We like Promeris & use it for alot of our mange babies in rescue!
The positive side of your boxer's mange is her age. Puppies and young dogs often develop mange due to immature immune systems. As the immune systems mature (around 18-24 mnths) the concerns of mange re-occurring are few. When mange happens in older dogs it is often the signs of a compromised immune system.
We have treated many dogs with mange, close to 30 last year ranging from 5 weeks old to well in to adulthood. Our routine is the same for all of them (changing slightly with each case and as we learn of new tricks). We feel that it's very important to deal not only with the mange mite itself but also the cause of the infestation, the immune system. The demodex or mange mite is carried by all dogs (why it is not contagious). It's up to the immune system of the dog to control the mite and in those who have an immature or compromised immune system it is unable to do so and the mite is able to take over.
For the mange itself we treat with one of two options.
We prefer to use Promeris. This is a monthly topical flea treatment which is also used in the control of demodex. We follow the regime of 1st dose, 2nd dose 2 weeks later and then further doses 30 days apart.
We don't bother to do the skin scraping for 3 months from
Initially starting the treatment as you are not going to get a negative test before that time.
In severe cases we use ivomec. Dosing is key and is best given daily orally.
For secondary skin infections we pull out the big guns and use keflex. 3 pills a day and will give 14-21 days depending on the severity of the secondary infections.
For comfort measures and to help promote healing. We bath the dogs every second day. We don't use pyoban or any vet product or anything with Tea Tree Oil. We use Aveno Oatmeal baby shampoo. This shampoo is soothing to the skin. We scrub and we scrub hard (using a rubber wash mitt). The skin will flake off, the scabs peel off and the sores open up but we need to get through it all to find healthy skin. After the bath we use a couple of different products. Vetrycine is one of our go to sprays. This is an antibacterial, promotes healing and is soothing. We also use Edible Aloevera juice or gel. (I'll talk about it below in supplements). We will once every few days rub this in to the skin for it's comforting and healing properties.
Now on to supplements and food. We feel you can't treat mange if you don't treat the route cause of it which is the immune system. Help build the immune system up so it's able to kick in and maintain what all the medicines are helping it do.
Feed a high quality food low in grains or without. Mites feed on the yeast in the body and grains help to increase the yeast levels.
Supplements that we add to help boost the immune system:
Missing Link
Edible Aloe (we purchase this from the health food store. Here the brand is Lily of the Dessert, not sure if they have that there). This comes as a concentrate, a gel and a juice. Doesn't matter which one.
Pure plain (unflavoured) yogurt.
Manuka honey.
Manuka Honey Benefits
For the open sores:
The vetrycine does a
Wonderful job in helping to heal them.
we have just learned of the healing qualities of Manuka honey and have been using it to help heal the badly infected areas. You may have seen the pictures of Dexter on our rescue site, with his head and feet wrapped. Under those wraps are gauze pads covered in honey, placed on the sores and then wrapped to keep them in place. This helps to pull the infection out and heal the skin. We have been amazed at how well it has worked and have only needed to wrap them for 4-7 days. We leave the wraps on for approx 12 hours at a time (if we are able to). Usually overnight and then let it air during the day. Usually wrapping once dry after a bath.
Hope this helps you and gets you on track to finding some relief for both you and your boxer. Please let me know how it works for you. There's other creams etc that we have tried as well but this is currently our main regime and it seems to work wonders!
