I am the proud mommy of a 6 month old choc lab named Emmie, which was just diagnosed tonight with Generalized Demodicosis also known as red mange. The vet put her on meds and antibiotics then said I need to get her spade. I am also training her to be a therapy dog since I work in the mental health field. Guess right now I am in shock a little since it was just a year ago this month we had to put down our greyhound due to rapidly advancing non treatable cancer..

Don't panic. The newer treatments for demodecosis are almost always successful. Even when they aren't, the disease is controllable.

Don't be surprised if the hair takes it's time growing back. The mites can cause a lot of damage to the hair follicles. But they do recover.

You're vet is right that she should be spayed. Dogs who have had generalized demodecosis should never be bred, because they have a genetic flaw in their immune system. And if she isn't going to use those organs, she doesn't need them.

However, I wouldn't rush into surgery, either. Give her time to completely recover from the mange.

I would also give only the core 1st year vaccinations and only one at a time. It will cost you more to do it this way, but will be much easier on his immune system. This dog's immune system is already compromised which means vaccinations can (and many times do) cause flare ups. I had a rescue with demodex and what set him off was his 1st round of vaccines. Fortunately, his was very localized (on one spot in the middle of his forehead and another on his upper chest/neck area).

Thank you for all the encouragement on the new treatments; it makes me think that there is hope for my little girl. She actually had all of her shots and did have a reaction and developed a large lump at the injection site and it took a month to go away. My vet tech said that it was just because she got 3 injections at once. We are just going to take this one day at a time and hope for the best. Also I am glad to find this site!!

[wishbone]

What a relief! Sending good vibes, lucks and prayers for your baby...