Mange in Dogs | Probiotic Treatment

DESCRIPTION

Mites live in the hair follicles and sebaceous glands (that’s the glands that produce an oily and fatty substance called sebum to moisturise the hair and skin) of a number of mammals.  In dogs the mite is referred to as Demodex canis by vets, and a diagnosis of Canine demodicosis may be given.  There is also the presence of a sarcoptes mite but it is rare in NZ dogs. Its fairly easy to recognize the sore-covered, often hairless patches, or lesions, that can appear anywhere on the body of a dog, that represent mange.  As it spreads, alopecia usually develops (loss of hair), with redness of the skin, scaling and in severe cases, the sore-encrusted look. 

If the immune system is strong, and the hosts body has healthy numbers of naturally occurring beneficial microbes present, it is possible for mites to live on the animal and not create any problems.   However this has become a rarity with our animals today due to the over-use of pharmaceutical medicines and environmental toxins. 

There has been little research done on the pathway and specific method by which the mite successfully inhabits the animal, however there was a study conducted in 2014, by Abu-Samra and Y.A. Shuaib.  Although the subjects of this study were cattle, I would argue the same mechanisms apply on dogs (and horses).  This study demonstrated that ‘pathogenic and opportunistic bacteria facilitated the establishment of Demodix mites in the lesions produced, and provided an excellent micro-climate for the mites to propagate and reproduce, resulting in severe and progressive disease’.  

But, here’s the exciting stuff - the method to me appears profound!  When the mite initially burrows into the skin, it has in its gut and attached to its body, pathogenic bacteria which are then excreted into that same hair follicle burrow.  These bacteria are considered secondary invaders.  What then occurs is these same bacteria produce substances called ‘invasins’ - think green slime - These ‘invasins’ break down the host animal’s own defence systems.  They manage to do this because the detrimental bacteria’s enzyme systems damage the physical matrix of the hosts tissues and intercellular spaces, thereby preventing the hosts immune system from stopping the spread of the pathogen.  To add insult to injury, they all the while rob iron from the host, affecting the oxygenation of the body.  

TREATMENT

To make matters even worse, these little bad ‘uns possess, and are able to very quickly acquire, resistance to many anti-microbial agents that may be used against them. 

Once the mites have been treated by your vet, MicroMed formulations become invaluable, delivering an army of millions of beneficial micro-organisms which create an environment unsuitable for the existence of the pathogenic bacteria. This means those nasty mites, without their symbiotic friends in the form of detrimental bad buddy bacteria, will be unable to take hold and create the environment necessary to invade the body.   

Detrimental bacteria can colonise faster than beneficial bacteria might naturally accumulate in your pet without the added introduction of a powerful probiotic like MicroMed.  It is my opinion, that a major contributor to the rising incidence of fungal and bacterial infection today are these afore-mentioned medications.  Therefore, to act preventatively or post-mites infection, by re-establishing the beneficial bacteria and fungi and other microbes, with MicroMed formulations - is simply just putting back what should be there naturally, to prevent reoccurrence, with the added benefit of strengthening immunity too.