my boxer dogs losing his hair....

[iateallthecreameggsyummy]

Ok we have a 4 year old boxer dog who is spoilt rotten, his diet is James Wellbeloved and hes always been on this brand. We feed him natural yoghurt once a fortnight and other than this he has no other food treats and does not eat our food scraps.

On his back towards his back legs he has started to lose hair on both sides its quite symetrical really and its now moving towards the front of his body. He is perfectly fine in himself. The area is not red or inflammed and he doesnt seem to be affected by it.

I partly wonder if this is stress related as it started around the time i got pg and had a mc. We have googled and the best we can see is that he has a seasonal fur loss which implies it might grow bac and then restart again.

The main problem we have is our cat passed away VERY suddenly over christmas and the vet bill was over £380 so we are paying in installments, The vet will not see our dog unless we have cleared our bill, and the treatment for this will run into hundreds for tests etc. We dont have insurance and seriosuly regret this!

We have another baby on the way and can not see any way to be able to afford for this treatment and we DO NOT want to give him up as he is the most precious thing in our lives. There has to be an option isnt there? We both work and so are not recieving any benefits and i dont know what to do about him. We're both in debt, and any spare cash we do have has to be spent on baby bits. We can afford the baby just not the potential hundreds/thousands on the dog iykwim.

Please dont flame me for not having insurance for him i would appreciate any advice anyone can give me.

Firstly, if he is fine otherwise, but is just losing his hair, then it is not a veterinary emergency, so try not to worry.

I would advise that you have him checked over by a vet but make your financial situation clear to them. Hair loss can have many causes, from parasitic problems which will need treatment to clear them up, to hormonal imbalances which may or may not need to be treated. If this problem is basically just cosmetic then while obviously it would be best to try and identify and fix it, it isn't vital that you do so immediately.

Our dachs has seasonal hair loss - we've stopped worrying about it. We did have him checked by the vet, because it became apparent soon after we'd got him. She wondered about ear mites, but it wasn't that; didn't run hormonal tests as the dog was fit and well.

Check the net for symptoms of the possible causes (thyroid deficiency, parasites) and if theres no sign of that, well its probably seasonal alopecia for which theres no real treatment and is only a cosmetic issue.

thankyou so much for the reasurance!!

We have spent hours looking this up on google, looked at hundreds of pictures the the seasonal hair loss is the one that seems to match.

Initially we though it could be allergic reaction to flea bites but have ruled that as as a)he has not had fleas and b) its only it that particular area and much further up than his tail area which i assume is where fleas like to be??.

Grimma does your dachs skin go black where the fur is lost? I forgot to mention that on my first post. (we did look up black skin disease also)

To be honest im not to worried if he loses his hair so long as he is fit and healthy, we didn't bring him into the house to look pretty hes a part of our family as im sure you both understand. How long does it take till the hair starts to grow back, and does it grow back fully or leave little bald patches? Wilson is our first dog so we are still learning after 4 years.

Once again a huge thanks for both your replies!

boxers do have a tendancy to baldness just aoround their hips.

It could be thyroid related- which would def need treatment. So be aware of his eating, drinking, energy levels.
if he seems dul and sluggish then well worth a check up- but maybe insure him forst as it will be life long!

If it is seasonal etc then unlikely to need treatment
I'd also use a monthly frontline on him to rule out fleas, but as he isn't itchy is is pretty unlikely
You can get frontline from internet pet pharmacies or pet shops.

Are you on any benefits?
Maybe you could find an animal charity hosp nearby.

Anyway, doesn't sound like an emergency- but maybe get checked at some point espeically if he is dull, sluggisha dn eating alot.
HTH

thanks oops, he is def no more sluggish than normal he sleep much of the day. Hes eating and drinking as normal.
I think i will def look into insurance will i have to declare he has this as it has not been diagnosed?
Not on any benefits so cant think of anyone that can help us.

thoeretcially you should declare it... but it is up to you.
i doubt the vet would know how long the fur has been missing- you would need to leave a few weeks between the insurance and the vet visit.
But as it isn't life threatening, i don't see how it could be known.