Hi all, im having trouble signing in, so have to use this section. My 9 mth german pointer bitch has just been diagnosed with demodex, after a recent biopsy. Does anyone have any information on this, and also the treatment(aludex shampoo, and high dosage antibiotics). Many thanks

My Bullmastiff was diagnosed at 7 months after the stress of neutering brought on his first flare up.
He was given Aludex baths and AB's.
We went this route for about 3 months with no improvement.
Vinnie was more sore after the baths than with the demodex.
I read up on it on the 'net and found out that often, not always, a young dog will recover without treatment.
We stopped the baths and although Vinnie still has 'bald' bits he is a lot happier. The demodex only reccurrs when he is stressed.
Like when my partner was on life support for 2 weeks. He got three new baldy bits.
He regrows his hair after 2 months.
Vinnie is now 2.5 yrs old. We don't give him Aludex baths anymore and he only needs AB's rarely.
With my dog the demodex will always come back if he is stressed because it is the stress that causes it.
I think it depends what is causing the outbreak as to whether the Aludex baths will work.
My dog is a rescue that was taken from the dam at 2 weeks of age and fed on cows milk so this may also have a bearing on his condition.

My boy also developed it after castration, he recovered fine from the first bout and got through the middle part of his life with out too much trouble from it, but as he got older and his immunity got worse and worse the outbreaks became more frequent and far worse, at one time the whole of the underside of his body and legs and head were bald and bleeding. We had to use Ivermectin on him because he was not in good enough health to be bathed. It did work and before his death I had to use it twice.

Ivermectin is not safe for use on anything carrying the blue merle gene, that rules out most collies. It is not licensed in this country (UK) but in cases where the dog's immunity is very poor it may be the only way. Would not think this applies to young dogs. Bathing my dog was a problem, not only because had frail health but also because he carried a thick coat that was also effected by the castration making it difficult to get the medication through to the skin.

EDIT to add, dogs and bitches that are affected should not be used for breeding. All dogs carry the mite, it only causes trouble on those animals who's immunity is compromised.

Just to add to Jackies excellent advice, Ivermectin is also contr-indicated on sight hounds.  It might be worth asking about Stronghold, with has Ivermectin base, I dont know if it is effective on Demodex, but worth talking to the Vet about.
bye
Gwen

Don't think Stronghold will deal with demodex, but if you have an affected animal it may help keep it at bay, would be inclined to contact the manufactures of Stronghold and speak to their veterinary division and ask their chemists/vets for an opinion. Have always found that manufactures are helpful and understandable know more about their own products than does the average vet who can only look in the drugs handbook.

Will say I have found the same with food manufactures, if you speak to the nutritionalists (sp) they in the most part give a useful reply as it would seem in both cases their scientific self-respect comes before their duty to the product.

one of my dogs had demodex(confirmed by skin scrape)
this was actually treated by stronghold and i have to say it worked a treat.bald patch started clearing up with in a week.i did also use sesame oil tblespoon in his food everyday which also helped im sure a lot.and teatree oil in the area

Well glad it worked for you, but last time I asked I was told it only worked on sarcoptic mange and not on demodex which, although caused by a mite, is an auto-immune problem, thence the reason why the animal should not be bred from. However this was a couple of years ago and it could be that Stronghold has been changed so it would be well worth asking the manufactures for their opinion. Also the vet as the application of chemicals to a dog already suffering with a reduced immunity may not be advisable.

The Demodex canis is present in all dogs, part of the canine natural inhabitancy. When the dogs immunity falls for any reason, be it illness, or some other cause, the dogs immune system is unable to keep pace with the mite and it then reproduces in vast numbers under the skin and damages or inhibits the hair follicles. Killing the mite with an insecticide cures the signs of an overgrowth of the mite but does not clear the dog of the mites altogether, so although the hair may re-grow the dog is not cured. However once your dog has suffered you can be on the lookout for another attack and deal with the problem early.

Edit: Stronghold product information here will continue to look and see if I can find anything with regard to Demodex