allergy or dry skin?

Question
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Followup To
Question -
I have a 1 1/2 year old miniature pinscher.  He is losing patches of hair along with dead skin on his lower back.  This is the only place that it is happening.  The hair is coming out in small chunks and usually has a chunk of dry skin attached at the base.  I do not bath him b/c you are not supposed to b/c it enhances dry skin.  He was eating Eukanuba small breed food since birth but the vet has switched him to a eukaneuba rfp or something like that to help his skin clear up.  They checked for parasites and did a skin scrape and could find nothing.  The vet's suggestion was that it is an allergy to food.  This just doesn't sound right to me.  He is itchy, but it seems to me that he has excessively dry skin.  I am looking for a second opinion.  Do you think that it is dry skin or a food allergy?  If it is dry skin... what can I do for it?  Thank you, Tosha
Answer -
Hi Tosha! More likely, she is allergic to something in the environment. When skin disease affects the rump and back, I tend to think of a flea allergy first. As for the dry skin,it could be a problem with dietary fatty acids. These make the skin cells resistant to drying out. Omega fatty acid supplements (available from your vet as like 3V caps or Eicosaderm) may stop the flaking. When the fur around the eyes falls out in a pup, I tend to think about demodex mange. You should let your vet do a skin scraping to look for the mites. Also, ringworm can show up like this.Hope this helps lots!Nicole.D.

My vet checked for mites, ringworm, fleas and those types of things.  He was negative for all of these things.  If it is an allergy, what types of things might he be allergic to? foods or home type things like cleaners?


Answer
Hio Tosha!There are many classes of allergens. Many times dogs are allergic to housedust mites that live in the carpet and on furniture. Indoor dogs may also be allergic to molds that are in the carpeting and on the wet ground during spring and fall. Of course during spring and summer, all of the tree pollens and grass pollens enter into the allergy equation, too. Your vet can run an allergy test using a blood sample to see if your dog has any sensitivities to any of these allergens.Hope this helps!Nicole.D.