Why are my 7-month pit bull's dry, itchy skin patches getting worse?

Hi. Skin problems can be difficult to diagnose and difficult to resolve. Your breed of dog tends to have allergies but as a puppy he may be a bit young for this. He could be having a reaction to something in his environment, have dry skin, or may have a parasite on the skin called Demodex. This parasite can cause fur loss in different areas and is more common in puppies as well as your breed of dog. You did not mention the exact medication that he is on so I cannot comment on that however I would recommend to add a high quality soothing and hydrating shampoo. Virbac has high quality shampoos that many veterinarians use and now it can be purchased on amazon! I particularly like the episoothe shampoo and resicort

Those spots on Kona could be several things including dry skin, allergies, skin mites, bacterial infection or ringworm (which humans can get). There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not address the underlying cause. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for dogs, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing her diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. You can wash the lesions once a day (not her whole body, just the lesions). Also protect the area from trauma by having your pup wear an elizabethan collar at all times. If the lesions do not start improving within a week or if they are getting worse, have her examined by the veterinarian. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I think continuing the use of a medicated shampoo would be good as he likely has secondary infections. I think this could be due to allergies and it would be crucial to identify the allergic component to try to see if he can improve. 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!

Poor Axle! I'm sorry to hear that he's having skin problems. There are a number of different things that can cause hair loss with itching in dogs - some common possibilities would include allergies (food allergies, or an allergy to something in the environment), a bacterial or fungal skin infection, or skin mites (mange). Treatment will depend on what the underlying problem is, so I would really recommend having Axle examined by a vet to get a diagnosis first. He/she can do some simple skin tests if needed to help determine what is causing the hair loss, and will prescribe appropriate medication to treat the problem depending on what is found. In the meantime, you could try bathing him in an aloe and oatmeal dog shampoo to help soothe his skin - this will not treat the underlying problem, but may temporarily relieve his symptoms and make him a bit more comfortable until you can see the vet.

Hi there. Has your veterinarian performed a skin scraping looking for mites yet? Many types of mites can be really difficult to find. I will occasionally still treat a dog for mites even if I can’t prove that they are there. That would be my recommendation moving forward. If she is really just 4 months old then skin allergies are much less likely, although not impossible I treat all of my itchy puppies like mites until proven otherwise. I hope this is helpful! Good luck to both of you!

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!

Hi, thanks for using PetCoach! Poor Ghost! It's hard to be sure 100% but Ghost likely has a skin infection. Sometimes skin infections can be from allergies. Other possibilities are: fleas, ring worm or mites (demodex). I would recommend starting one of the oral flea and tick medications Nexgard, Bravecto or Simparica. They also have the added benefit of killing demodex. So that easily takes care of 2 of the possibilities. Ideally Ghost should see your Vet to properly diagnose the skin problem. If an infection we treat with oral antibiotics and something to stop the scratching. You can try a medicated shampoo: bathe 2-3 times per week, allow the lather to sit on the skin for 10 mins before rinsing. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=27234 I hope this helps and I wish Ghost a speedy recovery!