# Loosing hair from itching!



## tamiloo (Jul 28, 2009)

I have a problem with my pup that is about to drive me crazy. She will itch and nibble to the point of loosing hair. Is this and emotional issue or a diet issue&#8230;help!


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## Pitcrew (Jan 19, 2008)

Impossible to know. Could be an allergy to food, carpet, shampoo or she could just have really dry skin that itchs. Did she get in ants? I have one that gets big welts if she stays outside for several hours. I think she is allergic to grass. I would take her to a vet.


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## BLUE PIT BULL MAN (May 22, 2009)

I had a dog that was like that and i watched her like a hawk and would not let her scratch. I got some stuff called apple bitter and sprayed the spot she was itching and she can't stand the taste so she won't crew any more and now she just lays on her back and wiggles on the carpet. I allow that. hope that helps you. I have no idea about emotional issuse.


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## Pitcrew (Jan 19, 2008)

PS. She could also have parasitic mites.


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## Indigo Bully Connection (Dec 21, 2006)

Pitcrew what areas of the body is she targeting?


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

Ok first off where is she itching? How old is she?
It could be a few things...
1. Demodex mange
2. Sarcoptic mange
3. allergies, food or environmental

Bitter apple is great but you need to take care of the what is causing the itching, not just stopping her from itching.
Can you take a picture?


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## tamiloo (Jul 28, 2009)

We have gone the route of the vet. She has no skin disorders at all...was tested for everything from Mange to mites to yeast. He did suggest having her spayed might slow the hormones down and stop it...don't know...we do want to spay her but not right now...think she is starting a heat.

She will itch on ears, front legs from the chest down and sometimes on the toes. She also itchs on the area where the hind leg meets the belly.

The reason I was wondering about emotions is that she will do it like crazy when she is excited...when any one comes to the house...


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## Indigo Bully Connection (Dec 21, 2006)

What are you feeding?


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## tamiloo (Jul 28, 2009)

I will get some pitures...the vet said that the only thing left that he didn't test was allergies. I can't afford the cost of an allergy test...


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## Indigo Bully Connection (Dec 21, 2006)

What do you feed?


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## tamiloo (Jul 28, 2009)

We have tried rice and lamb...and ones with no wheat or chicken...we are using a brand called Black Gold.


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## OUTLAW (Nov 3, 2006)

My :doggy: does something similar when she's excited, but nothing serious like what your explaining. Not to mention she only does it every once in awhile. She doesnt nibble, or lose any hair from it though.


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## Indigo Bully Connection (Dec 21, 2006)

oookay, well the first thing a vet is going to tell you to do is to switch to a single protien source dog food as well as weeding out the bad grains. I found this Dick Van Pattens Natural balance, it's a all life stages product. I currently feed my older dogs Raw, but my puppies are on kibble. When looking at the bags of Natural Balance, chose a bag that says L.I.D. to start your experiment to rule out her allergies, this change in food is necessary, and a fish protien diet is the most hypo allergenic.


Did your vet send you home with antibiotics for her? Often times, when allergies flare there is an infection that is created within your dogs body which makes their symptoms 100 times worse, but it's not the allergies that are making the dog THAT miserable, it's the internal infection. The dog will continue to get infections until the allergen is removed from their enviornment whether it's food or something they come in physical contact with.


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## tamiloo (Jul 28, 2009)

He did send us home months ago with an antibiotic. When we took her right after we got her she had a horrible infection on the skin around the right ear. Days after we got he she was raw and bleeding and when she would shake her head we would get a little blood splatter. She has come a long ways. When we changed to rice and lamp she started to get new hair growth on her ears...now I need to get her to stop itching all together...

I got some pitures and will be posting them soon...


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## Indigo Bully Connection (Dec 21, 2006)

tamiloo said:


> He did send us home months ago with an antibiotic. When we took her right after we got her she had a horrible infection on the skin around the right ear. Days after we got he she was raw and bleeding and when she would shake her head we would get a little blood splatter. She has come a long ways. When we changed to rice and lamp she started to get new hair growth on her ears...now I need to get her to stop itching all together...
> 
> I got some pitures and will be posting them soon...


This definitely sounds like a food allergy. Especially the way you describe the ears being a major target zone for her discomfort. Yes, switching to a lamb formula will help a little, but it won't solve the problem with all of the other possible allergens within the food. You should get another round of antibiotics from the vet, normally they give Ciprofloxacin ( basically a kill all kinda antibiotic). Try the diet change and a round of antibiotics. It's way cheaper than the allergy tests... I've done two different allergy tests... i know how expensive they can be. I had one blood panel allergy test, and a skin test... the skin test is more detailed, but if you can avoid having to do that by changing the diet it's way worth it.


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

Read this before you go crazy buying all kind of food. I have had a dogs that got Sarcoptic mange and you really cannot test for them. They mimic allergies and do not show up on skin scrapings. Treat for this first then if it does not clear up you can go the allergy route. It is best to treat for one thing at a time vs many at once. That way you can figure out what the cause is. What you are describing could be Sarcoptic mange or allergies.

*The symptoms are varied but usually include hair loss and severe itching on the top of the head, elbows, ears, armpits, hocks, chest, and ventral abdomen (belly). The mites prefer to live on areas of the skin that have less hair. As the infection worsens it can spread over the entire body. Small red pustules often develop along with yellow crust on the skin. Because of the severe itching and resultant scratching from the dog, the skin soon becomes traumatized and a variety of sores and infections can develop as a result. The itching seems to be much worse in warm conditions such as indoors or near a stove or heat vent. If the infection goes on untreated or is mistakenly treated as an allergy (#1 misdiagnosis by Vets), the skin may darken due to the constant irritation, and the surrounding lymph nodes may become enlarged.

