The Causes of Mange in Dogs
It is believed that all dogs may have parasites on their skins. However, the dogs that are given good hygiene and are kept in a healthy community tend to develop a better immune system that can handle parasites superbly.
As such, the mites that cause mange won't thrive in the dog's body at all. If ever they invade the skin, the dog's antibodies would start to act and hunt them down. Therefore, they can't proliferate as much as they would in the body of dogs.
The main cause of dog mange is the unhealthy environment the dogs live in. Mites are always on the prowl, waiting to strike dogs that are not given baths regularly. Most mites are contagious. This means that the mere association of your pet with other dogs in the park that have the disease makes susceptible to the disease. .
Immunodeficiency is one of the causes of proliferation of dog mange. The dogs that are prone to mites are the dogs whose body defenses are not as tough as it is supposed to be.
However, the puppies and the dogs in their prime ages could acquire the disease as well.
Further researches about mange in dogs also revealed that the disease could be hereditary. As such, dogs that have a family or breed history of exposure to mange are ones most likely to develop them.
This means that if the mother of your puppies had acquired the disease once in their lifetime, proper precautions should be taken to make sure that the puppies wouldn't be affected by it at all.
Mange in dogs gets very severe because female mites lay eggs several times when it burrows. Each time it lays eggs, a new set of larvae surfaces. Depending on the conditions, mites could live up to 22 days.
They reproduce faster than their lifespan and that is the main reason why most dogs tend to suffer so much before finally recovering or succumbing to the disease. It is only during the colder season that mites have a shorter life span. They can only live anywhere from two to six days, which is up to eleven times shorter than the normal.
Some types of mites can live away from the host for a certain period of time. This explains why your pet suddenly gets affected with mange even if they don't associate with other dogs. This is especially true in areas where stray dogs are frequent.