If you ever see a dog that appears as though it is missing a lot of its fur and is constantly scratching there is a very good chance that it has a skin ailment that is actually a bunch of very tiny insects called mites that live on and under the skin.
Believe it or not, almost all dogs, even the lovely ones that live their entire lives indoors, have a type of mange that is completely harmless to them, in fact, there is some evidence to suggest that the microscopic insects are beneficial to the dog's health
seems pretty creepy right? Well guess what? There is a good chance that they also have or do live on you as well.
The problem that happens with dogs is that they have dramatically more of them than a human does and when some other stress is introduced into a dog's life that affects their immune system, the mites continue doing their thing and start to overuse their host, so to speak, and are actually slowly consuming them via the hair follicles. A healthy immune system keeps the population of the microscopic buggers at a manageable level but once their population starts to grow, normally it cannot be reversed without some sort of medical intervention.
If you see a dog that looks liek this, there is a very good chance that they have out of control mange going on in their lives. There are a wide variety of ways to deal with this but one of the simplest and easiest is an edible chew that contains anti-parasitic medication.
Some of the more recognizable names are Frontline and PetArmor but despite what all of these products claim there is no difference between them and any other generic medication that contains fipronil. This is a rather strange medicine that causes overstimulation of all insect's nervous systems and in turn kills them off.
With almost all cases with dogs, this medication has zero negative impact on the dog (or cat) and they will not notice anything happening to the at all. In rare cases the dog is allergic to the medication but in the many years that I have been doing animal-rescue and animal-welfare projects, I have only seen this happen once. Considering that the alternative is a life of constant itching that often leads to open wounds that often lead to infection and death, I think the .02% chance of an allergic reaction is a risk worth taking.
This is the same dog several weeks later with no additional treatment other than a single medicated chew that costs about $2 in Thailand.
I keep these medicated treats in my truck at all times and will treat dogs that I am not familiar with provided I can safely approach them. There is virtually no chance of a dog OD'ing on this medicine unless you were to intentionally feed them dozens of them.
This very effective and inexpensive treatment for this very common problem in stray dogs is basically a wonder of science because when I was younger the only thing that could be done was medicated baths that sometimes contained harsh chemicals that could harm the dog as well. I don't know if you have ever tried to convince a dog to not lick a certain part of its body for a long period of time, but it isn't an easy task. Dogs are naturally curious about any sort of salve that you put on them and will consume it even if it is detrimental to their health.
My opinion about this comes from years of experience so if you do see a dog with missing fur that is constantly scratching itself, there is a very good chance that you could seriously improved this animal's life by simply spending a few dollars.
Consider it if you do encounter this where you live. It really is a wonder of science.
if you would like to see how you can help out or simply spread the word, please visit our website at
http://krabianimalwelfare.org
Krabi Animal Welfare is a charity run entirely by volunteers and are a registered non-profit organization in Thailand and the U.K.. We aim to relieve the pain and suffering of dogs and cats within Krabi Province.
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