ON THE PARENTERAL ADMINISTRATION OF SEA-WATER IN THE
TREATMENT OF CANINE MANGE-SARCOPTIC AND FOLLICULAR
By K. VENKATACHALAM, A. N. RATNAGIRISWARAN, M. R. SUBRAMANIA SASTRY, R. RAMASWAMY and
C. K. VELAYUDHAN NAYAR. Research Unit, Medical College, Madras
(Received for publication on 24 November 1942)
(With Plate XVIII)
THE idea that some alteration in the mineral
constituents of the blood may be responsible for
some mental disturbances and the knowledge that
the mineral constituents of sea water are more or
less the same as those of the blood led to the consi-
deration that the injection of sterile sea water may
prove beneficial in the treatment of some of the
mental diseases. Before venturing to try its use-
fulness on human patients, steps were taken to
find out whether an injection of sterile sea-water
into the animal organism would cause any systemic
disturbances. Intravenous injections were there-
fore given to dogs which were chosen as the subject
of the experimental investigation. In the course
of such trials, one of the experimental dogs which
accidentally happened to be a mangy one was
found to be completely rid of its skin disease. All
raw patches healed up, hairs began-to grow in the
denuded patches, and the animal began to put on
flesh and weight gradually.
This finding prompted an inquiry into the effi-
cacy of sea water on cases of mange confirmed under
the microscope. Cases of sarcoptic mange, num-
bering about 20 were first treated and all of
them responded well to the treatment. Their
general condition too improved. These results
encouraged us to try the same treatment in cases
of follicular mange also. The prognosis of this
disease is generally considered not to be a favour-
able one, though it is said that spontaneous reco-
very (without any treatment) may occur not infre-
quently. Numerous remedies are mentioned by
various authors. Some of them have been found
to give relief generally in the scaly form, and not in
the pustular form with numerous necrotic foci and
large abscess formations. The pustular form is
known to baffle all kinds of treatment invariably,
and there have been numerous instances where
cases with extensive infections over the body have
been declared incurable and recommended for des-
truction considering it humane to end their suffer-
ing.
The pathogenesis of the disease is that the mites
enter the hair follicles and sebaceous glands and
produce a chronic inflammation with proliferation
and thickening of the epidermis and loss of hair.
A secondary bacterial invasion, usually by staphy-
lococci, takes place leading to the formation of
pustules or abcesses. The wandering of the para-
sites aided by the biting and scratching by the
affected animals cause the infection to spread over
the body. But, artificial infection from one animal
to the other is rarely successful and this fact along
with the reported incidence of spontaneous reco-
very indicates that the condition of the host is a
strong factor in determining its susceptibility.
It is also maintained by some authors that Demodex
is a very prevalent parasite and occurs in practi-
cally all dogs, but produces mange only when the
general health and condition of the animals are
markedly affected by some debilitating disease or
other causes, or when the natural resistance of their
skin is weakened by some wrong treatment or other
means [Monnig, 1938].
It is therefore clear that if sea, water should prove
to be efficacious in the treatment of this malady it
would really be a boon to the ailing animal king-
dom. A few microscopically confirmed cases of
this disease were therefore procured for carrying
out the necessary trials. Sea-water in doses of 5
to 10 c.c. daily for dogs weighing about 20 to 30 lb.
were given intravenously and no systemic distur-
bances were observed. Some difficulty was ex-
perienced at times in getting the needles into the
vein on account of extensive raw patches and puck-
ered and tumified condition of the skin especially
over the limbs. To obviate this difficulty, the
mode of administration was changed and intra-
peritoneal injections were given every alternate
day in doses of 10 c.c. Even daily injections were
subsequently found to be tolerated. Half a c.c.
per kilogramme of body weight was the average
dose. The dose for under-sized and over-sized dogs
was regulated on this basis, the maximum being 20
c.c. for the heaviest animal. Experience showed
that it was necessary to exercise caution in treating
highly debilitated animals, cases weighing less than
2 lb. and pups below the age of 6 months, since
very small dogs and highly emaciated or famished
ones and those suffering from bad form of nephri-
tis were found to succumb probably owing to the
difficulty in computing the proper dose for such
patients.
Microscopical examinations of the scrapings of
the affected animals taken from time to time in the
course of the treatment revealed live parasites in
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