We believe in the skin scrape. Just read the articles. But we’ll be the first to tell you that the skin scraping is not a magic bullet for mange treatment. It’s important to talk about some of the potential shortcomings of the skin scraping procedure.

Skin Scrape Fail?
In as many as 50% of skin scraping procedures, the veterinarian is unable to find mites. However, the animal still clearly has mange. This seems to present a problem. If no mites can be found in the skin scrape, does this mean that it is unsafe to treat? Does it suggest that we should avoid direct treatment of mange?

Scratching the Mange and the Skin Scrape
Here’s the problem with skin scrapes. In order to find the mites, the doctor must take the skin scrape from a badly infected mange area. However, that badly infected area is where your pet has probably been scratching the most vigorously. It is entirely possible that your pet has scratched the mites away, leaving open lesions and no mites. This is a major reason why skin scrapes often produce negative results: the mites have been scratched off.

Sarcoptic Mange and the Skin Scrape
There is another reason why the skin scrape may be negative. It’s called sarcoptic mange. Sarcoptic mites are downright cruel. They don’t stop their burrowing at the skin. They go down, down, down, deep into the tissue, below the surface of the skin. Obviously, no skin scrape is going to penetrate into subcutaneous tissue. So, even though the mange is there, the skin scrape does not reveal any mites.

Skin Scrapes and Mange Treatment
Even though your vet may not get to eyeball any honest-to-goodness mites, he should still be able to diagnose and treat mange. Mange has enough other symptoms that provide confirmation of mange. Besides, it is better to proceed with treatment on an educated assumption than to allow the animal to continue to suffer.