My dog's eye is balding and gunky. Should I worry about mites?

Thank you for your question! Judging from the pictures, the area is reddened, inflamed and the hair has fallen out. It looks as though Mickey could possibly be dealing with a skin infection or skin mites. I would recommend you take him to your veterinarian for a workup of this to diagnose it appropriately so that the most effective treatment can be prescribed. Mickey will likely need to go on a course of oral antibiotics and a topical ointment to treat this if it is a skin infection and if it is skin mites (demodex) he would need to go on a course of a medication that kills the mites. I hope this guides you in the right direction for addressing this concern of yours. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions / concerns you may have.

Rosie should see a veterinarian for a skin scrape in order to determine if she has Demodex. This is a mange mite that is most common in young puppies and presents with hair loss, red skin and pustules like you see in the photo. There are several very successful treatment options for this. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Poor Sandy. That area looks really irritated. Certainly mites can cause hair loss around the eye, but we normally see hair loss around both eyes without any redness or moisture (which it appears that Sandy has). It also appears that Sandy has some crusting along the inside of the area as well. It may be more likely that he has a bacterial skin infection called a hot spot (https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2714) that results from an overgrowth of normal bacteria on the skin. Your veterinarian can perform a couple of simple skin tests to determine if Sandy has any evidence of mites, if we are dealing with a bacterial infection of the skin or if there is another problem. That may require looking at a sample under the microscope. Then they can help you determine the best treatment for him since we have to be careful treating the skin around the eye. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

This does not look too dramatic, however I would observe the bald spot. If it enlarges or if other bald spots appear, then this may be ringworm which would need to be treated by a vet. Should crusts appear or the skin start to look scaly around the eye(s) your dog may be suffering from demodex mites, which nowadays is easily treated, if necessary.

Hi and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. From the pictures, it appears Rosie has a severe skin infection that may be caused by a mite infection (mange) or flea allergy. She will need to be treated as soon as possible for this at your local veterinarian's office. Unfortunately, there is no home remedies for mange. Her skin infection (even if it is fleas) will need to be treated with antibiotics at your veterinarian's office. Using a monthly flea preventative will help prevent fleas from reoccurring. Please take her in as soon as possible. She really looks miserable in the pictures .

Hi there and thanks for posting this question. Certainly there can be many causes for this, but young dogs commonly will have a mite called demodex mite. I suspect by the age and description that this may be the problem. I would recommend that he be seen by a veterinarian. They will likely do a skin scraping to look for mites. If positive they will discuss treatment options. I hope this helps and thanks for using Pet Coach!

Poor Roscoe! Allergies are possible but a more common cause would be skin mites (which you can only see what a microscope). Ringworm (which humans can get) or a bacterial infection are also possible. I recommend to have him examined by the veterinarian who can preform a simple test to check for mites. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.