# Hair loss and spots



## bb93444 (Jun 28, 2018)

Our brown V is almost 2 years and has developed some spotty hair loss and small bumps that do go away in time. He only gets them on his sides... See pic... This particular pic shows an unusually larger area, normally they are just small pimple like spots. We have changed to a grain free diet about a week ago so we are hoping this will help... We did go to the vet and was given medicated shampoo to start with, but that does not seem to help. Before I go back to the vet, I was hoping someone out there has seen this too... Please advise...thanks


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Are her bumps itchy?
Just wondering if the hair loss is from scratching. Most skin infections need a antibiotic to clear up.
My pup is on a antibiotic right now. She started having small bumps on her neck, that were starting to spread. Not sure if she is allergic to her new collar. Her collar is off for now, and she will go back to using the old one.


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## crhawke (May 22, 2011)

*hair loss and bumps*

Our Vizsla is 11 yrs old. She has had his same problem for a long time. The bumps
burst, the hair is lost but it does grow back. I sure would like to know what causes this!


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## bb93444 (Jun 28, 2018)

I would like to know too... In our case, the condition does not bother him at all, in fact, he acts as he does not even no he has a problem. I want to go to our vet with some ammo so that they at least have a direction to go in. I am sure there is someone out there in Vizsla land that has had this problem.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Unless they have some underlying health condition. It's normally one of three things. Allergy, mites, or skin infection. 
Although skin infections can be secondary.


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## Rydeer (May 22, 2019)

My red V dog Ryder has the same issue at 4 yrs old. Started in April and still struggling with it. My wife was in another town with my daughters dog and mention Ryder's issue. This vet #1 prescribed Apoquel which actually shuts down the dogs immune system. We decide not to give him this med. Vet #2 said it was not mange. Prescribed him steroids (prednisone) and antibiotics ( Doxycline ). Bumps when down but hair loss was still there. He was looking good until I made the mistake of asking for a shampoo that was mild and got medicated shampoo (DermAlllay) with instructions to bath him 2 times a week. My wife washed him and some of his ear hair was just gone. I got concerned and washed him a week later and more of his hair just vanished on his ears. So now he is loosing hair on his flanks, spine and neck. Taking him to vet #3 for another opinion. I am wondering if the shampoo has messed him up or does he have something else. Vet #2 never responded to me when I kept asking him "is it allergies?" Nothing in my dogs life has changed except Spring time. If someone can recommend a healthy skin conditioning shampoo that would be helpful. I was giving him fish oil, cod liver oil, primrose oil tablets and it seemed to work until the shampoo. Any advice would be appreciated. In April he did dig up a gopher tunnel in the back yard. That is why I took him to the vet bc I thought it was a bacterial infection or mange. And I believe the hair loss is from scratching. I am dousing him with almond oil. Seems to help the scratching and gives him something else to focus on.


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## Tennesseetexan (Oct 5, 2015)

*Hair loss, spots & bumps*

Ryder - My situation with my red V Piper sounds so similar. About two months ago (Spring) she started with an itchy ears and she ended up with hives and an ear infection (and a few spots with hair loss around her face). We took her to the vet and they treated with antibiotics and ear ointment, which cleared it up. About month later, she was scratching at her ears again and they were swelling again with hives and more hair loss. We took her back and they said she did not have an infection and believed the whole thing stemmed from allergies. They gave her steroids and ear ointment to help settle things down...which it did...until we ran out of steroids. On to vet visit #3, where they ran a scratch test for bacteria and mites/mange(which were negative) suggested another round of steroids + apoquel. We gave that a try for a week and as soon the as steroids were gone...the bumps/hives and hair loss continued. On to visit #4 last week where the vet ended up calling a local vet dermatologist bc she was at a loss. That vet wants to treat as though it is possible a bacterial infection (despite the negative skin test), so she is now on day 4 of antibiotics, plus benadryl 2x per day. We were also prescribed an antimicrobial shampoo with chlorhexidrine in it and are supposed to shampoo her 3 to 4 times per week. Since we started those shampoos earlier this week, i'm noticing much more hair loss. I feel just awful for her and I'm not sure what our next step should be. Did you find any answers for Ryder? Has anything you've done helped?

