How To Treat Scabies On Your Dog Or Cat
What are dog scabies and cat scabies?
Dog scabies, known as sarcoptic mange, and cat scabies, known as notedric mange, are actually the same mite that infests humans, called Sarcoptes scabiei. These mites infest the top layers of skin, where they lay their eggs and reproduce. This causes an immune reaction from the skin, resulting in rashes and red bumps, all over the body.
What does scabies look like on your cat or dog?
Here is a couple pictures of what scabies look like, on a dog.
Can you catch scabies from your dog or cat?
Yes, you can catch scabies from your dog or your cat. The mite that infests humans, sarcoptes scabiei, can infest many other different species of animals as well, including dogs and cats.
How do you treat your dog or cat for scabies?
The treatment for scabies in your dog or cat, is going to be the same as the treatment for scabies in humans. The only difference is that your dog or cat has a lot of extra hair in the way, so applying a topical treatment is going to be more difficult. There are a couple ways to get around this, as I will describe below.
Use liquid permethrin for your dog, but not your cat
WARNING: permetherine can kill your cat!
Permetherine is a pesticide, and it is the standard treatment for all species of scabies. Doctors will usually prescribe 5% permetherin cream, but if you want to get permethrin over the counter, you can order it online in liquid form. Another reason that I recommend getting permethrin in liquid form, for your dog, is because it will be much easier to apply to the skin, without your dogs hair getting in the way.
Borax and hydrogen peroxide
Borax is a natural mineral that is also used as a pesticide to kill parasites like bedbugs, lice, flees, ticks, scabies, and even larger insects like spiders, cockroaches and ants. It works by absorbing through there hard outer layers and desiccating (dehydrating) thier bodies, until they eventually die.
- Put your pet in the bathtub.
- mix together, two parts borax and one part hydrogen peroxide.
- Scrub it all over your pet.
Dog mange shampoo
There are specific formulations of dog shampoo that are made for killing mites like scabies. You can search for dog shampoo on amazon. They contain natural ingredients including aloe vera, essential oils, and zinc.
Bleach baths
Bleach baths are great for killing off parasites on your your dog and cat that are hard to get at underneath all that fur. Bleach baths can eradicate flees, ticks, lice, bedbugs, and scabies, by rapidly oxidizing the parasites bodies, because of the active ingredient, hypochlorite. Bleach baths are also able to kill off most forms of bacteria, fungus, and viruses, like ringworm and mrsa.
- Fill your bathtub with warm water.
- Add 1 cup of bleach to the water.
- Soak your pet in the bath for at least 30 minutes.
- Repeat this at least once a day, until their symptoms, go away.
