My dog is losing hair clumps with dead skin. Could it be serious?

Question

My 13 yr old Jack Russel keeps losing clumps of hair with a patch of dead skin attached holding the hairs together, could this be something serious? I am out of work at the moment and can't afford to take her to the vet but am worried what if it's serious? I took a picture of one of the clumps that fell out and have attached it. I would appreciate any advice you could give. Thank you. Pet's info: Dog | Jack Russell Terrier | Female | spayed | 20 lbs

Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS · Accepted Answer

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!

My dog is losing hair clumps with dead skin. Could it be serious?

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