bald spots.

[mommymystro]

I noticed a couple of days ago that mystro has these little bald spots on his back. They are only noticable when look at him from behind. I am not sure what this could be. He did have an allergic reaction when we changed his food to fish and broke out in hives. could this be from the hives? .

 

[nikkip410]

Yes they probablyAre from the allergic reaction..Rex gets random bald spots too put a little neosporin on it ..it will clear up

 

[karenben]

my dog had terrible reaction when fed a fish based kibble,also had very bad shedding and bald spots,its been 4 months and now shes getting better ,dont feed fish if thats what you think it is ,karen

 

[GatorRay]

Not sure? When Gypsy got those it was demodex mange but it could be allergies as well. If he gets more or they start to get bigger, then consider taking him to the vet. At this point, since there are only a couple, I would lean more to allergies .

 

[KristinMarie]

def get your vet to check for mange. This is exactly how my Rocco's mange started. They can see the mange parasite when they do a skin scrape and look under the microscope. Mange caused my baby to get hives as a side symptom. He had to get the "dips" which were scary since they can cause neurologic side effects (not sure what that means - seizures?). Not treating mange is very serious though. I suggest you look up on line mange symptoms and treatment. It can ultimately be fatal if it gets bad and goes untreated. My vet took this very seriously when I brought Rocco in after doing the "wait and see" thing for a month. So - I know you probably hate to have to spend the $ on vet bills - but its better to know either way and not worry about your bully.

The vet I go to was so careful to watch him carefully after each dip to make sure he was safe. He had to be dipped 3 times that were done 2 weeks apart over 6 weeks. It was pretty expensive and he had to be watched for up to 4 hours after each dip. They say that bullies have lower immune systems for the first 18 months which can cause them to be more open to getting mange. I guess all dogs can carry it without ever having problems but bullies are prone to having breakouts due to their poor immune systems.

Hopefully Rocco will out grow it soon (he is 14 months old now). He has just been checked and looks ok (no mange) for now.

 

[karenben]

mange is usually noticed on the face first so would not be overly concerned,dogs with allergy do get balding patches,excessive moulting ,hopefully the allergy has passed now so just leave the bald patches alone they will grow back promise lol,karen

 

[Jack Daniels]

Listen carefully people.....
There is definitely nothing wrong with having a bald spot. It is a right of passage (sort of speak) ...
Its just lets everyone know that you have an excess amount of Testosterone and are very virile


David Beckham has a bald spot. Enrique Iglesias has a bald spot...... Bono (from U2) has one.....
Sean Connery's entire head is a bald spot....


And so now, Mystro has one.. So he is in good company.!!

 

[Jack Daniels]

On a serious note, I agree with [MENTION=2242]karenben[/MENTION]. mange is first noticeable in the face area.

 

[2BullyMama]

If dry/flaky it could be a staph infection. Best to get him to the vet and have it checked. Maybe think about the blood allergy test to determine his food issues.

 

[modestmaya]

Juno gets spots every now and again-- she did have mange as a puppy but it was severe and really noticeable, NOT just some spots here and there.

Her spots now are just eczema, and I treat them with a little neosporin or sometimes antiseptic wash to kill the bacteria that causes it. Works great!

 

[BabyDuke]

Listen carefully people.....
There is definitely nothing wrong with having a bald spot. It is a right of passage (sort of speak) ...
Its just lets everyone know that you have an excess amount of Testosterone and are very virile


David Beckham has a bald spot. Enrique Iglesias has a bald spot...... Bono (from U2) has one.....
Sean Connery's entire head is a bald spot....


And so now, Mystro has one.. So he is in good company.!!

on a serious note I would lean more towards allergies.. Did you try a fish oil supplement?

 

[KristinMarie]

so - I can see the forum's general thoughts are "wait and see" or probably allergies...and that is great. Everyone has their own level of comfort for what they think might be benign or more serious and should be evaluated by your vet....I just would hate to have someone go through the intense treatment regime my bully had to endure because I did the wait and see and Rocco's mange go very bad (even though it only looked like a few bald spots - just like this picture) and it did not start on the face, it started on his back, side and shoulder....
Just saying that these breeds are very sensitive, have a ton of different skin issues all with various causes - and there are times when you should rely on your vet to look at it and make sure it isn't something more serious. If I had my bully checked for mange when I first saw the spots it would have cost me $120 - and I would have had simple topical treatment and done. Instead I did the "wait and see" for 6-8 weeks and it ended up costing me almost $850 and much more heartache with having to make sure his treatment with the "dips" didn't cause neurologic side effects.
Good luck with your bully - hope it is something easy to treat and not mange. Please keep us posted....
all my best
Rocco's mom

 

[Vicaroo1000]

@KristinMarie - I noticed these on Bea when she was a puppy and it turned out to be the beginnings of seasonal alopecia. In contrast, I take Bo in for what I think is an infected puncture wound on his cheek (from Bea chomping on his face) and he gets diagnosed with demodex mange! I would have never put that together!! I think what everyone is saying is that typically - in most cases - mange starts on the face - not the body. You are right: avoiding dips like you've described; absolutely. I think the best thing to do ALWAYS is go to the vet. No one in their right mind would 100% trust their bulldog's health and well being solely to the opinions of a forum; regardless of how knowledgeable we are here - and we are! Collectively, we are a force to be reckoned with!
Oh - and Hello from a fellow Washingtonian!