Why does my dog have scabs and thin hair on its leg? Mites or fleas?

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!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It looks like M has a skin infection. It is likely an allergy to the flea bite. A flea bath will kill the fleas for 24 hours but it is not an ideal long term resolution. She needs an oral or topical flea prevention every 30 days. You should treat all the pets in the home. She well need to see a vet for oral antibiotics and possible steroids to relieve the allergy. Good luck and kisses to M!

Based on what you are describing, I would recommend starting with some preliminary diagnostics of the affected area just to rule out a couple of things. A skin scraping will be able to mostly eliminate some fairly common dermatologic parasites like mites, though these typically do cause a fair amount of itchiness. The locations you are describing are not typical for a flea infestation so it is not very high on my list of possibilities. Based on the second and third picures, it looks like the hair is coming out very easily and that the skin beneath in the third picture is quote dry / seborrheic. It is possible that Leizel could be experiencing some localized allergic reaction as well. Lastly, a cause of the issues you are seeing can be attributed to certain immune-mediated disease that affect the skin. These are usually only positively diagnosed through biopsies of the affected regions.

These scabs could be due to itching from something such as fleas, mites, ringworm, or allergies. If he isn't up to date on his flea treatment, I can give you one for him. First, I would give him Capstar. It's a one time pill that starts killing fleas within 30 minutes. Then follow up with a spot on treatment, such as Advantage or Revolution. This is a treatment that has to be used once a month. You will also have to disinfect the environment. Wash his bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. If he is up to date on his flea treatment, I recommend taking him into the vet for an exam today or tomorrow. The vet can do blood tests, skin scrapings, and use a Wood's lamp to diagnose allergies, mites, and ringworm. Once the cause of the itching is found, the vet can prescribe the appropriate treatment. I hope this helps!

Poor doggy. It could be flea infestation, flea allergic dermatitis, mange, fungal disease, alopecia due to metabolic and system disease. Really hard to tell by the picture but definitely need a vet check up. Please post again on the forum if you would like to discuss it further. I hope my answer was helpful.

This looks like a scab. He could have gotten this after a little bug bite, a local skin infection, a minor injury from being in the yard, or something else. Since it is so small, I would not be too concerned right now. If it isn't healing, you see discharge, you find more spots, or this spot gets larger, I would have your vet take a look at it to see if he needs any oral meds or other treatment to help it heal. I hope this helps !

It is hard to say what is causing Bacardi's problems. The third picture you included looks like pus, which would indicate infection and would need antibiotics to treat. Some dogs can be allergic to fleas, and it may only take 1 bite to make them itchy all over. If you are seeing scabs from where you applied a flea medication or flea collar, it may be irritating the skin so I would recommend removing it and bathing with dog shampoo thoroughly. Causes of itching in dogs include fleas or flea allergies, mites, or skin infection. The hair in the second picture looks like normal shedding to me, but if you feel it is weird for Bacardi, it could be caused by inflammation or from the extra itching she is doing right now. You can try a shampoo like Dechra MalAcetic Ultra Shampoo, but if it doesn't respond in a day or two, Bacardi should be seen by a vet as she may need oral medications to control the itching.