Dog Mange: Your Dog’s Worst Enemy
If you still don’t know what worse skin disease
can hit your dog, try to look up the one called mange in every pet book you
know.
Mange is a type of a skin
disease that can be highly contagious both for you and your other pets. Mange
is caused by parasites that live on the skin of your dog, causing wounds, hair
loss, blisters, and scabs. Mange could make your dog become not so desirable.
With walking dandruff and a skin disease apparent on its fur, you’ll even have
second thoughts about letting your dog inside the house again.
And so you should make sure
that your dogs don’t acquire this disease at all. There are three types of
mange that could develop in dogs - Sarcoptic Mange, Demodectic Mange, and the
Cheyletiella Mange. These diseases are very similar to each other, with each of
them having varying effects on your pets.
Of these three, demodectic
mange can be considered as the mildest type. There are instances that dogs
recover from it on their own, even without medical intervention. However, it is
almost impossible to tell demodectic mange from sarcoptic mange, which is a lot
more severe. If left untreated, sarcoptic mange can become generalized, which
means that the entire skin surface of your dog gets affected. In its early
stages, sarcoptic mange is localized. Here, the foot, the ears, or the mouth of
your dog is affected. Without the proper medications, the disease can easily
spread throughout the body.
This only goes to tell you
that you should take your pet to the veterinarian on the first signs of the
disease. They will provide them with the necessary antibiotics, dips, and diet
to make sure that your dog gets cured in no time. Self-medication for mange is
strongly discouraged. Veterinarians need to examine your dog fully to determine
what type of mange it has acquired. Only then will the necessary treatment
procedure can be given. Note that the three different types of mange call for
different methods of treatment.
Cheyletiella mange is the
type that is most visible. This is the one commonly referred to as the walking
dandruff. Like the others, the parasites that cause this disease reproduce
massively on the skin, causing severe damage in the process. The mites burrow
themselves into the skin of the dog to feed on the nutrients and then
reproduce. A single mite on your dog’s skin is enough to inflict it with the
disease as it will multiply in number in a matter of a week.
However, that will only
happen if your dog’s immune system is weak. Dogs with strong antibodies can
easily fight off the parasites that cause mange. Also , dogs that don’t practice
good hygiene are more prone to mange than any other pets. And so the best way
to prevent mange is to make sure that your pet gets the best attention both in
its hygiene and eating habits. Give your dog the most nutritious food around so
its body defense system gets stronger by the day. And make sure that your dog
gets its daily bath and regular grooming too in order to make sure that no
mites or parasites would even attempt to come close to it.
About the author
Find out more about dog mange at Mange-In-Dogs.com.
Posted
on
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 12:05 pm under
