Allergies or Mange??

[Lo001]

Hello everyone
So my 11 month old female pit/boxer mix Ruca is having some skin problems.
She was breaking out in hive like bumps on her legs and sides, also her right ear was very red and itchy, Her little pads on her paws were raw as well.
I took her to the vet a month ago and he didn't seem to be worried, He told me that it "looked like allergies" gave her a shot told me to give her benadryl if we saw the hives again also to give her 1500-2000 of fish oil a day and sent us on our way.... I asked him if we should do a skin scraping but he told me it was not necessary. Everything was fine although i noticed some hair loss on her sides and back legs(wasn't too worried.) Now all of a sudden it happening again The bumps come and go but the hair loss is SO BAD now she is having hair loss on her back!! Now im starting to wonder if its Mange... Im going to have to take her back to the vet, But what do you guys think?? Have you seen hair loss like this just from allergies?!?!
This is Ruca

[GoingPostal]

My male loses hair very similar in the summer due to environmental allergies, he gets hives sometimes too. The vet always wants to start antibiotics and medicated shampoos, they don't seem to make a difference so we've done three rounds of that over the years (2 different vets ) and now I just leave it alone because he doesn't get horribly itchy or anything. What has helped him a great deal was adding virgin coconut oil to his diet, we'd already been giving fish oil. It hasn't been as bad but he still does get bumps and lose a little hair, didn't start until a few weeks ago this year, sometimes it starts in May.

[Lo001]

My male loses hair very similar in the summer due to environmental allergies, he gets hives sometimes too. The vet always wants to start antibiotics and medicated shampoos, they don't seem to make a difference so we've done three rounds of that over the years (2 different vets ) and now I just leave it alone because he doesn't get horribly itchy or anything. What has helped him a great deal was adding virgin coconut oil to his diet, we'd already been giving fish oil. It hasn't been as bad but he still does get bumps and lose a little hair, didn't start until a few weeks ago this year, sometimes it starts in May.

Yea it seems like she is having environmental allergies, Just the hair loss is what was throwing me off!! Also she seems to be a bit more itchy the the "average dog" but not to the point of worry. Ill have to give the coconut oil a try!!
Thank you for the feedback, makes me feel a ton better!!

[amalie79]

I second the coconut oil-- Luna had terrible hair loss when we found her and is allergic to just about everything. I questioned the vet about it being mange, too. Every single flea bite turned into a staph infection that required antibiotics and lots of bathing. But we changed up her diet a lot, and ESPECIALLY since adding the coconut oil, her skin and coat condition is amazing. She's had a couple of flea bites I think, but nothing that's required special treatment. We haven't even treated for fleas yet (I may still have to very soon, but this is late in the season already), and it is well over 100º here right now: prime flea and allergy weather. She also gets a Claritin for good measure. But I've noticed major improvement in the other 2 dogs' coats since starting the coconut oil, as well, including reduced dandruff. It's awesome stuff.

The dogs also get kelp (we're using Solid Gold Seameal right now) and I've heard that bluegreen algae is fantastic for allergies. Will be getting some of that and starting it soon. Probably won't know whether that gives us further improvement until the fall or spring, though.

[Lo001]

I second the coconut oil-- Luna had terrible hair loss when we found her and is allergic to just about everything. I questioned the vet about it being mange, too. Every single flea bite turned into a staph infection that required antibiotics and lots of bathing. But we changed up her diet a lot, and ESPECIALLY since adding the coconut oil, her skin and coat condition is amazing. She's had a couple of flea bites I think, but nothing that's required special treatment. We haven't even treated for fleas yet (I may still have to very soon, but this is late in the season already), and it is well over 100º here right now: prime flea and allergy weather. She also gets a Claritin for good measure. But I've noticed major improvement in the other 2 dogs' coats since starting the coconut oil, as well, including reduced dandruff. It's awesome stuff.

The dogs also get kelp (we're using Solid Gold Seameal right now) and I've heard that bluegreen algae is fantastic for allergies. Will be getting some of that and starting it soon. Probably won't know whether that gives us further improvement until the fall or spring, though.

Thank for the info!!
I just picked some of the coconut oil up last night, ill have to give the Claritin a try as well. My boyfriend and i are pretty active and we love to take the pup along with us hiking as well as bike rides but it seems EVERY TIME we take her out she comes back bumpy & itchy, we cant even let her run around the back yard with out one of us keeping a eye out because of all the plants/trees!! You said something about changing up the food, I am feeding her Blue wilderness (She is SO picky about food, she doesn't seem crazy about this) its almost like she gets bored of it ?? I know its grain free but i'm wondering if we should change to something else because of the allergies but then again i'm pretty she she isn't having food related allergies, i could be wrong tho.

[Misskiwi67]

Both secondary yeast and bacterial infections will cause hairloss like that.

However, hairloss in a puppy (any dog under 12-18 months of age) is mange until proven otherwise, and a skin scraping should have been done.

If your vet is only throwing drugs at you and not confirming the underlying cause (or at least discussing the options with you) then they are not performing a thorough evaluation and it would be in your dogs best interest to discuss this further with your vet or find someone else more willing to be thorough.

Veterinarians see so many people who just want steroids and antibiotics for life that sometimes we forget to do our job correctly. There are better treatment options out there, and particularly in a young dog, looking for an underlying cause is very important unless you really do just want to drug your dog for life.

[Lo001]

Just got back from the vet, they did a skin scraping & it came back negative for any kind of Mange. He didn't think it was any kind of Yeast infection either, but gave us a antibiotic just in case
He told us that this deff. seems like environmental allergies( witch makes me feel a lot better) Ill just keep her on the benadryl & coconut oil and see if that helps!! Thanks for the advice everyone