Why is my dog losing hair, scratching, and losing so much weight?

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!

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.

There are many, many illnesses which can cause weigh loss and weakened skin and there is no way we can diagnose this accurately from the history here. A full physical exam and possibly blood tests and ultrasound scan./xray may ve required to investigate this fully.

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!

Your dog needs to see a veterinarian for a skin scraping to rule out parasites and then a culture to see if there is an underlying bacterial or skin infection. Place a cone on him to prevent licking and chewing.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am sorry that Zero is so sick! I would make sure that your Vet has done a skin scrape to check for mites under a microscope. Even if they don’t see any mites I would treat anyway. Nexgard monthly will get demodex and injectable ivermectin will get scabies. Sometimes if an animal is spending all of its time scratching they can lose weight. After treating prophylactically for mites I would try a prescription diet for food allergies, allergy test and make sure any skin infection is treated. Cytopoint and apoquel are good choices for skin allergies. I hope this helps! Good luck!

Poor Max! Losing weight despite being fed can be a sign of a medical illness, such as diabetes, intestinal parasites, or an inability to properly digest nutrients. I would make sure Max is up to date on his deworming treatment, and if he isn't, you will need to get one from the vet. The constant scratching could be caused by fleas, mites, ringworm, or allergies. If he isn't up to date on his flea treatment, he will need a spot on treatment such as Advantage or Revolution. You will need to disinfect the environment as well. I recommend taking him into your vet for an exam. The vet can do a physical exam, routine blood tests, and a urinalysis to see if there is a medical cause behind him losing weight. The vet can also do blood tests, skin scrapings, and use a Wood's lamp to diagnose allergies, mites, and ringworm if he is up to date on his flea treatment. I would take him into the vet tomorrow for an exam.