demodex-human vs canine (long)

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

It's the dog lady again. Just delete if you don't like my dog/human

comparisons.

When I first joined this list I had mentioned how rosacea and mange had some

similarities. I have dug up some info from one of the dog lists I belong to

on how to cure demodex. It may interest some of you that consider diet a big

part of our problem:

(permission to cross post granted)

DEMODEX by Cat Donnelly, AlternativePets.com

Demodex is not a genetic disease. Demodex mites feed on systemic yeast,

dietary yeast and/or sugar in the system (blood sugar). Demodex mites take

advantage of an immature or lowered immune system which is why the very young

get it, and sometimes the very old or ill. A dog's immune system is not fully

mature until at least one year, sometimes longer. This is only one reason why

it is NOT advisable to breed dogs younger than 18 - 24 months minimum.

Demodex mites are living in just about every dog, deep within the hair

follicles. When pups are nursing, the mites migrate from the Mom to the pups.

This is why the most common areas to show demodex first are on the face, head

and front paws, and then they migrate to every other area of the body. When

the immune system is maturing but battling to keep the mites in balance, you

can sometimes see hairless patches appearing and disappearing on different

parts of the body. It may even progress to the point where the mites colonize

and erupt on the surface, making the skin look pimply or rashy. Don't bother

with Goodwinol ointment because it is worthless, in my experience. You would

get better results from dabbing lemon juice or apple cider vinegar on the

spots. The cider vinegar will keep the odor down from any secondary staph

infection. Yeasty ears will commonly be a problem during this battle. The

reason why vets and others say that demodex is genetic is because 1) they

must not understand the life of a demodectic mite. Demodex is not in the

genetic make-up in any way whatsoever. There is no genetic mutation that

causes demodex. The immune system is a living thing that can be raised or

suppressed, it is not fixed. The mite is a parasite only and can be

eradicated completely. 2) they also do not understand how the body can be

helped to fight demodex off on it's own, without toxins taken internally and

applied externally which have long-lasting and detrimental effects. 3) they

do not understand the role that diet has on the immune system and therefore

the demodectic mite. Generations of being fed kibble wears down the immune

system of each successive generation until today you hear about demodectic

puppies all the time. An overzealous vaccination program is also responsible

for tearing down each successive generation's immune system, and greatly

contributes to the demodex problem today. You can take a dam who has produced

an entire litter of demodectic pups, put her on a grainless raw diet (a la

Kymythy Schultze) with supplementation for a year, breed her again and she

will not produce any demodex in the subsequent litter. I know, I've done it.

If it were genetic, or in the genes, it would not matter WHAT I fed her, at

least a certain percentage of her pups would have it. So, if a breeder had

fed BRAND X dog food for generations and her dogs have subclinically (no

outward signs) been getting weaker immune systems, then to the naked eye it

would logically look like the problem is genetic. This particular dam starts

spontaneously producing litter after litter of demodex pups in a line that

had previously been clear of it, but it's manageable so they keep breeding

her anyway. Her pups produce all demodex pups, only worse cases. Clearly she

must have a " bad gene. " This logic is as good as seeing birds fly south in

the winter and deducing that ALL birds fly south for the winter. It might

initially appear to be true, but further investigation tells you that it is

not. The problem with their logic is that you can take this line and turn it

completely around through upgrading their diet. Switch to a better kibble.

Give healthy snacks like sliced melon or peeled apple slices that have live

enzymes instead of biscuits which are a " dead " food. Give good quality

supplements. The best possible scenario would be to feed grainless BARF

(biologically appropriate raw foods). Home cooked is also a very good regimen

to raise the health of our companions. Okay, so now that we have established

that demodex could not possibly be genetic, let me say that it is

" congenital " in that a substandard immune system is passed on from the mother

to the pups, and the mites migrate to the pups from the Mom shortly after

birth. After generations of being fed kibbles, which are a " dead " food, the

Mom will have little immunity to pass on to her pups, and she will harbor

plenty of demodectic mites in her pores ready to migrate to the pups. That is

the sum total of the relationship between demodectic mites and how it is

" inherited " from the Mom by her pups. So, you HAVE demodex and don't know

what to do about it? Can it be treated naturally? YES! In fact, I would

highly recommend it. The conventional path is highly toxic (as evidenced if

you've ever seen a dog after it's dipped) and can keep your pet's immune

system weakened for life. There is usually absolutely no reason for this.Here

is the holistic protocol:1) Feed an anti-yeast diet (I will follow this short

article up with a longer yeast article that will explain this). Mites feed on

the systemic yeast or yeast living in the body, and systemic yeast feed on

nutritional yeast and sugars (carbohydrates). If you break the cycle, you

weaken or starve the systemic yeast and then the mites cannot colonize in the

pores, crowding and pushing out the hairs and migrating to other pores

looking for food. This is the reason for grainless diet (ESPECIALLY NO WHEAT

OR NUTRITIONAL YEAST OF ANY KIND) with only meat, bones and low glycemic

fruits (some apple slices occasionally) and veggies (cruciferous or green

leafy), or in other words, only foods that do not readily turn to sugar in

the system. Plain kefir is a wonderful anti-yeast food, in moderation. Plain

yogurt is a secondary substitute. Acidophilus/lactobacillus (pro-biotics)

