Skin Allergies

  I took my rescue lab mix female Frannie to the vet in Feb. She has beautiful red hair and she always has had a full coat. Last Summer her hair fell out in large patches until she was almost hairless. The vet told me that the heat was effecting her and gave me a cream to use. It seemed to work ok, but her skin was tough and leathery. Over the winter months, her hair came back and she had a full coat again. Now that it is getting hot, her hair is againfalling out. Is there some other remedy that I can use to protect her skin? Bless her heart, she looks miserable. Thanks for any help you might be able to give.

Angel

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Seasonal Atopy (skin allergies), hypothyroid, hyperadrenocorticism, auto-immune disorders, and other illness can cause hair loss.  Since it seems to only occur in the summer, it could also be related to flea allergy dermatitis, mites, or other parasites.  Please us a highly effective topical anti-flea monthly medication, such as Revolution, which treats scabies, ear mites, fleas and some ticks.

It would be best to acquire a definitive diagnosis to provide for the most effective treatment.  Since the topical medication that your vet gave you to use last year was effective, try using that again if the vet will give you a refill until you can have her adequately tested, with a skin scraping, allergy testing, skin biopsy, and more.

A therapeutic trial may help with the anti-allergy and anti-fungal medications: Atopica, prednisone and ketoconazole for the leathery skin that you describe.  The leathery skin is known as lichcantification and occurs from severe chronic allergic skin inflammation and irritation.