Why is my Pomeranian losing fur? Causes, treatment, skin care tips.

Question

My 8-year-old male pomeranian has lost his fur recently, on his back legs, tail and lower back mainly. A vet prescribed him cortisone to rule out any inflamation-related causes and also suggested to give him weekly baths with a "special shampoo". Do you support this cortisone intake? Are there any other causes we might have overlooked? (we changed his food recently) If his fur doesn´t come back, how can I take care of his skin? Thank you! (before and after photos attached). Pet's info: Dog | Pomeranian | Male | unneutered | 8 years and 7 months old | 12 lbs

Ricardo Fernandez, DVM · Accepted Answer

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Cortisone can help if for example this is due to allergies and it is causing him to be itchy. This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are medications such as Apoquel or prednisone which may help with the itch.    There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies.   Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market).   If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests.   Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

Why is my Pomeranian losing fur? Causes, treatment, skin care tips.

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