Demodex Mange

[MomofMontana]

Hi, everyone,
Our 16 week old Montana has demodex mange.

Have any of you experienced this before with your boxers?

The vet says maybe he has immune compromise. Hubby and I are concerned about him. We are giving him the meds the vet gave us, but does this mean for sure he has immunosuppression?

Thanks for your help.

 

[JulieM]

There are several threads in the forums about Demodex, a search should give you all the information you want and more

Basically, localized Demodex is very common, especially in puppies, and is not necessarily an indication of immune problems. Puppies do not have mature immune systems, and they are put through a lot of stress at a young age (stress lowers immunity). At 16 weeks your pup has probably recently changed homes and so left mom and littermates, had 20 or more vaccinations (depending on the number of different vaccines in the cocktail), ear crop if you did that, etc.

Really if it is localized (a few spots, not covering most of the body) it should be left untreated, to see if the immune system is functioning properly. (If it resolves after usually a few months, it is.) You can give immune support like Vitamin C, Echinacea, Goldenseal, Astralagus, etc. (lots of threads on this, too).

 

[Max's Momma]

Max had demodex mange when he was a puppy and I flipped out. Max had bald patches all over his body and he would itch alot that caused him to bleed. I was very worried about him, but he was dipped in some sort of solution (I'm sorry I don't remeber the name) I believe he had 1 dip every 2 weeks for about 2 months and skin scrapes in between. Then one day I took him into his vet and he said the he was fine!!! Max has not had a problem since ( Max is 2 now) and his hair grew back in no time. I was afaid he could get it again, but I think it is very rare.