My dog has an itchy, inflamed spot with hair loss. Home care?

I am sorry to hear about Lexi. While it is impossible to provide a diagnosis from a photo, it looks like Lexi could be suffering from acute moist pyoderma, also known as a "hot spot". These are areas of superficial skin infection and can be quite painful. You can read more about them here: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2714. I would recommend a visit to your vet. They can shave the area with clippers, clean the skin and may prescribe either topical treatment such as a medicated shampoo or spray, or oral antibiotics/anti-inflammatory medication.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It appears that Lexi has pustules on her abdomen based on the pictures you provided. It appears to be superficial but I cannot see the rest of the body and if other parts of the body are affected. If this is just isolated to the abdomen and is not worsening, I would try these things first. If no improvement or the condition worsens, I would take her in to be seen by a veterinarian as she may need oral antibiotics in addition to topical therapy. I hope this helps! 1. Douxo S3 Pyo shampoo - bathe twice weekly and lather for 8-10 min prior to rinsing 2. Miconahex spray - apply this to the affected area 2-3 times daily on the days you are not bathing 3. Essential 6 spot on oil - apply as directed on the box. All of the above products can be purchased online quite easily. I hope this helps! If you can, shave away the hair at the affected area so that you can get the medications to get to the skin easier.

You are absolutely correct that mange or allergies are possible. The doctor may recommend a diagnostic called a skin scrape to check for mites. For now just protect the area from any itching. It doesn’t look really inflamed so I’m not sure there’s much you can do at this point. As a general recommendation, starting Lexi on an omega 3 fatty acid for dogs can help improve skin health and it certainly won’t hurt anything. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Those spots on Lucky could be related to a contact allergy but several things including allergies, skin mites, flea bites, ringworm (which humans can get) or a bacterial infection will look the same. 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 his diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. You can wash the lesions with soap once a day (regular soap) and rinse well (don't wash his whole body, just those spots). Protect the areas from licking or scratching. If they don't start looking better within about a week or if they get worse, have him examined by the veterinarian who may prescribe medications. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

It looks like your dog has a skin infection so he should be examined and treated by a vet. He, likely, needs an oral antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory that your vet can prescribe. If the meantime, you can bathe him with a medicated shampoo, like Douxo Chlorhexidine. You could also spray the lesion with Vetericyn wound and skin care spray.

I recommend to have her examined by the veterinarian again. When pets do not respond to treatment as normal, it can mean the correction condition has been diagnosed. Those spots on Lexy could be several things including allergies to fleas, allergies to something in the environment, food allergy or endocrine disease. Each one of these problems is detected and addressed differently and I recommend to discuss with your veterinarian which one to start hunting down first. Parasites are often ruled out with an oral medication like Simparica. Food allergy is best ruled out with a diet trial using a hydrolyzed protein. Endocrine diseases are detected with blood work. Environmental allergies are a little more difficult to detect but a response to therapy or a blood test can give an indication. Once you figure out and address the underlying cause, the lesions should not come back. There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they are unlikely to 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. Also protect the area from trauma by having Lexy wear an elizabethan collar at all times. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

This sounds like a hotspot which may require antibiotics and also antiinflammatory/pain medication to reduce the scratchinh as prescribed by your vet. Be sure to keep the wound clean and bathe 2-3times daily with dilute chlorhexidine or saline in order to reduce the infection.