Dr. Lera Clone uses a 6-month-old bulldog named Pepper to explain demodicosis, a mite infection passed from mother to puppies. Diagnosis is a skin scrape under the microscope. Most juvenile cases clear by age one, though relapse can happen within 6 to 12 months after treatment stops.
Ivermectin, typically administered in very small amounts over several weeks.
By skin scrape to the hair follicle and microscopic identification of the mite.
Typically within about six to 12 months after stopping treatment.
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Hey, guys. Dr. Lara here today I am here with Pepper. Pepper is a six month old female intact bulldog. And the purpose of the video today is going to be discussing demodicosis or demodex or demodectic mange. Stay tuned and we'll get into that shortly. All right, so demodex, that's how we're going to refer to this condition for the rest of the video. So this is a condition where demodex is a description or what the name is of the actual mite that it looks like a little cigar with a little creepy crawlies on the edge like that. No, I'm not a fish, I'm a mange. But anyways, so, so what ends up happening is this is something that's transferred from mom to the puppies when they're first drinking the mother's milk. And what ends up happening is the, the, what ends up happening is the immune system normally controls this, but in some of these puppies, what ends up happening is there is an issue with the immune system and the immune system lets these get out of control. So usually the way that it'll look is we'll have some thinning of the hair. We'll typically see some flakiness, some crusts. Those will be some indications to me. The demodex can either be a localized lesion, so maybe just like one spot around the eye on the head, sometimes on the foot. Other times it will be a generalized, which is what Pepper has today. And so what ends up happening, because it is most, you know, an issue of the immune system not being under control yet or well gathered. A lot of these dogs will actually resolve the demodocosis on their own by the time they're a year, maybe a year and a half. But usually it's before they turn a year of age. The only issue is, is whether or not they have any sort of secondary skin infections that may continue going on, which would require treatment. In regards to the, in regards to, you know, how we go about treating it. Nowadays we use the more common flea and tick preventatives, the oral ones. So Nexgard, Bravecto, credelio are some of those medications and they work really, really well. If you're using those medications on your dog on a regular basis and they have this particular condition at a young age, that's definitely weird. Before that, or for some of these refractory cases or cases that don't respond to that, we'll usually put them on some medication, ivermectin. And that is something that's typically Administered over several weeks, very small amounts. And that usually gets rid of the mite. The other thing to be aware of is there was something called Mitaban, which is a topical application and that was something that we would use again in some cases where it doesn't necessarily work. The other treatments don't work well in regards to some of the stuff that you may or may not have heard. Supposedly people would dip these dogs and used motor oil. That is not recommended. That is something that can potentially cause death, severe irritation. So please, please, please definitely do not do that. In regards to, you know, whether or not these dogs should be bred. The thought is if they do have some sort of genetic issue that makes them prone to allowing the mites get out of control, then we would want to go ahead and probably not keep that in the gene pool. And so the recommendation is not for it to, for it to go ahead and be continued in the bloodline in regards to the adult onset. So meaning seeing a dog who has seen a dog who has Demodex at a later stage in life, like 8, 10 years old, we would be doing blood work, looking at the adrenal glands, the liver, that kind of stuff. Those are some things where that can cause the immune system just to be out of whack and therefore allow the mites to get out of control. And those sometimes as long as you managed that underlying condition, that will usually help to get the mites under control. Like I said, you know, the main way that we diagnose this is by doing what's called a skin scrape. We'll go ahead and scrape the skin to the hair follicle. So you're going to get a little bit of rawness there, a little bit of blood, and then we look under the microscope and on that microscope we'll be able to see that cigar looking thing with the feet on it. That being said, it is not an end of the life condition. It is usually something that they looks a lot worse than it really is. And it's something that for the most part they won't have issues with for the rest of their life. If they start at such a young age, if they are going to not respond or if they're going to relapse, typically it's going to happen within about six to 12 months after you've stopped treatment. And the thoughts were that they were cured. So if you guys have any questions or concerns about this particular topic, please please leave it in the comment box. 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