There are two types of mites (demodex and sarcoptic) that are responsible for causing mange in cats and dogs.

Animals with mange have areas on their skin with thinning hair or no hair at all. These can be small local areas or the entire animal can be red, thickened, and bleeding in some areas if the pet is scratching excessively. Secondary skin infections are also commonly seen with mange.

A skin scraping is taken from the affected area and viewed under the microscope. At this time point the type of mite can be identified.

Demodex is a type of mange mite that lives in the hair follicles. Newborn animals pick up these mites from their mothers when they are a few days old. While many animals have these mites living in their hair follicles, only a few will develop a problem. The problem stems not from the mite primarily, but from the pet's own immune system, and how it responds to the presence of the mite. While demodex in itself does not cause a lot of itching, many times there is a secondary bacterial infection in the follicle that does cause the animal to itch. This mite will not infect other pets or people.

Sarcoptic mites burrow just beneath the surface of the skin and cause very severe itching. Secondary infections are common. This type of mite can be transmitted to other pets and people (the infection in people is usually self limiting and consists of red, itching areas on the skin.)

The traditional method of treatment of mange is with special dips. The type of dip depends on the type of mite present. It is essential that pets are rechecked by skin scrapping before the dips are discontinued. Discontinuing the dips before all the mites are gone (even if the animal looks much better) leads to a recurrence of the condition within 4-8 weeks, that is usually worse than the original infection and more difficult to control. This is especially true for demodex. Secondary infections are treated with antibiotics. In some instances when the mite is particularly resistant, the pet is given an oral mitacide. Expense of oral mitacides usually limits it's use for those pets with the resistant infection.