Tips on dealing with demodectic mange:
My puppy Zoey was recently diagnosed with demodectic mange after we spent 1 day a week for 4 weeks going to the veterinarian. The symptoms pointed to acne but she also had sores on her paws but because she has separation anxiety and we kept catching her lick them we assumed it was a separate issue. Our veterinarian diagnosed this by doing a skin scraping test and looked under a microscope finding a high amount of demodex mites in her blood and skin cells.
Currently Zoey is on liquid Ivermectin, amoxicillin, and a low dosage of prednisone to reduce the itching as she constantly breaks the sores open and they bleed. Zoey has had health problems since birth with IBS, two different strands of kennel cough... and the list goes on. It's safe to say that she hasn't been too comfortable since we had her join our family.
I have 2 recipe's to offer for anyone after doing some research but please do your research before taking my advice. These recipe's should not be in place of a medication prescribed by your vet.

Recipes:

Skin Oil Treatment: Mix a combination of one part lavender oil, one part neem oil, ten parts almond oil. Apply to sores and infected areas once or twice daily. This will soothe the skin and also repel the demodex mites.

Neem Spray: Find a spray bottle from the dollar store or a craft store that can hold 250 ml of liquid. Boil 250 ml of water and make a strong tea using chamomile and green tea. Let it steep until it has cooled to room temperature. Add 10 ml of lemon juice, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 5 ml of Neem oil, 5 ml of lavender oil, 5 ml of calendula oil, and 10 ml of almond oil, and 1 tsp of honey. Shake constantly before use. Try using this on your dog in a spot where the skin is not irritated or sensitive.

Please also find below other things we have done or are currently doing to help her current condition. I have listed their benefits but be sure to do your own research.
Hope this is helpful.

Promotes Immune System Function

Milk Thistle: Builds the immune system and helps restore optimal liver function.
Internal 0.5 ml in food twice daily

Cat’s Claw: Builds immune system.
Internal 0.5 ml in food twice daily

Halibut Liver Oil: Promotes healing and helps to boost the immune system.
Internal 1 cap once daily with food



Soothes & Heals Skin

Evening Primrose Oil: Promotes healthy skin and hair growth and has healing properties for dry and damaged skin.
Internal 1 cap once daily with food

Echinacea: An anti-fungal, fights infection & aids in healing. Echinacea is also a Natural immune booster. (Can be used internally and externally)
Internal 0.5 ml twice daily

Almond Oil: Relieves dry skin and will kill demodex mites while being safe for the skin and around the eyes.
External

Lavender Oil: Is an antiseptic, antibacterial, and antiviral, and will sooth, calm and balance skin.
External

Green tea: Topical and antibacterial properties. You can also use chamomile tea. Make a pot of tea and let it sit until room temperature then spray or apply with cotton balls on affected areas.
External

Calendula Oil: Anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, controls bleeding, sooths irritated skin and aids in people with acne. Calendula aids with itching and healing wounds.
External

Aloe Vera: Healing and soothing properties.
Internal & External (1 tbsp in food once daily) Used in a base for applying oils directly.

Garlic: Garlic contains anti-fungal, antibacterial, and anti-viral properties. It can treat spots and blemishes on your skin. (Can be used internally and externally)
External

Honey: Honey is an excellent moisturizer and in addition has antiseptic and antibacterial properties. Honey will minimize the chances of skin infections occurring and can even cure a skin infection as long as it is not too serious. (Can be used internally and externally)
External

Natural Repellents

Neem Oil: Will kill the mites and act as a repellant. It promotes a strong immune system, healthy skin, a shiny, problem free coat, strong healthy teeth, all the signs of a radiantly healthy dog. Dilute neem oil in a 1:10 ratio with a light carrier oil like almond oil or grape seed oil. You can also mix with a shampoo base. Do not leave pure neem on the skin for more than 48 hours or the dog will develop a skin irritation. You can also create a neem spray to apply to affected areas. In 500 ml of warm water and 5-10 ml of neem oil and spray affected area.
External combined with other oils
(We found Neem Oil at a small health food store and also at a store for gardening as some people use it as a natural repellent or as a leaf shining solution.)

Brewer’s Yeast: Deters and fights parasites, promotes hair growth, and a healthy coat.
Internal (Feed 1 tsp twice daily in food)

Best of luck with your pooch. Some of the pictures on the internet put me in to tears when I thought how much more my little girl might suffer but were being as positive and proactive as possible to avoid the mange attacking new spots or spreading. Any questions please contact me by posting below.

Thanks for this! I've also got a pup fighting with demodectic mange. Best of luck to you and your girl!

And to you... I really hope it helps.
I also did some reading that you're supposed to bathe your dog quite often so tonight I gave Zoey a bath but wanted a shampoo that would help her. I went to a health food store and bought a natural organic shampoo for dogs with no scent or chemicals and added small amount of the oils mentioned above including a small amount of Neem Oil and lathered her up and massaged the shampoo into her fur down to her skin. Before getting her into the bath I added some epsom salts and small amount of baby oil with aloe. Epsom salts ease pain and inflammation, softens skin, relieves muscle cramps, prevents hardening of arteries and blood clots and has tons of benefits. After I applied the spray to her paws and put her socks on. Her fur feels softer, she is much cleaner and is not itching or paying much mind to her sore spots.
Hope that this may also be helpful. I let her sit in the tub and soak for a bit in luke warm water and took my time rinsing the shampoo from her fur. She's not a fan of baths but seems very comfortable.

Dana

I can't bathe Callie right now since she's supposed to wait two weeks after spay, but before her spay I washed her with a shampoo that had hydrocortisone in it and it seemed to help alleviate the itching. I'll definitely try your way too though. If I can stop the itching completely, I'll feel much better. I'm really hoping to try those things to help boost her immune system. I'm going to see how the treatment the vet provided works before adding in too many other things. Mostly because I don't think the vets treatment will work and I don't want to clear it up on my own and then him think it was the Advantage Multi.

Tonight I started Callie on a new regime. I'm sick of waiting for these spots to clear up on their own as her immune system matures. That could be another 6 months to a year. So. Simple enough.

Echinacea was mentioned above. I bought a small one from walmart, probably not top of the line but I'm just testing it out. Human dose would be 2 tablets twice daily and dogs are supposed to get about 20% of what humans need. (Typical human is 150 pounds give or take, Callie's 30 lbs, I read this and did the math yesterday so my facts might be rusty, you should do your research all I know is Callie should be getting 20% of human amounts.) I figure that 1 tablet a day is 25% which is pretty close, and I'll probably be giving it to her every other day and see how that works for her.

Apple cider vinegar. I started out with just a small amount since I wasn't sure how she'd take it. Nosey butt liked the teaspoon and realized quick that she doesn't like it straight. I don't think she noticed it on her food, but it mostly absorbed in anyway. Everywhere I read argues between 1 tsp for 50lb of dog and 1/2 tsp for <35 lbs, 1 tsp for 35-55lbs, and 2 teaspoons for 55 up. What ACV does is make the dog more acidic, more or less. This will kill the mites since they don't like the acidity. It can also be applied topically but I'd rather her not smell like ACV so I skipped that one.

Greek Yogurt/Yogurt with acidophilus. This is also supposed to help immune function. 2 tsps daily. Best part is, the dogs love it. Even though it's plain.

I will update this if I start seeing results!