Lab going Bald!

[turtledove773]

Please Help! My 7 year old chocolate lab is losing his hair! His face is a disaster and has bald spots all over it along with his legs and torso.. the only part that seems to be spared is his tail and hindquarters. I took him to the vet last week and they have no clue what's wrong with him! The took skin scrapings for mange and did not find any mites, they took hair samples to look for fungus still waiting on that... so basically they sent me home with 2 types of shampoo to treat him for mange and a months worth of antibiotics to treat him for a viral infection.. I have two toddlers and both my husband and I work all day.. I have rarely seen him scratch or lick but it is possible he is and I just don't see it...he tends to hide once we all get home...any idea what else I can try... is there something I can give him that can help control any itching he may have?

[Kat7998]

i had a black lab who was 5 years,lost alot of fur, and vet couldnt find anything, and just kept getting antibiotics, after couple of months he was caughing, and did later find out it was due to his immune  system not working, and resulted to this and his lymp nodes were very swollen.

[turtledove773]

I did try to post the question to Dr. Cheng but that Forum seems to be full!

[Jaybay]

Your vet seems to have ruled out anything I could think of, but it may be interesting to see if it turns out to be fungus.  A neighbor's dog has the same problem with massive hair loss due to recurring fungal infections.  It's just something his owners have to stay on top of, but not serious.  It also didn't crop up until he was 6 years old.

Have you posted your question on the Ask a Vet forum?  Dr. Cheng would probably have some other ideas to run by your vet, along with some dietary aids that might help.

[turtledove773]

His diet has not changed he has been on the same food for several years. He also does not have fleas and the vet did a flea comb and did not find anything with it either.