Can This Be Dog Mange?

by ray
(houma,la)

I have a three year old female chowchow dog...

and I've just started to see some kind of red bald areas all on her back legs and her feet...she hardly can walk because it looks like it hurts her.

She's kind of limping. The bottom of her foot pads look burned. They just look sore. I've bathed her and put vapor rub on the areas that are giving her problems. I wrapped both of her feet in order to help with the pain. It looks like it still kind of hurts her. I just need help. Could this be mange???

If so how could i get it off of her...I don't have a veterinarian. She's very healthy. Mange just popped up. I'm surprised because i keep her real clean.

Suggestions from Dog Health Guide Editor:

It is hard to recommend a treatment without an in person clinical examination. Here are a couple of possibilities to consider;

If your dog has been recently been outside for a long time and has been roaming around near bushy or an unequal surface such as rocks, the pads and back legs are often affected. In such a case, along with sores on the pads, you might see some bruises and lumps on the soft part of the pad.

On the other hand, you mentioned that it might be mange. Sarcoptic mange usually starts on the legs, elbows, head or ventral (front part) abdomen. The condition then spreads over the body if left untreated. Moreover, dog mange happens after immediate contact with either a diseased dogs or another carrier. If it is mange, it is probably still in its early stages.

As far as treatment is concerned, you have applied vapor rub, which is good to relieve pain or soreness, but it is not a treatment as it will only help with the symptoms.

You should initially provide first aid by cleaning the affected areas, remove debris; hair etc and rinse the area with an antiseptic and anti-parasitic preparation. Even better, you should bathe your dog with a medicated shampoo combined with a miticidial preparation which will help to treat the mange. Consider a product such as Dermisil which mixes with either your dog's current shampoo or the one sold by the company. This is a lime-sulfur dip which has shown to be effective when treating mange.

After bathing, apply some soothing preparations and anti bacterial preparations over the legs and paws such as Panalog Cream. It contains a combination of ingredients such as an antipruritic (for itch), antimicrobial, antifungal, and corticosteroids.

There is also a homeopathic remedy available that is made to address dog paw symptoms. PawPaw can help to soothe and recondition your dog's paws.

Make sure that you take good care of your dog, as if it is mange; it can spread which will make things worse. If you see the condition worsen, try and take your dog to a veterinarian.

It is also important to keep your dog's environment free of any parasites and contamination to avoid the problem happening again. Disinfect the floors, furniture and belongings of your dog.

Bathing and applying medicated preparations after the bath will hopefully help with the conditions you mentioned.