Why is my dog's chronic skin disease spreading and causing baldness?

Question

Hello, for the last 3 years a skin disease has been spreading on my dog's entire upper part of the head, to the ears and the back. During this time we've visited a big number of veterinarians which either make the skin problem spread even more or they didnt help at all. Most of them said that we should put her on a special diet, but even after months and months of trying, the skin problem just gets worse. My dog's head is now bald and i just feel helpless. Please help. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | 8 years and 6 months old | 28 lbs

Silvia De Cecco, DVM, MRCVS · Accepted Answer

Poor Lily. If you already tried many different medication without success is probably because the skin disease doesn't have a name yet! I would suggest not to try any other therapy but to try to diagnose the disease. Focal alopecia (hair loss) can be a sign associated to different skin diseases. The most common are: Demodicosis (parasitic infection), dermatophytosis (fungal infection), immuno-mediated diseases, medication application site, alopecia areata (uncommon). Further test are needed to make a diagnosis and prescribe the correct treatment. Your vet might perform a skin scrape to check for parasite and collect a sample to exclude a fungal infection; further test might be needed depending on the results of the ones mentioned. If those basic tests are negative, a biopsy and a allergy testing under general anaesthetic/sedation might need to be performed to reach the diagnosis. I would suggest to refer to a veterinarian specialist in dermatology  because Lily's case seems quite challenging. Good luck and do not hesitate to post again on the forum or request a consultation if you would like to discuss it any further. I hope this answer was helpful.

Why is my dog's chronic skin disease spreading and causing baldness?

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