dogs itching and losing hair

Question
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Followup To
Question -
hi my name is kim i live in phila pa i currently am having a problem with my two blk labs it started almost 2 years ago when i got my puppy from tennesse she was near dead had fleas heartworms ringworms heart murmur well she is ok now but ever since both her and the dog i had have been slowly losing hair and now it has gotten even worse after they pee they will come in wit there taikl between there legs and cant sit and have to lick themselves i switched vets because i was not gettting a answer but this vet keeps telling me it is allergies well i need to know why my babies<dogs> are biting and itching and just last night my older dog ws asleep and all of a sudden ran over to be crouched to the groud tail between her legs goin in a circle like soemthing was attacking her they also are losing hair mainly on the bellies and around there butts but i did notice it in there armpits and outer leg and now on there faces i think it might be a parsite from the farm the puppy came from because my grass in my yard is all dead as well  i am also a big animal lover and work for a rescue group unfortantly i cant consintrate on anything but whats hurting my dogs help me please my email is catdogarr@aol.com my name is kim kaufman my dogs are my eveything and i cant stand seeing them suffer thank you
Answer -
Hi Kim!  I can definitely understand your concern!
To me, my first guess would be that this would be sarcoptic mange, caused by sarcoptic mites.  Have either of your dogs ever had a skin scraping? This is where the veterinarian will gently and painlessly scrape a fw skin cells from the infected areas and study them under a microscope.  Mites are treated with Ivermectin injections.  I would definitely take both dogs back to your veterinarian or a different veterinarian and demand that this test be done.  Allergies are not contagious, therefore, the puppy could not have given your dog allergies.  It also seems odd that your older dog would suddenly develop allergies after the puppy has come into your home.  I would definitely agree with you that this is coming from a parasite.  I live in PA too, about 2 hours away from Philly.  I could recommend some veterinarians in your area if you are interested.  Please let me know if you are!  I'd be more than happy to help.
I hope your babies feel better soon,
Hilary  
hi hilary i have a vet app this wen. and i will ask them to do a skin srape and i also am bringing a stool sample again and a urine sample i had a skin scrap done on my older dog when i noticed this 2 years ago but they did the scrap on her outter leg and nothing is wrong there so for a few reasons i left that vet after over 20 years and my new vet said it cant be the scappies cause there is not sign of scabbs or any lesians can this still be sacrcptic mange i wish they had some kind of sore or something cause with no visable signs no one is taking me seriously and now it has gotten worse so they can not sit like something is attacking them thank you for you knowledge and time  

Answer
Hi Kim!  I hope your vet appointment on Wednesday leaves you with many answers, and your "furbabies" with much relief!  Sarcoptic mange and demodex mange, contrary to popular belief, do not have to have crusty scab-like growths. The symptoms can be simply hairloss and itching.  After this long, if it were scabies, you would definitely be seeing a yellowish crust in these areas, so I would have to agree that scabies is probably not the cause.  Are you sure that there are no fleas on the dogs?  Even one flea can cause these effects.  Frontline Plus (from your veterinarian's office) will rid your dog's of fleas.  This is the best and most effective flea product.  
The skin scraping has to be done where the infected areas are.  This is the only way anything will show up, so I think that last skin scraping can be ruled out as non-conclusive, since the scraping was done in an area in which the skin was healthy!
I hope so much that you find the answers you are looking for.
Please, if you have time, let me know how your appointment goes on Wednesday.
Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon!
Hilary