My 5 month old Labrador blad spot

Question

Bald spot on neck  
Bald spot on leg   QUESTION: Hello, My 5 month old lab loose some hairs in neck,legs & stomach. I just need to know what is this a food allergy or mites something.
He is not licking or itching on those areas.

ANSWER: It's very possible that he has demodectic mange. He's at the age where this usually shows up if they are going to get it.

You need to have your vet do a skin scraping and look at it under a microscope to diagnose it for sure. Food allergies do not usually manifest in this way.

It's not uncommon in young dogs. Putting him on high quality food after he is diagnosed will help build his immune system up and make him healthier and stronger. Get him on Science Diet Large breed Growth formula and he will be glowing with health and a shiny coat in less than a month.

But you MUST get him in to see the vet first and get this diagnosed.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Now We changed his food to (chicken & milk) flavour Pedigree Puppy Dog food because science of diet is not available in my country. I live in India. Our vet give us some scavon vet spray & bitadine. He also vaccinate him but I don't know for what? He said the problem is mites in his stomach.
But Now I don't trust any dog food company. I just need to know how about Home cooked food for my dog like cereals,curd, vegetables, soya nugget, chicken, meat etc.

ANSWER: Your dog cannot get mites in his stomach. He can have worms, yes, parasites, but not mites.
Your dog should be wormed every ten days for about 25 days, (that's twice in 25 days) to kill any worms that he might have.

However, worms do NOT cause bald spots on your dog like these. These are caused by a SKIN mite called Demodex mites that burrow into the skin and cause hair loss and redness.

He could have RINGWORM, which is NOT a worm but a FUNGUS and that can only be identified using a light at the vets to see the fungus turn green under the light.

If he doesn't do a skin scraping and look under the microscope he is MISSING the correct diagnosis. This can be very serious because Demodectic mange can become systemic (goes through the dogs whole body) and can be fatal if that happens.

Ringworm can spread to HUMANS so it is IMPERATIVE that your vet find out what this dog has.

Pedigree Puppy food is better than a homemade diet because it is VERY hard to make a proper diet for a growing dog that will not harm their bones and hip joints. Science Diet IS sold in India, but you can also order it online.

It is sold ALL over the world!! Try this page for online retailers that ship all over the world:

http://www.hillspet.com/where-to-buy/shop-online.html

You NEVER want to give a dog curd, soy of any kind or milk, and they can cannot live on cereal. Like I said, it is very,very difficult to make a BALANCED diet for your dog that will not cause damage to his growing bones and hip joints.

So find another vet if this one isn't going to treat your dog by scraping his skin and properly looking at it under a microscope to see what he has.

If he was vaccinated he should be vaccinated for rabies for sure, and also distemper, parvovirus and a host of other diseases that are all in one vaccine commonly called a "7 way."

He needs another rabies in a year from that date and from then one once a year as well as the other vaccination yearly. He also needs to be on heartworm prevention tablets once a month.

Once he starts that he won't get intestinal worms again either. So please take him back or find a new vet to help you sort this out.

I just looked up this spray and it IS for demodectic mange IN COWS. Now I don't know if it's safe for dogs but he obviously thinks the dog DOES have demodex. So I would use what he gave you. According to the Indian Pet Store:
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/a-world-of-pets-only-at-indian-pet-sto
this is safe for dogs. You can also buy dog food from them.

I would get him on the Royal Canin if they don't sell Hill's Science Diet.
This is the food I would put him on:

http://www.indianpetstore.com/royal-canin-giant-junior-wt-45kg-and-over-4kg.html

That will fit his needs and it's made for dogs his age that will be over 50 lbs when they are adults. Once he reaches one year of age then you have to switch him to an adult food.

I hope this helps Siddhant. Use the betatdine to scrub the bald spots, dry the area then spray it with this scavon spray. If the hair starts to grow back in a week or so then you will know that it's killing the mites.

Please let me know how he does.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello Jana,
Now my vet checked again and he said it probably for many reasons like skin mites, allergy,etc.
Now he give me some more bitadine, himalya scavon vet spray, new antifungal & antibacterial shampoo - myconil plus,benzol lotion for itching, moxikind & prednisolone tablets. He said its a 5 days course if its works he will be good & if it not worked, he test his skin in lab. What do you think ?
Please advice or give me some tips.

Answer
It all sounds good except the prednisone. I thought that was contradicted in the treatment of demodex mange.

Read this page about the disease:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_demodectic_mange.html
(this is a vet here in the USA who treats dogs regularly with demodex)

This paragraph especially:

"Skin infections are usually present in these cases and antibiotics will likely be necessary. It is very important that cortisone type medications such as prednisone NOT be used in these cases as they will tip the immune balance in favor of the mite."

So I would be hesitant to give him ANY prednisone at all.

Your vet's treat first then test attitude is questionable only because he might NOT HAVE MANGE!! If he has ringworm or a skin infection you are wasting time and money on treatments that might not work. While it's true that there is a very large chance he DOES have demodex mange, it should still be diagnoses as such FIRST.

That's all about I can add to that. I would show him this web page if I were you or call another vet. If nothing else, use everything he gave you except the prednisone. Keep it on hand for later.

Print out that web page and ask him why he is prescribing prednisone for this disease? His skin doesn't need to be tested in a LAB either, he simply needs to scrap it down to where it starts to bleed just a little and then look under the microscope for the mange mites you see moving on that web page.
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_demodectic_mange.html
That's exactly what they look like.