thinning hair

by **APBTlvr** » January 17th, 2009, 2:55 pm

Hi guys. Recently (the last two months) I noticed that to the left side of my dog's waist the hair has been thinning. He even had one little scab there. There has been no change in diet (he eats Orijen), no change in environment (except boarding for 1 week), no change in cleaning products around the house... nothing... He doesn't seem to scratch it or it doesn't seem to bother him either. Should I add some fish oil and maybe condition his coat?

Some pictures attached.

Any ideas?

by **Malli** » January 17th, 2009, 4:03 pm

hmm, its just this one spot on the side of his body??

If thats the case, I'd take him in and see if he needs a skin scraping, could be some Demodex

How old is your dog?

by **Marinepits** » January 17th, 2009, 4:05 pm

I agree with Malli.

by **mnp13** » January 17th, 2009, 4:18 pm

yup, definately get a skin scraping done. If that comes up negative, do a search for "Hair on a Doorknob" on the forum and feed that for a few weeks.

by **blabsforbullies** » January 17th, 2009, 4:40 pm

It could be anything.... demodex, scabies, atopy... if he is young guy, I'm going to guess demodex, but it is very difficult to say for sure.

by **APBTlvr** » January 17th, 2009, 7:25 pm

Thanks guys.

He is almost 3 years old young bully! I take very good care of him - bathing and conditioning once a month, brushing, he has been on Orijen pretty much all of his life (some Innova Evo as well). Where do you get demodex from and how do you treat it?

He appears to have a little dandruff around this particular spot.

By the way he threw up today outside, a little stomach juices and he is not eating as well as before I picked him up from boarding. I wonder whether he caught a cold or something there.

by **APBTlvr** » January 17th, 2009, 7:26 pm

Yeah, it appears to be this one spot on the side of his body. It almost looks like he has thinning on the other side as well... but I don't know whether my eyes are playing a trick on me..

by **Marinepits** » January 17th, 2009, 7:29 pm

The demodex mite lives naturally on the skin. When the dog gets stressed or his immune system is compromised, it can flare up and cause hair loss and itching if it's not caught and treated. There are a couple of different treatments for it.

If he's throwing up and lethargic after his boarding time, get him to a vet asap. He may have picked up something nasty.

by **hugapitbull** » January 17th, 2009, 7:37 pm

Trouble's skin would do this when her allergies were super active. It actually looked and felt like little scabs before the scab fell off and took a small hunk of hair with it.

by **blabsforbullies** » January 17th, 2009, 7:46 pm

I will say that if it is on both sides, and appears symmetrical, I am going to have to say that Demodex is a lot less likely. :neutral:

Some dogs get an idiopathic/unknown symmetrical seasonal alopecia (hair loss). I have treated it with melatonin for those clients that are really bugged by it, but it usually comes and goes... with no real reason and no real cure.

Sometimes intact animals (although I don't know if your is or not :wink:

) will get it with hormone changes. Like I said earlier... unfortunately, it could be anything.

And if the vomiting continues, I'd be worried about that as well. I hope it was a one time thing! :goodthoughts:

by **APBTlvr** » January 17th, 2009, 9:49 pm

I will see how he is tomorrow and if he throws up again, I will take him to the vet on Monday. He only threw up once and it was a little bit of stomach juices I think (gross). My dog is neutered, so I don't think it will be hormonal issues.

Thanks for the help guys. Hopefully it is nothing nasty!

by **blabsforbullies** » January 18th, 2009, 10:18 am

OK... Good luck &I hope everything is going well.

Let us know how it turns out!

by **ladyrampage** » January 24th, 2009, 2:22 pm

Since your dog was recently boarded I would go with everyone else.. watch extremely close to make sure he didn't pick up a bug from the kennel.. The hairloss could very well be a sign of stress from being boarded, but also a sign of being under the weather...

Another outstanding over the counter product for any kind of hairloss or scrap/cut is Nu-Stock.. We keep it on hand all the time, and I have used it on just about anything and everything with outstanding results. Its just one of those "must haves" here at the house.

On that note.. We originally ordered Nu-stock off ebay many years ago because of a dog we had with a severe case of demodex and to my amazement it worked wonders with her. I happened to use to on a dog that had gotten into a hive of wasps and was amazed at how well it took down the swelling and cleared it up after only 2 applications.. lol

And no I dont own stock in the company just really, really like the product.. lol

thinning hair

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