My pitbull has black ear wax, dry skin, hair loss. Allergies or mites?

Question

My female pitbull x has an allergy issue that causes excessive buildup of black ear wax, our vet suggested an all meat diet (which was costing $400 monthly) then the brand (Zignature, from Petvalu in Canada) started supplying a dry version which is only about $120 monthly. Lately shes been getting excessively dry skin similar to my plaque psoriasis and the buildup is leathery and raw in places causing excessive amount of hair loss. Is this her allergies over acting or a possible mite or disease? Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Female | spayed | 13 years and 2 months old | 63 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 pitbull has black ear wax, dry skin, hair loss. Allergies or mites?

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