shampoos.

Demodicosis is a rather complex disease that can be difficult to cure. The first step is to contact an experienced veterinarian, and after receiving treatment instructions, follow them exactly. ъ

Time is of the essence with regard to this disease, so as soon as any manifestations of the disease are noticed on the animal’s skin, you should immediately go to the veterinarian.

This is a fairly common disease and manifests itself in the form of dermatitis, keratosis and progressive wasting. Often, due to failure to contact a veterinarian, dogs die as a result of severe exhaustion and sepsis.

Causes of the disease

The disease itself is not contagious and cannot be transmitted from dog to dog or to humans.. Mites are passed at birth from mother to puppies and live on the surface of the skin and hair follicles. The disease depends on immunity and, as soon as it weakens, there is a push for its development.

The main reasons for the development of demodicosis, in addition to decreased immunity, also include:

• oncological diseases;
• hormonal disorders;
• use of drugs that reduce immunity (steroids, hormones, chemotherapy).

Caused by a separate disease, demodicosis is usually seen in adult dogs. Juvenile demodicosis usually occurs in puppies under one year of age. The reason for this is the heredity of the immune system, when the body loses the ability to control the number of mites.

Most often, dogs suffer from this disease in the winter and spring., which is explained by a decrease in the general resistance of the animal’s body.

Symptoms of the disease

Clinical manifestations of demodicosis begin with an unlimited increase in the number of mites.

There are several forms of development of demodicosis.

Localized

The disease usually occurs in dogs under one year of age and does not depend on its gender or breed. Physically, they are usually healthy and fall ill due to temporary illness or a serious stressful situation.

The first signs of a localized form: sparse hair around the mouth, eyelids and on the front legs. The prognosis for full recovery is favorable. Almost all sick people - 90% of dogs - will recover, and for the rest of the sick people, the localized form will turn into a generalized one.

Generalized

The generalized form is a continuation of the untreated localized form. The younger the animal, the higher its chances of a speedy recovery.

Most animals recover on their own due to the body’s own defenses.. Recovery usually occurs between the ages of 8 months and 3 years of the animal, depending on the breed of the dog.

The prognosis for recovery in adult dogs is less optimistic. Usually the cause of the disease in older age is a consequence of another disease or immunosuppressive therapy. Provoking factors include: oncology, endocrine diseases, steroid treatment, metabolic disorders. The prognosis in this case depends on the underlying disease.

Juvenile

The disease occurs in puppies under 1 year of age and is transmitted hereditarily. Such dogs are usually sterilized. If the immune system is weak, it will be very difficult to get rid of the disease. Otherwise, dogs will recover from the disease on their own.

The main sign of the disease is formation in the form of “spectacles” around the eyes or in the limbs. Such skin lesions do not cause suffering to dogs; their owners are more worried. In some cases, juvenile demodicosis develops into other forms of the disease.

The causative agent is mites of the genus Demodex, which cause inflammation of the outer ear. In dogs, the disease is part of a generalized process.

Symptoms include: the presence of black crusts (exudate) in the ear canal, itching in the ear, hair loss around the auricle.

Demodicosis of paws

Demodicosis of the paws most often affects American and. The main symptoms include: hair loss, furunculosis, erythema, cellulite, purulent phlebitis of the veins of the extremities. Usually all 4 limbs of the dog are involved.

Photos of symptoms (Do not look at the impressionable)

Demodicosis of paws

How to treat demodicosis

First aid for illness - lubricating the affected areas with fish oil and monitoring the cleanliness of the litter. The diet should be enriched with vitamin A (for example, by adding grated carrots to the diet).

The animal should be taken to a veterinary hospital as soon as possible for medical assistance.

The treatment regimen for demodicosis depends on the type of disease.

• When localized form, it is necessary to ensure that it does not develop into a generalized one. After the examination, the doctor will recommend that the owner bathe the dog with antibacterial shampoo and apply a special lotion to the affected areas of the skin. It will also be necessary to periodically undergo a series of tests (scrapings) to monitor the development of the disease. Usually they are rented 2 times over 2-3 weeks.
• When generalized forms, the dog will need to be spayed so as not to spread the disease further by inheritance. Treatment is reduced to the elimination of secondary bacterial infections and the elimination of all mites on the animal's skin. Apply external agents (ivermectin, milbemycin), which are added to the water and bathe the dog. Medications are prescribed depending on the breed of the animal.
• At otodemodecosis the most prescribed is the use of 20% Amitraz, diluted in a ratio of 1: 9, together with mineral oil. Apply the product daily.

