My bullmastiff's coat looks like swiss cheese?

Question

I took him to the vet yesterday and she check him for everything. Poor got got more skin scrapings than I would ever want. Everything came up clean.

She said that we "would keep an eye on it". Nothing came up on the scrapings, she said that she doubts that it is an allergic reaction to the food.

What else could it be??

He had fleas REALLY bad... But I think that I got rid of them. I treated him with Vector (??)... 2 weeks later... FLEAS FLEAS FLEAS... Bathed him in Dawn... Treated him with Frontline.

I HOPE that all the fleas are gone... But could the fleas alone make his coat look like that?

He is on Eagle Pack Holistic Giant Breed Puppy food so it's not like I am feeding him garbage...

I don't get it. I take good care of him... But, he still looks bad

:(

Answer 1

Days isn't enough.  It all depends on the skin of the dog.  Sometimes weekly baths can cause a dogs skin to dry out.  Stick with the frontline only for a while - like a month.  It does sound like you have done an overkill on the Flea meds.

Also, you might be seeing the fleas but once they bite the dog they are suppose to die.  Have you sprayed your yard for fleas?  This is something to look into.

Answer 2

when you say swiss cheese, do you mean that he has spots all over his coat with no hair?  If so, this can be caused by the fleas and now that you got rid of them the hair will grow back.  This can also be caused by a poor diet.  Another cause is if you wash your dog too often with shampoo.  Most people dont realize this, but you should really only bath your dog at most once every 3 months.  There coats are suppose to have oil on them and when you wash them you wash away the oils and nutrients.  If you overwash your dog it can cause the hair to die and fall out.  Judging by the info you have given us, most likely its due to the fleas and the hair will grow back and your buddy will be back to looking like his old self in a month or two.

Answer 3

fleas could cause him to scratch his hair off.  Bathing him too much can cause his skin oils to get washed away which could lead to excessive scratching.  Try changing his food to something holistic.

Answer 4

It could be the fleas it will just take awhile for the coat to grow back in. Did you recently switch to the holistic food? I have seen in my own dogs that when their food is switched that they blow their coat and get in new (much better typically) coat., I woudl give it time and see if it is growing back if not then consult the vet in regard to allergy testing and other possible causes.  

Answer 5

youve used too many products on him-thats why his skin is doing that

Answer 6

Fleas will cause the poor thing to scratch and bite his skin.  Yes it could cause the hair loss.  

I would find a nice soothing Oatmeal based shampoo for the pup along with a good Oatmeal conditioner too.

You can get from your vet a shampoo called Epi Sooth that will calm down any inflammation caused by any fleas or allergies that haven't been discovered yet.

Hope this helps.