Puppy's thinning fur

[bbar]

Hello there! I have a question regarding our puppy, he's an approx. 4month old male Min Pin, ~7lbs., currently up to date on shots.

He has developed thinning fur areas on his body. It started on his back legs / thigh area, and now it's above one eye and a bit on his head. It's thin, but he's not bald. He has/had itched his thigh areas in the past. While looking at the areas, the skin seems to be fine, no discoloring or wounds. I'm a bit concerned only because he's started to get it on his head. His activity and behavior is as normal as can be - eating & drinking well and playing fine. Could this patchy fur loss be a concern?

Thank you for your time. :)

[onetime]

Might be the food you have it on. What are you feeding it?

[dragonfly]

Any signs of fleas?

[Brad Buckley, D.V.M.]

My first thought is that it could possibly be demodectic mange. This is a non-contagious form of mange that causes patchy hairloss but does not typically itch. It is usually seen in pups less than a year of age and can usually be treated without too much trouble. I would schedule an appointment with your vet so that a simple test called a "skin scrape" can be performed. Good luck with your pup.

[spedkiddos]

It is usually seen in pups less than a year of age and can usually be treated without too much trouble.

That is unless they don't like the sight of a syringe or the smell of apples! :)

[bbar]

Hello, thank you for all of the replies! He did have fleas when we adopted him (@ 8wks), he contracted a tapeworm shortly after. We've medicated both conditions and all seems well in the department.

We feed him the Natural Life Puppy Lamaderm, we found at Walmart.

He's scheduled for his next shots soon, we'll have him checked then.

Thank you again! =)

[Night Owl]

Change to a better brand of food. The food may be more expensive but it makes for a healthier pup.

[TexMexYum]

Hello there! I have a question regarding our puppy, he's an approx. 4month old male Min Pin, ~7lbs., currently up to date on shots.

He has developed thinning fur areas on his body. It started on his back legs / thigh area, and now it's above one eye and a bit on his head. It's thin, but he's not bald. He has/had itched his thigh areas in the past. While looking at the areas, the skin seems to be fine, no discoloring or wounds. I'm a bit concerned only because he's started to get it on his head. His activity and behavior is as normal as can be - eating & drinking well and playing fine. Could this patchy fur loss be a concern?

Thank you for your time. :)

He could also have ringworm - even though you don't see the typical round, raised patches. You are describing exactly what my cat's symptoms were. The vet took some hair samples and skin scrapings and he tested positive for ringworm. After two months of pills, he's looking normal again.

[FieryPrincess]

My lab contracted the demodectic mange as a puppy and she was the ugliest baldest thing you ever did see for a year! We tried everything imaginable to no effect.

Eventually it started to grow back in the same order in which it fell out. It was weird.

Even weirder was that forever after that - she was invisible to fleas - they wouldn't touch her!

I also vote with the trip to vet.