Yes, we did have a dog that developed demodectic mange (red mange). There''s a lot of information on the Internet about this. Some of the information available fit our experience with this and some did not.
Our dog, Gin-Gin was less than a year old when she developed this condition. Gin-Gin had a very unhappy puppyhood. She was found starving with her siblings, who all died. She was painstakingly nursed back to health over several months by health professionals.
As a result, she was a very stessed puppy. She had no social skills with other dogs or people and was terrified of men. Since there are two men in our family, this was something of a problem. For several weeks after we adopted her she would not take food from either of them. She didn''t have a problem with our other dogs, but did not know how to play with them, either. She also didn''t know what to do with a toy. She was tense all the time. If either of the males in our family was up and moving around, she was up and keeping track of them. She would go outside with the other dogs, but was the last one to come into the house. At first we had to herd her into coming inside. Then she would stand about 30 feet from the back door. When she saw no movement or anyone at the door she would make a dash for the door and come inside. She would let us pet her, but could not stand still long enough for us to love on her or pet her for any length of time. My daughter swore that if Gin-Gin didn''t get her fear under control she would have a nervous breakdown.
We also have a number of cats - they come and go, indoors and outside. Since she was so tense and careful, she had never really been scolded for anything. But one day she growled at one of our cats and my grandson scolded her. We think that was the precipitating incident that pushed her over the edge. Within a week or so she was scratching herself frantically. Her chest was firey red and it gradually spread. Her skin became as thin as tissue paper and she began to lose her hair. "Red Mange" is related to mites that are much too small to see and are buried deep inside hair follicles. While no one is really sure what starts the condition off, most agree that stresses of some kind usually have a part in it. The mites overwhelm the dogs skin causing the scratching and irritation. Because the skin becomes so thin, soon they are bleeding when they scratch.
This can then lead to infections and if not treated can become fatal. The mites are not contagious - they are acquired from their mother when tiny puppies - and cannot be passed from the dog at any other time and never to humans. We tried some expensive dips and baths which helped temporarily but did not cure the condition.
Very soon, we took her to our veterinarian who immediately diagnosed "red mange" and put her on a regimen of Ivermectin. Though Ivermectin was not developed to treat this condition, it is a highly effective treatment.
After the first dose, she slept as though she had been given knock-out drops. She did rouse herself to go outside with the other dogs, but she came right back inside and went back to sleep. She was oblivious to anything else that went on in the household. Her scratching stopped primarily because she was not awake enough to do it. After a few days, she was more alert, but the itching had subsided and slowly her skin began to heal. She continued on this daily medication for over a month. As the time passed, we realized that more than her skin had healed. She suddenly was not on-guard when anyone moved in the house. She would let the men feed her. She actually took food from their hands - unheard of, previously.
She began to play with the other dogs. She would play tug of war with the chew-toys. She would roll around on the floor with them - intent on what her dog-pals were doing and not what anyone in the house was doing.
She became the last one out the door and the first one back in. She would wiggle and wiggle her tail when you loved on her and would turn and come back for more instead of running away. Her beautiful coat has grown back, all the scars have healed and she has finally become the happy, bouncing, playful dog she was meant to be.
If anyone has a dog that begins to develop a condition similar to what I have described here, I urge you to schedule an appointment with your veterinarian immediately. Pay particular attention to situations that could be creating stress. In our case, there wasn''t a lot we could do to change her living situation that wouldn''t have created worse problems. Thankfully, she was able to finally overcome her grim puppyhood and move on to become a happy dog!
