It can be very worrisome to any pet parent to see their fur baby losing fur. It is very important to identify the cause to get your pet the proper treatment. Continue reading to learn what causes fur loss and what to discuss with your vet,
What is Alopecia?
Alopecia is the medical term for hair loss in dogs.
Possible Causes
- Allergies- Environmental triggers such as pollen, dust mites, mold or even fleas can cause an allergic reaction causing hair loss. The same affect can occur with food allergies. If this is the case with your dog, you’ll start to notice your pup demonstrating a lot of scratching, biting on a certain area, and of course hair loss.
- Infestation or Infections- This is cause by parasites like fleas, ticks, and mites. Obvious signs are fleas.ticks, redness, itchiness, and inflammation, Another concern would be ringworm. Ringworm is a fungus that causes circular hair loss and infected crust.
- Crushing disease- is more commonly found in senior dogs and is caused by prolonged exposure to the hormone cortisol. Symptoms are darken skin, pot-bellied abdomen, and fur loss.
- Genetic- Some breeds are just prone to fur balding compared to others. If this is the case your dog will have patchy or patterned fur loss around the outer ear, chest, back, thigh, or lower neck.
- Bed sores- aka pressure sores are injuries usually on the elbow or other boney pressure points that come into close contact with hard surfaces. The constant pressure and friction causes calluses that may loosen hair and skin cracking or bleeding.