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Dr. Peter
Dr. Peter, Veterinarian
Category: Dog
Satisfied Customers: 32738
Experience:  16 years of internal medicine, surgery, and preventive care.
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Our 4 year old labrador has a small bald patch near her tail.

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Our 4 year old labrador has a small bald patch near her tail. She is regularly de flea'd.
Could this be an alergy?
Dr. Peter
Welcome and thanks for asking your question. My name is***** am a licensed veterinarian. I am happy to answer your question today. First I need to ask you a few questions so that I can be well informed and give you the best advice.

1- Has she been licking or gnawing at this area?
2- Any abnormality in the skin like redness, flaky, crusty, etc. in that area?
3- How long has this been going on?
4- Have you checked for fleas? If so, does she have any?

There may be a slight delay between your follow ups and my replies as I type out a thorough reply for you.

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Customer: replied 3 years ago.

Yes, she has been licking and gnawing at the area.


Can't detect any redness etc


She had it a few months back, but it went away, and now its back.


Not aware of any fleas. Hard to tell as she is black.

Sandy, what you are describing can be caused by localized infections (bacterias or fungal). It can also be brought upon by fleas. This is what you can do:

1- Need to stop her from licking or she is going to delay healing. Pick up an ecollar (cone) in your local pet store to stop her from licking/gnawing at affected area.

2- Pick up in your local pharmacy "Hibiclens" antimicrobial soap or chlorhexiderm scrub. Wash area with this soap 2-3 times a day. If you do not find the above soap use over the counter antibacterial soap.

3- After washing affected area as above apply a topical antibiotic like neosporin or bacitracin. Do this 2-3 times a day for the next 7-10 days.

4- To check for fleas you can comb her and look for the fleas or flea dirt within the hair left on the comb. Continue to use Frontline once a month. If you do find fleas, in addition to the frontline add capstar pills giving once a day every other day for 2 weeks.

5- If no significant improvement after doing the above follow up with your family veterinarian.

My goal is to provide you with excellent service – if you feel you have gotten anything less, please reply back. I am happy to address follow-up questions. Thank you for your business and I hope to work with you again soon!

Dr. Peter
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