Is Demodex Mange (red mange, mites) related to low testosterone?

Question

My 10 month old english bulldog was neutered on 2/24 at the Humane Society of New York and two weeks later he developed this red spot with hair loss on his rope wrinkle across his nose. We immediately took him to the vet and were told she thought it was ringworm. I did some research and I thought it looked like demodex mange, but I didn't take him to the vet and my boyfriend never relayed this. The vet took a skin sample and told us she would give us the results in two weeks. She gave us some topical ointment to apply - though it hasn't gotten better, it hasn't gotten worse either. I also noticed some redness on his chin and they looked like pimples. We called the yet yesterday and she said to bring him back because she thinks it might be mites (which irritates me because I'm not even a vet and I suspected this). My question is, is there a correlation between lack of testosterone and demodex mange? Also, is there a possibility this could be a hormonal allergy? I guess I will find out today if it is mites, but I want to have all of my info ready because I am not in the mood to shell out another $150 in two weeks because they were wrong again. Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

No, demodex is immune related. All dogs carry the mights, a dog that actually gets mange has low immunity and stress will cause breakouts. Stress like getting neutered, reaching sexual maturity, changing homes, etc..

Answer 2

Demodex mange is an auto immune response to the mites.

All dogs carry those mites but most dogs are not affected.

The dogs who are affected have trigger that sets it off.

In some cases stress, injury, major household changes can cause this type of reaction. But I have never heard of it being hormone related. It is not an allergy.

When the vet does a skin scrape they put the slide under the microscope and look to see if they see the mite. If they do they will treat the dog for it. The treatment is shots one week then a dip type bath the next week. It needs to be treated for a month or more.

Once cleared up some dogs never have it return others have it return all the time.

Once cleared up you need to minimize stress on the dog and make sure you feed a high quality diet and try and stick to a regular routine. Dogs thrive on a regular routine.

Answer 3

I doubt it's related...all dogs carry the mange mite, some are more suseptible to getting mange than other dogs, some never get mange. This is not just a male problem, females get mange too and it has nothing to do with low testosterone or homones or the fact that they got fixed. Plenty of unfixed dogs get mange also. A compromised immune system, malnutrition or intense stress cause the mites to produce rapidly and chances are the stress is what caused the dog to have a break out.



It does not take two weeks for a skin scraping to come back from the lab, a simple look under a microscope will determine if the dog has mange mites the vet should have been able to tell you within 5 minutes if the dog had mange.



Good luck

Answer 4

I'm not going to diagnose your dog.



"We immediately took him to the vet and were told she thought it was ringworm. I did some research and I thought it looked like demodex mange, but I didn't take him to the vet and my boyfriend never relayed this"



How do you immediate take a dog into the vet and yet don't take him in?



My guess is this is hormonally or immunity related.



Edit: My dog had blood in his stool, and I thought it was worms. I immediately took him in, and was grateful I did, because I was wrong. He had a stomach infection.



Edit: I wouldn't call it nitpicking. I call it something that didn't make sense. Sorry if it upset you.