Hair losing along spine?

LindaH · Jan 15, 2014

Yes,I mean an actual cup of vinegar to one gallon of water. Honesty,I had trouble getting the rinse down to the skin by pouring it on the dog. It just wanted to roll off the dog without getting to the skin. Using a good spray bottle is much, much easier. I use an old Spray and Wash bottle and soak Parker down with it. Once you get her sprayed down to the skin, you can wipe her off some, but don't dry her off or rinse the vinegar off. Let her drip dry.

The vinegar will not bother her skin. It won't burn or string unless you get in the eyes, vulva or anus or if she has a raw place. It has such good antibacterial qualities that I will spay little sores and such with it even if it's going to sting some. Parker will let me do anything with him, tho, so if you question your dog possibly taking offense, keep in mind the area of the spot. IOW, don't spray down a huge raw spot with it cause it's gonna sting a little.

I use a much stronger mix of half and half, but you could go ahead and use the rinse mix and see if that will help her spots before trying a stronger mix. If you do decide to use a stronger mix on down the road, don't let her lick it because half and half is too strong for her to be swallowing it. That might cause some throat irritation or upset stomach.

Please read this as it has some excellent information you need to know about allergies, baths and rinses. It's not that long either.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...9/07/14/allergies-and-skin-problems-what-can-you-do-to-help-your-itchy-pet.aspx

vivienne00 · Jan 15, 2014

OceanS said:
I'm really starting to think it might be pollen or grass allergy, as the grass in our backyard is pretty dry due to the summer heat, sun and lack of rain, and thus quite pointy, and she loves to lay on it.

If you are talking about dry buffalo or kikuyu - I am allergic to it so it wouldn't surprise me that your dog would be too. It's OK when it is green and soft, but even then I will still react to buffalo since it is always a bit stiff - they use it a lot in Florida too I discovered (more places I am sure but I haven't noticed it).

Darkevs · Jan 15, 2014

maybe do some research on seborrhea (dry), skin issues in dogs.

the ear infection, skin issues, etc. could be related to a sensitivity to something in the diet..............or a low functioning thyroid.

Hugz to Mika!

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2111&aid=421

OceanS · Jan 16, 2014

Darkevs said:
maybe do some research on seborrhea (dry), skin issues in dogs.

the ear infection, skin issues, etc. could be related to a sensitivity to something in the diet..............or a low functioning thyroid.

Hugz to Mika!

Causes of Hair Loss (Alopecia) in Dogs

Talk about sensitivity in her diet, I haven't changed anything. It was the same ingredients etc that I use to feed her before, but I guess it's also possible for her to develop sensitivity to the diet while growing up, hopefully this isn't the case... Will the vet be able to check for her thyroid function levels with blood test? If so I might aswell ask the vet to do a test next time we go for a revisit.

I did ask if the vet if the ear infection is related to her hair falling, she say since the ear infection is caused by fungus (she say they are everywhere, especially in the grass in current summer season), if her hair starts falling more, she will do another scrape of her skin and send to the lab and see if she can culture anything related to fungal.

Just gave her a bath and the final rinse with the vinegar water, and let her drip dry. I'll do the daily vinegar water spray aswell and see if this work. I think the hair on her back has started to grow back, but more is falling on her side and a few small patches on her back legs aswell.

P.s I really have no idea what type of grass is growing in the backyard, as I'm not really a "garden" person if you know what I mean lol, we don't have a single plant in or outside the house except the lawn

LindaH · Jan 16, 2014

OceanS said:
Talk about sensitivity in her diet, I haven't changed anything. It was the same ingredients etc that I use to feed her before, but I guess it's also possible for her to develop sensitivity to the diet while growing up, hopefully this isn't the case... Will the vet be able to check for her thyroid function levels with blood test? If so I might aswell ask the vet to do a test next time we go for a revisit.

I did ask if the vet if the ear infection is related to her hair falling, she say since the ear infection is caused by fungus (she say they are everywhere, especially in the grass in current summer season), if her hair starts falling more, she will do another scrape of her skin and send to the lab and see if she can culture anything related to fungal.

Just gave her a bath and the final rinse with the vinegar water, and let her drip dry. I'll do the daily vinegar water spray aswell and see if this work. I think the hair on her back has started to grow back, but more is falling on her side and a few small patches on her back legs aswell.
P.s I really have no idea what type of grass is growing in the backyard, as I'm not really a "garden" person if you know what I mean lol, we don't have a single plant in or outside the house except the lawn

Does she have an ear infection in both ears? If she does that points to allergies, food and/or environmental. However low thyroid does have many of the same symptoms as allergies, so I would have the vet send her blood off. He can't do it inhouse as you need a FULL PANEL thyroid test. There should be a university that does it there.

I was thinking you were feeding raw, maybe sometime else, but feeding the same food for long periods actually is a contributor of food allergies developing in food prone toward them.

