I think my dog may have mange?

Question

a stray dog showed up at our house the other day and he has scabs all over his body. The person who had him before us obviously cut his hair cus its uneven in places..probly because it was matted..i think they dropped him off because of whatever he has..What could cause this? Is he safe to have around my daughter and other pets? Any ideas?

Answer 1

To be safe take him to the vet.  

Answer 2

please take her to the vet

Answer 3

They could be hot spots, which wouldn't be any harm to anyone or other pets.  But the best thing to do is to take him to the vet or SPCA/humane society to get him checked out and to get a prescription to get rid of the scabs.

Answer 4

The only way to know for sure is for a vet to do a skin scraping from the worst affected area. Then view under a microscope. It is better to get professional help.  The sooner he is checked and treated the sooner he can become part of your household then everyone is happy.

Except maybe the mites.

Answer 5

nope. its not safe to have him around your daughter and other pets because he could have the type of mange that is contagious. some types are very contagious to dogs AND humans.

here is some mange info...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mange

edit: you can give him a bath in human shampoo for lice (just dont get it in his eyes, ears, or mouth and i know it sounds strange, but rubbing vagisil on his lumps and bumps will help with the itching and irritation. we did this to two dogs at the shelter were i work (they had horrible mange) and they are fine now. infact one was just adopted out. good luck : ]

Answer 6

His hair loss could just be from bad nutrition. But I would take him to the vet for a profession skin test and see if it is one of the mange mites. Some are even transferable to humans. So be careful.  I inherited a cute little guy and after we hugged and kissed on him we found out he had mange but no one got sick, but we did spend a lot of time bathing and medicating him to get him well.