Sarcoptic Mange - does it usually take so long to get rid of.

Benji has been diagnosed as having sarcoptic mange a couple of months ago and has been treated with Stronghold on the back of his neck every two weeks for 6 weeks. When he went for his last check up at the vets just over two weeks ago the vet said that in some dogs it takes longer to get rid of and if we needed any more stronghold we could just ring up for some and he would let us have some without seeing him. Well yesterday he started to scratch his ears again I scratched his ear at the edge and he started to do that Pinna-pedal reflex with his back leg again It was just two weeks and one day since he was last treated with the stronghold. Needless to say I got right on to the vets and OH went down and picked up 3 more vials of Stronghold which I am going to do every two weeks(I put one on him last night and I must say he doesn't seem to be scratching today)

What I can't understand is how can the mites live so long and I thought one vial of Stronghold was meant to last for a month and another thing I am worried about - will it be doing him any harm to have all these chemicals on his neck every two weeks for 12 weeks

sorry to tell you this, but stronghold wont work,it might lay dorment for a while but will keep reoccuring[did you know you can catch it off your dog known as scabies in humans].ask your vet about ivermec,its a cattle inject6ion but dose clear mange, we have just last week injected all of suttys dogs with it and it has worked.it can not be used on collies or any crossbreeds with collie in them

Well it says on the packet that it's for the treatment of Sarcoptic Mange I will see how the next three vials go and then go back and ask about the ivermec if they don't. I think I remember my old vet giving my guinea pig an injection which was meant for the treatment of cattle for hay-mite and it worked brilliantly. He hasn't any collie in him so he should be okay. Thanks for the advice I did ask the vet about catching the mite and he didn't seem too concerned and I have to say that none of us have ever had any strange rashes or bites or anything and Benji sleeps on my 14 year old daughters bed and she has been fine.

I have just read about the Ivermectin on this website http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/mites.html and it sounds a bit dangerous and says if the wrong dose is given it could be fatal I don't know whether I would be too happy about using this to be honest

Teaga had Ivomec to get rid of Demodex mites.
She was allergic to the normal treatment, and it didn't work anyway.
My vet did say Ivomecx was the last chance, and that it is usually used on cattle....Teagan had 1 injection, and within a week the demodex was clearing up!

You can't use Ivomec on certain breeds of dogs.
Perhaps just mention it to your vet Foxy, and see what he says?

Think there may be a confusion of the different types of mange, they require different treatment and one is transferable to us and the other is not. If it is Sarcoptic then it is possible that your dog could be reinfected most dogs get it from other dogs, cat or most common foxes.

Sarcoptic is treatable by Stronghold so it could be your dog is being reinfected or that your vet is wrong and it is not scrcoptic mange. Has your vet taken a scrape?

Ivermectin cannot be used on collies or collie crosses , heres a paragraph i found on a website explaing why


Side effects are not a concern with the extremely low doses used in commercially marketed heartworm preventives. problems may arise when higher doses, such as those used against mites, are employed.

Side effects generally do not occur with any anti-mange doses of ivermectin except in Collies, Shetland sheepdogs, Australian shepherds, and Old English sheepdogs, though some individual animals that are not members of these sensitive breeds may also be prone to side effects. Very low test doses are often recommended to identify these individuals regardless of their breed. Collies with ivermectin sensitivity have been found to have a mutant gene for what is called the "P-glycoprotein." The P-glycoprotein has been studied largely because overexpression of this protein (i.e. having more of it than normal) results poor function of chemotherapy drugs in the treatment of cancer. The P-glycoprotein appears to be involved in keeping drugs out of certain body tissues. Having excess P-glycoprotein keeps chemotherapy drugs from reaching the tumor; having a mutant/non-functional protein fails to keep medications like ivermectin out of the central nervous system. Approximately 35% of Collies appear affected by this condition. There is now a test for P-glycoprotein mutation so that ivermectin sensitive dogs can be identified. This is a DNA test using an oral swab.

Ivermectin is not licensed in the UK so you will have to sign a disclaimer before the vet will give it to you, but it is not proscribed for sarcoptic mange, well not as far as I am aware.

this is another paragraph taken from an article on sarcoptic mange


And here’s another problem... sarcoptic mites are very elusive. Ordinarily, skin scrapings are utilized to pick up mites from the skin, a few drops of solution is applied to the scraping and the substance is examined under the microscope for the presence of mites. Cheyletiella are easy to find, Demodex are easy to find, ear mites are easy to find... scabies mites seldom are found. Take as many scrapings as you like, even go deep into the skin, and the odds are that you still will not find the scabies mites. This has led many an unwary veterinarian down the road to misdiagnosis. After all, if no mites are found on this itchy, inflamed pet with hair loss and skin sores, it must be an allergic dermatitis, right?

I didn't have to sign anything