At the same time, check if you have . Helminthiasis is an unpleasant disease that many dog ​​breeders face.

Drugs to treat the disease

As a local treatment, various preparations are used, consisting of equal parts of solar oil and carbon tetrachloride, and turpentine. An effective remedy is the use of a 1% trypansini solution subcutaneously or intravenously. At the same time, sedimentary sulfur powder is rubbed into the infected areas of the skin.

When treating demodicosis in dogs, 2% SK-9 emulsion, 1% coral emulsion, 2% chlorophos solution, 5% soap emulsion, 1% sevin emulsion are also used. At the same time, the animal is given chlorophos orally at the rate of 25 mg per 1 kg of animal weight.

Be sure to follow all the veterinarian’s recommendations, then the likelihood of side effects will be minimized. Do not self-medicate your pet!

If dipping an animal is prescribed, it may be necessary to restrain the animal in a stationary position for best penetration of the medication. Bathing with medicinal products should be regular.

Side effects may include itching, tremors, or other reactions. It is best if all manipulations are performed in a veterinary clinic under the guidance of a doctor. In addition, it is recommended to conduct a treatment session with soft X-ray rays.

At home, a course of antibacterial agents is prescribed, which will take several weeks (4-10) to get rid of the secondary bacterial infection. The dog will also be prescribed tablets (milbemycin, ivermectin) to eliminate ticks. Usually the course of treatment takes at least 3 months.

If the dog is a collie or Australian shepherd, drugs such as ivermectin cannot be given, as they are life-threatening and have serious side effects (convulsions, coma, death).

In dogs of other breeds, side effects occur much less frequently and are not pronounced (dizziness, weakness of the hind legs, difficulty walking, stumbling).

Prevention of demodicosis

Preventive measures consist of prohibiting contact of the dog with stray homeless individuals. It is recommended to periodically conduct a thorough examination of your pet for the possible presence of skin diseases, so that if the same demodicosis is detected, try to cure it as soon as possible.

It is recommended to carefully care for your pet's hair and skin and use special shampoos for dogs. It is not allowed to take medications for prevention and treatment recommended for other breeds of animals.

Household items of a sick animal should be sprayed with a 0.1% solution of Sevin or a 1% solution of chlorophos. All places where the sick dog was located are treated with a hot 5% emulsion of creolin or Lysol, or disinfected by fire treatment.

Demodicosis in dogs is not a contagious disease. The disease is not transmitted from one animal to another. Only newborn puppies can become infected from their mother during feeding. A person also cannot get the disease from a dog. The cause of the disease is only a weakened immune system. The following can provoke the development of demodicosis: factors:

Mites actively reproduce in high humidity indoors and on wet skin.

Symptoms of demodicosis in dogs

With a localized form of the disease, bald areas appear on the animal's body. More often hair falls out on the paws, chest, stomach and head. The skin in areas of baldness undergoes changes, it becomes rough, thickened, covered with scales and ulcers. Over time, wrinkles and redness appear. After vaccinations or stress, symptoms may disappear or, on the contrary, worsen. At this stage, the disease is still easily treated and in most cases ends in recovery.

If you do not treat the localized form, it develops into a generalized form. And then the symptoms of the disease become more heavy:

1. The dog is bothered by itching and constantly combs out the affected areas.
2. The number of bald areas is increasing.
3. An unpleasant odor emanates from the animal's skin.
4. There are signs of damage to internal organs: weakness, cramps, muscle tremors, vomiting, foaming from the mouth.
5. Coordination of movements is impaired.

In advanced forms of the disease, the animal dies from exhaustion and intoxication. The prognosis of the generalized form of demodicosis in dogs depends on age. The younger the pet, the greater the likelihood of recovery.

Juvenile demodicosis occurs in puppies under 1 year of age. This form of the disease is considered hereditary. Young dogs are characterized by hair loss and scaly skin around the eyes (“demodicosis glasses”). Such animals are removed from breeding and sterilized. In half of the cases, the juvenile form of the disease heals on its own as the dog grows older. With weak immunity, the disease becomes generalized.

