Kaine Has Some Major Hairloss Issues

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Kmorton122

Kmorton122

Boxer Buddy
I took some recent pictures of Kaine, they should be available in my gallery so that you can see what I am talking about. I am just curious if anyone else has seen anything like this before? I took him to the vet, and he ran a thyroid test and it came back fine. He said he thought it was seasonal flank alopecia. He never did a scraping. My other puppy had D-mange above her eye that we treated with GOODWINOL. I made another appointment for Kaine with a different vet tomorrow, because I am not so sure it's season flank alopecia because it has progressed to his back now. From my understanding that usually happens in the flank area. I don't know what's going on with my poor pup! I am frightened that it may be mange, and I don't want him to have to do any dips or anything like that! I will keep you posted, but I am so worried.
 
sweetboxer

sweetboxer

Banned
Colby has something similar, which the the vet thinks is the alopecia, too. We went through mange in the Fall and did the Ivermectin treatment which cleared him up. When I noticed that his hair was thinning, I took him back to the vet and he did another scraping and he was all clear of mange. He did run his thyroid panel, which was normal. So he said to try Melatonin which can help with seasonal alopecia. I asked about the flank thing, since Colby's isn't just on his flank. It's on his ears, down his back, on his legs...anyway, if it is seasonal alopecia, it will get beter once the warmer weather starts and we're outside more often.

In the case of mange, it looks like patches of baldness and it usually starts on the face and front legs. It can spread to other parts of the body if left untreated. They can sometimes be itchy with it, too. That has to be diagnosed through a skin scraping, though. You can see a picture of Colby with mange in my gallery, for a comparison.

If you're not comfortable with your first vet's diagnosis, I would get a second opinion and ask for a skin scrape. Then you can be sure it isn't mange.

Good luck! Hopefully it's just the alopecia which will get better soon.
 
Kmorton122

Kmorton122

Boxer Buddy
RE: Kaine's Hairloss

Thanks for your reply. I am hoping it's just seasonal flank alopecia. He doesn't itch or scratch or anything. He looks awful and it's a shame cause he's such a beautful boy!
 
gmacleod

gmacleod

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RoxieDog

RoxieDog

Boxer Pal
Same thing

Roxie has the same thing, but mainly near her hips. The vet told me it was not mange and the hair should come back. It has not, but it also has not gotten any worse. I thought it may be due to her old age - we get bald why can't dogs? Any suggestions - I do put lotion on it that the vet gave me for her 'dry skin'.
 
Jan

Jan

Reasonable Moderator
Staff member
It does look like Seasonal flank Alopecia. People have had success with giving melatonin and I have also heard the Evening Primrose Oil worked. It does usually go away when summer comes.
 
S

Shakira's Ma

Banned
ShaKira was just at the vets last Friday and it was diagnosed as seasonal flank alopecia for sure. It looks just like this, my vet said that in males the skin usually becomes black and sometimes in the females. It will go away without treatment she said. She also told me that it may never come back or it may be back in 6 months or a year, no one knows for sure. She also said that no one really knows why it happens, I asked her about the vitamin D deficiancy thing that I read about and she said that it would have to be a serious deficiancy to cause that kind of hair loss. ShaKira had it last year but it was only a couple of small spots that got thin, now this year it is all over her sides and back. The vet said that if it comes back it is usually more hair loss each time. Good Luck, I know how you feel, it looks terrible on our beautiful babies. :(
 
S

Shakira's Ma

Banned
Jan said:
It does look like Seasonal flank Alopecia. People have had success with giving melatonin and I have also heard the Evening Primrose Oil worked. It does usually go away when summer comes.
Click to expand...

How much of this would you use?
 
TossBranAbi

TossBranAbi

Boxer Insane
Wait, I am confused...not hard to do. Anyhow, in the last link that Gmac. posted, it is Kaine and you said that is a picture of his SFA and you are asking if Melotonin has worked for anyone else. The pic was uploaded on Feb 23rd? Sorry but I am completely confused.
 
Snow Queen

Snow Queen

Boxer Pal
melatonin

I gave 9 mg of melatonin per day (three 3 mg capsules purchased from the local Health Food Store) and it made a world of difference.
Both of my dogs' coats appear much healthier.
The one with a milder case of alopecia cleared up right away, and the one with a more advanced case showed almost immediate improvement.
The black-leathery skin is indicative of seasonal flank alopecia.
It is said to be caused by lack of sunlight and often flares up during the months with shorter daylight, so another thing I've tried to do is tether them in a sunny room during the day, rather than crating them, and try to take them out more during the daylight hours that I'm home (which are few right now!)
I found the melatonin really helped - even made the fur feel soft and supple again, whereas it felt sort of dry and brittle before the supplements.
Good luck! Poor baby...
 
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