My dog has severe skin issues, hair loss, and vet suggests depression?

Hello! Those lesions could be caused by an infection like bacteria or even fungus as well as allergies. Usually though mild infections and allergies don't cause dogs to be depressed/act abnormally. If his behavior continues, he has any vomiting, or his food/water intake goes down further I recommend having your veterinarian do an exam as those changes could be caused by something more serious, like liver issues, anemia, an infection or even cancer.

Poor Dee! Without knowing her full, extensive history it is very difficult to know what has been tried so far but my most common recommendations are: a hydrolyzed diet trial such as royal canin hypoallergenic followed by royal canin skin care if no improvement after 6-8weeks; blood testing to identify allergies and possible immunotherapy injections if identified and not able to avoid; apoquel allergy tablets, acupuncture and chiropractic care for nerve irritation; regular flea and mite prevention even if negative (bravecto every 3months or nexguard monthly); splash or allermyl shampoo

Poor Sisi! I'm sorry to hear that she's having this problem. The most common conditions we see in dogs that cause hair loss and scaling would include allergies, bacterial or fungal skin infections, or skin mites (mange). If she has been treated for these conditions and has not improved, then I would agree that it sounds like something else may be wrong. Less common causes of these symptoms could include a systemic illness like Cushing's diseases or hypothyroidism (not very common in young dogs, but possible), or an autoimmune disease such as lupus or pemphigus foliaceus. I'm not sure what specific blood work has been done on Sisi, but you could certainly talk to your veterinarian about whether testing for these illnesses has been done. If lab work shows no abnormalities, then a skin biopsy would likely be the next recommended step to try and get a diagnosis.

There are a lot of things that could be causing this appearance to the skin, and it may not be easy or cheap to figure it out. I would recommend that you keep working with the vet. Baseline blood work, thyroid hormone, testing for Cushing's disease, skin biopsies, food trials, flea preventatives, etc may be needed.

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. From the pictures that you provided my primary suspicions would be a skin infection. There are some things that you can do at home if you are unable to get to a vet right away. I would suggest starting with a shampoo that is medicated such as Duoxo chlorhexidine PS combination and bathe him twice weekly until the infection is resolved. I would also suggest starting welactin omega-3 fish oil and essential 6 Spot On by dermoscent. If there is no improvement then I would see your vet for further testing and treatments. I hope this helps! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I am also available via phone or text base consultation if needed

This is a little concerning for an older pet with skin problems and lethargy. If this has been going on for a while then the skin infection may have started to affect his circulatory system, causing lethargy. Another possibility is that Dell has an internal organ malfunction that is manifesting as a skin problem also. An immune mediated skin disorder (lupus), infectious skin disease and skin cancer also have to be considered as causes. It really is hard to say for sure without doing bloodwork analysis on Dell and determining what treatment he needs. He sounds like he should at the very least get antibiotics, which is relatively affordable at the vet. You can always get him examined and determine what things on the treatment plan can be afforded at this time and what things aren't. Here are some financial resources that also may be helpful for getting him the care he needs: Carecredit.com Redrover.org I sincerely hope your pet Dell gets better soon and ends up ok with a condition that you can reasonably treat.

Skin can be very frustrating. The most common cause of skin irritation is allergies (food, flea or environmental). However skin mites, endocrine and auto immune disease can also cause skin issues. I would recommend applying flea prevention every 30 days year round to make sure the fleas are not an issue. Also if the skin is not resolving Kim might need medications for longer, stronger medications or more testing like a skin scrape for mites or biopsy for auto immune disease. I recommend taking Kim back tot he vet to discuss the skin not resolving and further testing. Hope that helps and thanks for using pet coach