Complications of demodicosis are also dangerous. They occur especially often in the generalized form of the pathology. The disease can affect the stomach, intestines, gallbladder, and endocrine system. It is these forms of the disease that often end in the death of the animal.

Diagnostic methods

Veterinarians can usually easily diagnose demodicosis in dogs. The disease can be determined by appearance, analysis of complaints and heredity. Additionally, scraping for ticks from the skin of the animal is carried out.

Some dog breeds have specific folded skin, such as Shar-Peis. It is difficult to take a scraping from them, so a biopsy is performed.

It is necessary to distinguish demodicosis in dogs from the following diseases:

Treatment of demodicosis

Treatment methods for demodicosis in dogs depend on the form of the disease and the extent of skin damage. First of all, the animal needs care and hygiene. You need to pay attention to the dryness of the room, as ticks love moisture.

All veterinary drugs must be used strictly as prescribed by the doctor. Typically, drug therapy is carried out over several directions:

It is important to remember that the dosage of all veterinary drugs is selected by the doctor, taking into account the weight, age and condition of the animal.

To destroy the tick, the following drugs are prescribed in the form tablets:

In addition to tablets for oral administration and injections, the use of local remedies is indicated for demodicosis. To kill ticks, veterinarians prescribe drops on the withers of Advocate, Bars spot-on, as well as Miramistin rinsing solution. Healthy use of ointments: Sulfur, Ichthyol, Vetabiol. These products are used to treat the affected areas.

In the early stages, treatment with special shampoos is possible: Doctor, Fitoelita. These remedies are useful in localized forms of the disease.

If pustules appear on the affected areas, antibiotics and sulfonamides are prescribed. The use of corticosteroids to combat skin inflammation is contraindicated; these drugs strongly suppress the immune system.

Since the disease is most often provoked by a weakening of the body, it is necessary to strengthen the immune system. For this purpose, vitamins are prescribed. They help the animal’s body fight invasion.

Treatment of demodicosis in dogs is carried out using the following vitamins: drugs:

A sick dog requires a special diet. If your pet eats ready-made food, it should not contain allergenic substances, dyes or flavor enhancers. Food must be of high quality; eating cheap feed is unacceptable. For a dog with demodicosis, it is best to purchase food for allergy sufferers. If the animal eats natural food, then fatty and excessively salty foods should be excluded from the diet. It is useful to give your dog boiled meat, eggs, cereals, vegetables, and dairy products.

Disease Prevention

Demodicosis is a complex disease that is not always easy to cure. With a generalized form of the disease in older dogs, the prognosis may be unfavorable. Therefore, it is easier to prevent the disease. To do this you need to do the following rules:

Routes of infection

Demodicosis is not an infectious disease and cannot be transmitted from one animal to another. The only thing worth paying attention to is that newborn puppies can become infected from their mother by eating her milk. This disease is also safe for humans, since it cannot be transmitted from animals. Now it becomes clear whether demodicosis is contagious in dogs.

Provoking factors

Factors that can provoke the appearance of demodicosis include the following:

• The presence of malignant tumors.
• Carrying out a course of treatment, which involves the use of hormonal drugs that can greatly reduce immunity.
• Heredity (there may be a congenital absence of antibodies against red scabies).
• Disturbances in the endocrine system.
• An obese dog often leads to this result.
• Dogs that take antilymphocyte serums may develop demodicosis.
• Failure to comply with hygiene rules, as well as too frequent water treatments can lead to the appearance of such a disease.
• Often demodicosis occurs in dogs that are already of advanced age.
• There are a number of diseases that greatly reduce a dog’s immunity.
• A dog that eats too little has a weakened immune system and is at risk of infection.
• And the last factor is too long therapy using antibacterial drugs.

Ticks feel especially comfortable in rooms with high humidity, as well as on the wet skin of an animal.

Forms

• Localized.
• Generalized.
• Juvenile (manifests mainly in puppies).

Localized form

First of all, the localized form manifests itself in the form of bald areas on the dog’s body. They can appear anywhere, but are most often noticeable on the head, paws, belly and chest. The skin in these places changes greatly; it becomes rougher, even thickened, and may become covered with scales, and in more advanced forms, with ulcers. Over time, severe redness and folds appear in these places. Vaccinations and stress have some effect on these symptoms. They can make them worse, or they can make them disappear completely. This is the stage when you should seriously take care of your pet, since there is a real chance to completely cure the dog. If you do not start treating demodicosis in a dog now, then the localized form turns into a generalized one.