Sarcoptic mange is an extremely common infection and many cases have often been misdiagnosed as severe allergy to a certain type of dog food or environmental plants. In many parts of the US and Canada including all of North and South America, there are more dogs with sarcoptic mange than their are with ticks, fleas, lice, or even ear mites. For these reasons, any time I see a dog with severe itching, and no fleas or ticks are seen on the dog's skin, I have to automatically suspect sarcoptic mange as the culprit.*


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

here is a link for more info and how to cure it. 
SARCOPTIC MANGE AND INEXPENSIVE TREATMENT


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## tamiloo (Jul 28, 2009)

Where can I get these dog foods?


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## tamiloo (Jul 28, 2009)

pictures...


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

I say mange, food allergies you see more swelling. Mange you see hair loss like that. 
It is worth the 25 dollars to treat your dog at home with this than to try and spend tons of money on food if that is not the problem. I have seen Sarcoptic mange before and your girl looks classic. Many vets also miss this and dogs go untreated

Prolate swine lice and mange treatment Quart - eBay (item 120445249775 end time Aug-05-09 23:24:25 PDT)

looking at the picture her ears, armpits, forearms, and hocks are classic for this.


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## Indigo Bully Connection (Dec 21, 2006)

I know I picked my bag up at Pet Super Market. You could check the site for dealers in your area.


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## Indigo Bully Connection (Dec 21, 2006)

yeah, she doesn't look that inflamed as I pictured


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## tamiloo (Jul 28, 2009)

The dog food you suggested is sold at Petgo. We do have a pet smart here where I live...if I can't find it what else might you suggest?


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

um..... I guess your not considering mange. It's a shame because you will spend (ask Shana) hundreds of dollars sometimes on trying to find the right food for allergies when you have no clue thats what it is. IMHO the best thing to do is treat for mange, then get blood work done if the itching doesn't stop. I had a client get blood work done at a specialists office and it came back and told her what food and environmental allergies. Saves you allot of many trying different foods if you have no idea what the issue is.


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## tamiloo (Jul 28, 2009)

I talked to my vet and he did test her for Sarcoptic mange and the test came out negitive. I will try what you said but I'm looking to change what she eats as well.


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## Jenna23 (Jun 1, 2009)

I had the same problem with Kaiser when he was a pup, I had him tested for mange but the tests came back negative, but he kept loosing patches of hair and had little greenish puss bumps, I dipped him in permectrin II and it did the trick. Usually local feed stores carry it because it can be used on all farm animals.
Permectrin II

His food allergy hair loss was different, it didn't fall out in patches, he was just shedding uncontrollably until I went grain free.

Could it possibly be hot spots? But don't those usually have a lesion as well? Or an allergic reaction to fleas. Oatmeal baths help sooth the itching but wont solve the problem. Also a fatty acid can help sooth skin as well, like an omega 3/fish oil oil supplement.


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## tamiloo (Jul 28, 2009)

Thanks all...I will head to the feed and seed store tomorrow...


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## Skeeks (Jul 24, 2009)

well iv been threw this a few times believe it or not with all different breeds so the first thing i would do if i was you is look at the ingredients of what ever food u have for her because most dogs are allergic to corn flour and alot of god food contain it, it can usualy be seen in the first or second line in the ingredients and if she happens to be allergic to corn flour that means she will itch,itch and itch somemore because it drys their skin out like crazy so what u want do is change your food and make sure it doesnt have corn flour in it and then to help re-plenish their skins natural oils once a day put 2 table spoons of olive oil in their food and mix it up within a week u should see a noticable decrease in itching and chewing


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## porter314 (Mar 22, 2009)

I was having the same problem with my bully. The spot on your dogs right leg looked like a spot on smoke and I switched his diet to raw and his coat cleared up in a week and he don't scratch like he used to and his coat looks great. Feeding raw aint for everybody it's alot more work but it works for us just make sure to do some research to find out what would be the best for you. There are alot of threads about feeding raw you just have to search for them


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## whiskeythewickedchampion (Apr 27, 2009)

it definitely sounds like a food allergy. switching foods should help.

have you also checked for possible fleas? or any type of food maybe in the yard that is accessible and not necessarily good for the pup?

that happened to whiskey when he was a pup, almost EXACTLY actually. the vet thought it was allergies as well but i gave him a flea bath, through on some front line and he was a okay from that day on. might want to consider that considering his coat is dark and it would be pretty hard to find fleas on him. especially if you dont already have an active flea medication like frontline or advantage in effect.


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## Hirihat (May 5, 2009)

tamiloo said:


> I talked to my vet and he did test her for Sarcoptic mange and the test came out negitive. I will try what you said but I'm looking to change what she eats as well.


Sometimes, the mange will take 3-4 scrapings before it shows up. We have a male with demodex that the demo didn't show up for the first 3 scrapes. My vet was sure it was demo anyway so we started treatment even though those initial scrapes were negative. Mange treatments will not harm your baby even if mange is not the culprit. If you have recently changed her diet, be very slow in another diet change unless you are seeing a lot of runny stool and/or vomiting.


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## o_0clueless (Aug 18, 2009)

change the dog food =) most of the time dogs are allergic to corn. you should feed innova or halo. Very gentle and nice formulas! dont forget to gradually change the dog food or you can end up with very soft and SMELLY stools XDD


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