Puppy chewing fur, no fleas. How do vets diagnose mites or allergies?

Question

My puppy has been pulling out her fur and chewing on it for a couple of weeks now. She doesn’t have fleas or ticks. We’re in the middle of a food trial for allergies so it’s possible it’s the food but if it is mites how would a vet actually check for that? She has no irritation on the skin & we bathe her with oatmeal shampoo. She started pulling the fur on her ears because it was long so I trimmed it and then shaved her fur so that it’s not so long but she still continues to pull. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 9 months old | 10.6 lbs

Kevin Sanada, DVM · Accepted Answer

Mites and allergies are usually the top offenders for itching and hair falling out. If Snowball has not been checked for mites, then I would be surprised, because we (vets) usually want to rule this out as a cause for itching, before treating for allergies (especially food allergies, which are a more rare cause of allergies). A vet can check for mites bay scraping the skin and looking for the mites under the microscope. This requires about 10 minutes to do at a veterinary clinic. I definitely recommend consulting your vet about this, if it hasn't been done before. I hope that helps and Snowball gets better soon.

Puppy chewing fur, no fleas. How do vets diagnose mites or allergies?

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