Are there pills for mange?

Question

A while back we took in a stray puppy and found it a good home. The puppy was with us for about 3 weeks, and we found out at the vet that she had mange. We treated her and my 2 dogs and found her a good home. Now, I am STILL battling the mange on my dogs. We have been dipping them once a week in a lime sulfur solution the vet prescribed. It smells horrible, and worse, it doesn't seem to be working. It helps for a while, but soon they're itching again. One of the dogs, Harry, is a St. Bernard mix, and I think part of the problem is that we were having a hard time penetrating his coat, so we clipped him. Now I just have an itching, scratching, hairless St. Bernard.

I'm worn out with this. My dogs are miserable, my house stinks, Harry is humiliated and bald, and I'm sick of going through this process every week. Is there an easier way to handle the mange? I'm going back to the vet again this week, and I'm wondering if there IS an easier way to handle it, why he didn't mention it in the first place. He tries to start with the least expensive treatment, so that may be why, but at this point I would pay more to have this over with!

Answer 1

Lime sulfur is WAY out of date and old fashioned.  Find a new veterinarian immediately - there are oral medications such as Ivermectin - do a web search for mange treaments and read everything you can find, then call the vet, or go to another one. There is so much on the web that  has been put on sites by and for veterinarians and you will learn a lot - I think lime and sulfur was thrown out as a treatment 50 years ago!  I am so sorry you and your dogs have gone through this, it was not necessary!

Answer 2

In the uk its drops, The vet usually gives you a warning as the drops are very powerful and they can be a risk to brain damaging pups but in general they are ok.

I have heard people before saying their vet wanted to put their dog into a mange bath or something like that which sounds strange to me when you can easily give them drops and within 2 weeks pretty much all the hair is back.

Answer 3

What kind of mange is it?  For both sarcoptes and demodex, a product called ivermectin can be used.  It isn't a pill but a liquid.  Ivermectin must be carefully used in any herding breed like collies, shelties, aussies, etc. or neurological problems can result.  Lime-sulfur really doesn't have any insecticidal properties although it works well for secondary bacterial and fungal diseases.  Mites are killed by using an insecticidal product.  Anymore most vets use an ivermectin product unless it's a collie, sheltie, aussie, etc.  So talk to your vet.

Answer 4

is it sarcoptic mange or demodex?  sounds like sarcoptic if you had to treat your other dogs.  both types of mange can and usually are treated with ivermectin.  sarcoptic mange involves giving 2 injections of ivermectin 2 weeks apart while demodex involves giving oral ivermectin for at least 30 days.  ask your vet about it or seek a second opinion.