Today I noticed that my dog was licking underneath her right leg. When I checked her, I noticed that underneath her right leg she did not have any hair unlike her left side were she has hair. What can this be and is it something I should be concerned about? She is 5 years old and a Shih Tzu.
By Nelson from Hackensack, NJ
There are many causes of this type of behavior including behavioral, allergic, and endocrine disorders to name a few. It is important to be adament about sharing information in detail with your Veterinarian such as when she is doing this behavior, type of diet fed, and the use of flea and tick products. Sometimes the smallest things such as a change of environment, household cleaners, and or laundry detergent can cause upsets. Other problems can be psychogenic grooming due to a need not being met. These cases are quite difficult to pinpoint but, are not impossible. I would suggest keeping a diary of behaviors and changes and presenting them to your vet. It may sound a little freaky but, the more information we have, the more able we are to get to the root of the problem! Good luck! :) SEUT RVT
It sounds to me your dog is still traumatized by the surgery and her nerves are getting the best of her which would cause her to lose her fur and as for the vomiting it is probably caused by her ingesting her hair like fur balls to a cat when they clean themselves.. When she goes to the vet again love her while she is there so she won't be so upset cause she remembers what happened the last time she went there, take her home and pay lots of attention to her and give her a special treat.
I agree with the last person keep a journal of any changes in her environment and her habits. Good Luck and God Bless!
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Why is my 15 month old Lurcher bitch losing hair on her front and rear legs? She has also started to lick her legs, no other part of her body is affected by this.
By rainbow1972 from England
I believe your dog has mange. It is a treatable skin disease but you must see a vet to cure it. Certain types of mange can also be passed onto the puppies from the mother.
It's possible that your dog has food allergies. My dog loses hair if I feed her certain dog foods. I was making all her dog food last winter, but I quit doing that for the summer. Right now, I'm giving her an all natural dog food and she's doing very well, but the food is expensive. I'll probably go back to making my own dog food when the weather cools off again.
Dermatitis mange or allergy. My nieces dog had hair loss and the vet told hers was due to allergies. He recommended the same allergy antihistamine that can be bought in the dollar stores for people once a day. If it is allergies, be sure to get the pills with out the heavy red die. In people the heavy red die gives what feels like a urinary track infection to some people. But when tested usually no urinary track infection shows. So why risk the discomfort for your dog.
My daughter has a beautiful dog with dermatitis mange. In an instance like this there are different things that can be done. For one a good bath using a flee tick and lice shampoo on the chance microscopic bugs are to blame, another is changing the food to lamb and rice. Some vet's say dog's have an allergic reaction to the beef in food. Also my daughter gives her dog omega three capsules. The same kind that people take. It puts oil in his skin and makes for a beautiful coat.
What was really interesting is when one of my daughters dogs got into the pine pitch, she used baby oil to get it out before bathing. She had to bath him twice, but he smelled good for several days after word. And his hair was beautiful!
P.S. If the dog has chewed and scratched him self raw in places, a vet may order an antibiotic to help heal it. Good luck with your dog.
I have a 9 yr. old Chow, who is losing her fur, on her bottom and now along the sides of her body. The vet gave me medicine for allergies, but it is not working. Someone told me to try Gold Bond powder and another said give her vitamin A. She does not scratch the areas, and it is not irritated.
By Ann
I'm surprised by how many people use rather radical methods because a dog is shedding. While you always want to check with a vet, there is probably a very simple solution! Most people tend to feed their dogs lots of dry food, and very little wet food, if any at all. This simply reduces the amount of oil and fat they get in their diet. Like all animals with hair, dogs need this oil and fat to help them maintain a healthy coat.
Use eggs, olive oil, or other oily/fatty replacements with their food to help create a healthy coat. You don't need to buy any fancy products, just a little olive oil on the dry food can have a noticeable effect.
Some dogs are allergic to wheat or corn in their food. Corn is very common in most dog foods and treats, and if there is an allergy, the dog's hair will fall out and they will begin scratching. Our dog is allergic to corn and we started buying a natural, corn-free food at our local pet store and it helped tremendously. Also, we started bathing him with a gentle oatmeal shampoo to keep his skin from drying out.
