Dog allergies spreading, not responding to meds. Could it be mites?

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

In your picture this looks kind of like cutaneous mucinosis which is seen in Shar Peis but can also be seen with some other diseases as well. If it is not improving with the prescribed medications you may want to recheck with your vet or ask about referral to a dermatologist or other specialist.

This does look like a severe skin disease. Dogs can develop environmental allergies similar to eczema, but I would expect that he would have responded some to the medications prescribed at least temporarily if this was the case. Buddy could have a parasite, resistant infection, or an autoimmune disease causing these symptoms as well. You may want to recheck with the vet to see if there are any other tests they might recommend - a skin scrape, fungal culture, skin cytology and culture, or biopsy might be the next steps. If Buddy is not on a good flea and tick preventative I'd recommend starting one as well just in case of parasites.

Yes, Milo could be having problems with mites or allergies. When pets don't respond to treatment as expected, it can mean that the real underlying cause of disease has not been found. I recommend to have Milo examined again by the veterinarian. Milo should also wear an elizabethan collar at all times if he is licking at the lesion. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Thanks for sending along the pictures- the areas there do look very red and do appear infected to me. Allergies, bacterial, fungal, or mite infections can all be possible causes. You can try the medicated shampoo again to see if it helps this time around. If it doesn't help much or if it worsens, I would recommend Oscar see his veterinarian for an exam and further evaluation. He may need antibiotics or other medications as needed.

Poor guy. There are really only 2 types of mites that we see in veterinary medicine- Scabies and Demodexx mites. Scabies (a type ofmite) is infectious to people so if you yourself are not itching then you can kind of rule that one out. The other mite, Demodexx isn't infectious to people or other pets, and nowadays it can be treated with oral flea preventatives such as Bravecto, Nexgard or Simparica + a medicated topical shampoo through your vet. I would recommend just starting Baileys' on one of these to cover any kind of mite issue. Then I would suggest getting Bailey on an oral antibiotic to clear up the skin infection that is present. The ears look to be infected as well. This will require a topical ear medication and cleaner from your vet to resolve. Skin allergy testing is not commoonly used anymore due to the poor overall response to allergy immunotherapy shots. THe most common allergy medication used nowadays is Apoquel. I would ask your vet about this as well, especially if mites are not the underlying problem, which can be easily confirmed or denied with a simple skin scraping test done through your vet. I hope that you can get Bailey's skin issue resolved soon. Best wishes and take care!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Yes, this can be due to mites. Usually though that is associated with itchiness. Another possibility is that this is due to vasculitis. There could be an underlying allergy. I recommend that you have Gizmo evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. If there is itchiness, this could be due to skin allergies as stated above. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!