Patchy hair loss every summer - Skin allergy?

[SocksDad]

Socks (our 13yo male Sheltie) has lost his hair in patches every mid-summer (May, June) through late summer (August) or early Fall (September). We've taken him to two different veterinarians for this. The first vet did thyroid tests and gave him medication which did not help. The second vet thought it may be an allergic reaction to something here in Mississippi which makes more sense to me since this happens seasonally (during the summer) when organisms have re-birthed. He said the allergen could be plants, insects, etc. He may have even said the patchy hair loss could be directly heat-related.

I've "read" that if the patches are symmetrical/identical on both sides of his body then it is more likely an internal (e.g, hormonal) issue, and that if they exist in non-symmetrical patches then it is more likely an allergic reaction to something. It seems that his patches are not bilaterally symmetrical for the most part (there are exceptions). I thought that the allergen could be fleas since our terrier gets them constantly, even though I have not been able to find any fleas or traces of them on Socks. I've seen pictures of dogs with flea-allergy dermatitis and looks similar to what Socks looks like every summer. The quick loss of hair in patches causes mats to form around the perimeter of each patchy hairless region. Also, there are crusty flakes on the skin.
Here's a couple pictures I took earlier today:
http://imgur.com/qgE0g.jpg
http://imgur.com/uPCl6.jpg

Does anybody here know what may be going on and what I should do and/or not do? What should my next step be? He gets fish oil and Benedryl for the skin issues/allergy along with his vitamins every day which seems to have helped some this summer in that he used to lose a lot more hair.

[ClantyreSheltie]

It could be an allergy to something local. Our rescue was shipped a dog from Florida who was allergic to the Florida grasses.

If they were angry looking, I would say you have hot spots, but those don't look angry and red. I would probably have them scraped and sent to the lab to see what is there.

Without laying my hands on him, I can't tell how much of that coat is dead undercoat that needs to come out, but he has a TON. Get as much of it out as you can.

[Samantha]

It does sound like an allergic reaction being seasonal. I agree that it seems like he has a lot of coat which could be aggravating the problem. Saidy is allergic to grass and it always acts up more in the summer, she gets dermatitis on her paws and sometimes her belly which does occasionally result in hair loss. Benadryl is good but many dogs and humans build up an immunity to it fast so you might want to try a chlorpheniramine, like equate chlortabs (they cost less than benadryl too), talk to your vet about dosage of course. I also got a prescription shampoo and spray from my vet for Saidy that helps a lot, so that's something you could bring up with your vet. I also use aloe juice (I get a large jug of it from sam's club), I just put some in a spray bottle and spray it onto the rash, it helps cool and sooth it, done once or twice every day I've seen real improvement with this and it's fine for the dog to ingest. As a last resort there is a steroid shot you can get but it doesn't always help and it's the kind of thing were maybe you only have to get it done once a year or maybe you have to get it once every two weeks....
Hope some of this helps!

[SheltieChe]

what is looks to me is cyclic alopecia

http://mysite.verizon.net/res8w765/id36.html


this is link to most common reasons for hair loss in dogs

http://www.peteducation.com/article....2+1593&aid=421

[dawns2shelties]

My Gypsy has been suffering from an allergies for the last 2 months. We think it may be from the mulch they use on the grounds of my complex because it happened last year when they laid down the mulch as well. It has taken several tries with different antibiotics to clear it up. Hers was a rash all over her belly that would start looking like a pimple than it would kind of burst,and the skin would peel away from it and be crusted around the edges. Along with this she developed a yeast infection,it looks like flaking of the skin but is more of a yellowish color,she has also experienced large areas of hair loss on her butt which looks similar to what your dog has so I would also agree on the vet doing a scraping of her skin. We tried an antibiotic for the yeast but it made her sick so the vet has given me the same antibiotic in a shampoo form called Sebozole. I am also using a topical spray he prescribed called Genesis on the area where the rash was and where her hair loss is occurring.Additionally when I bring her in from a walk I wipe her down with Hypoallergenic baby wipes to try and remove anything from her belly,feet,legs, and butt that may cause any further irritation to the affected areas.
As you can see many of us have different ideas on what this could be, from our experiences with our shelties, so most importantly consult your vet before moving forward with any of these treatments to avoid further irritating his condition.

Good Luck We're hoping he feels better soon
Dawn,Gypsy,and Chandler

[SocksDad]

ClantyreSheltie - You're right about him having too much dead hair. I haven't brushed him enough lately but got a ton of the dead undercoat and mats out tonight though. It took 4 hours to bath him with oatmeal shampoo and groom him while he was wet with shampoo.

Samantha - We have an Aloe vera plant and containers of the gel. I'm going to rub some on the hairless skin and see if that does anything. Thanks for the Benedryl advice.

SheltieChe - Thanks for those links. It says on the chart that Symmetrical hair loss is a symptom of "Cyclic (cicatrical) alopecia". Socks hair loss is Asymmetrical though. There's one set of patches on each front leg that are in the same area but all the other patches are scattered.

dawns2shelties - I guess we will go back to our vet and get them to do all the tests. Maybe I can try figuring out something on my own since I do own and have access to lab equipment. And I'm in biological sciences. I wish we could figure out what Socks is allergic to for solving this problem.

Thanks for all of your ideas. Goodnight.

[RonandJan]

I am no vet and maybe Dr Shelli will chime in, but Socks looks like there is a bunch of undercoat that needs to be removed. He will probably be more comfortable getting all of that dead fur out and then maybe the spots will breathe better. Brush every day and get a little more out. I remember when we lived in Georgia, and I see you are in the south too, that by mid July, Cleveland had a very thin, very very thin outer coat because he had blown ALL of that undercoat.

Keep us posted as this progresses.

[SheltieChe]

Originally Posted by SocksDad

ClantyreSheltie - You're right about him having too much dead hair. I haven't brushed him enough lately but got a ton of the dead undercoat and mats out tonight though. It took 4 hours to bath him with oatmeal shampoo and groom him while he was wet with shampoo.

Samantha - We have an Aloe vera plant and containers of the gel. I'm going to rub some on the hairless skin and see if that does anything. Thanks for the Benedryl advice.

SheltieChe - Thanks for those links. It says on the chart that Symmetrical hair loss is a symptom of "Cyclic (cicatrical) alopecia". Socks hair loss is Asymmetrical though. There's one set of patches on each front leg that are in the same area but all the other patches are scattered.

dawns2shelties - I guess we will go back to our vet and get them to do all the tests. Maybe I can try figuring out something on my own since I do own and have access to lab equipment. And I'm in biological sciences. I wish we could figure out what Socks is allergic to for solving this problem.

Thanks for all of your ideas. Goodnight.

what your previous picture shows is symmetrical. It does not mean symmetrical on the body it means it has round edge to it just like you show...

[SocksDad]

Originally Posted by SheltieChe

what your previous picture shows is symmetrical. It does not mean symmetrical on the body it means it has round edge to it just like you show...

Oops, I was wrong! You're certainly right. In that case, the patches are Symmetrical (NOT Asymmetrical). I thought it meant that the patches were located in the same place on the left and right side of his body.

RonandJan - Thanks for your input. The dead undercoat is better now since I've been brushing him. The undercoat has become less of a problem.

[sheltiemom]

Two of my shelties go through this. Yoda has alergies and every year he loses a lot of fur to the point where he will not leave the house without a bandana. His mane goes bye bye and he is so embarassed. Yoda's is sue to medications and allergies

Holly lost all her hair and it refused to grow back. My vet put her one tablet of melatonin a day and her fur grew back