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Date Posted: 03:17:04 10/02/03 Thu
Author: Terry Magee
Subject: Re: Breeding dogs with Demodectic Mange
In reply to: Angela 's message, "Re: Blackwell's Nala" on 20:14:33 10/01/03 Wed

Angela and Ed,

Just wanted to ad a negative note here to keep up my reputation as Blackwell’s “rain cloud.” The sad truth in this whole issue is that dogs with demodectic mange should not be bred.

Angela, I am truly happy for you that you have gotten through the worst of Nala’s health issues so far and hope that she never has a recurring bout with the demodex. I take from Ed’s post that you have been a responsible owner and had her neutered so that her problems will not be passed on to other boerboels…just the way Ed did with the dogs he acquired from Ron Swart that had the same problem.

For everyone’s information, here are a few excerpts I found on the web concerning demodectic mange and how important it is to NOT breed with dogs that have this problem.

From:
Demodectic Mange
by Dr. William Griswold, DVM
http://www.mesavet.com/library/mange.htm

“The exact reasons that dogs develop mange are not fully understood, but genetics and immune suppression both play a role. A tendency to develop demodicosis runs in some families, with the same parents consistently producing affected puppies. While all breeds are susceptible, some are at increased risk. Some of the breeds in which demodecosis can be particularly common or severe are Old English Sheepdogs, Dobermans, Boxers, Shar-Peis, Shih-Tzus, and Lhasa Apsos. Immune suppression due to underlying diseases (such as Cushings’s disease and hypothyroidism), or drugs (like steroids and chemotherapy drugs) may increase the risk of a dog developing mange as well.
Mange is diagnosed based on signs and history combined with deep skin scrapings. When viewed under a microscope, these scrapings reveal mites recovered from the hair follicles.
Demodecosis is often described by its age of onset and its distribution on the body. Dogs under 1 ½ years of age suffer from juvenile-onset mange. This form is often hereditary. Nearly half of all dogs with juvenile-onset demodecosis will heal by themselves. The other half, however, may experience secondary bacterial infections or other complicating factors that will require medical treatment. Demodectic mange in dogs over 2 years of age is classified as adult-onset, and usually occurs secondary to an underlying cause. Successful treatment of adult-onset mange relies upon identifying and correcting the underlying cause.”

From:
http://shilohgtf.com/Demodicosis.htm

Prevention
“Pets that have this disease should not be bred. Otherwise, it is difficult to predict just what pets will get this problem.”

From a Q & A Session about the disease…sorry I didn’t get the link on this one:

Mark E. Epstein, DVM ABVP, Gastonia, N.C.

Q&A about Demodectic Mange

“Some vets say it's carried by the dam of a litter. Some others say ALL pups are born with it and it takes a stress situation to depress the immune system and allow the mites to become active.

Both are correct. It is carried by the dam, and the puppies pick it up via the close, intimate contact they have with her for the 6 weeks of nursing...which is why lesions often appear first and worst on the face and feet. But don't feel left out...humans have similar mites in their eyebrows and eyelashes! The mites do seem to grow and proliferate when the immune system is compromised through some known quantity of stress...surgery, other illness, etc. On the other hand, some puppies inexplicably break out with the disease without an obvious pre-disposing reason...presumably they have (at least at the time they contract the disease) a somewhat congentitally weakend immune system.

If a dam of a litter does in fact contribute the mites to the pups because she's a carrier, do all the pups in the litter contract it, show signs of it, carry it,...

Probably, no, probably.

If the sire of a litter has been proven to have a close ancestor who showed signs of it at an early age, does that mean he contributes also? If he doesn't contribute the actual hereditary mange, does he contribute a lack of immunity to it, thereby making the pups more succeptible?
That's the theory. Nice job, BTW, for succintly describing it. This is why animals with a history of demodectic mange are recommended to be neutered/spayed, so they don't pass along the congenital tendency for progeny to develop the problem. Also, the hormones of intact animals may in some ill-defined way contribute to the "stress" that may lead to clinical signs.

Why do I hear of so many dobe people mentioning demodectic if it's only carried by the pup's dam? Are all these dams carriers? Or in fact, are all pups born with it and it takes a stress situation to bring it to the fore?

I don't know why dobe people are mentioning it more than other breeds. We see this disease in dogs of all shapes, colors, sizes, purebred and mutt alike.

Once a pup has shown outward signs of demodectic and has been treated for it and had it cured, is he/she a carrier or is it cured?

Usually a puppy that has the disease and has been successfully treated (emphasis on the word *successfully*) will not carry the disease into adulthood, even though she will retain some mites as part of her normal skin flora. A female then is technically a "carrier" but will not transmit the mites or the tendency to get the disease unless she is bred. If an active case is carried into adulthood, it is very difficult to "cure", so we usually speak in terms of controlling the disease rather than curing it. However, there are some newer protocols which may help us to deal with these refractory cases. In adult onset cases (that is, the disease appears suddenly without ever having had it as a puppy), we look for an underlying disease that would suppress the immune system...heartworms, cancer, FeLV in cats, etc. These cases probably are not curable until the underlying disease is treated successfully.

I really need some answers to these questions. We're having a bit of a discussion with a couple of vets and need to have a little ammo one way or the other.

This is a complicated disease which is still not fully understood. The relationship between a suppressed immune system and clinical cases of demodex often comes down to a chicken-or-the-egg thing....which comes first?? So you may find legitimate differences of opinion on the issue, with no knowing for *certain* where the correct answer lies...and in truth the "correct" answer may vary from animal to animal. So I hope this has helped. But remember, these are just one person's thoughts and other veterinarians will have others.”

I hope everyone reading this finds this information helpful about the problems of breeding dogs with demodectic mange. We are very lucky today that there are treatments that work. A very few years ago, demodex was almost always a death sentence for a dog.


Best regards,
Terry Magee

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