Itching and Loosing Hair ?

[Jen114]

Does anyone's Cav itch and loose hair in summer?

Kayla had been itching alot lately and i looked on her tummy and noticed that the hair has really thined out it is much much thiner i am actually a bit worried about it!!!!

Do you think there is anything to worry? We can see the skin on her chest whilst before we couldn't

the temperature is in the 30c here

Thanks for you help

[Karlin]

I'd check with a vet. It wouldn't be normal to be losing coat in that way and something will also be causing the itching -- allergies, fleas, mites, mange... it could be many things but warrants a vet visit. Maybe losing puppy coat but the itching would be separate.

[Jen114]

Thanks for advice!!!!

I called the vet this morning....

(reason:- in order for me to go to my vet i have to take a day off of work they only open mon-fri 8am-2pm)

She said if there is no redness/ pimples/ and or if the skin looks normal to keep a watch on it.... The skin is pure white no irritation at all this is why i was confused why she was loosing the hair...

I will watch it if bad i will take a sicky at work and take my baby to the doctor

[brid kenny]

That's happening to Phoebe as well. I noticed pink on her chest i.e. her skin. She is shedding like mad at the moment. Possibliy losing her puppy coat? She isn't scratching and the vet didn't say anything about it.
Brid.

[Charleen]

It could be a food allergy. My B&T itched a lot, even as a puppy. Her full coat never grew in, because her nails were always scratching her coat and cutting off her hair. I finally took her to a dermatology vet. We are still doing food tests, but she is allergic to some foods. She is now eating a dog food from the vet made of rabbit & potato and the itching stopped all together and her coat started to fill in. I am in the phase of food testing where I give her back certain of the old treats to see exactly what she is allergic to.

[Jen114]

It could be .... Kayla is a very fussy eater and i actually feed her 3 different kinds of dried food mixed together.....

Royal Canine Adult
Nutro chicken and rice
Science plan

i ground some chicken with this and give her 1/3 cup morning and evening

[Karlin]

It's not really recommended to mix foods together -- mainly as there's no reason to do this but also it makes more sense to rotate them around every bag or so if you want variety. All foods are to be fed in different amounts usually as their contents are different and this means you aren;t giving a balanced meal but a mishmash of differently calibrated foods.

More info from this link:

http://www.cavaliertalk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2566

As always I do recommend watching closely if anyone has a cavalier that is scratching a lot without any clear reason. And be cautious of vets suggesting allergies. Allergies in dogs are not terriibly common whereas all studies so far show that syringomyelia and PSOM are (50% plus of cavaliers). These may only ever affect a dog so that it scratches but most neurologists feel scratching is a sign of some basic pain and neurological damage and if it continues, still with no success at finding a cause, consider trying some of the treatments for SM like frusemide -- which is inexpensive. PSOM causes scratching too and if very irritating to a dog may require having the middle ear flushed, often more than once, which is a surgical procedure. There;s more info on both these conditions at www.sm.cavaliertalk.com.

It makes sense to watch for anything else that might seem odd. Note this is a comment about scratching with no discoverable reason, not about losing coat, amnd about persistent scratching, not the ususal few times a day, short scratches.

[Harry & Heidi's mom]

My neighbours dog has had a problem like this for almost a year, thy've finally found out that shes allergic to the frontline flea treatment!
have you used this recently??

[Maxxs_Mummy]

Charlie was driving us mad with his scratching and hair loss but he was also biting his tummy and anywhere else that was itching.

James did a Heska top screen and flea on him which is a blood test to test for allergies and things. It took a few weeks for the results to get back but Charlie is allergic to loads of things . We are now awaiting a breakdown of the whole allergy thing.

In the meantime we have changed his food to Burns and the only treats he gets are Burns Kelties, veg, fruit or cooked chicken (not altogether!!!!) he is also on a very expensive immuno suppressant treatment but my goodness is it working!!!! The first day he had his capsule all he did was scratch and cry & I was getting so upset that every time he was crying, so was I

Now however, he's been on the treatment for about 12 days and he's doing brilliantly. Rarely scratches but is still trying to chew his tummy a bit I'm hoping that the full results will be with James when we next see him this week. Charlie has to be on this treatment for 8 weeks and then goes onto some other treatment for a few months.

Just watch for symptoms and try and make a note of them all together with times etc & foods the dog has eaten that day too. It will all help the Vet.

[Claire]

If she has a harness just double check that - as Woody went a bit bald on his chest with the last one - even though they are soft,the long hair sometimes catches and in the holes..... (vet checked it for us).