Help! I have a 19 year old German Shepard/Saint Bernard mix dog that is suffering from a terrible case of (I'm assuming) mange. We have tried everything short of putting him to sleep. Can anyone help us? He is a much loved family pet...Thany you in advance.

-- Harmony Bullington (harmonyfarm57@hotmail.com), October 01, 2001

Answers

Assuming that it mange . . . in Mexico, I have been led to believe that a good dousing in sulpher dust on the dog's coat does a good job of destroying this disease; I am sure that someone else probably can give more input to this, as I have not done nor seen this cure personally.

I am sorry you are going through this; I lost one of my dogs to this, prior to my knowledge given above; I would walked through coals for that dog. I miss him still.

-- j.r.guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), October 01, 2001.

Depends on what kind of mange you are talking about. There are two kinds sarcoptic mange also known as scabies and demodectic mange.

Sarcoptic mange is really easy to treat (However, note it is catching to humans). One injection of ivermectin followed by another one two weeks later. Dosage 1/10 cc per 11 lbs of body weight. If I remember correctly you can also give it orally.

Demotectic mange is very hard to treat. It usually involves horribly smelly dips (which are also very expensive even purchased from vet supply catalogs). We used an experimental treatment of daily high dosages of ivermectin (double the normal dose) for I believe it was 2 months. This did work and worked out a lot cheaper than the dips.

I would start by getting your vet to do a skin scraping and finding out what kind of mange mite you are dealing with. If it is the later of the two mentioned above ask about the experimental treatment mentioned above (of cause it maybe an approved treatment now).

Good luck.

-- anita (anitaholton@mindspring.com), October 01, 2001.

Harmony, this is an old time remedy but it worked in 1941. Get 1 lb. of pure pork lard , 1oz of powdered sulphur and 1 oz ofiodine . mix it all together .and smear it on the dog . wait 3 days, then bathe the dog and smear again . wait 3 days, bathe and you have a cured dog . I used this on a hound I got from the pound , and it worked . She had the whitest white and the shiniest black you ever saw . I kept her until I went into the airforce in 1942 !!!Big George

-- George Wilson (cwwhtw@aol.com), October 01, 2001.

Good ole motor oil, new or used will work. Douse the animal real good and rub it in. Main thing is to get the oil to the skin. Used is supposed to be better. The difference is most likely the cost.

-- Jim & Diana (MO) (safehavenofhope@hotmail.com), October 01, 2001.

I use to raise both beagles and coon hounds. I would dip my dogs at least once a month. This always controlled the mange, flea's, and ticks. But I've always heard that there are two kinds of mange. One is dry and very treatable. The other is red whelping kind and is not very treatable. Some of the old timers would say that if your dog ever got the red mange than your better off getting rid of the dog. But they may have some good medicine for it now.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), October 01, 2001.

PLEASE don't use motor oil. A 19 year old dog might not be able to handle the absorbed toxins. If you haven't already gone to your vet do so before trying to self diagnose at home. I see hundreds of dogs with bad skin every year but only 2-3 with actual mange. Diseased skin reacts similarly whether it is infected with mites, bacteria, fungi or just reacting to fleas. Don't just assume that red, raw, hairless areas are due to mange. A competent vet can give you a good idea of what the problem is just from the distribution of the lesions and that is especially true with mange. If not, a simple skin scrape will help make the diagnosis. If it is sarcoptes, then the ivermectin is very effective, easy to give and not too expensive.

-- teresa (teresam@ascent.net), October 01, 2001.