Marley Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 Hello, My 9 mo old pup seems to have some thinning of fur under his left eye.. just barely noticable. He is eating well, and the rest of the coat looks fine. Is this a sign of a problem or is it fairly common? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubby Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Might be mites. My older one had the same problem, the vet treated it with some ointment over a few days. I seem to remember him saying that all dogs have these mites, but some are a bit more sensitive to them than others. Good news is that it's been 1 1/2 years since it happened, with no recurrence. And it wasn't expensive to treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPoole Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Maybe a call to your vet would be helpful. Tacoma at about 6-7 months started thinning everywhere. After tons of testing, we found no mites, wasn't mange, no proof of allergies. Tacoma is a very itchy dog and loves to scratch his eyes and pull the hair from his legs and sides. I vacuum huge piles of hair out of his crate everyday! He's kinda retarded I think. There could be tons of reasons for thinning hair. To be sure what's really wrong, I'd phone the vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marley Posted January 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Thanks for the info. I'll have him checked out for that asap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carazymom Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Barb, Have you considered the possibility that your dog is hypothyroid? I have a 3 year old that we sent a panel off due to thinning hair, cold intolerance, irritablility, lethargy...test came back hypothyroid. Thyroxine made her a different dog in less than 3 days. She hasn't been on it long enough to make a difference in her hair coat, but I am so happy for her to have ENERGY again so she can play with the other dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPoole Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 Yep, had several tests done on him. Thyroid was my main concern. I had a cat that we finally had to put down at the age of 24. He was on meds for his thyroid for 2 years. The last few months were a battle. The vet and I decided Tacoma is pretty much just a psyhco dog. Even with high quality food and supplements, he still itches. He does have a full coat a hair now though. Thats why I wonder where all the fur in his crate is coming from. His nickname is Spaz.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marley Posted February 6, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2003 Hi, Just as an update, the vet did a scraping and said the mites are there. She claims they are caused by stress (!?!). Gave me a cream to put on twice a day and have to go back in 2 weeks. Sound like standard procedure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPoole Posted February 6, 2003 Report Share Posted February 6, 2003 Tacoma had several scrapings done. But no mites were found. I was given a antibiotic cream for his eye due to his scratching. But stress?? Guess I'm not a vet. Maybe others will have more input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted February 12, 2003 Report Share Posted February 12, 2003 Originally posted by Marley:the vet did a scraping and said the mites are there. She claims they are caused by stress (!?!). Gave me a cream to put on twice a day and have to go back in 2 weeks. Sound like standard procedure? By "mites" I assume your vet meant mange. And by stress, let's hope she meant stressed immune system. Almost all dog have demodectic mites; only some dogs, usually ones with an autoimmunity deficiency, will have problems with the demodex multiplying and causing visible hair loss. It usually starts on the face and head. It will be nice if the treatment clears it up - usually it takes longer than two weeks. And you should also explore the underlying cause (ie the state of your dog's immune system) rther than concentrating just on the mange. You may need to find another vet for that, as most allopaths are more interested in treating what they can see rather than exploring for an underlying cause. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marley Posted February 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2003 The vet prescribed this Goodwinol cream, and she did indicate it would be more than 2 weeks, but wanted to check on the progress (or just get paid again). When she spoke of stress she seemed to be saying environmental stress, ie changes in lifestyle and whatnot. And yes she did say that the mites are always present on the dog, just that they sometimes get out of control like has happened here. Its a bit hard to judge any progress as the scraping took some fur with it too and the area has just healed up. I'd post a small snapshot but I've no idea how or if its even allowed. Could any of this be related to climate? Its been very cold up here in new england this winter (Ive lost count of how many -15 mornings!) and my house heat is electric and very dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PrairieFire Posted February 15, 2003 Report Share Posted February 15, 2003 "Almost all dog have demodectic mites; only some dogs, usually ones with an autoimmunity deficiency, will have problems with the demodex multiplying and causing visible hair loss." Hey RDM - we had trouble in this area awhile back with the foxes dying like frogs on a superhighway from mange...while it was a hot summer, I don't know if there could be that many with a stressed immune system...I guess I thought that the little buggers (mites) could just multiply if not taken care of - and eventually, as in the case of these poor foxes, bleed the little buggers down - thereby stressing the system - not correct? I found several dead foxes holed up around the place, and their eyes, nostrils, etc. showed immense concentrations of the awful little things... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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