Thanks in advance,

Tennessetexan 



Rydeer said:


> My red V dog Ryder has the same issue at 4 yrs old. Started in April and still struggling with it. My wife was in another town with my daughters dog and mention Ryder's issue. This vet #1 prescribed Apoquel which actually shuts down the dogs immune system. We decide not to give him this med. Vet #2 said it was not mange. Prescribed him steroids (prednisone) and antibiotics ( Doxycline ). Bumps when down but hair loss was still there. He was looking good until I made the mistake of asking for a shampoo that was mild and got medicated shampoo (DermAlllay) with instructions to bath him 2 times a week. My wife washed him and some of his ear hair was just gone. I got concerned and washed him a week later and more of his hair just vanished on his ears. So now he is loosing hair on his flanks, spine and neck. Taking him to vet #3 for another opinion. I am wondering if the shampoo has messed him up or does he have something else. Vet #2 never responded to me when I kept asking him "is it allergies?" Nothing in my dogs life has changed except Spring time. If someone can recommend a healthy skin conditioning shampoo that would be helpful. I was giving him fish oil, cod liver oil, primrose oil tablets and it seemed to work until the shampoo. Any advice would be appreciated. In April he did dig up a gopher tunnel in the back yard. That is why I took him to the vet bc I thought it was a bacterial infection or mange. And I believe the hair loss is from scratching. I am dousing him with almond oil. Seems to help the scratching and gives him something else to focus on.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

A good chance the hair loss was from the hives. It does not fall out immediately. If your seeing improvements in the other areas, I would keep up what you are doing.


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## Rydeer (May 22, 2019)

Sorry for not updating. Vet #3 scraped his skin and it showed bacterial with some yeast. He said Vet #2 used antibiotics for a skin condition, not for bacterial growth. ? Also, the DermAllay prescription shampoo was really a hair stripper. Just like you I listened to a Vet #2 and he was wrong. I ended up buying a dog shampoo called Nulife Oatmeal Shampoo For Dogs With Soothing Aloe Vera and bathing him once a week. It is on amazon and has made a big difference in itchy skin and hair coming back. I'ts been over 5 weeks and he looks very good. He has a few dry spots left but he does not look like a leper any more. I think he got the bacterial digging up ground squirrel holes but it might be from allergies.


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## Rydeer (May 22, 2019)

Well it came back and I finally did the punch test. My Red V has sebaceous adenitis. Just what I was avoiding and because of my avoidance the last measure was the punch test. Should have been the first test. Oh well, we will figure it out and live with it. I hope others here do not have the same luck as Rydeer. I think two vizslas are enough for me. Both had genetic health issues. Good luck everybody.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

@Rydeer
S.A has became more common in Vizslas.
I'm so sorry you've had bad luck with the breed.
Deb


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## vizslawolf (Jul 16, 2015)

I am sorry for the diagnosis, unfortunately, i think my V may potentially have it as well. She started with itching the side of her face and then caused it to scab and hair loss followed. We had the Cytopoint shot to stop the itching, and her face cleared up nicely, but recently, now a couple weeks later it seems to be back. The side of her head has red irritated area and hair loss and the edges of her ears are scaling up and loosing hair. Do you have any recommendations on what has helped combat the disease best? We are going back to the vet tomorrow to try and have her tested for SA.

Thanks all


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## A-arons Kodster (Sep 2, 2018)

vizslawolf said:


> I am sorry for the diagnosis, unfortunately, i think my V may potentially have it as well. She started with itching the side of her face and then caused it to scab and hair loss followed. We had the Cytopoint shot to stop the itching, and her face cleared up nicely, but recently, now a couple weeks later it seems to be back. The side of her head has red irritated area and hair loss and the edges of her ears are scaling up and loosing hair. Do you have any recommendations on what has helped combat the disease best? We are going back to the vet tomorrow to try and have her tested for SA.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks all


I posted in another thread....that our dog Kody was showing alot of the same symptoms that some of you were experiencing. The Vet checked him for mites....Negative....said it couldn't be S.A. ....we took it upon ourselves to try a holistic approach vs Steroids and other meds. We did omega 3-6-9 , primrose and cod liver pills with a can of tuna with oil or olive oil for every meal with his normal food.Gave it a month and it made a huge improvement. We also did bath him twice a week with Shampoo to help also with removing excess hair. We bought all of the Omega 3-6-9...primrose and cod liver pills off amazon and Tuna from the local grocery store. Good luck !

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