My dog is losing hair on his inner leg with brown spots. What is it?

Hi there. Many things could be causing it. It could have been a good scratch, or it could be early signs of a mite infection called demodex. If it spreads or doesn’t seem to be improving then I would recommend having him examined by your veterinarian. Best of luck and I hope he improves soon.

From the photos here it looks like these are patches of hair loss. We can have hair loss at points of pressure if a dog likes to lay on hard surfaces, but we also worry about things like ringworm (a fungal infection), skin mites, and bacterial infection causing patches of hair loss. I would recommend bringing your dog in to the vet to examine the area. They may recommend a fungal culture if ringworm is suspected or a cytology of the skin to check for bacteria or a skin scrape to check for mites.

Hi. Thanks for the photos. There are a few common things that can cause the dark coloring, hair loss, and even itching. The most common can be allergies. Others would be deep infection, parasitic, low thyroid, and hormonal imbalances. With the photos here and the severity, I am highly suspicious of severe allergies or low thyroid level. I would make an appointment with your veterinarian when you are able and they will do a full exam. They will do some skin testing, bloodwork that will include thyroid levels, and whatever medication may be needed depending on the probable cause after an exam. Good luck

It sounds like Zoey may have a skin infection. This could be bacterial, fungal, or a combination of the two. It is possible that something such as food allergies or environmental allergies may have predisposed her to the infection. I would highly encourage you to have her evaluated by your veterinarian as soon as possible. Best of luck and I hope she improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

I am assuming that this is a dog? The areas of hair loss on the skin could be caused my a multitude of problems, but most common would be something called demodex. Demodex is a mite that is present mostly in very young dogs or dogs with immune suppression from other conditions. I would encourage you to have her evaluated by your veterinarian soon. They may recommend a skin scrape to look for mites. Sometimes even if they aren’t found a trial therapy is still recommended. Best of luck and I hope they resolve quickly. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

It's possible your pet is experiencing symptoms of a bacterial infection due to mange mite infestation. You'll want to be sure to visit your local Veterinarian as soon as possible and request a skin scraping examination. This will allow your doctor to identify the underlying cause of your pets discomfort. You're doctor may prescribe an antibiotic to help stop the infection and mite/mange treatment if needed.