Blowing coat or allergies?

jigzzor

It seems katsu has finally started to blow coat. However he's losing a lot of fur around his legs, and it looks like he's balding as well around the legs, so i'm going to guess it's allergies but just to be sure can anyone confirm if it's just blow coat season or allergies?

I think it's allergies because he sneezes a lot in the morning, and scratches himself a lot more often then i think most dogs should. Plus theres that really obvious bald spot that usually comes with allergies.


Anyway here are some pictures.



Heres a close up

CrimsonO2

Did you change his diet? My Shiba's coat is the same way and he's allergic to a few things.

Jesse

jigzzor

I actually just switched him on to kibble since he's not so picky anymore about food. I was actually just thinking that it's most likely the food that's getting him itchy. Might have to switch him on raw food again since he loved it so much.

He's eating solid gold wolf club atm

PoetikDragon

That looks like a hot spot. It could be caused by blowing coat, flea dermatitis, moisture trapped close to the skin, high heat and humidity, food intolerance, or allergies. It doesn't look like a bad one, but they can turn bad quickly. Keep him from making it worse, bath him in water only (no soaps or chemicals of any kind), and dry it very well. You can treat it with Betagen if it gets worse, requires RX from a vet.

Narrowing down the source is a little more problematic. You have to be careful to change only one thing at a time (including environment and factors like blowing coat) or you wont know what thing actually cleared it up.

jigzzor

Thanks for the feed back but i don't think it's a coincidence this started to happen 2 weeks after i put him back on kibble. I'm going to try an oatmeal cold bath to sooth his itching. I'm hoping it isn't too severe at this point but you never know.

CrimsonO2

What raw foods were you feeding him before? The Solid Gold WolfCub kibble doesn't have any of the usual suspects regarding common Shiba food allergies so it may be harder to pin down. You might also be able to help alleviate it (aside from the bath others are suggesting) by spraying some bitter apple on the hot spot so your dog doesn't make the problem worse by continually licking.

You caught it early so I think you'll be fine. Just know that it could take up to a month for the allergy to clear from your dog's system (and for hair to regrow back).

Jesse

jigzzor

He ate ground beef, turkey, chicken livers, spinach, kale, egg shells, coconut oil, fish oil, turkey necks, chicken legs, chicken hearts. Followed a guide for a barf diet. While he was on this his coat was much nicer and felt smoother. Could also be the fact that he might be blowing coat now that his fur feels so weird. Could also be because he hasn't blown his puppy coat yet, i'm not 100% sure. So i'm just going to be watching him and making sure there are no irritations on his skin. I'm going to be mixing aveeno and apple bitter to soothe and stop him from biting.

roninshiba

@jigzzor, for what it's worth, Kiyomi is losing tufts of fur on her hind legs right now. She has not blown her coat yet since she came home with us. Kuma, our Shiba, is just starting to lose tufts fur from his coat. The weather here has been unusually warm here in the bay area.

jigzzor

@roninshiba is kiyomi losing all the way to his skin? or just tufts?

roninshiba

@jigzzor, Kiyomi is just losing tufts. I just mentioned that both of ours are losing coat, to let you know that it's about that time. You may be dealing with both blowing coat and allergies.

jigzzor

So it turns out it's most likely not allergies, We most likely didn't properly dry katsu after a shower and soap was still on him.

Myabee09

Good to hear that it's probably not allergies, they can be a real headache to figure out.