Subcutaneous mite in dogs

Disease of dogs - subcutaneous tick

Among dog diseases, the subdermal mite Demodex is the result of an abnormal growth of this mite itself. By itself this tick is not contagious, but every animal, including man, is the bearer of it. As a disease, it is rarely seen in humans, cats, horses and cattle. This type of tick lives in the sebaceous glands and hair follicles and feeds on the products of the decay of the cells of the host organism. If the mite somehow gets to the surface of the skin, then his life lasts not more than an hour, but in general, the entire life cycle of the tick lasts 25-30 days and is divided into four stages:

1. Spindle-shaped eggs.
2. Six-legged larvae.
3. Eight-legged larvae.
4. Eight-legged adults.

To date, it is still not completely clear why in some dogs when scrapings are taken, minor colonies of these mites are found, while in others - the reproduction of ticks is observed in very large quantities.

Subcutaneous mite in dogs - symptoms

So, what are the symptoms of a subcutaneous tick in dogs? First, your pet, if ill with a subcutaneous tick, becomes very irritable and avoids contact with you in every possible way. In addition, the mite causes a violation of thermoregulation and the dog starts chills, which does not pass even in the heat. If your dog has a scaly tick, the symptoms of the disease will appear on the animal's skin. The red areas, covered with bran scales, cover the skin of the dog and eventually fall into the crusts that fall off along with the hair, and the animal, troubled by itching, tries to gnaw out these lumps from the wool itself and combs the skin to the blood. If your dog has a pustular form of the disease, the subcutaneous tick in the dog will be expressed by symptoms such as the appearance of pustules on the skin, which burst, dry out on the wool and exude an unpleasant odor. Against the background of these signs, the animal can develop a bacterial or fungal infection that can lead to animal exhaustion or infection of blood, and subsequently to death.

Symptoms of subcutaneous tick in dogs

The main signs of a tick in dogs that affect sebaceous glands, hair bulbs, deep layers of the skin and in advanced stages, even internal organs are wounds that exude an unpleasant smell, local hair loss, seals under the skin, severe skin peeling. In addition, you may notice that the dog trembles as if from a cold, even despite the high temperature of the air in the street or indoors. The dog can begin to comb the skin to deep wounds and try to gnaw out these places with teeth. In addition, the signs of subcutaneous mites in dogs are often accompanied by other diseases that occur against the background of a dog's skin mite. So, your pet can have dermatitis or hyperkeratosis.

Treatment of subcutaneous mites in dogs

When a subcutaneous tick is found, the dog urgently needs treatment . At the first suspicions of having a subcutaneous tick in your pet, you need to seek the help of a qualified veterinarian. In a veterinary clinic, the doctor will first collect an anamnesis, then assign a series of tests that will help you determine exactly which subcutaneous ticks your pet has, and already in depending on the type of mite, the doctor prescribes treatment. Unfortunately, at the initial stages, the disease is noticed and it is extremely difficult to start treatment on time, and the second stage is rather painful for the animal. The subcutaneous mite in a dog is treated with medical preparations of acarecids, which are capable of destroying whole colonies of the hypodermic tick, and for the improvement of the skin condition an Aversectin ointment is prescribed. In parallel with these drugs, the doctor usually prescribes liver-supporting drugs, since medications that kill subcutaneous mites are toxic and can damage your dog's liver.