Bald Patch

[MrsBean]

I have a two year old male neutered Rotti called Brutus. Last summer I noticed a patch of thinning hair on his side. It seemed to fill in over the winter time and now that spring has arrived, the patch is appearing once again and is a bit larger. The hair is very thin in this area (approx. 3"x 4") -- in fact, it almost bald this spring. The skin underneath doesn't look red or itchy and it seems to be causing him no discomfort whatsoever.

I was trying to research what this may be on the 'net and came across a disorder called "Seasonal flank alopecia". I wondered if anybody out there had experienced anything like this with their Rotti and whether this may in fact be what is causing Brutus' bald patch?

Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[StephanieandToby]

I've never seen something like that on a Rottweiler, but I HAVE noticed an awful lot of Dobermans seem to have very bare patches on their flanks.They seem prone to it. I wonder if it might be something similar?

[babesmom]

Have you had his thyroid checked? We had a Sammoyed and that happened to her. It was her thyroid and w/meds she was fine.

[MrsBean]

I haven't had his thyroid checked. I haven't yet taken him to the vet about this. Do thyroid problems in dogs cause other symptoms? Apart from this thinning hair patch, he is in perfect health, so I didn't want to subject him to invasive procedures unless absolutely necessary.

[Judi W]

It is a blood test, not invasive procedure. And yes, low thyroid can indeed cause this.