My pit bull's skin is scaly, oozing, and bleeding. What can it be?

Question

Hi I have a 7 year old pit bull and he's always had bad skin mainly patchiness around his legs and on his belly but was never very bad. Recently its gotten worse parts of his belly are scaly and he has little holes on his elbows and legs that tend to ooze and squirt blood. Ive looked online and nothings seems to match his symptoms. What can it be? Pet's info: Dog | American Pit Bull Terrier | Male | unneutered | 6 years and 11 months old | 160 lbs

Alysia Van Scoy, DVM · Accepted Answer

Poor Romeo! Skin problems in dogs are usually related to allergies. Humans display allergies in our eyes and noses, but dogs do so in their skin. The top allergies are flea, food and inhalant. Flea allergies typically cause hair loss and itchiness on the back 1/3 of the dog especially around the tail. Food can cause ear problems and general skin issues. Inhalant tend to be on the legs and the abdomen and sometimes ears. When a dog has allergies, the skin isn't as healthy so it can't fight off the normally occurring yeast and bacteria on the skin, so they tend to get secondary bacterial or yeast infections. I am concerned that Romeo might have a secondary infection. Inhalant allergies tend to start from 3-5 years of age and tend to get worse... I recommend taking him to a veterinary and get a thorough exam. They will most likely do some diagnostics like a skin impression smear (push a slide on skin and check under a microscope), skin scrape (for mites) and a fungal culture. After they do that, they will discuss a treatment plan with you. Please have patience, there is not one plan that works for all allergy dogs. It is sometimes trial and error to find what works.... Kind of like it is for human allergies. :- ) Allergies can not be cured, only controlled. Communication is very important with your veterinarian to let them know what works and what doesn't. Good luck getting Romeo feeling better! Thanks for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

My pit bull's skin is scaly, oozing, and bleeding. What can it be?

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