My Baby is scratching constantly and losing hair
 

Hey I'm new to this site and hoping somebody can help me. I'm kinda new to owning a Yorkie also. A couple of months ago my oldest daughter got a female miniature yorkie from a yardsale site off facebook. The lady told her that Baby had just came up in their yard about a year before and they didn't have time for her anymore. She said when Baby came up her back end looked like it had been shaved. (I'm wondering now if she didn't already have this issue before) Her hair seemed fine when we got her except seemed kinda thin but I really wasn't sure how thick a yorkie's hair was supposed to be. Now she is constantly scratching and her hair is coming out on the back half of her. At first I thought it was fleas even though I hadn't seen any on her or no indications of fleas. I treated anyway. Then I thought well maybe it's mange I treated for that. Still no change I don't know what else to do. I'm on a fixed income and really don't have the money to take her to the vet. I can't stand seeing her go thru this. It's tearing my heart out but I really don't know what else to do if anybody has any ideas please let me know. I am trying my best to come up with money for the vet but it may take a while so if you know of anything that might help untill then it would be greatly appreciated. She also has a lot of discharge from her left eye that we noticed the day after we got her. She is so sweet and loving just wants to be held and petted. She is the definition of lap dog :)

Hi and a big welcome to you and Baby :)!

Unfortunately, you're dealing w/ a 'skin issue' - and those can prove quite mysterious and complex. They can take time, effort, and money to figure out. Remember that the skin is THE largest organ in the entire body so when it's all activated like this - there is definitely something going wrong.

ALL skin issues are either from allergies, or, secondary to some other disease (ie Hypothyroid, Cushings, Mange, fleas etc...). If you're truly seeing fur loss, then really you do need to have blood work done and test for thyroid issues. You should also think about whether you need to have Cushings ruled out (one of the few diseases that actually causes fur/hair loss) by assessing whether or not Baby has other Cushingoid symptoms present. If she does have other Cushingoid symptoms present...then I'd pursue the next step which would be the Cortisol-Creatinine Ratio Urine Test.

Now, if she was loose for a long time...which seems possible - you may need to revisit the mange issue. In cases of protracted mange - the mange bugs actually BURROW underneath the skin's surface and in those cases the ONLY way to diagnose mange is to do a skin biopsy from multiple areas of the body.

Lastly, this could be allergies - seasonal, pollens, grass, dust, food, etcetera. Read more about allergies here: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/die...tart-here.html

Best of luck and keep us posted on this kiddo!

Thank you so much

SO sorry to hear about your baby:(
When my Bailey had some severe biting issues and his hair was gong in spots because of this, I found out that he was allergic to anything to do with fowl: turkey and chicken. A lot of foods have fowl in some form:( Since he has been on allergy food, his hair has grown back:) It was so hard to watch him always itch... but now he is all better. They sent me home with the new food and some Benydrl. If you use Benydrl, search this up, as there is some info on the amounts to give per pound. I sure hope that you find out what's wrong. Cheers!