My dog has worsening hair loss, black dots, and scaly skin. What's wrong?

Question

We adopted our pet, who is 1.5-2.5 years old, and suffered from a skin condition (balding). Her hair has gotten worse over the last six months. Shes losing her good hair now too, and shedding excessively. She also has gotten black dots on her skin that seem to have spread on her whole back now. Her skin looks somewhat scaley. The doctors found nothing wrong with bloodwork and previously sent us antibiotics and a special shampoo and its worse rather than better. I’m convinced she has a disease. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | spayed | 12 lbs

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

Poor Sisi! I'm sorry to hear that she's having this problem. The most common conditions we see in dogs that cause hair loss and scaling would include allergies, bacterial or fungal skin infections, or skin mites (mange). If she has been treated for these conditions and has not improved, then I would agree that it sounds like something else may be wrong. Less common causes of these symptoms could include a systemic illness like Cushing's diseases or hypothyroidism (not very common in young dogs, but possible), or an autoimmune disease such as lupus or pemphigus foliaceus. I'm not sure what specific blood work has been done on Sisi, but you could certainly talk to your veterinarian about whether testing for these illnesses has been done. If lab work shows no abnormalities, then a skin biopsy would likely be the next recommended step to try and get a diagnosis.

My dog has worsening hair loss, black dots, and scaly skin. What's wrong?

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