Treatment for Dog Mange
Submitted by a Reader

by Carolyn Ashley
(Lufkin,Texas)

My little tutu had been chewing on her skin, scraping day and night. I put a solution of 3 T 20 Mule Team Borax Cleaner (a borax product found at the grocers),w/2 T.hydrogen peroxide to 1 cup of water.

Depending on how much your dog needs to saturate this mixture with, it will take some math. Tutu is a small to medium dog,who got this applied after I shaved all her hair off to about an inch all over. I left this solution on her for about one day and reapplied it again because I felt she may not have received a true dose for her skin.

I left it on about three days and washed her with a medicated shampoo. Now I keep a flea collar on her and wash her with
Adams Plus Flea & Tick Shampoo. Thanks for allowing me to share this product that really works on mange.

Dog Health Guide Editor Comment:

Tutu may scrape due to a variety of reasons, so we suggest that the exact cause of the problem be diagnosed by a veterinarian. It might be caused by dog mange, flea infestation, allergy etc. Confirmation of the exact cause can only be done at a veterinary clinic.

The different treatment options you have applied are effective, but if the dog being treated hasn’t recovered yet, a detailed examination might be required.

Borax or “Sodium Borate” combined with Hydrogen per Oxide (H2O2) has been traditionally used for dog hair loss and scratching. However, there are complications associated with this treatment approach, so you must be careful when using it for your dog.

Borax is basically a disinfectant and commonly used in detergents. It is potentially toxic for living tissues if used in high concentrations. Borzx on a dog may cause severe rashes and bumps on the skin, and cause the skin to turn beet red in color. Some pets may be sensitive to it and thus the dog skin condition may get worse after treatment. Respiratory irritation is a common side effect of this approach as well, characterized by a cough and sneezing.

Though borax does not cause acute poisoning if ingested by a dog, it may cause nausea, vomiting, unconsciousness and renal failure. If used for long time and in high doses, bone marrow may be severely affected, leading to blood problems and spinal cord abnormalities.

Usually, treating a common problem such as dog skin itching, hair loss and lesions caused by mites, fleas or ticks are treated with lime-sulfur dips such as Dermisil Sulfadip. This approach has been proven to be highly effective.

After that, a dog should be bathed with a quality shampoo, preferably a medicated shampoo such as DermCare Medicated Anti-Itch Shampooat least twice a week. After this treatment, recovery is indicated by the vanishing of symptoms and re-growth of hairs.

Also, disinfection of the dog's environment in which the dog is habituated is required. It frequently happens that symptoms may reappear due to the causative agent whether it is mites, fleas or what so ever occurs in environment can re-infest again by jumping back onto the dog. Disinfection should be thorough and should be done with a sprayer and treatment, such as Benzarid Environmental Spray.

If conditions persist after treatment, a veterinarian must be consulted for a confirmatory diagnosis and a detailed treatment plan designed to eliminate your dog's specific problem.