Treating Alopecia in Your Pet

| Modified on Jul 18, 2016
Many of you may be familiar with the term Alopecia as the commonly known disease that affects humans, and which causes unexplained and sometimes, permanent hair loss. Alopecia is a condition that is not limited to humans only, as it can also affect your cat or dog.

It is not known exactly what causes this problem among pets but it is suspected that factors such as stress or flea allergies may contribute to the development of the condition. In some cases, the problem could cause the pet to lose very small, isolated patches of hair, whereas in other situations the hair loss could be much more extensive. This is particularly true in cases where the alopecia is caused by an allergy of some sort. The allergic reaction would cause the pet to scratch excessively and result in hair loss over large areas of the pet's flank, tail, hind end and anywhere else that they are able to reach.

While this is certainly not a life-threatening disease by any means, it can cause considerable distress and discomfort to the animal. There is never any way to know whether or not the hair will re-grow in the area of the loss as a result of alopecia. However, Alumen is one particular homeopathic remedy for this condition that has been successful in treating the problem.




Fur Loss Remedies

Posted by Ptbaker (Leesville, South Carolina) on 05/03/2013

Ted, I have read all the questions and answers on skin problems on dogs, and I have a question that I didn't see addressed. We put a small heater in our dogs house, along with hay for her to snuggle down into during the winter. In January we noticed her scratching a lot, and then her hair started coming out, from halfway down her back, and now affecting her tail. We first thought she may have been to close to the heater, and she got to hot, but it was cycling on and off. Nothing I am using seems to be working, Adams flea spray, and diamatacious earth on her. Cleaned out her d.h. last weekend, and washed it out, do you think the hay harbored some kind of insects, or maybe mites, in that warm moist environment? I am wondering if she has gotten the mange, or if it was something in the hay, it did smell bad, and the hay was moist when I cleaned it all out. None of our other dogs have been affectd by this, and we would have seen it by now. I will wait on your opinion before I start your remedy. Her skin doesn't look crusty, or scabby, or oozing, but I did feel bumps on her skin where there was no hair, some looked to be healed up, while some of the other bumps were red, where she was biting and scratching at. Thank you for any help you may have for us in getting some relief for her. She was a stray puppy that was put out in front of our house Ja. a year ago, and she is very loveable, looks to have a lot of bordie collie and sheltie in her.

Replied by Ptbaker
(Leesville, S.c. U.s.)
05/11/2013

Did anyone have any suggestions for the hairloss problem caused by something that may have been gotten from the hay she was sleeping on. She is still itching and chewing her hair out.

Replied by Jane
(Asheville, Nc)
05/12/2013

Hi, It sounds like an allergy to the hay or even pollen at this time of year, or an overgrowth of yeast issue from the food. When my dogs are chewing and scratching around their rear and there are no signs of fleas, I know it's a yeast issue. I would try a grain free dog food and see if that helps. Bathing might help too, but not too often as you don't want to dry out her fur. Another possibility is that she is stressed out and anxious. Are the other dogs nipping at her? If so, that might be causing the issues. A few possibilities I think and you will have to rule them out one by one. I'd start with a food allergy and go from there. Good luck and please update us on your beloved canine friend.

Replied by Gena
(Pasadena, California)
05/18/2013

I would also like to throw out another suggestion. How much exercise does your dog get each day? If she is a high energy dog and not getting enough exercise through daily walks, this can lead to psychological issues, one of which might be manifesting with her pulling out her fur. Just a thought. Please let us know how she is doing.

Replied by Louise
(Leesville, South Carolina)
05/23/2013

Can someone tell me if it is dangerous for the dogs health to continually use the peroxide/borax solution on the dog every week? I have been using it for 2 weeks now, twice a week, and the fleas don't seem to be as bad as they were. Her hair is coming back already, and I am not seeing her scratch nearly as much. I posted earlier about the dogs hairloss possibly caused by sleeping on the hay, and, do you'll use this spray on inside dogs as well, I am using the tip I read somewhere about putting dawn d/w liq. In a dish of warm water, and putting it under a nightlight, thats working good, so if its ok to spray my inside dogs, I think I can get the fleas under control again. Thanks for all the feedback on this. This is a very informative and fantastic site to refer to.

Replied by Dmg
(Philadelphia)
03/30/2014

Sounds like mite. Hay/straw usually has it or gets it. Nasty things.

Blue dawn dishwashing soap kills mites and fleas. It has to be the blue kind. Diliute in a spray bottle- enough to smell strongly of the soap and thouroughly spray everything, under, over and behind. Ok to do on furniture and walls. Do as often as you feel necessary or notice anything you could blame on a bite.

Wash the pet with the Dawn soap and/ or use a capstar pill- that helps give the infestation a kick start to gone but capstar is not a natural remedy, available in pet stores or online, no prescription needed, at least in the US.

Btw- straw is a better insulator than hay. Hay doesn't insulate. If you can insulate the walls of the shelter with hi level R-foamcore insulation board, that would help environment and maybe can avoid the straw next year. But if not, at least next year it might be a more even fight by prepping the space with a spraydown.

Good luck.

Replied by Jason
(Houstan)
07/18/2016

Really very nice post. Thank you. But I try to use natural oil as the remedy for hair oil.