Dog Woes: Oh How The Mitey Have Fallen

It’s not news that dogs scratch themselves. In fact, we scratch our dogs to give them pleasure, as they don’t have the glorious God-given opposable thumbs that we have. However, it’s not a good thing to come home and see your dog scratching excessively. A dog’s skin is very resilient and quite oily. It needs to keep the inner and outer coat layers nice and lubricated. If you find that your dog is losing fur, has a red scaly rash on its skin, and can’t stop scratching, your dog probably has mites. The Cheyletiella mite is a contagious parasite that can spread from dog to dog and dog to human. This is what you need to know about parasites:

Symptoms and causes

The primary symptom of mites is excessive scratching. The skin becomes covered in scales of flaky skin. It can look, feel, and be brushed off just like dandruff. There might also be lesions on the skin as the dryness that accompanies the scratching breaks the skin apart. Alopecia or hair loss is another clear sign of mites. If you can see tiny yellow things walking around on your dog, then it’s definitely a parasite infestation.

The causes are varied, but the most common are contact with unclean animals or other pets that aren’t well-groomed. Your dog might have gotten the parasite if he was staying in a dog kennel or even at a dog grooming salon. It also may have been picked up in a space only humans have been inhabiting.

Treatment options

First, you should contact your vet to see what your options are. He or she may ask you to take a few photos of your dog in order to give you a more definite diagnosis. They may ask you to start feeding your dog something like Nexgard Spectra, which you can see on this link. Nexgard Spectra protects against many parasites, one of them being mites. It protects against mites in general, but it targets Demodex cabins, which are dog follicle mites. The appearance of this condition is much the same as Cheyletiella mites, with hair loss, red scaly skin, and excessive scratching. Your dog needs to take this medication monthly, or you can feed him this treat once a fortnight. It’s a chewy treat which your dog will love, and it will combat up to 5 different parasites at once.

Scratchy skin

As your dog heals, he mustn’t undo the work that the medicine has done. This is why placing a cone around his neck is a viable option. This will stop him scratching and gnawing at his dry, scaly skin. You can also use a dog shampoo with coconut oil, which will soothe his skin.  Soap or regular shampoo may dry the skin further. Using moisturizing lotions and creams throughout the day will stop his skin from scaling and drying up. This is very important if your dog is out for a walk in the sun.

Although mites are such a tiny parasite, they are very annoying. They can drive your dog mad with itching. Give your dog Nexgard Spectra, a tasty treat, and speak with your vet to see if anything else should be done