Do you know what's wrong with my dog?

Question

My 2 year old dog is Australian Shepherd mix. about 3-4 weeks ago, she ran off for about 20 minutes, running around in the creek and went to our neighbors house (need i say, my neighbors do not take care of their dogs, one of them looks sick).

after about 3 days i noticed that the bottoms of all her paws were red (inflamed, rash like).

Now on her back paws, she's got a couple bald spots on her toes, she's got a rash of some sort in both her ears, she itches like crazy, and it seems like she's loosing fur on her belly (because i can see her skin now).

I thought at first it was just a heat rash (she is prone to getting those) but it's not getting better. Her paws are getting worse and she's scratching more.

I AM taking her to the vet, don't worry.

I am just wondering what it could be.

From what I have researched, it could either be flea dermatitis, food allergies, hay fever, or airborne allergies.

Could it be the mange or is she too old for that? I've always been told that younger dogs (under a year) are more prone for that.

What do you think it is and why?

Thank you

Answer 1

It sounds like it might be some sort of allergy but only a vet can tell you for sure. My 9 year old lab is allergic to grass as well as cats and she would chew on her paws removing hair and leaving bald spots as a result. She might be chewing like my dog.

She also might have gotten into chemicals or insecticides and its bothering her. It might also be a bug bite reaction.

Good luck at the vet

Answer 2

If it isn't one of the diagnosis you mentioned, she may have gotten

into a place where someone had just sprayed some kind of chemical

like pesticides or herbicides.  These can cause rashes, etc. Mention

it to your vet, if he/she doesn't.  It's a good idea to rule this out.  She

may have been exposed to some kind of chemicals.

        Hope this helps.  Good luck!

Answer 3

Do you have any poison ivy or poison oak in the area? If it came on suddenly after she ran around a creek then I would suspect a contact allergy of some sort. If she came into contact with another dog that also has hair loss then I would worry about scabies. Demodex, the mange that affects young dogs isn't really contagious to a healthy adult dog and probably would not com eon that suddenly. A food allergy can affect the feet and ears but unless you've suddenly given her something different I doubt it would come on that acutely either. Until you get her to the vet try cleaning her paws with unscented baby wipes in case she did step on something irritating and check her ears for any discharge or debris that could indicate an ear infection.  

Answer 4

It's possible that she has mange, esp itchy patchy hair loss.  But also she could have gotten into poison Evy or in sumac.  Fleas are bad this year since it's been so dry, but get her checked out pretty quick.  Mange spreads really quickly. Treat it as worse case scenario, then go to the small stuff.  Good Luck

Answer 5

Hes dying.