My allergic dog is losing weight and has loose skin. Are they related?

Hmm. This does sound bit more than just allergies. If the bloodwork results came back relatively normal and the allergies are not being controlled by conservative allergy medications prescribed by your veterinarian, then I would consider having a skin biopsy done. Skin biopsies are done on pets that have a more complicated skin disorder. Also your pet may require a specific, more advanced, blood test that goes beyond the regular baseline bloodwork. It would help if we could see your pets actual bloodwork, even though the vet said it was normal. Because even normal bloodwork can sometimes offer clues. I know it sounds like your pet requires lot of testing; however, if you desire to know for sure what the underlying problem is, you have to do more diagnostic testing than the initial screening tests. And finally, in an older pet unfortunately you also have to consider certain skin cancers as a cause of your pets illness. Especially if he seems to be losing weight over time.

This looks like it may be from an allergy. I would check for fleas first due to distribution of lesions and then consider the food. Your vet can examine it and see if there is a secondary infection that needs to be treated

With the weight loss as well as the skin condition I would recommend a blood test to rule out internal diseases such as liver disease as well as a skin scrape and possible biopsy in order to fully investigate the underlying cause and to guide the most appropriate treatment

I’m so sorry to hear about Sargeant. Though your question focuses on the skin, I must insert that weight loss in any dog - but an older dog particularly- is very concerning. Liver, kidney, and heart disease, as well as cancer are the things I would want to rule out first. If you have not yet run a basic blood panel on Sargeant, I would highly encourage it. In terms of the skin, underlying allergies can cause repeated skin infections and hair loss. If Sargeant is itchy, talk to your vet about possibly pursuing allergy treatments. A trial treatment for mites is also a good idea. Finally ringworm, auto-immune disease, and others are possibilities. Best of luck to you and Sargeant!

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Weight loss can be a sign of intestinal worms, organ dysfunction or disease (pancreatic insufficiency, liver shunts, kidney disease, liver inflammation/infection, etc.), food allergies or poor diet, and many other conditions. Hair loss can be due to parasites (mange, fleas, etc.), hypothyroidism, allergies (food or environment), immune diseases, etc. Given that Kalu is 2 years old, I would start by getting him dewormed and also get a product that treats for fleas, ticks and mange. See if his problems resolve. If they do not, then see your vet about testing. Best of luck with Kalu!

I am sorry your dog is not feeling well. The information provided and picture don't really match. If a patient is drinking more and losing weight I would be concerned about endocrine diseases like diabetes and cushings disease. However the picture looks more like possible skin mites or an underlying autoimmune disease I would recommend taking her to a veterinarian to help you resolve the issues. They most likely will need to run basic bloodwork and possible a skin scrape to determine if mites are present.

I'd have to say that this doesn't really look like pemphigus to me at all, but regardless, it's not a diagnose that can be made just by looking at the lesions, they have to be biopsied. It's also quite rare, so I would want to rule out other problems, like mange, ringworm, fleas, and allergies. If she's losing weight she may have an internal problem, and blood work will help to figure out what that is.