What's causing my dog to shed a lot and have very bloodshot eyes?

Your pup's hair loss could be several things including allergies, endocrine disease, parasites, hormonal changes, poor diet or the normal twice yearly shedding of the coat. The only way to figure out the cause is to have him examined by your veterinarian who may need to run some diagnostics to start figuring out whats wrong. You can rule out parasites by using an oral medication like Simparica. There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not 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 his diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. Eyes can be red for many reasons including an injury to the cornea, an infection, dry eye, uveitis, allergies or glaucoma. I recommend to have him examined again by the veterinarian. It's possible the doctor has already completed some of the tests. Be sure to have a discussion about the most probable causes and what needs to be done to test for them. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

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.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. It sounds like this possible infection may be significant though it is hard to tell without an examination. 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!

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 her allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. This could also be due to something like mites and that can be easily determined with an exam and basic cytology which your veterinarian can perform. There are medications such as Apoquel or prednisone which may help with the itch. 

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!

These signs could be compatible with a metabolic or possibly endocrine disorders. Diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, renal failure, liver problems can be all responsible for those signs. A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Blood tests and urine analysis would be ideally needed. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

An allergy would likely cause more general symptoms instead of affecting just one area. Discuss any additional medications with your vet before given any. An e-collar (cone) should be used to prevent pawing. If current therapy is ineffective, consider a recheck with your veterinarian or veterinary ophthalmologist.

I'm so sorry that Duke is doing poorly. Unfortunately skin problems can be very difficult to diagnose and treat because they often look the same on exam and require further testing for an accurate diagnosis and treatment. If Duke has a low thyroid level, then he will need thyroid medication for the rest of his life. I have attached more information on hypothyroidism below. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=461 Unfortunately, hair loss can be caused by a huge variety of hormonal and skin problems. Below is a handout that discusses another hormonal disease that can affect the skin called Cushing's disease. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1551 If Duke is itchy, I would also recommend that your veterinarian perform a skin cytology to evaluate for secondary bacterial or yeast infection which is very common with hormonal diseases. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=466 I think you will likely need to have your vet recheck Duke's skin, recheck his blood work, and possibly do additional testing to determine the best treatment for Duke. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.