hairloss

Question
i have a heeler akita who is 5 yrs old. i have taken her to the vet so many times.  the dr. has drawn blood to ck for any problems there,no problems. she also took skin samples to ckeck for mites and all testing came back neg. my dog is loosing her hair in  spots. not shedding but loosing hair in spots or bloches. she is very active in spite of this problem and eats well. we do have a problem with fleas which we are trying to keep in control and the akita/heeler does not have fleas for some reasons. i am veery frustrated with this problem. i am wondering if stress could be the problem. we have other dogs in the house and also cats. she gets on with the other dogs but does not care for the cats...she also has very dry skin..her current diet is potato white fish and tuna mixed in. would appreciate your help to this problem....will be waiting to hear from you.

angie and all the 4 legged children...

Answer
In Akitas and other "NordicBreeds" they often get something called Alopecia X.  It is actually a problem with the levels of melatonin secreted from the pineal gland in the brain.  When the days are long, the pineal gland says it is summer and shuts off melatonin.  That causes them to shed.  Obviously, when the days are short it is winter and the pineal gland secretes melatonin to keep all of the hair on the body to prepare for the cold.  Ask your vet to prescribe melatonin to see if the hair will regrow. For the dry skin ask the vet for Omega3 fatty acids to add to the food.    

There are also diseases like hypothyroidism and Cushing's disease that make the hair fall out, so the vet might want to also check for these diseases.  

If all else fails ask the vet to do a skin biopsy at the margin where there is hair loss.  That is the spot where there is hair and then no hair.  That way the pathologist can look and see just what the hair follicles are doing.