Man Afflictions

Hair Loss Dogs Tail

Hair Loss Dogs Tail

Mange – Treatment and Identification in Dogs

Just like humans, dogs can feel the adverse effects that cause hair issues. While these can include things like their natural environment, getting dandruff in the cold weather, or things like stress causing flaking skin or disease, there are things that you can do to check your lovable pet for mange. Mange is usually found as a rash, sore spots, hair loss or all of those issues at the same time. While you should have your vet check to make sure that it is mange and not some other environmental issue, there are things that you can do to check for yourself.

There are two types of common mange that you should keep an eye out for. The first is Sarcoptic mange, and usually starts with the head and ears. It will then spread to the tail and work its way under the front legs. The skin will look like it has small burns or red spots all over the affected area and can be treated with medication and shampoos. If you start to notice these issues on your dog, check with your vet to make sure it’s not a common allergy first. Then proceed with the shampoo to see if it helps any.

The second type of mange is Demodetic mange and is the result of mites most commonly found on puppies. These mites will attack the hair follicles and you will notice a rash and loss of hair. If this type of mange is not treated right away, the mites will cause it to grow faster as they continue to reproduce. If they are left untreated, these mites can infect the whole of your dog’s body and cause it much unneeded and unwanted pain. On top of this, the constant scratching will cause an unpleasant musty odor and infection can set in.

Either case of mange is treatable with medications and anti-fungal shampoos. You might have to administer iodine as well to help clear up the infections. Mange is noncontagious so you don’t have to worry about any other dogs in the house catching it from one that is infected. You should also take into consideration what your dog’s life style is like, such as outdoor or indoor, and highly active or not. These will help determine how your dog has caught manage and some ways you can change things so that it doesn’t catch mange again in the future.

How can I find out what my dogs are allergic to?

I have two 1 1/2 yr old pitt/bulldog mixes. Though I’ve always had dogs growing up, I’ve never had house dogs and I’m at a loss. Back and forth to the vet is getting a little bit pricey. Especially seeing as how none of them have remedied the problem. The boy, King, is constantly sneezing/coughing and my girl, Bam, is starting to lose hair around her tail. And she had these dry red patches on her belly. Oh, and they both shed like crazy! Now docs say they are allergic to,…well one says food, one says something about environment… It seems like they are all just shooting in the dark because my babies haven’t gotten any better. Any advice? Vets, home remedies, anything? Do you think its even an allergy problem? Thanks in advance.

The sneezing/coughing could be environmental allergies, you could try Benadryl. the dose is much higher for dogs than humans. 1mg per pound (ie 50 pound dog would get 2 of the 25mg tablets of Benadryl).

The dog with hair loss and red patches sounds like allergies as well but will be more difficult to treat. You could try Benadryl for her too but it may not be as effective. If she has any spots on her belly that look like cigarette burns it is probably an allergy to Staph bacteria. Hair loss around her tail head is usually flea allergies. if she has flea allergies a single flea bite can make her itch for 6 weeks. She does not need to be infested with fleas to be miserable. I recommend a good flea treatment such as Frontline Plus or Revolution every month and possibly allergy testing her. Allergy testing can get very expensive. at the practice that I work at allergy testing is around $300 for a combined environmental and food allergy panel.
Either way it does sound like allergies but there are alternatives to allergy testing. Ask your vet about a product called Temaril-P, it is a combination of an anti-histamine and steroid that would make them much more comfortable.

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