Loosing ALOT of hair, going bald!!! ??? HELP!

[Jenni0109]

Ok, so heres the situation. Tilly is loosing hair like crazy and its ONLY around the barrel of her back/ sides. It started as a small, half dollar size patch that the fur was just thinning, and it has increasingly gotten worse. Now let me just say, I have down skin scrapes, all negative. Checked her thyroid, negative. We have plucked some hairs to see if it might be a fungus, but no results yet as it need to incubate for a certain amount of time. The only thing we have come up with is, 'seasonal flank alopecia' which from what I understand is another common bulldog issue. She is currently taking melatonin - 5mg twice daily, going on about 3 weeks or so. And she is also on fluconazole for a yeast infection in between her toes If in fact this is S.F.A. I was told that it could take up to alomst 3 months to see any affects when using the melatonin. My biggest concern, is she is going to go completely bald before it even starts to get better!!!

Has ANYONE had to deal with something of this nature or even heard of it??? I'm at a huge loss on what direction to turn....Oh, and let me add, she does take her monthly comfortis (flea prevention), shes not itchy one bit. Everything else about her is completely normal, minus the balding

 

[Fontanafox]

My bulldog was going through the same thing. Had the skin scraping which turned out negative. Vet seems to think allergies. He had an allergy shot. I did not change his diet in anyway but I do suspect it might be a grass allergy. So I always wash his feet after going outdoors and spray them with a spray made of alcohol and salted water but only if I see him chewing his feet. I bathe him as needed and always wipe his underside and face when he's been out. Eventually the hair he lost on his back grew back. My other female bulldog has displayed some welts on one side of her flank and the fur fell out there but I am hoping it will grow back. Other than that she does not exhibit any signs of distress and the welts disappeared. Any of the allergy meds given to my male bulldog does not seem to any effect on his allergy symptoms. I'm very aware of the distress this can cause to the caring owner. All I can say is hang in there. In my case the fur did grow back. It's a learning experience being the owner of a bulldog and hopefully whatever we learn from our experiences we can pass on to others on websites like this.

 

[bullmama]

How long has this been going on? Weeks or months?

 

[sheshistory]

Also, that $1,000,000 question: What are you feeding?

 

[Tracey]

MooShi has the same thing . Same story , started off with small patch then lost all her fur just around her sides. The pigment of her skin got darker. Vet did all same test U mentioned , everything was ruled out . The first thing he said when he saw her was seasonal flank alopicia, but did the test anyway just to make sure.Hers started beginning off fall . She is not itchy and it does not bother them at all the vet said , bothers owners more. Some times it grows back sometimes it does not. We just call her our little bald piggy now. She is eating Wellness core and has no yeast or tear stain problems they say it is not allergies.

 

[LisaMarie]

It begins from the inside out. What are you feeding your EB? What kinds of snacks do you offer?What products do you use as far as shampoo & conditioner. do you offer any supplements?

 

[bullmama]

Besides a really good diet, salmon oil is also wonderful for dogs with skin issues!!!

 

[kazzy220]

[MENTION=559]Jenni0109[/MENTION] I too am going to ask what food she is being fed. AND is there a possibility of you posting a picture so that we can see how it looks. I know a lot of people on here have suffered from different types of hair loss in their bullies. Might be helpful to see a pic too.

 

[NikkiSchoolcraft]

Im not sure if its the same issue... Winston looses hair on his sides every spring but it grows back. It happens every year. Layla gets little bald spots and her skin does change pigment, but it too grows back after a round of antibiotics.

 

[Jenni0109]

Sorry for such a delayed reply. My girl is/ was eating Natural Balance sweet potato & fish which she has been on for over a year now, because when we adopted her, it seemed to be the only food that would firmen up her stools. Now with all the hair loss, we are in the process of switching her over to Royal Canin Bulldog formula to see if it MIGHT help. She gets Science Diet T/D as treats... If I can figure out how to post a couple pics, I will do so soon. I have also noticed she is getting more spots on her with her pigment changing..

 

[bullmama]

[MENTION=559]Jenni0109[/MENTION] I would stay away from Science Diet treats, unless they are the grain free ones. But those have chicken which for now, you should try to eliminate from Tilly's diet. For the time being, I would not give her any treats unless they are fresh fruits or veggies. At least until you can identify the source of the problem.

Royal Canin Bulldog has a lot of ingredients that are not going to necessarily promote healthy skin and coat, and my bulldogs had the WORST gas on that food! And so I must giggle when they say "less flatulence". Compared to What Exactly????

The main reason it that it has a lot of grains in it and dried beet pulp. You should be looking for a high quality grain free and adding salmon oil to Tilly's diet. There are a LOT of great grain free foods, but just because they say "grain free" does not mean they are good. Check out the dog food ratings and our recommended dog foods. If you are going to spend that much on dog food you may as well be getting the best food out there!

I think you would

 

[ClaireandMarty]

Lucy, my 9.5 year old girl has had this problem on and off for years. Went to doggie dermatoligist and did a whole series of tests, thyroid, skin scappings, poking, prodding, anitbotics, on and on and on. They said she has psoriasis and a vitamin a deficiency. Great (to the tune of 2,000).

I have just accepted the fact that she will always have a bald spot. We feed her Natural Balance fish and sweet potatoe food and the same snacks. She occassionally gets some yogurt and some pumpkin. We have been giving her a vitamin a pill daily along with a immune system supplement.

It does not seem to bother her at all, more me. Recently we were turned on to using plain ol borax acid.... put that on the area and in time it should clear up. A very slow process. All of her hair grows back. It is on her back and sides. This time by her little tail.

Good luck.

 

[mbuxx]

i dont know if samson has the same thing. But i have dealt with this issue also. Samson had small bald spot son his head and back of his head. There skin pigment was not dark or anything. However most of these spots cleared up, but on big spot on his back showed up about two weeks ago, the pigment did look darker here. For about 3 weeks i have been giving him a Cholesteral Free OMEGA 3 pill a day(just poking it and squirting on his break fest) I also squirt a 200 IU vitamin e pill onto his supper. Also, i poke a vitamin e pill and rub the oil onto the spots as a moisturizor.. these methods have seemed to help. However, i dont think they prevent the bald spots, just help treat them. I just added the vitamin e into the diet, i am hoping it helps prevent future breakouts

 

[reallyrob]

Bertie was at the vet yesterday for the histiocytoma and the vet pointed out on both sides of Bertie her patches of lighter greyish hair....said it was seasonal and not to worry about it. Said it happens to one in 50 english bullies and 99% of the time it is not permanent.

 

[LariP]

There was a bully at the meet up yesterday with this. A vet was also there and talked about it a bit. (there wasn't a formal introduction, but we think he was the vet who treats a lot of the Milwaukee Bulldog Club bullies)