I've had my Pom-Chi for just about 2 months, he's only 3 1/2 months old. The past couple weeks I've noticed that he has been chewing on his skin on his front legs a lot and when he does that it has an odd sound like cartilage cracking. He has been itching constantly and it looks like he has dandruff! He has been loosing hair too on his stomach, chest, and front armpits. It's very thin. He is black and the hair there looks grey and if I pull gently on it, it comes out very easily.
I am very worried about my little baby:( I took him to the vet and we did tests for mites and they came out negative. She said that the normal hair loss for Pomeranians was on their legs and heads. He isn't losing any of that hair so it is an odd place for that.
I'm going to switch his food and get different shampoo to see if that will help, but please please help me! I'm very sad my little baby has to suffer like this.
By mtee7
My 5-month-old Bichon Yorkie has thin hair on his legs and back. The vet suggests it is a flea allergy. He acts like it is a death sentence. Can any one give suggestions?
By sandy from Louisa, KY
Dry borax in the carpet like I have directed to many, for the fleas. Good for at least a year plus it is a natural product. Nzymes.com for the enzyme granules that will help in many ways with digestion and health. Besides, it helps make up for the processed foods that we can not totally get away from. Another suggestion is Willard's water in their drinking water as well as a spray on the damaged skin.
Sounds like your pets have a weak immune system. You have to feed your pets good quality food. It will cost a little more but it is worth it. Good quality food for a dog is Evangers, Natural Balance or Merrick. There are others but this is what I feed my dogs. Look at the ingredients and make sure the food does not have any by-products, chemical preservatives, artificial flavors, artificial colors, chemical additives. The first ingredients should always be some kind of meat (turkey, beef, chicken). Give your pets good quality fish oil. I use "Royal Coat Express" from Ark Naturals. Excellent product. Their web site is www.arknaturals.com. Their fur will grown back and it will be thick and healthy.
What's the best home remedy to get fleas off my dogs, and what can i do about them losing their hair?
Charlotte
Please take the dogs to the vet, in addition to an infestation of fleas they could have a medical condition, worms, skin disease, etc.
My indoor dogs are given Frontline (from the Vet) 10 months a year and I have never had a problem.
I have a female Dachshund that is losing her hair in spots and it isn't ringworm or mange. She itches all the time and scratches all the time. Does any one have any ideas on what it could be? We give her bathes in dog shampoo and she's well taken care of. Spoiled rotten.
My cat lost some hair on his ear right after I adopted him. His ear felt hot and he itched it a lot. I took him to the vet for his adoption check up and found he had ear mites. I went to PetSmart and bought some Petrelief Anti-itch spray. It is supposed to heal "hot spots" and relieve itching and control the spread of lesions. It says to consult a vet if symptoms persist. This stuff was for cats but maybe they make it for dogs as well...Have you contacted your vet? Mine is very good about listening to the problem and giving me ideas on how I can help my cats or dog on my own (if it's not a serious thing.) Then if it persists, I can make an appointment. This has saved me a lot of money over the 20 years I've had my pets at their office (since I was ten!)
My Cairn has the same problem- skin scrapings, thyroid test, and blood work showed nothing. We think it is allergies. She is on an expensive high anti-allergan diet food from the vet. She has flare ups still, though not as bad. She now takes antibotics every weekend and is on 1/4 tab. of prednisone every other day, to help keep the inflammation down. We also have a gentle natural shampoo. Good luck, it is hard when there isn't much we can do to help them.
My dog does have allergies. Once or twice a year he suffers with ear infections, but now he is losing his hair around his ears. I need to know if he has some skin condition or his bedding is causing his hair to out around the ears.
What can I do?
We have a 6 year old Pug. He has been having small dark patches in the neck and chest region. There has also been some hair fall. We had put him on some antibiotics, but the problem still recurs after some time. Is there any cure, any foods we should avoid? We had tried hypoallergenic foods, but that didn't work. Now we are giving him a food which contains fish and rice.
By Sunita
I have a Pomchi (15 weeks old). As soon as we got him at 8 weeks old he started to lose fur on his face and then around his bottom and back legs. The hair on his face has grown back but the hair on his back legs and bottom has not. He has very dry itchy skin on his back also that flakes.
