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Old March 15th, 2012, 06:05 PM
Madikav Madikav is offline
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Exclamation Dog Hair Loss/Sores [photos]

Hi,

I've noticed my dog has been losing her hair slowly on her behind/sides (nowhere else). She also has a couple of sores there that I see. I took her to the Vet who ran a heartworm and thyroid test and everything came out okay. I was wondering if anybody can offer some help?

This developed slowly, at first it was just a small patch on her side, then a patch on the other side and then near her tail stopped having fur. In the last photo, there's a photo of an old sore that I saw (hard to see), there's also a fresh sore right on her back (the little dime-sized patch with no fur, which also has a weird brown colour to it????).

You can try zooming in by clicking again at the site.










I would appreciate any help, I'm quite concerned.

Thank you very much.


Madikav
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Old March 15th, 2012, 10:05 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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Did the vet do a scraping for demodex mange or check for ringworm?
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Old March 16th, 2012, 09:55 AM
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Cathy1 Cathy1 is offline
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I have the same problem. The first vet I went to said his thyroid was fine and that she didn't know what the problem was and told us to keep him away from beef, dairy, and grains but it didn't change anything. We then went to a different vet for a second opinion and he took a look at the test results and told us his thyroid levels are low and that his dark skin was a sign of that and the first vet should have recognized that. The vet then put him on synthroid. After a few weeks we noticed his bald spots were growing in and after a few months he was back to normal. In february we noticed it coming back and the vet increased his dosage and now we are waiting to see if it helps. Those pictures look just like my dogs problem. I'm not saying that is what your dog has but you can always get a second opinion like I did. I just had to take the test results in from my vet instead of paying for another test. This pic was taken the first time he had this problem his spot looks pink but there is dark patches there some spots are very dark almost black.
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Last edited by Cathy1; March 16th, 2012 at 10:07 AM. Reason: photo
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Old March 16th, 2012, 10:56 AM
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Rgeurts Rgeurts is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Madikav View Post
Hi,

I've noticed my dog has been losing her hair slowly on her behind/sides (nowhere else). She also has a couple of sores there that I see. I took her to the Vet who ran a heartworm and thyroid test and everything came out okay. I was wondering if anybody can offer some help?

This developed slowly, at first it was just a small patch on her side, then a patch on the other side and then near her tail stopped having fur. In the last photo, there's a photo of an old sore that I saw (hard to see), there's also a fresh sore right on her back (the little dime-sized patch with no fur, which also has a weird brown colour to it????).



I would appreciate any help, I'm quite concerned.

Thank you very much.


Madikav

Hi Madikav

If your vet just did a T4 test, it's not going to be accurate (a lot of vets don't do anything more than that unless you request it). The T4 can be very deceptive. It can cause them to put your dog on medication even when it isn't needed and vice versa. A full Thyroid Panel needs to be completed. And one thing a lot of vets don't realize is that thyroid levels (what's considered normal or abnormal) can range depending on the breed. My boy (2 yr old Malamute) is hypothyroid and has been since a puppy. We started seeing a holistic vet and he recommended a full thyroid panel and that we send it off to Dr. Jean Dodds at Hemopet in California. She doesn't just complete the panel, she also tailors the results to the age/breed and takes any additional health issues in to consideration. My boy has grand mal seizures, which can be made worse with a thyroid level in the low normal range, which is where his was at. It does cost more to send it away to Hemopet, but for us, it was well worth it. If you can't afford to do that, at least have your vet (or another vet if yours only did a T4, I wouldn't trust him/her)run a full panel. You and your vet may be surprised at the results. My boy didn't have the darkening skin, but he did have the hair loss and sores like yours. His sores were on his face and tummy and the thinning hair was the worst on his hind quarters with little bald spots. His coat was thin, dry, and frizzy all over. Now it's full, thick and he's so soft

He's the one standing on the hill:

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This is the link to Hemopet and Dr. jean Dodds. She's an amazing woman. Good luck and let us know how your little one is doing

http://www.hemopet.org/services.html
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Old March 17th, 2012, 01:42 PM
MaxaLisa MaxaLisa is offline
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Yes, the thyroid needs free T4, free T3, and TgAA as a minimum when evaluating thyroid function.

Small dogs I think can be prone to something called Alopecia X, which is treated with melatonin typically.

Also read the thread below, last chance with Ivermectin, which has a lot of brainstorming about hair loss and skin conditions.
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Old March 18th, 2012, 01:24 AM
Madikav Madikav is offline
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I asked to get the results back and this is what I got.

(click twice to zoom)


Two questions/statements that I have is:

1) Are the results from this lab report okay? I see that they're on the lower-end of the scale.

2) It's kind of weird though that I got the results back so early. I got her blood drawn at around 6:00pm in a Mississauga vet clinic and he said he could give me the test result back the next day (which seems really early). He phoned me on my cellphone to tell me the results were okay at March 14, 2:41pm, and the submission date on the lab is actually 2:39 and completed at 5:21. I don't get it?

Also,

My mother did have ringworm on her foot a while ago, I think she used Micatin (foot itch) for. Not sure if it might be related. I looked at pictures of ringworm in dogs on Google Images but it doesn't look like what my dog has. I don't see any big red circles.

I also bought some new dog food (I was using Purina Beneful before mixed with wet Pedigree)

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Old March 18th, 2012, 10:55 AM
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Hi Madikav!

Your dog is definitely in the low normal range, which can cause issues. That's where my boy was , too. If your vet thinks those results are acceptable, I would be looking for another vet with experience in Hypothyroidism. If you read that link I posted earlier, if explains a lot. If you want to stay with your vet, I would recommend asking him to draw another sample and send it off to Dr. Dodds. It takes a couple of weeks to get everything back, but it's well worth it. She will run the test, then give an explanation and a breakdown regarding your dogs age/breed/history and the recommended dosage for thyroid replacement medication. If you don't want your vet to do it, you can take your dog in, have them draw the blood and sent it to Hemopet yourself. All the instructions on how to do that are included in that link.

Good luck
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Old March 19th, 2012, 04:13 AM
MaxaLisa MaxaLisa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rgeurts View Post
Hi Madikav!

Your dog is definitely in the low normal range, which can cause issues. That's where my boy was , too. If your vet thinks those results are acceptable, I would be looking for another vet with experience in Hypothyroidism.
I agree....those are low end scores.

The TSH is pretty useless - it's wrong in about 30% of the cases, and, unfortunately, vets often read it like gospel, which means a lot of thyroid labs are not read correctly. Looking at the T4 values, it looks like there is definitely a problem. You can have Dodds read the thyroid results for you for a fee, but it's better to get the TgAA, etc. run (to check for autoimmune issues), and if you go through her lab, she reads them.
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