Generalized form

More serious symptoms are observed here that simply cannot be ignored:

• The affected areas bother the dog very much due to itching, and she constantly scratches these areas.
• The number of bald areas is gradually increasing.
• The animal's skin begins to smell unpleasant.
• The first signs appear that internal organs are also affected. The dog loses strength, suffers from convulsions, its muscles tremble, vomits, and may even foam at the mouth.
• Coordination of movements is noticeably impaired.

The generalized form is curable, but it will take a lot of time and effort. The age of the dog plays an important role here, since the older the dog, the more difficult it will be to cure it. If treatment is not started on time or not done at all, then the animal will simply die from intoxication and exhaustion of the body.

Juvenile form

As mentioned earlier, symptoms of juvenile demodicosis in dogs almost always occur in puppies that are not yet one year old. This form of the disease is considered hereditary. In puppies, the skin around the eyes falls out and becomes scaly. They are immediately excluded from the breeding program and are also required to be sterilized to prevent the development of the disease in their children. Every second puppy heals on its own. The disease goes away when the baby begins to grow up. If the puppy has a weak immune system, then juvenile demodicosis will develop into generalized demodicosis.

Complications

They are no less dangerous than the disease itself, and can appear even after complete recovery. Complications after the generalized form are especially common. This disease can affect your pet's stomach, gallbladder, intestines, and endocrine system. Such forms of the disease quite often lead to the death of the pet, so it is better to prevent the disease from developing into a generalized one.

Diagnosis of demodicosis

It will not be difficult for a veterinarian to diagnose demodicosis, since it manifests itself on the surface of the skin, and also analyzes complaints and studies the dog’s heredity. Additional tests also include a scraping for demodicosis in dogs, which is taken from the surface of the animal’s skin.

In dogs such as Shar Pei, scraping is quite problematic due to the many folds on the skin, but treatment of demodicosis in dogs of this breed cannot be delayed. For them, a biopsy is performed.

How to distinguish demodicosis from another disease

Sometimes it happens that demodicosis is confused with other diseases. As a result, the wrong therapy is carried out, and time is wasted, which would be worth spending on the correct treatment. Diseases that are confused with demodicosis:

The veterinarian determines the method of treatment based on the form of the disease and the extent of skin lesions. The first step is to prescribe proper care and adherence to all necessary hygiene rules. The owner should pay special attention to the level of humidity in the room. Any remedy should be taken only as prescribed by a doctor. Treatment is usually carried out in several stages:

You should not self-medicate, since only a doctor can prescribe medications for demodicosis in dogs and the required dosage, based on the weight, age and general condition of the animal.

In the early stages, you can try special shampoos: “Doctor”, “Fitoelita”. But they can be effective only in a localized form, and then their use simply does not make sense and is considered a waste of money.

Pustules may appear on the affected areas. In such cases, sulfonamides and antibiotics are prescribed. You should not use glucocorticosteroids, as they greatly reduce the animal’s immunity, which is contraindicated for demodicosis.

For prevention purposes, you can use Artemon anti-tick collars. But remember that the collar can only be put on a healthy animal to prevent infection. It will not help an already infected dog.

Additional Methods

It has been mentioned more than once that the disease demodicosis in dogs occurs in animals with weakened immune systems. Therefore it needs to be strengthened. Veterinarians prescribe special vitamins that help the animal fight infection.

The most commonly used vitamin preparations are:

• "Vikasol".
• "Medivet".
• "Wetzim."

Traditional methods of treatment are also widely applicable, which prove their effectiveness, but only in conjunction with drug treatment. And any of the folk remedies can be used only after consultation with the treating veterinarian.

In addition to all this, a dog with demodicosis needs a diet. If the pet eats ready-made food, then there should not be any allergic substances in it, and the presence of dyes and flavor enhancers is completely excluded. Any food must be fresh and of high quality. Eating cheap food is not allowed. If the dog eats natural food, then any fatty foods should be excluded. During this period, it is especially useful for your pet to consume boiled meat, cereals and vegetables, eggs, and various dairy products.