[fernalfer]

My Boxer is 15 weeks old right now and has some spot on the top of his head where the hair is thinning and in those areas it looks a little red. He also has 2 tiny spots on his leg doing the same thing as well.

Now when we got him from the breeder he was fed IAMS Puppy chow. At around 12 weeks he started developing that hair loss scabby red looking areas. So we thought maybe it was his food so we switched to Canidae All Life stages. We slowly have transitioned him from one food to another and at almost 16 weeks is now on all Canidae. But those spots have not gone away. Now i'm not sure if he was allergic to Iams and is allergic to Canidae as well. He does have a vet appointment tomorrow for his last shot of kennel cough and lyme disease.

But in the meantime does anyone have any clues or comments or suggestions. It is not itching him. Just not sure what to do with the food situation, and also not sure if i should be giving him anything to try and remedy the situation.

Any help would be appreciated from you more experienced Boxer owners then myself.

 

[tootsie]

Might want to suggest a skin scrape for mange while at the vet's office tomorrow. Of course it could be anything, but at 15 weeks, that's what it sounds like to me. Let us know how it goes at the vets office tomorrow.

 

[sharonL]

I agree to have your pup checked for demodectic mange!!!!  It sounds like it could be that....If it is dont worry you can not catch it....

 

[fernalfer]

Yeah thats not my worry but if it is mange is it treatable?

 

[sharonL]

Yeah thats not my worry but if it is mange is it treatable?

Yes it is!!!! And catching it early is the plus!!!!

 

[48Dodge]

Yes, it's treatable.  Just ask Cooper.  His skin has completely recovered, still gaining hair back.  If it is demodex, then it's best to catch it early.

 

[sumyasmom]

Yes, it's treatable.  Just ask Cooper.  His skin has completely recovered, still gaining hair back.  If it is demodex, then it's best to catch it early.

btw, cooper looks fantastic ! i cannot believe that is the same guy from few months ago! he seems to be doing very well!

 

[48Dodge]

thanks!  Yeah, I can't believe the way he's recovered, myself.  I'd pass along your statement to Cooper but he's already full of himself as it is.  He doesn't need any more ammo.

 

[DUKE01]

Duke had it too just not as bad as Cooper.  His went away after we started treating him with ointment.  Plus we got him on a better food and that help too.  And Cooper does look great you did a great job with him.

 

[fernalfer]

Well we went to the Vet and he took a skin scrape and sure enough found mites. He said because he only has a few spots with hairloss it isn't something to be to concerned about. He gave me Goodwinol Ointment to give once a day for ten days and he says it should go away. He also said since he is still a puppy that as he grows older and his immune system builds up it will keep it from coming back. So i'm crossing my fingers that this ointment clears up this issue.

 

[HannaBanana]

Glad you found the root of the issue - however in the mean time I would build up his immue system by using some fish oils (salmon oil, sardines etc) in the mean time.  I also use liquid echinacia in their food too.   Just a thought and hope for a speedy recovery.

 

[Tiggy]

Glad you found the answer, hope he heals back up quickly...in the meantime you can call him baldy

is it the contagious type of mange?

 

[fernalfer]

No it is the non contagious form of mange. I actually had to find out because the Daycare he goes to needed to know. And Hanna thanks i will pick up some of the liquid Echinacia to do just that. I am just glad that it isn't from an allergy from food or who knows what. Sometimes it is harder to get to the root of an allergy problem

 

[Tiggy]

Bruce has hereditary mange (at least that's what the vet called it, probably has a real name), which is non-contagious, we lucked out by catching it early and treating it aggressively and thankfully he's never had another problem with it, hopefully you'll never have to worry about it again either

 

[48Dodge]

"Hereditary" is really an inaccurate term to describe the mange.  If you'd like to do some research, lookup demodex or demodectic mange.  Also called red mange.    As bad as Cooper was, it was kind of hard to believe it wasn't contagious.  We were all sure we were going to catch something, but of course never did.  Cooper is just about to finish up his oral ivermectin.  I believe it is typically used in generalized demodex, though.

 

[Tiggy]

thanks for the info!  I knew it wasn't a correct term for it, but it had stuck with me for so long that I had no clue what it was actually called anymore.  I've known 3 purebreds of different breeds who had it and it just kinda became a generic name.

I do have a question though, based on what I just looked up, it's passed from the mother to the pups via contact - does that mean that it wasn't a breeding concern with Bruce?  Not saying I would have bred him, but it was never even considered since I was under the mistaken impression that he could pass it on to the litter.

 

[48Dodge]

Well shoot!  Went to post and it didn't go through

Anyway, here's what I understand. The mite is passed from mother to pup, but it's a mite that pretty much 100% of dogs have.  Just like all humans have a similar mite on (or actually in) their skin.  Try not to think about that too much

I think more correctly, the suppressed immune system is what's passed along from parents to pup.  So, a dog that has demodex should not be bred.

 

[Tiggy]

great, thanks!  As odd as it sounds, I was hoping that was the answer....probably wouldn't have done anything differently, but nice to know the decision was based on good info...even if I didn't fully know the details

 

[DUKE01]

Thats what I heard too.  Duke has had it twice but has been fine since.  We put him on a better food and we are going to start giving him a little garlic this one website Hannabanana posted said that it should help with mites and his immune system so we are going to try it.

 

[kris]

I am glad you found out what was causing that. I hope that he is doing better!