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Why is my dog constantly itching, losing hair, and has red skin?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Male | 2 years and 9 months old | 47 lbs

My 2 1/2 year old Aruba mutt is a mess. We have been suffering with his skin condition since he was 8 months old. 3 vets can't figure out what is wrong. He's been treated for mites but then his symptoms come back. Hair loss is huge. My natural vet has given him allergy pill and a natural cortisone. He is still on the alley pill 3x's a day. Cortisone pill has been done for 2 weeks and now his belly looks red. He is itching his face ears and pits more. I'm at a loss. Raw diet for 3 months.

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4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Macartney, BVet Med, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on October 19th, 2017

I am so sorry to hear that you are having such a difficult time with Paxton's skin. Skin issues can be very troubling to get on top of and it sounds like you have tried many things. I would suggest the following, as I believe there may be an allergy component to the skin issues. I would only bathe Paxton very infrequently to keep his natural skin oils in place. These oils protect his skin. Switch to a hypoallergenic food for 6 weeks and do not feed anything else during this time. No table scraps or treats. The food should be a novel protein that Paxton has not had. Such as duck or hydrolyzed protein. There are several commercial hypoallergenic diets I suggest hills science diet. I would also start Paxton on A veterinary approved vitamin e and fish oil supplement. Here is a link to the products I use for my own dogs and you can have a 20% discount for being a petcoach user. The code is "petcoach20". Use cutaneo Trubenefits and omega canine benefits http://www.vrshealth.com/canine-products/?petcoach=1977955

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on February 10th, 2019

    Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

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    Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 24th, 2019

    Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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    Answered By Lindsey Edwards MVB, BSc, IVCA

    Veterinarian

    Published on September 29th, 2017

    Poor Milo - I wold be concerned he may have n underlying condition such as allergic skin disease which is contributing to the relapsing signs. Many of these require lifelong medication and management with special diets and medicated washes. I recommend a 6 week trial on a hydrolyzed diet such as royal canin hypoallergenic (with no treats, snacks or flavored tablets) to rule out food sensitivities followed by antiallergy medication if not resolving

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