do you think this is sarcoptic mange and how do you treat it?
Well my vet won’t treat it until the slide results come back in 2 weeks.
My dogs are itching constantly and their hair is falling out on their ears and backs of their front legs. They are also itching their chest. Their skin is scaley.
I don’t want to wait 2 weeks to treat them so I’m trying home remedies in the meantime. I’m already using gentian violet (antifungal) and put vitamin E liquid on the scaley skin, but so far it’s not helping.
Please any suggestions because I am tempted to just go to another vet but my current vet said the reason he doens’t just want to treat it is because the medicine is harsh and he wants to be sure it’s sarcoptic mange or another fungal infection.
Thank you for ANY help
When he first checked the skin scrape right after he did it, he said all he saw was normal skin bacteria (staph i think) but then a few days later he said the slide changed colors and was fungal..i don’t understand why he can’t take a hair sand check for mites or something! and Ms. Manners…Im not sure..on my heels there are little bumps that look like poison ivy or mosquitoe bites but I do go walking through woods and fields so it could really be poison ivy. it itches but not terrible like my dogs are itching.
and my dogs don’t have little bumps, theirs is just like really scaley scabby skin and hair loss
my dog is a border collie mix
thank you for the link Jessie. ok if my vet doesn’t call me back by today (i called friday) i’ll see a new vet because I really think this is what it is..and if the treatment won’t hurt them i think that’s better than letting them scratch themselves raw, it just looks so uncomfortable for them
He hasn’t returned my call…I think he’s mad that I never picked up the antibiotics for my other dog, but i don’t want her on them if there’s no bacteria infection.
If it is sarcoptic mange, you are dealing with a mite, and there is no effective home treatment.
I know itching dogs are driving you nuts, but wait for his diagnosis.
(I dont know why it would take 2 weeks to diagnose sarcoptic mange….maybe they have to culture the fungus to eliminate that possibility).
Are you seeing any bites on you?
I know my mother was bitten by the mites when her dogs had sarcoptic mange.
That would be a clear indication that you are dealing with mange.
*****
The mites can be very hard to see, even with a skin scraping.
Sometimes a vet will just treat the dog for sarcoptic mange in order to eliminate it as a possibility. Why dont you ask him if he would be willing to do that?
Learn more about sarcoptic mange and treatment.

