Red mange keeps coming back

[lonewolf]

I have a 2 year old bmc male that I bought last year that came down with the red mange! I doctored him for about 75 days and all his hair came back. I started hunting him again and he started loosing his hair again. Took him to a vet he told me to put him on ivomec @ 1.5 cc daily for 60 days. I did in about a month his hair came back, but I kept on with the ivomec until the 60 days was up. Now about 60 days later he is losing hair again. He is a good strike dog and I would like to be able to hunt him more, But when he loses his hair he don't feel good and does not hunt very well. Is there ever an end to this or does it keep coming back? I need some sound advise! Thanks in advance!

[hogaholicswife]

I just have to ask, do you back him off it or quit cold turkey? And does he feel bad while on the ivomec and you're hunting him?
Your situation has me perplexed because I have seen it take a long time to clear it up and even come back mildly which is what led me to a weekly dosage on our Forrest dog.

Have you talked to vet about neutering? Mine swears it will make it better/easier to handle due to lower testosterone.  I am really curious to see how your case turns out!

[lonewolf]

I taper him off the ivomec slowly. I never hunt him while he is being treated. He seems to start feeling bad with the start of hair loss. I never thought about a weekly dose and no I have not talked to my vet about getting him neuterd. I don't think the ivomec make him feel bad, he seems to start slowing down and not very playful when I notice he is loosing hair. I keep a very clean kennel, fresh water every day and he eats good all the time. I have been feeding victor 24/20 for a while now. I have 11 dogs and everyone else has a slick shiny coat. I just don't know what to try next!

[hogaholicswife]

I'm no vet but I say put him back on it every other day, Forrest weighs 45lbs and I was giving him .65cc liquid or one click of Zimectrin Gold every other day.  Its trial and error, your dog may not get down to once a week but he should be fine to hunt we haven't had any side effects.

I only give it now when I see he (or any of the others) may ne having a break out and it usually clears up within a few days if I catch it in the beginning BUT it took me almost 2 years to get Forrest to where he is now so be patient!

[hogaholicswife]

Also, be sure to hold him on the lower dosage routine for a few weeks so you can tell if the lower dosage is going to keep working or to see if you will need to bump it back up a little to what eer keeps the hair from falling out.

[Reuben]

I know you said that the vet identified the culprit to be the red mange. I was treating my wifes westie with ivomec thinking he had the mange but would never get better. We finally took him to the vet and he said the dog was allergic to flea bites and that just one bite would trigger the reaction. It looked like he had the mange and his hair would fall out. The vet said that the dog was allergic to the flea saliva.

We stay on top of the flea problem now that we know and he is doing fine and his hair is back.

[hogaholicswife]

How is your dog doing, did his hair quit falling out?

[lonewolf]

I put him on 3/4 cc of ivomec 3 times a week and I think its working cause I don't see the hair on the kennel floor like I was seeing. I have been hunting him quiet a bit latly he's still findin and bayin hogs. I hope to work down to ivomec only once a week. For know I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I sure like this dog and the way he hunts. Thanks for all your help.

[waylon-N.E. OK]

Saw this online, just thought I would pass it on, also sent PM

 

How is Demodectic Mange ( Red Mange ) treated?
Treatment is often unrewarding - at best it is only about 70% successful.  This is because if a hereditary condition or other systemic illness continues to depress the immune system the mites can never be erradicated.  Many times, young animals must be treated four to six times until the immune system develops with age. Often, entire litters are infected.  These dams should not be bred as the condition is heritable.

Treatment involves clipping the hair from the affected areas and then shampooing the skin with a good quality degreasing shampoo. The skin is then rinsed with clear water and towel dried.    A dip solution containing amitraz (Tactik or Mitoban®) is then sponged over the entire dog and allowed to air dry. A word of caution: Amitraz can be toxic so protective gloves, eye and face protection should be worn by the person applying the dip.   This process is repeated every two weeks until skin scrapings reveal all dead mites.  This may take from 4 to 8 treatments.  If bacterial infections are present, appropriate antibiotics are also administered. It is very important to not stop treatment too soon. We suggest that the dips be continued on two separate occasions two weeks apart AFTER skin scrapings reveal all dead mites. This ensures a complete kill of all stages of the demodex mite (egg-larva-nymph-adult).

Other treatments include oral Ivomec® which is an injectible cattle wormer.  In mild cases this may be curative in itself or may be included in combination with amitraz dips to improve efficacy.

In dogs unresponsive to amitraz or amitraz/Ivomec® treatments, milbemycin oxime has been used with success. This is an expensive medication but very effective.

 

[hogaholicswife]

Mitaban is something that I tried, sick/lethargic isn't the word for the side effects.  When I tried it the vert said NOT to use with Ivomec and NOT to hunt the dog while using it.  I refuse to use it ever again, the Ivomec is far too easy

[waylon-N.E. OK]

Do what ever works

[catch-n-tie]

i just wrote bout this in another post "hair falling out". not saying this stuff will fix the problem but it has worked for me twice. and not all vets know about it cause ive tried to get it closer to my house and they acted like i didnt know what i  was talking about. not sure what the name of the vet was but its off of N Market is shreveport la. you squirt it on there neck once a month for three months at about $20 per treatment. both my dogs started getting better in two weeks and it never came back. and several guys i know have used it and it never came back.