Does My Dog Have Mange?
ByI know that most of you are going to say “go to a vet” but please don’t waste space. I know that a vet is the best option and he will see a vet but the dog is not actually mine, it’s my mothers. She did take him to a vet a few years ago when it first started showing up but the vet said it was probably genetic and gave him antibiotic which did nothing. She has let it go (which is neglectful in my opinion – poor doggy!) and he’s 8 years old now. I’m going to take him to a vet for her soon if she does not but I’d like to know if anyone has a general idea of what I’m looking at. He loses his hair along his back, mostly on the area closest to his tail, but not on his tail. He does not lose hair anywhere else. It comes and goes and sometimes grows back (never fully) but mostly is bald and itchy there. He also STINKS so I think it might be a skin infection even though the previous antibiotics had not worked…. any ideas?
4 Comments
November 11th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Every dog should see his vet once a year for a wellness physical. Any concern like his itch,stinky back could be addressed at that time. My guess is that the dog has a food allergy. Has your mother been feeding milk or table scraps? If not then it might be the food (or the grain therein). I think food allergy, as vets miss it frequently. The skin may still need treatment
November 11th, 2009 at 11:48 am
We are not vets, nor medical experts. I certainly wouldn’t trust my dogs health to a bunch of strangers online. Poor dog needs a vet. Why not take the dog to the vet’s ASAP? If the antibiotics are not working, and you aren’t happy with your current vet, I suggest that you have your vet refer you to a canine internal medicine vet.
November 11th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
why are you wasting space when clearly no one can tell you what’s wrong let alone how to treat it..unless of course you want to try some home remedy on the poor thing and possibly make it worse?
VET ASAP
ok..don’t take it to a vet..
take it to a plumber?
seriously….why ask then?
November 11th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
it could be one of two things from the sound of it! its ether allergies! or mange! both are fix able with pills! the only way to tell is for the vet to do a skin scraping to see if the mites that cause mange are there! if its mange he will give you medicated shampoo and some pills! If its allergies he will give you pills to give him every other day or so!
not to bad!