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My dog has a skin problem: flaky, itchy, and losing hair. What to do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Papillon | Female | unspayed | 1 year and 6 months old

hello dear vet! sorry I can't speek english well. my papillon dog has a skin problem. her skin is flaky and itchy and you can see the wide hairloss all over her body. please tell me what can I do for my dog. thank you

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on December 15th, 2018

This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat Monica with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advocate or advantage), then get her to 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 discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start her on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting her on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

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