Fur Loss

[mdnyc]

I came home from work to find that my basenji, Noah, had a big patch of missing fur on his tail.

He will occasionally pull his fur out, but in this case, it's much more extreme.

I've taken him to the vet, and he thinks it's just caused by stress and I should take him running in the morning. I'm worried it could be something worse.

Has anybody else had a similiar issue? Any suggestions would be very helpful!

[Kipawa]

That was all your vet suggested??? Not good.

I'd rule out all the potential health problems first by having bloodwork and a urinalysis done.

[Patty]

This sounds too sudden (unless you'd noticed some hair loss before). I'm surprised that your vet hasn't done tests before just writing it off as stress. You say Noah occasionally does pull his hair out - is it always in the same place? Does he show any other instances of stress?

[MacPack]

Topper would occasionally gnaw on his tail and leave part of it bald. In his case we think it was tingling from spine issues, but a dab of tea tree oil would at least get him to leave it alone. Might he have a flea? All it takes is one on a tail to get my guys chewing and ripping fur!

[tanza]

Did you vet not even do a scraping of the skin for mites or other "critters"? That is a bit of a surprise, I think. And I agree if this is a sudden thing that something else is going on other then stress.

[sharronhurlbut]

How does the skin look? Normal or "other".
My boy chews himself if I feed him the "wrong" thing or if there is grass pollen.
I don't think I like the quick why your vet dismissed this issue…just imo.

[ownedbyspencer]

Is he scratching, scooting or biting at his tail? Maybe it could be an allergic reaction to something in your home or outside. Or possibly his anal glands?

[eeeefarm]

Where on the tail, exactly? My one girl used to occasionally pull hair out of her tail and sometimes chew it, just about mid curl. We never really nailed down why, but could have been anal glands or perhaps a contact allergy. Whenever I saw that problem I would check her glands and clear them if necessary. Sometimes that seemed to help….

[krunzer]

does the skin look dark and dirty? it may be demodectic mange.

[eeeefarm]

@krunzer:

does the skin look dark and dirty? it may be demodectic mange.

If it is, the location is unusual.