# Raw food - weak immune system - demodectic mange?



## RobinF (May 9, 2011)

Hello everybody. I am new to the forum and a first time dog owner.
My dog is 13 month old Brittany.
I started to feed my dog raw food in February and everything was great. She is a very bad eater and with raw food she did great. She even gained a few pounds since mid march. She likes it, never had stomach problems.
Few weeks ago I noticed pimples on her skin here and there and then bald spots appeared. The doctor diagnosed her with demodectic mange put her on ivermectin and shampoo treatment. The doctor said that the dogs with weak immune system usually develop this condition and that I damaged her immune system by feeding her raw food. 

It looks like the doctor is strongly opposed to the raw food diet and I am really on the fence here. Is that my fault and I should go back to feeding commercial food? 

What are your thoughts and thank you in advance.


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## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

In all my research is has been the opposite. Dogs red raw have a better immune system.

I think you just got unlucky with the mange. 

Treat it and continue to feed your dog raw, its most likely the vet scaring you back into a field she knows.


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## RobinF (May 9, 2011)

Thank you katielou,
Yes she is pushing the Science diet really bad.
It all started when my cat got blocked few month ago and after reading about commercial food alternatives I decided to switch both of my pets to the raw food. The cat is doing great and so did the dog until now .


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## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

RobinF said:


> Thank you katielou,
> Yes she is pushing the Science diet really bad.
> It all started when my cat got blocked few month ago and after reading about commercial food alternatives I decided to switch both of my pets to the raw food. The cat is doing great and so did the dog until now .


Awesome sauce!

Yeah i would have a hard time feeding science diet if it was the last thing on earth. I love the raw diet.


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## BlueChaos (Mar 29, 2010)

sounds like the vet has an agenda of his own. If you feed a balanced raw diet (meat, bones, organs), I wouldnt worry about it. You can try some immuno boosters if it makes you feel better like colostrum, I also really like nupro and/or seameal. 
Some dogs are genetically predisposed to certain conditions, my pup is pretty healthy but due to his color and uknown background, he's prone to allergies which are fairly easily treated in his case with mild antihistamines, but I believe good nutrition plays a big part in his health.


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## LittleFr0g (Jun 11, 2007)

> Hello everybody. I am new to the forum and a first time dog owner.
> My dog is 13 month old Brittany.
> I started to feed my dog raw food in February and everything was great. She is a very bad eater and with raw food she did great. She even gained a few pounds since mid march. She likes it, never had stomach problems.
> Few weeks ago I noticed pimples on her skin here and there and then bald spots appeared. The doctor diagnosed her with demodectic mange put her on ivermectin and shampoo treatment. The doctor said that the dogs with weak immune system usually develop this condition and that I damaged her immune system by feeding her raw food.
> ...


Well, he's half right, it is related to poor immune system, but feeding raw won't cause your dog to have a poor immune system. Kuma developed demodectic mange when he was on kibble, and he still has it on raw. It's not something that ever goes away, but if you boost their immune system they don't get breakouts. My vet, who loves the fact that Kuma is on a raw diet by the way, has me give him daily supplements of fish oil, powdered mushroom and acidophilus. As long as he's on them, he never has a breakout, and he's in great shape.


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## jiml (Jun 19, 2008)

Im not saying he is correct (im NOT a raw feeder). But do realize that no two raw diets are alike. may want to make sure you have a correct variety in her diet.

Mange can also be related to stress. I had a dog break out after a newborn came home.


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## RobinF (May 9, 2011)

Thank you everyone. 
I am already through the Raw Diet Recipes thread and found lots of other good stuff to add to her diet. I already bought acidophilus and waiting for it to arrive and started to add fish oil to her food everyday. I don't want to go back to commercial food. It's just not the very best way to bust the dog's immune system IMHO.


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## OliveSheprador (Jul 14, 2011)

Kuma'sMom said:


> Kuma developed demodectic mange when he was on kibble, and he still has it on raw.


Yep.  Agreed. 
It does not seem to be an issue with this - my pup also developed demodex problem on both - so people pushing raw diet saying "that's the only way to go/it cures everything" are not correct. 

I have read other things saying not to feed a dog with a weak immune system raw, so I am confused. How can this be, two conflicting pieces of advice? And, from people who are not really qualified to give this kind of advice.


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## yulia (Feb 23, 2013)

Very few vets agree with raw feeding, cause they're trained to sell you their commercial pet food. It is no coincidence that vet universities are sponsored in part par pet pharmaceutical companies and commercial pet food manufacturers. Thus their curriculum does not include any training on raw feeding. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Raw food will actually boost a dog's immune system, including a dog with a compromised one. One of my dogs could attest to it. He was diagnosed with Leishmania, as a puppy, but his anti-bodies levels being fairly low, the vet didn't deem necessary to put him on any treatment, at the time. When his levels starting increasing, he was about 18 months old, and that's when I decided to put both my dogs on the raw diet.

Within 4 months, he tested negative. Further tests 6 months later confirmed he was still in remission (apparently Leishmania is like cancer, you can never say it's gone for good, thus the use of the word remission). He remained free and healthy until his death, a couple of months ago - he had a heart malformation, the kind where 50% dogs don't make it to one year old, he made it to over 3 years of age.

We now have a new puppy, who unfortunately was just diagnosed with Demodex Cani. Apparently she was already positive, during her first vet consultation, but this idiot missed a very obvious detail, so we lost a couple of weeks. Yulia had a very traumatic start in life : thrown out on the streets at the age of 2 months, ate whatever she could find, then found by some nice people who fostered her a couple of days, until we adopted her, but fed cheap kibbles during those 2 days.

She has been on raw food, for the 2 weeks we've had her, so far it's only raw chicken and daily supplement of salmon oil. It was very obvious that this dog was stressed, at the beginning, she barely ever slept during the day, and always with one eye open, and would wake up every couple of hours at night. She had diarrhea for the first week.

She's now doing great, sleeps through the night, loves her huge brother (120 lbs) and spends her days harassing him. He is such a gentle giant! 

Our regular vet (not his idiot partner) prescribed Ivermectrin for her condition, and I'm still debating whether or not, I'm gonna give it to her or wait and see if it clears on its own.


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## MollieLoo95 (Feb 24, 2013)

I would not pay any attention to what your vet says. Most vets that I have talked to are against raw food simply because a) they don't understand it or b) they are trained to sell kibble food or c) when done _improperly_ raw food can hurt your dog. When you do it right it is much better than kibble.
Make sure that you are giving your dog internal organs in its diet, as these are an essential part of its nutrient intake.
Good luck with your dog! Hope this mange clears up.
-MollieLoo95


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