supplementation is preferred because overall, dairy will feed yeast. No

cheese, no cottage cheese. If grains have to be used, make sure they are

whole grains and not refined. No sweeteners of any kind, including molasses,

honey, etc. Many have reported good results from using bovine colostrum,

which is a pro-biotic that works in the intestines. If feeding kibble, it

must be a really high grade kibble without many of the ingredients from the

no no list (especially wheat or yeast). You can get rid of demodex on kibble,

but it will take longer because of the grain content. 2) Make sure the pup

gets LOTS of rest! This is crucial. If the pup is in a high traffic area, it

is important to put a crate in a quiet room and give him frequent rest

periods. 3) Fresh air and sunshine are very therapeutic. Regular exercise and

playtime is a must. Think HEALTHY. Do what the dog loves. Channel his

energies by training him, teaching him tricks. Oxygenating the blood is an

anti-yeast activity because yeast thrive in dark, moist places with little to

no oxygen. 4) NO STRESS. If you are in a stressful relationship, make a

choice, the partner or the pup must go for the good of the pup. I am dead

serious. You may be faced with giving the pup up to a better home for his/her

own good if you are not willing to give up the partner. The most stressful

part of a female pup's life is being in heat. If you cannot get this under

control quickly, do not put her through the stress of being in heat. The

stress of the spay operation is far less than what you will see erupt during

the heat cycle, believe me when I tell you that I speak from experience. 5)

On top of a good diet, I highly recommend supplementing with antioxidants, or

you can supplement with separate antioxidant vitamins like Vit C, Vit A and

Vit E. It's usually cheaper to go combo. Other supplements to consider are

apple cider vinegar in the water (a scant tsp. will do, it's very strong),

and vitamin 'F' or essential fatty acids. Essential fatty acids will help the

skin heal quickly and the hair/fur to grow back. An all around

vitamin/mineral supplement is great in addition. 6) The most powerful

anti-yeast supplement by far is Yeast & Fungal detox which is a tincture your

give 3x/day in water. It can be given in food if you double the dosage. This

ensures that you are not only weakening the yeast, but really eradicating it.

Typically the dog will go through a " healing crisis " for a day or two, and

then they will be phenomenally better. The healing crisis may include fever,

eye exudate, mucus from the nose, yeast ears, itchy skin eruptions, and can

even include a little diarrhea. This is the only way the body can eradicate

the yeast, and the mites that feed on the yeast. Do not panic, it will get

better. Obviously, anything that is acute is highly unusual and should be

immediately evaluated by your veterinarian. 7) Absolutely no vaccinations

until the crisis is over and behind you for quite some time. Tell your

veterinarian that you want a health waiver until the pup is clear of demodex

for at least 2 months (or longer). It says on the vaccine vials that they

should ONLY be given to healthy animals. Since demodex is considered life

threatening (usually only because it's mismanaged with suppressive and toxic

therapies), you cannot damage the immune system further with vaccinations.

The key is that you need to enforce the immune system, not give it something

ELSE to try to deal with. That makes NO sense. If your vet doesn't agree,

find one who will. It is essential. 8) Find ways to control parasites

naturally. There is a wealth of information out there to keep you away from

putting poison in your dog each month (Heartworm preventative incidentally is

only needed every 6 weeks but they think the general public is too stupid to

grasp that and so make it monthly), plus another dab of toxin between the

shoulder blades. There are other ways to handle it. It might take more work,

but the end result is a healthier dog and a healthier you (you don't need

those toxins in your environment either). More information will follow in the

yeast article. Contact me directly with any questions.

Cat Donnelly

AlternativePets.com (website coming soon!!)

I would be curious to see if there was demodex before we started feeding our

dogs " cereal " (which would cause the yeast problem) and vaccinating them

every year (which weakens the immune system).

An observation (I'm guessing here): taking antibiotics would INCREASE the

yeast problem by killing off the good bacteria. Could this be one of the

reasons why we can't solve this problem? Marjorie, (if you've made it this

far), would a decrease in good bacteria allow an increase in yeast? Of

course, the beasties may not be the cause of rosacea, just an opportunistic

by product. But if we are increasing their number by being yeasty, maybe

they are hindering the healing process? (I skimmed over the post about mite

numbers being normal in some people with rosacea, so this would mean nothing

for those people!)

Take care!

Rene

[Guest guest]

Great post, Rene!

Alena

[Guest guest]

Great post, Rene!

Alena

[Guest guest]

> An observation (I'm guessing here): taking antibiotics would

INCREASE the

> yeast problem by killing off the good bacteria. Could this be one

of the

> reasons why we can't solve this problem? Marjorie, (if you've made

it this

> far), would a decrease in good bacteria allow an increase in

yeast? Of

> course, the beasties may not be the cause of rosacea, just an

opportunistic

> by product. But if we are increasing their number by being yeasty,

maybe

> they are hindering the healing process? (I skimmed over the post

about mite

> numbers being normal in some people with rosacea, so this would

mean nothing

> for those people!)

, yes, I made it this far . The relationships between chronic

or erratic antibiotic use and skin fungal infections is a common

topic in this group; I'm sure the archives can help you out there. In

humans, mites are everpresent and don't appear to cause disease,

although some theorize they might cause a contact dermatitis in rare

people that improves when the mites are eradicated. But with respect

to rosacea, mites don't really interest me because too many studies

found symptomatic improvement despite constant mite counts, and

eradicating mites didn't result in improvement.

Marjorie

Marjorie Lazoff, MD