Dog's neck hair loss not improving with hydrocortisone. What's wrong?

That looks more like a really inflamed “hot spot” to me. Put an ecollar on him so he can’t lick at it, and take him to your vet. He may need oral antibiotics and a prescription topical treatment. If you are unable to get him to a vet, use the ecollar as I mentioned, and try this product:https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/zymox-hydrocortison-cream Thanks for asking PetCoach!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There is a chance that this could be ringworm and that is usually determined based on an examination and culture. 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!

Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The anti-fungal medications can sometimes take several days to a week or so to see a dramatic improvement so if Ruckas just started the treatment, I would give it a good week. After another week and you still do not see any improvement, you may revisit with Ruckas's veterinarian to discuss other causes such as a bacterial infection or perhaps due to a seasonal allergy or food allergy as a cause for the skin lesions. I hope this helps!

Hello, & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Without a fungal culture, it is very difficult to definitively diagnose ringworm. There are a lot of skin issues that can look red, crusty or flaky & not all of them will be ringworm. Using a combination of antifungal & antibacterial products is a great idea. For any shampoo, make sure the lather stays on the skin for at least 10 minutes before rinsing. If there is no improvement after about 3 weeks, or the skin lesions get worse, please have your veterinarian examine them

Those look like pyoderma/bacterial skin infection erythematous (red) collarettes. The treatment is typically a 10 day course of prescription Simplicef (cefpodoxime) oral antibiotic, a medicated antibacterial/antifungal shampoo such as Malaseb (available on chewy.com or petco.com) every 2-3 days for 2 weeks and a topical prescription antibiotic/steroid ointment such as Dermavet. Your vet will likely be able to dispense all 3 after an exam if it is confirmed to a bacterial skin infection. Fungal infections are zoonotic/transmissible to humans and typically present as circular areas of complete hair loss that are often scaly. Good luck!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If Penelope has had treatment for mites and the other lesions resolved but not this one, this could be a separate problem such as ringworm, different mite or a benign tumor. I would recommend having the veterinarian look at this to help determine what the cause could be. Different medication would be needed for ringworm and if it is a tumor, it is likely what we call a histiocytoma, which is common in young dogs and resolves on its own. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I would have this checked by a vet. It sounds very much like ringworm. Although the name suggests otherwise, ringworm is not caused by a worm at all-but a fungus. This highly contagious infection can lead to patchy areas of hair loss on a pet, and can spread to other animals-and to humans, too. Classic symptoms of ringworm include lesions that typically appear on a pet’s head, ears, paws and forelimbs. These lesions can cause patchy, crusted circular “bald spots” that sometimes look red in the center. In mild cases of ringworm, there may be just a few broken hairs, while bad cases of ringworm can spread over most of a pet’s body. It’s also possible for a pet to carry the fungus and not show any symptoms whatsoever. Treatment of ringworm depends on the severity of the infection. A veterinarian may prescribe a medicated shampoo or ointment that contains miconazole or a dip such as lime sulfur to kill the fungus. In some cases, oral medications are necessary to cure ringworm. In severe cases, it may be necessary to use a topical and oral treatment, in addition to clipping away the fur. Once treatment begins, lesions should begin to heal in about one to three weeks. Please note, it is important to treat your pet for as long as recommended by your veterinarian. Even though the skin lesions may have cleared up, this doesn’t mean your pet is cured or can’t infect another animal or person. Certain diagnostic tests may need to be repeated in order to ensure cure. And unfortunately, there is no guarantee that reinfection won’t occur!