If you suspect that your dog is suffering from mange, you should do something about it immediately. As a responsible pet owner, you cannot just leave your dog to the mercy of these microscopic parasites that could thrive, duplicate, and infest the skin and hair of your dog. In just a matter of a few days, you will see that your dog’s hide would be red from itchiness and its hair would start to fall off.
But the worse thing is that mange can be transferred to you too. Merely touching your affected dog could cause the parasites to move over to your skin. Mange is highly contagious, even to humans. So if you want your home to be infection-free, you should begin living clean and healthy. And start doing so with your pets.
Certain purebred dogs are very susceptible to mange. This means that your dog may develop this disease with the mere association to other dogs that are suffering from it. Given the case, it is but mandatory that you take good care of your dog. Know the places that it frequents, if in case it flees out of your backyard. If you take your pet to the dog park, make sure it only plays with dogs that are perfectly healthy.
Pet owners would quite easily know if their dogs are infected with mange. There would be red spots on your dog’s skin, especially on the foot, ears, and mouth areas. Your pet is going to scratch a lot and be irritated with his condition too. Mange can easily spread. Localized mange can become generalized mange fast if not treated right away.
As for humans, mange can be very itchy. It would seem like an allergy or irritation on the skin. It usually affects the hands and arms. The reason for that is because those are the parts of the body that are mostly exposed and are commonly used to touch your dog. The redness and itchiness on your skin could linger for a day or two. Medicinal creams can be applied on the affected areas to treat it. In worse cases, go and see your doctor for help.
Veterinarians would know what to do in cases of mange in dogs. Take your pet to the vet immediately when the symptoms of the disease appear so that it can be treated right on its onset. Generalized mange is much harder to address. In worse cases, it may even prove to be untreatable. Pet owners with dogs suffering from worse generalized mange may have no other recourse but to put their pets to sleep so as not to prolong its suffering. This is true for incurable cases of mange in dogs.
Mange may affect you and your dog. And so you have to do everything to keep your pet in pink of health at all times. Doing so is the only way you can ensure long, happy years with your animal best friend. Give your dog the care it deserve at all times.