My dog is losing hair in patches on his side and stomach. The patches are irregularly shaped and the fur scrapes off

HOw long have we had ear infections? What have you been using to treat them?

HOw long has the hair started to fall out like this and not grow back? Are we putting on weight? Slowing down? Harder time getting up and around?

Does the hair also seem more brittle, just kind of falls out almost and then does not grow back?

18 years ago I found this CHlorhexidine ear flush, it has decreased my repeat ear infection over 90%. The key is to keep the ear canal clean of debris and kill the yeast and bacteria. Most ear flushes I find just remove the debris, not kill the yeast and bacteria. Just wanted to share this with you to help. I practiced most of my career in the lake regions of Minnesota, we always have ear infections up there.

Have we put on any weight over the last year?

The ear flush will come in like a 12 or 16 ounce bottle. It has an end which is very nice for administering in the ear canal. Many different companies make it. It can have different names. Chlorhexidine is the main component to have in it. If you can find one with miconozole or ketoconazole, even better.

When we start to see this hair just falling out, more dandruff, not growing back in and getting less healthy. Many times we are concerned that hormonal (endocrine) problems are occurring. Hypothyroid is a top differential when this occurs. Low thyroid will make the hair go into a resting phase, it will fall out much more easily, is weaker, less healthy. When this occurs it also grows back in much slower, so the bald spots stay there. Then the skin is less healthy also, so we see more dandruff and flaking of the skin too. I would recommend to have a thyroid test done to assess for this. Low thyroid will also make the ear infections worse also. Is there any yeasty or musty odor to the body now or near the sores?

It can start like this, the areas many times like on the sides are friction points, where we get up and down, lay on, this rubs that hair off more hear than elsewhere at the beginning. You can also use a medicates shampoo that also has chlorhexidine and miconozole in it (one brand is called Malaseb), there is a spray called Micochlor that has the same ingredients in it too that you can spray on these. However my biggest concern on these cases is why the hair is falling out and not growing back in. That is why I mentioned testing the thryoid level. If it is low, you can start on a thyroid supplement, once the thyroid level comes up to more normal levels, then is maintained, more normal and healthy hair will start to grow back in.

I always like to look to find the underlying cause, not just treat the clinical signs. This is why you can do as I mentioned to work on the skin and ears topically. However being able to find the potential underlying cause to make us feel better overall will be so much more healthy for us. Any other questions I can answer for you now?