My dog gets the runs and bad wind

[helpmeout06]

He had demodex, (a parasite) after drinking water from a boating pond in the park, he was treated by the vet, but ever since he has been getting the runs and having bad wind, it comes and goes, but very often, he also whines a lot, I have to starve him or give him ID prescription dog food to make his stools solid again, has anyone had this problem with their dog? Is it possible my dog may still be infected with the parasite? I've heard it may take many treatment before it goes completely. I have to take him back to the vet this week.

[Noweia]

How long ago was your dog treated after the boating pond incident and what was he treated with?

Are you sure it was Demodex? All dogs carry Demodex and in msot it doesn't cause a problem. Drinking water from a pond shouldn't cause Demodex in itself - unless it caused a more serious illness in your dog which then triggered the Demodex?

[lankeela]

Demodectic mange is being discussed at present on one of my dog groups, and the treatment being mentioned is Ivermectin, but this needs to be used with great caution in some breeds particularly Collies and other related herding breeds, although problems have been found in totally unrelated breeds.
This is what I found about an americam treatment:
The main drug used to treat generalized demodex is called Mitaban. Unfortunately, Upjohn no longer makes it, so we have to use substitutes. Mitaban has to be used precisely by label instructions. Since it is difficult for people to do this properly in their homes, we treat most pets in our hospital. Pets are dipped once per week, in between these dips your pet should not be bathed. We continue dipping until successive skin scrapings are negative for the mites.


If Mitaban does not work there are other medications that are used with varying success to cure the problem. These include oral Ivermectin and Milbemycin (Interceptor). Side effects like excess salivation, incoordination, even coma and death are possible, so they must be used judisciously. They should not be given to Collies, Shelties, australian shepherds, or dogs that are positive for heartworm. There can be no guarantee that they will work, especially in a disease that is so closely associated with the immune system. Spaying infected females is helpful.

[kaztuz]

Have a readon this website, I know it is American, but the facts are all there.

http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/dem.html

We have a Staffy pup, Star, who has demodex, she is nearly 8 months old. Our vet is treating her with Advocate once a month as we don't want to go down the route of pesticides, as previously mentioned. Usually Demodectic mange is passed from mother to pup or to a dog with a weak immune system. Demodex is not usually caused by drinking dirty water. Star has been badly affected as the people who had her from a pup didn't seek immediate treatment, therefore the mite was allowed to spread as her immune system was not strong enough. She lost 75% of her fur and is still very pink. Was your dog pink in colour or did it lose any fur, and did your vet look under a microscope to diagnose demodex. Star doesn't have the runs and being a Staffy she tends to be flatulent anyway.

You didn't mention what breed, or how old your dog is, and what symptoms they originally had.

[helpmeout06]

Thanks for all your answers, my dog is a staff he is now 14 months old, to be honest his fur is not too bad at all, when he was first diagnosed with demodex it was the hair around his left eye that was disappearing, that has since grown back, it's more his digestive system that worries me at the moment .

[kaztuz]

Digestive system problems doesn't sound like demodex. As I said in my last answer staffys are well known for being farters and ours stinks us out many times a day, so there is nothing wrong with wind, she also gets hiccups too.

Unfortunately with demodex, staffys are also more prone than other breeds to it as puppies.

We feed Star on James Wellbeloved dry food with a small amount of their wet food each day. James Wellbeloved is hypoallergenic and doesn't contain ingredients which can upset the digestive system. It comes highly recommended for dogs with digestive issues and is available in most pet shops at a reasonable price.