OceanS · Jan 16, 2014

LindaH said:
Does she have an ear infection in both ears? If she does that points to allergies, food and/or environmental. However low thyroid does have many of the same symptoms as allergies, so I would have the vet send her blood off. He can't do it inhouse as you need a FULL PANEL thyroid test. There should be a university that does it there.

I was thinking you were feeding raw, maybe sometime else, but feeding the same food for long periods actually is a contributor of food allergies developing in food prone toward them.

Yeah she has the infection in both ears, but vet say it's more infected in the right ear, left ear only slightly infected. I was thinking if the vinegar water can be use to clean her ears aswell? Because I was using the pet wipe to clean her ears before. Is there a way to prevent food allergies to her existing food from developing?

P.s today I actually notice that her hair is falling much much less, usually her bedding will be covered by hairs, but today there's only a very small amount. Just now I was trying to spray the vinegar mix on her after she came back from outside, but gosh does she resist... Lol she hate getting sprayed for some reason, so I had to spray the mix on my hand and lightly pat it on her body, so my hand end up smelling like vinegar

But so far the vinegar mix was great. She didn't scratch at all since yesterday's bath, she didn't even lick or chew on her paws!. And the hair on her back is starting to grow back too. Right now it's just the hair her side that still need some growing.

LindaH · Jan 17, 2014

OceanS said:
Yeah she has the infection in both ears, but vet say it's more infected in the right ear, left ear only slightly infected. I was thinking if the vinegar water can be use to clean her ears aswell? Because I was using the pet wipe to clean her ears before. Is there a way to prevent food allergies to her existing food from developing?

P.s today I actually notice that her hair is falling much much less, usually her bedding will be covered by hairs, but today there's only a very small amount. Just now I was trying to spray the vinegar mix on her after she came back from outside, but gosh does she resist... Lol she hate getting sprayed for some reason, so I had to spray the mix on my hand and lightly pat it on her body, so my hand end up smelling like vinegar
But so far the vinegar mix was great. She didn't scratch at all since yesterday's bath, she didn't even lick or chew on her paws!. And the hair on her back is starting to grow back too. Right now it's just the hair her side that still need some growing.

How long has she been eating her present food? First, avoid foods with wheat, corn, or soy as those are common allergens and it's best to rotate foods, proteins and even brands while avoiding ingredients your dog is sensitive to, if she is sensitive to certain ingredients. The most important thing is to not feed the same proteins for extended periods of time as proteins are the most common allergen. So of you feed fish this month or two, then feed chicken next, lamb next month or two, venison next, etc. You do need to do a slow changeover each food switch.

Parker doesn't like to be sprayed either, but he lets me...it's called training. You'll just have to train her...offer treats during the spraying to let her know that good things come from putting up with it. Part of it might be the sound and feel of getting wet, too. You do have to get that mix on the skin at least once a day for it to work tho. If you're just trying to wipe pollen off, then you can use a vinegar mix soaked rag to wipe her down with. The vinegar does really relieve the itching because it prevents the bacteria causing the itching from multiplying.

Yes, you can use the half water half vinegar mix to clean ears. It works very well against bacteria and yeast problems in the ear. The reason I asked about ears is because constant ear infections of both ears is another symptom of food allergies. I really hope she doesn't have food allergies, too, cause they're hard to deal with till you get your footing with what ingredients to avoid and how to treat the dog to prevent skin breakouts.

I would feed sardines, once a day, three or four times a week as they build up skin health from within better than just fish oil and vitamin E. There's a lot of excellent nutrients in sardines for yours dog. Sardines also relieve itching by building up the skin health. But again, if she doors have food allergies, you want to go off them a while, too, do to prevent allergy from developing.

About the hair, you probably bathed a lot of dead hair off yesterday, remember that.

OceanS · Jan 17, 2014

She gets 1-2 fresh sardines everyday. Just yesterday she starts this sneezing episodes, like she will sneeze about 20-30 times a day. But she doesn't sneeze when sleeping or playing though. So I'm thinking if it could be allergy symptoms aswell. She does has infection in both ears for quite a while, but I'm suspecting atopy allergy more than food allergy as most of her symptoms fits that of an atopy allergy.
P.s her diet doesn't consist of any soy, wheat or corn.

Observer · Jan 18, 2014

LindaH, would Mika benefit from an antihistamine?

OceanS · Jan 18, 2014

I'm wondering if I should bring her to an animal dermatologist? There's one in sydney that's pretty popular, it's about an hour drive away from my place: SASH | 24 hour emergency vet sydney | Vet and Small Specialist Animal Hospital
Because my vet just doesn't seem very specialized in this area in my opinion, I can ask her for a referral letter to this clinic. Maybe a dermatologist can better diagnose her condition?

LindaH · Jan 18, 2014

Observer said:
LindaH, would Mika benefit from an antihistamine?

They helped Parker. I don't have to give them anymore since I started feeding the sardines and using the vinegar water. Before that, the vet had me giving medicated baths twice a week, a months supply of antibiotics and a couple of steroid shots to stop the horrendous itching. Of course once you run out of antibiotics and the steroid wears off, the yeast and staph come back with a vengeance because the steroids shut down the immune system. That's all a regular vet knows to do, but it's about the worst treatment for your dog.

