bald spots of sides
Submitted by dmf5322 on April 24, 2010 - 11:54pmHI Everyone, I have an almost 4 year old bulldog (dob 5.3.06) and he has hair loss on both sides of his body.
He has never had this before so I am a little concerned. Someone told me it could be a sympton of Cushings Disease
or a thyroid problem, Other have told me it could be Seasonal Flank Alopecia. My question is whether I should bring him tot he vet for testing or wait a while to see if it clears up. I am giving me 3mg of Melatonin per someones suggestion but it has not helped to this point. He has been on it for about 1 month, Should I give it more time or is a Vet visit and blood test in order?
Thanks for you input!
Most likely Seasonal Flank Alopecia
google it for more info. Do a search in the old archive pages of BDW for more info. That is, if "search" works. Some people use melatonin. SFA is harmless. of course it could be something else, but SFA is pretty common among our breed.
My Diana has a bit of this as well. Sounds just like
SFA. Besides the melatonin, my vet suggested getting her in direct sunlight as much as possible without overheating. It can take several months for SFA to get better completely. Hope this helps, but a check with your vet is always the best.
And always Winston, gone but not forgotten!
You may want to up the dosage to 6mg.
My girl Winnie had SFA pretty significantly. At first I put her on 9mg as per someone on BDW instructions. It seemed to make her too sleepy. I dropped her to 6mg fed at night.
The SFA cleared up fairly quickly, I could see new hair growth after about a month, she was completely filled in after about 3-4 mos. My plan is to put her on it Sept-Feb.
BTW, I had her checked for Thyroid just to make sure.
Hope this helps.
If it is SFA...
It will clear as your boy gets more exposure to the Spring sunshine. Dolly had this last Spring & it cleared when she got to be outside more frequently in the Spring & Summer. Then I started her on Melatonin last Fall & it really helped. No problem this Spring & she had less shedding thru the Winter too. Good Luck!
Good diet, fish oil, and plenty of sun. =)
That's always been the cure for SFA here in my house. :)
And the sun it the critical one, as crazy as it sounds!
Julia
It IS crazy
You would think living in California that Winnie would get plenty of sun but she still gets SFA. Maybe 'cause so much of the summer is too hot for her to be outside?