Hair loss

[Adam]

Just a quick question re. hair loss. One of our pits is a blue fawn. Gorgeous dog with green eyes. Unfortunately, he has very sensitive skin. Every spring he periodically looses a fair amount of hair on both sides of his body in a bi-lateral matching pattern (fyi, our vet has tested for and ruled out mange). Over the past four years we have tried a number of remedies, including fish oil pills, only to settle on vet prescribed allergy medication during the flare ups. As winter rolled around this year I am noticing more than ever an outbreak of dry itchy skin for all our dogs, but most of all for Blue (yeah, I know, a blue fawn named Blue...kind of sad, but rescue named him before we got him). In any event, I was wondering if anyone might have some insight or even some good home remedy recipes. Thanks!!

[HugABull1]

Poor baby!!! Skin problems suck. I don't have any experience with your particular problem, but Gage has skin probs, so I'll tell you what I do and you can do what you like with it

I use Aveeno Oatmeal bath and shower oil (for people) on him every week or two (rinse it mostly out in the tub - as if it were a conditioner), which helps with the dryness. Also, regular brushing will pull out the dead hair and stimulate the skin to produce more oils, better circulation, etc.

I've heard oatmeal baths can be very helpful/soothing, as can a bit of baking soda in the water.

And I feed BARF. Took Gage from being so miserably itchy that he cried all the time to being not too bad at all. He no longer sucks his flanks either.

Do you know what your dog is allergic too? Is he on a flea preventative? Is it only in the spring, or all year?

Good luck getting his skin healthier and him itch free!

[Odnarb]

Just a quick question re. hair loss. One of our pits is a blue fawn. Gorgeous dog with green eyes. Unfortunately, he has very sensitive skin. Every spring he periodically looses a fair amount of hair on both sides of his body in a bi-lateral matching pattern (fyi, our vet has tested for and ruled out mange). Over the past four years we have tried a number of remedies, including fish oil pills, only to settle on vet prescribed allergy medication during the flare ups. As winter rolled around this year I am noticing more than ever an outbreak of dry itchy skin for all our dogs, but most of all for Blue (yeah, I know, a blue fawn named Blue...kind of sad, but rescue named him before we got him). In any event, I was wondering if anyone might have some insight or even some good home remedy recipes. Thanks!!

Has your vet looked into seasonal flank alopecia? Here's a link.

http://www.skinvet.com/diseasedetail.asp?index=28

[disSanFranchised]

Hey Adam -

Alopecia issues are more common with blues than full-color dogs. Ask your vet about it. I've seen blue Dobes that were basically bald.

I will tell you that my dog Gunther (who is a blue brindle) had enough skin and coat issues - a few little bald patches, dry flaky skin, brittle coat, etc. We too tried fish oils, flax, great kibble, etc - to no avail.

I finally decided to go BARF. It has worked wonders.

[HHK]

My dog Pete had chronic skin issues starting at about eight months. They were only in the spring and summer and caused him to have oozing bumps and sores that required cortisone and antibotics all season long. This last spring we decided to forgo his vaccinations to see if this helped. (His skin issues seemed to start every year a few weeks after vacs) He is like a new dog. Haven't had to visit the vet for skin problems once this year.

Vaccinations put a lot of stress on the immune system, it makes sense that they might exacerbate allergies. It might be worth a try.

[Adam]

Thanks for the heads up and all the great leads. We're headed to the vet tomorrow, well armed with great insight.

[liltaz600]

My pit has black fur and he has patches of fur that fall out, and he gets bumps there for a litlle while then they go away and light brown fur grows back on mainly his paws,top of his head,and on his legs. What whould cause him to do that?