Seasonal Flank Alopecia??? or Some sort of Mange

[Bazza]

Been spending time looking back at posts about the above problems in fact never heard of Seasonal Flank Alopecia until I read back [MENTION=11501]chemist[/MENTION] and others posts.

Here in Australia we are going from winter to Summer.
So at first a thought he may be losing his winter coat.
But on close inspection I can see he is losing his hair, seems to be only on the black skin areas down both sides !

Vets are not open til tomorrow so I will ring them in the morning so I know what I am dealing with.
Any suggestions to ask the vet.

 

[2BullyMama]

That is too much area, I think, for SA..... Might be mange? Ask the vet to do a skin scrape..

 

[Bazza]

Thanks [MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION] I am freaking out alittle, cannot ring the vet yet as middle of the night. He is not itching or anything, or doesn't seem uncomfortable. Fingers crossed for tommorrow.

 

[bullmama]

Take a deep breath! Don't freak out just yet. It could also be a skin infection. It does look like too much area to be SFA, but our bullies don't follow the rules when it comes to skin issues. Let us know what the vet says...

 

[agentbunny]

If that was mange that had generalized to that large of an area, there would be bald spots and the dog would have a very strong smell, kind of like a mousey musk. Hard to explain but It smells like the musk of bunch of mice in a cage in a pet store. Does your pup have this mousy odor? Does he smell like yeast or corn chips? That can be a sign of a yeast infection of the skin.

 

[Manydogs]

[MENTION=9179]Bazza[/MENTION] My Maude had seasonal flank al. last year. It ran down both her sides. On one side the hair has all grown back, but her other side is still bare and black(pretty big
area about 5 inches long.) It has filled on at the top part of the bareness. Taking a long time(if ever!)

 

[aprilemari]

if it was mange he'd be terribly itchy. Lola gets bald spots because of food allergies. every once in a while i try to feed her beef, and every time. bald spots. i think that was the last time i'll try

 

[Bazza]

Thanks for your input and help. We went to the vet today, the vet has taken blood as she is 100% sure it is not mange, and is thinks it doesn't look like SFA but is pretty sure it is a thyroid problem. So I have to wait till tomorrow for results, if it is he will have to go on tablets. She was confident this is the issue. She said that is why he maybe "overweight" how rude?! LOL and he most likely abit lethargic as well.

That is too much area, I think, for SA..... Might be mange? Ask the vet to do a skin scrape..

Bazza freaked when she tried to do a skin scrap once she hurt him, that was it.

Take a deep breath! Don't freak out just yet. It could also be a skin infection. It does look like too much area to be SFA, but our bullies don't follow the rules when it comes to skin issues. Let us know what the vet says...

Thanks Bullmama

If that was mange that had generalized to that large of an area, there would be bald spots and the dog would have a very strong smell, kind of like a mousey musk. Hard to explain but It smells like the musk of bunch of mice in a cage in a pet store. Does your pup have this mousy odor? Does he smell like yeast or corn chips? That can be a sign of a yeast infection of the skin.

No smell at all no completely bald spots either, just losing hair.

if it was mange he'd be terribly itchy. Lola gets bald spots because of food allergies. every once in a while i try to feed her beef, and every time. bald spots. i think that was the last time i'll try

Does not appear to be itchy and Bazza is not trying to itch it all.

 

[2BullyMama]

Wow... Thyroid? Never thought of that... Please keep us posted on how he is doing?

 

[Bazza]

Wow... Thyroid? Never thought of that... Please keep us posted on how he is doing?

I was not thinking Thyroid either, she took him in the back to get a blood test and passed another a vet on the way who looked at him and said Does he have a Thyroid Problem ???? Be interesting to see if it is, and if it is what the medication will do for him ???

 

[rjisaterp]

Thanks for the post.

 

[aprilemari]

our cat has hyperthyroidism, we noticed it when she was drinking alot of water and losing alot of weight. one permanent treatment woudl be to deliver radioactive iodine, which will get carried to thyroid, killing the cells. but then your pet is radioactive (no joke) for months. We opted to feed Hills y/d food, which contains no iodine for the thyroid to react to. SHe got better right away on the new food. We can't feed her any treats, but she seems to like the prescription food. Overweight sounds like the opposite, hypothyroidism.

 

[Manydogs]

I should have thought of that myself-as my Malanois had to take thyroid meds.-sorry I have dogmentia at my age!

 

[agentbunny]

great post! I will have to read up on thyroid conditions

 

[Bazza]

The vet rang today and confirmed Bazza has an inactive Thyroid which I think bascially means that the thyroid is not making enough hormone, causing weight gain, hair loss and they can be lethargic / depressed. He is prescribed tablets the vets says he will be on for the rest of his life !!!!!! Bugger Bugger I hate the thought of that. I will have to do some research, hope we did not contribute in anyway to this. The vet reckons we will see a different dog within months, that will be interesting to see !

[MENTION=8741]Manydogs[/MENTION] I am with you I would forget my head if it wasn't attached to me LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will have to read into it alot more however.

[MENTION=10206]agentbunny[/MENTION] I will be doing some reading on it now, to find out more, I had no idea.