Why is my dog's skin rolling, losing hair, and constantly itching?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Bubba! How old is Bubba? A lot of skin conditions can look the same. But from your photos I think either a skin infection from yeast or bacteria, ring worm or demodex (non-contagious mite). If he is older I recommend having blood work done, some systemic illnesses can manifest in the skin. If he has a skin infection then medicated shampoo and antibiotics or antifungals are needed. If demedex is suspected, especially if he is young, than your Vet will perform a skin scrape to look for the mite under the microscope. Thankfully demodex is very easy to treat these days with the new oral flea and tick medications (Nexgard and Bravecto). Ring worm is diagnosed with a cultured and is treated with either lyme sulfur dips or oral antifungals. I think it is best to make an appointment with your Vet when they open on Monday and start medications based on your Vet's diagnosis. I hope this helps and I wish you and Bubba the best!

I'm sorry to hear that Bubblu is having this problem! Skin issues like this can be very frustrating to deal with. Unfortunately, it's hard to suggest any specific treatment options that might be helpful without a diagnosis - different types of skin disease require different treatment, so it's important to find out what the problem is first. I'm wondering if your vet has ever done any testing to help determine what is causing Bubblu's skin problems - things like a skin scrape, skin cytology, bacterial or fungal skin cultures, allergy testing, or blood work. If so, it would be helpful to know the results. If not, the next step at this point would definitely be to have some testing done to help diagnose the problem - if your current vet has not suggested or recommended this, I would seek a second opinion from another local vet or request referral to a veterinary dermatologist. In the meantime, you could certainly try something like a medicated bath with aloe and oatmeal dog shampoo to help soothe his skin a bit - this will not treat the underlying problem, but may at least help to make him a little more comfortable until you can get a diagnosis and a more definitive treatment plan.

Poor guy. There are really only 2 types of mites that we see in veterinary medicine- Scabies and Demodexx mites. Scabies (a type ofmite) is infectious to people so if you yourself are not itching then you can kind of rule that one out. The other mite, Demodexx isn't infectious to people or other pets, and nowadays it can be treated with oral flea preventatives such as Bravecto, Nexgard or Simparica + a medicated topical shampoo through your vet. I would recommend just starting Baileys' on one of these to cover any kind of mite issue. Then I would suggest getting Bailey on an oral antibiotic to clear up the skin infection that is present. The ears look to be infected as well. This will require a topical ear medication and cleaner from your vet to resolve. Skin allergy testing is not commoonly used anymore due to the poor overall response to allergy immunotherapy shots. THe most common allergy medication used nowadays is Apoquel. I would ask your vet about this as well, especially if mites are not the underlying problem, which can be easily confirmed or denied with a simple skin scraping test done through your vet. I hope that you can get Bailey's skin issue resolved soon. Best wishes and take care!

That is an understandable concern. It appears he has a very bad case of folliculitis, which can be caused by several things including a Demodexx mite infestation, a contact allergy, environmental allergy or flea allergy. He needs to first go on a good flea preventative (Nexgard, Bravecto, etc) and then have a skin scrape/cytology done to look for possible mites. He definitely needs a short course of antibiotics to treat for his current skin infection and then medication depending on the results of his skin scrape/cytology. The vet should be able to get him on the right track if the skin testing is done. I hope this helps and best wishes with Trump moving forward. I hope his skin problems resolve very soon.

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

Scrappy needs to go to your veterinarian for an exam and skin scraping to determine the cause of this skin condition. It looks like a bacterial infection but he also could have mites, a fungal infection or it could be an autoimmune disease or tumors. If it's a severe bacterial infection with antibiotics and medicated baths this should improve. The longer he has these lesions the more likely the skin can become damaged and his fur may not grow back in. In addition to the skin scraping they may recommend a thyroid level test and perhaps a blood panel to check for other underlying disease. Scrappy will feel better once they get a diagnosis and the proper treatment. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Scrappy.

Lesions like those in the pictures can be caused by bacterial, parasitic or fungal infection, dietary or environmental allergies or sensitivities, immune system disorders, or a combination of the above. In dogs like yours with hair loss and itchiness, one common cause can be infection by mites that can live in the hair follicles and lead to hair loss, and secondary bacterial and fungal infections that can develop. I recommend making an appointment to have your dog seen by your veterinarian to help determine the cause of the hair loss as soon as you can. The vet will likely want to look at a sample from the area (taken by a procedure known as a skin scraping) and examined under the microscope to determine what kind(s) of infection may be present and to figure out what medication is appropriate for treatment. I hope that helps!