Socks (our 13yo male Sheltie) has lost his hair in patches every mid-summer (May, June) through late summer (August) or early Fall (September). We've taken him to two different veterinarians for this. The first vet did thyroid tests and gave him medication which did not help. The second vet thought it may be an allergic reaction to something here in Mississippi which makes more sense to me since this happens seasonally (during the summer) when organisms have re-birthed. He said the allergen could be plants, insects, etc. He may have even said the patchy hair loss could be directly heat-related.
I've "read" that if the patches are symmetrical/identical on both sides of his body then it is more likely an internal (e.g, hormonal) issue, and that if they exist in non-symmetrical patches then it is more likely an allergic reaction to something. It seems that his patches are not bilaterally symmetrical for the most part (there are exceptions). I thought that the allergen could be fleas since our terrier gets them constantly, even though I have not been able to find any fleas or traces of them on Socks. I've seen pictures of dogs with flea-allergy dermatitis and looks similar to what Socks looks like every summer. The quick loss of hair in patches causes mats to form around the perimeter of each patchy hairless region. Also, there are crusty flakes on the skin.
Here's a couple pictures I took earlier today:
Does anybody here know what may be going on and what I should do and/or not do? What should my next step be? He gets fish oil and Benedryl for the skin issues/allergy along with his vitamins every day which seems to have helped some this summer in that he used to lose a lot more hair.
Altho we had never experainced this with the two shelties,our lab Earnhardt suffered with very similar patches every summer as well,right up until a year ago.
This is what we found out,and what we did.I always thought it was an allerg,and in a sense it was.Earnhardt would have these areas,almost circular in shape,and sometimes they were not.
Prior to bringing home Trapp,a year ago,Earnhardt at the time had two quarter size areas on each hind leg.They were so badly chewed,dry,and bloodied from his constant chewing at them,that they looked terrible.
We took him to our vet,to be examined.He did a scraping,and ruled out ring worm.After long talks with him,he suggested it could be a corn allergy.All of Earnhardts life right up until shortly before Trapp came home,Earnies food consumption had corn or by-broducts as an ingrediant.
He also told us that the constant itching could possibly be a nerve issue.He compared it to...like have you ever had an itch say on your leg,but the itch was down deep into the leg muscle.Kinda feels like it is pinching,and the more you scratch,the more it does'nt go away.
And often times,the skin becomes irritated,or even sore if you scratch it alot.Well this is the same as what was happining to Earnhardt he felt.He was chewing so much,he made the areas raw & bloddy,but with no relief from chewing.
He was put on prednisone,was given a shot that day,and also was givin a topical lotion to be applied.I will look to see the name,and let you know.
The vet strongly suggested switching food,which we did.We also gave Earnhardt some local honey (tablespoon).He had a bath in soothing oatmeal based shampoo,and a cone of shame was put on him.
We also at that time ordered our first jar of Vibrant Pets.It was our first experiance with Vibrant Pets.And what a transformation we had in 2 weeks.The hair grew back,he stopped chewing.Now in combination,between medication,lotion,a diet change..I do feel was the healing factors.
He has not had one episode in one year.So the changes were made for the better for him.
The prescription was called Synotic.
