# Tail Hair Gone! And weird Scabs...



## foofs (Jun 6, 2009)

I've read a few threads about tail chasing... our Casey does this when he's bored, we correct him immediately, and give him something else to do, but he's obviously been doing it when we're away because he's chewed ALL his pretty white hairs off his tail. Anyone else experienced this? Will they grow back? And now he has these weird little scabs all along it, which I'm assuming are from ripping the hair out...

He also has a scab behind his ear, and one on his neck. I'm thinking some kind of bug bite? Since this is our first summer with him we were worried they might be ticks, but I could pull the one off quite easily with my fingers, and it was just dried blood and then bled slightly when I took it off. They're not bothering him, just wondering what is important to look for now that summer is here. We take him swimming quite a bit so I'm sure he's gotten some bites then. 

I just love how smart everyone is on here!


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## Abbydabbydo (Jan 31, 2007)

Not smart, just a dog lover! It sounds like a skin (staph) infection to me. You might want to see the vet. Good luck!


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

foofs said:


> I've read a few threads about tail chasing... our Casey does this when he's bored, we correct him immediately, and give him something else to do, but he's obviously been doing it when we're away because he's chewed ALL his pretty white hairs off his tail. Anyone else experienced this? Will they grow back? And now he has these weird little scabs all along it, which I'm assuming are from ripping the hair out...
> 
> He also has a scab behind his ear, and one on his neck. I'm thinking some kind of bug bite? Since this is our first summer with him we were worried they might be ticks, but I could pull the one off quite easily with my fingers, and it was just dried blood and then bled slightly when I took it off. They're not bothering him, just wondering what is important to look for now that summer is here. We take him swimming quite a bit so I'm sure he's gotten some bites then.
> 
> I just love how smart everyone is on here!


How old is he? Is he neutered? I'd want his thyroid levels checked...


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## foofs (Jun 6, 2009)

He's just over a year. He's neutered. I don't think any of the scabs are related to eachother, like I said, the tail ones I think are from the hair being ripped out, and the ear and neck ones are most likely the same thing. They are brown in colour, smaller in size than a penny. 

I'm usually a big worrier, but these are not concerning me yet. I was just wondering when I should START becoming concerned. 

They appear to be just naturally healing on their own (gone from red to brown), he's not extra itchy or anything either.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

foofs said:


> He's just over a year. He's neutered. I don't think any of the scabs are related to eachother, like I said, the tail ones I think are from the hair being ripped out, and the ear and neck ones are most likely the same thing. They are brown in colour, smaller in size than a penny.
> 
> I'm usually a big worrier, but these are not concerning me yet. I was just wondering when I should START becoming concerned.
> 
> They appear to be just naturally healing on their own (gone from red to brown), he's not extra itchy or anything either.


 
Is he swimming in a lake? Another concern would be "swimmers itch" which is an irritating skin parasite...


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## Romeo1 (Apr 19, 2008)

Pointgold said:


> How old is he? Is he neutered? I'd want his thyroid levels checked...


Pointgold, I have another question for you. My dog has like, a big hard scab on the back of his head. I looked a little underneath the scab and it looked red and raw. I noticed it last night and cut the fur, started giving him Cepalexin (some I had left over) and also sprinkled some Neo-Predef powder over it and it's still all white from the powder. I looked at it tonight and the big hard scab thing is still there. I'm wondering if this is some type of hot spot and does that scab stuff need to come off so I can clean it? I'm just thankful it's not in a spot he can lick it.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

Romeo said:


> Pointgold, I have another question for you. My dog has like, a big hard scab on the back of his head. I looked a little underneath the scab and it looked red and raw. I noticed it last night and cut the fur, started giving him Cepalexin (some I had left over) and also sprinkled some Neo-Predef powder over it and it's still all white from the powder. I looked at it tonight and the big hard scab thing is still there. I'm wondering if this is some type of hot spot and does that scab stuff need to come off so I can clean it? I'm just thankful it's not in a spot he can lick it.


 
Sounds like a hot spot. I leave the scabs alone.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Could he possibly have fleas? Those little buggers can cause a lot of scabs and itching, His tail feather's will grow back.

Also Staph infection would be my other guess.

Romeo, sounds like a hotpot to me, leave the scabs until there ready to fall off.


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## Romeo1 (Apr 19, 2008)

Thanks all........I have only been used to hot spots, or rather "lick granulomas" caused by him licking and they were always open and raw. Never seen one of these.

Just out of curiosity, what does a staph infection look like and what causes them?


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Staph looks like a lot of little red dots all over their belly or even all over their body, don't know exactly what causes them.


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