It is useful to be able to make a firm diagnosis for the presence of sarcoptic mange mites as this helps to choose the right treatment regime especially where there may be breed sensitivity to some drugs. Skin scrapes often fail to detect the presence of mites due to the difficulty in actually finding the mites.

A serum sample taken 4 – 8 weeks post infection will detect the presence of sarcoptic mange antibodies (IgG). A borderline result should be repeated in two weeks.