My pitbull puppy has pink hairless spots. What should I do about them?

Those spots on Maggie could be several things including fleas, allergies, skin mites, bacterial infection, ringworm (which humans can get) or endocrine disease. There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not address the underlying cause. Treat for fleas. 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! It’s hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like there is a skin infection on Noheas head. An infection could cause bumps and hair loss. A common cause of skin infections in young pit bulls is mange (demodex). These are microscopic mites that don’t cause scratching. I recommend taking Nohea to a vet for a close exam of her skin. They will need to look at cells under the microscope to diagnose this. They can then get her medications to treat the infection and mites if needed. Good luck and kisses to Nohea!

It is difficult to know without seeing the lesions but he could have a bacterial skin infection, allergic dermatitis, trauma, etc. You could bathe him with a medicated shampoo and see if that helps. Otherwise, he should be examined by a vet to determine the cause and treat. He may need an antibioic, anti-histamine, and/or a corticosteroid to treat.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This looks like a focal infection. You can try to use a medicated shampoo containing chlorhexidine twice weekly for 2 weeks. If there is no improvement or in the meantime this appears to be getting worse, have her evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Good luck and have a good night!

My concern with K.D. would be a couple of things. Young pit bulls are prone to developing mange, and it often causes random spots of hair loss just like you're seeing. If he's not itchy, it's likely the demodectic variety of mange, which sometimes will resolve on its own if there's just a spot or two. However, if you're seeing multiple locations of hair loss, it's likely he'll need treatment. Sometimes these guys have secondary bacterial skin infections as well which need antibiotics. Unfortunately these things need to be prescribed by a vet, who can also scrape the skin and verify that this is in fact mange. If it's not mange it could be fleas, or possibly a nutritional deficiency, but I'd consider both of those less likely. Get him checked out so that you can get him on the proper treatment.

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!

Hello! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! First off, you're doing a great job by keeping fleas off the mother dog and combing the pups regularly. Looking at the spots of hair loss on the head, my top suspicions would be ringworm, demodectic mange, or a bacterial skin infection. I would recommend you take her into a vet to find out what the problem is. Ringworm is a skin fungus that can be transmitted to people, but it is treated fairly easily if it is caught early. The vet will likely recommend a DTM culture to test for fungal infections, and a skin scraping and impression smear to find the root of the problem. I hope that helps!