~ bald spots ~

29 November 2005

Koda has many bald spots on her body. a few weeks ago, we took her to the vet since her thighs start to have a few bald spots. we thought she had some kind of skin problem.

Koda 5-month old

the vet went to check and found her skin is perfectly healthy. she said that it is probably Koda’s anal glands, which is a pretty common problem on dogs. what happened was when the anal glands swell, the anus area hurts, so, the doggy would try to scratch it. since most dogs can’t reach their own butt, they attack the nearby area, like thighs and tummy… they bite and bite, causing bald spots.

so, the vet cleaned her anal glands. the problem should be solved, and Koda would be furry and spotless again.

well, we thought so. instead, the bald spots spread. not only they are on her thighs, the front legs started to get some bald spots, too… we sometime caught her scratching and biting violently at her thigs and legs. we’re not sure why… one of my wild guess is it’s psychological (hehehe, i know… a long stretch, huh?). whenever she felt out of place — like when she was caught of doing something she shouldn’t, or when she gets too excited — she used to chew and pull on her tail. now, her tail is crooked. since then, we don’t allow her to chew violently on her tail anymore. maybe, just maybe, she changed her chewing target from her tail to the other parts of her body.

anyways, tomorrow, we’ll be going to the vet again, to make sure it isn’t skin disease or things like that. and to check if there is a way to prevent these bald spots to spread before my dog turns all bald.

~ comment (3) ~

psychological? you need to bring koda to Dog Shrink rather than Vet

Rani | 29 November 2005 - 08:52 | reply

we’re hoping the vet would give us a referral :)

thalia | 29 November 2005 - 11:52 | reply

koda must refrain from doing doggy style for a while :) oooops…

masindi | 30 November 2005 - 08:58 | reply