A person really needs to go to a holistic veterinarian or dermatologist. You really have to build the dogs immune system up and avoid exposure as much as one can.

OceanS said:
I'm wondering if I should bring her to an animal dermatologist? There's one in sydney that's pretty popular, it's about an hour drive away from my place: SASH | 24 hour emergency vet sydney | Vet and Small Specialist Animal Hospital
Because my vet just doesn't seem very specialized in this area in my opinion, I can ask her for a referral letter to this clinic. Maybe a dermatologist can better diagnose her condition?

As was said before, you need to have her thyroid tested to rule that out first. You have to have a full panel done. Don't let your vet say he can do what you need inhouse, because he cannot!!! Her blood has to be sent off. If her thyroid checks out okay, then go to the dermatologist if that's what you want to do. A dermatologist will certainly be much better than your regular vet.

TANGOKID · Jan 20, 2014

OceanS said:
Thanks! Mika is also scratching her front armpit with her back legs recently too. And it has caused the skin around the front arm to start falling and I'm starting to see thin patches of hair around there too. I'll start the vinegar tomorrow after giving her a bath.
I remember you stated to mix a cup of white vinegar with a gallon of water, do you mean by the actual 'cup' measurement we use when baking food etc? Cos one cup of white vinegar sounds a lot and it's only mixed with one gallon of water, won't that be too acidic for the skin? Or shall I just do the vinegar spray for now instead of a bath since she's still losing hair.

Just an update. Since I posted last, my pup's coat has been replenished. The thin spot near his butt is filling in nicely. I read that your pup was scratching at armpits which might be yeast. Coconut oil is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. You may wanna give it a shot. I hope your pup is doing better.

Blitz29 · Jan 21, 2014

Hi Oceans, I am also in Sydney. In December 2012 we noticed same symptoms with Blitz and went to vet had skin scrape etc and she had antibiotics which sort of helped. She also rolls in grass lots. Of the dogs she plays with several others had same symptoms and vets advice varied from anti allergy meds to coconut oil. In about march all dogs symptoms cleared. Last year December 2013 Blitz and another doberman started same symptoms again. Blitz was not so bad as I have been giving her coconut and salmon oil and rubbing her with coconut oil on her zoom groom brush. I also spray with diluted neem oil and use scream direct onto any spots called skin eze herbal ointment from greenpet.com.au if we go through this routine of neem oils spray every day she is almost symptom free. I also wash her collars in wool mix as the grass seems to get under her collar making her neck most itchy. Hope this helps and I think it will go away when it rains!!!!

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OceanS · Jan 28, 2014

Update: her thyroid test came out good. Today I bring her back for a recheck of her skin condition, the hair on her back has grow back to the point that you can't really see her skin underneath anymore. However the hair haven't grow back on her sides yet, and today the vet did another skin scrape free of charge on her side and found nothing wrong. She conclude that it's allergy, I ask if it could be food allergy, she say it's not likely as food allergy tend to cause diarrhea in the cases that she has seen. She say it's most likely pollen or grass allergy, and this allergy also cause her ear infection to reoccur. She did say if she's scratching a lot then I can use antihistamine for people, and if it gets really red and inflamed, then she will have to put her on steroid, but she say there's side effect for it that's why she don't give them unless it's severe. Right now i didn't find any more hair loss on her body so I guess she's on her road to recovery. I'll try the coconut oil and see if it works.

OceanS · Jan 29, 2014

Blitz29 said:
Hi Oceans, I am also in Sydney. In December 2012 we noticed same symptoms with Blitz and went to vet had skin scrape etc and she had antibiotics which sort of helped. She also rolls in grass lots. Of the dogs she plays with several others had same symptoms and vets advice varied from anti allergy meds to coconut oil. In about march all dogs symptoms cleared. Last year December 2013 Blitz and another doberman started same symptoms again. Blitz was not so bad as I have been giving her coconut and salmon oil and rubbing her with coconut oil on her zoom groom brush. I also spray with diluted neem oil and use scream direct onto any spots called skin eze herbal ointment from greenpet.com.au if we go through this routine of neem oils spray every day she is almost symptom free. I also wash her collars in wool mix as the grass seems to get under her collar making her neck most itchy. Hope this helps and I think it will go away when it rains!!!!

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I'm just wondering if the coconut oil you use for rubbing are those made for cooking (8 saw this 100% raw virgin coconut oil in Costco for cooking)? Or those coconut oil lotions that pharmacy sell to rub on her body?

OceanS · Jan 29, 2014

And also the dosage for coconut oil is 1 tsb per 10 pounds, Mika is 32 kg, so 70 pounds. So I'll have to give her 7 tsb everyday?!?! Sounds a lot to me

Hair losing along spine?

LindaH

vivienne00

Darkevs

OceanS

LindaH

OceanS

LindaH

OceanS

Observer

OceanS

LindaH

TANGOKID

Blitz29

OceanS

OceanS

OceanS

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