Hair loss around eyes

Hi everyone!
I have a 3 year old dobie, and recently (within the last 2-3 months) he has progressively losing hair around his eyes. I talked to his vet who said to use saline drops and contact solution daily in his eye which helped with any mucous coming from his eyes. He now is just losing hair around his eye and his vet notes that there's not much else to do. Have any of y'all experienced this/have any recommendations?
the area also doesnt seem to hurt him when i press around the hair loss area, he doesn't flinch or whine at all. he also isn't scratching the area at all

Looks like that would be bothersome how it looks all dried out and hardened or something. Poor guy

Allergies? We've been giving our dogs an allergy pill in the AM daily to keep their itchies down. More folks who may have experienced this will chime in.

Going the allergy route:
- change of food?
- laundry soap?
- new dog blanket?

LifeofRubie said:

Looks like that would be bothersome how it looks all dried out and hardened or something. Poor guy

Allergies? We've been giving our dogs an allergy pill in the AM daily to keep their itchies down. More folks who may have experienced this will chime in.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your response! He had suffered allergies to wheat food so I cut out all wheat, dairy and beef, as i was told that was the most common foods of allergies! But we have not been on any allergy pills, do you have one to recommend?

Ddski5 said:

Going the allergy route:
- change of food?
- laundry soap?
- new dog blanket?

Click to expand...

Change of food yes! I switched to salmon based foods when he started to have dry skin, which resolved the dry skin pretty well. Do you think that could be the cause of it?

schmuckums! said:

Thank you for your response! He had suffered allergies to wheat food so I cut out all wheat, dairy and beef, as i was told that was the most common foods of allergies! But we have not been on any allergy pills, do you have one to recommend?

Click to expand...

I would ask your vet if there is an over the counter they recommend - I wouldn't want your dog to have a negative reaction. Benedryll is pretty common but can knock them out so there may be some other options.

If it happened right about the time of a food switch, it could very well likely be the cause so medication would be a second resort to changing the food, first, I think.

If you go back to the vet I'd ask for a skin scraping to check that out too. Is his eye mucus always that greenish color and that thick? Looks like his nose has hair loss too. Is the skin greasy feeling or have a funky smell? Also were his allergies before expressed in skin condition? Check out the recent threads related to Blue Dobermans - good info on inherited skin problems there.

schmuckums! said:

his vet who said to use saline drops and contact solution daily in his eye which helped with any mucous coming from his eyes. He now is just losing hair around his eye and his vet notes that there's not much else to do.

Click to expand...

What eye drops are you using? And contact solution? I don’t know what that is, but does that mean he’s getting two separate drops to his eyes?

Just like for humans, the drops can become contaminated if the container touched the contaminated eye. To me, that eye does not look like the mucus situation is resolved. I agree that a skin scrape should be done. And maybe even try a different vet - I wouldn’t be ok with leaving him like this.

As far as pain is concerned, they are pretty stoic and will hide pain well, but if he is not scratching, that’s a positive sign.

schmuckums! said:

I talked to his vet who said to use saline drops and contact solution daily in his eye which helped with any mucous coming from his eyes. He now is just losing hair around his eye

Click to expand...

Which came first... Using the drops and contact solution or the hair loss? I'm just wondering if contact solution is something that should be used in a dogs eye? It seems most of us have complained about mucus or gunk in our dog's eyes at one time or another. If it's occasional, it's pretty normal. I just took a Kleenex to my dog's eye tonight. But I haven't done that in a long time. Unless there was some kind of an infection I wouldn't think you need to use eye drops. If the hair loss followed your use of eye drops, I would think that it may be due to the drops. His eye actually looks a little swollen to me. Is he a blue doberman?

If it is allergy it could also be from something outdoors. Even the air quality. Perhaps you can find Air Quality alerts and advisories on weather forecast websites in your area.
The slight shade of green in the eye's mucous hints at possible infection?

Ravenbird said:

Check out the recent threads related to Blue Dobermans - good info on inherited skin problems there.

Click to expand...

Just to add, he doesn't look like a blue, I'm assuming he's black, but skin/coat problems are most common in blues/fawns and I think the diets and medications that those with blue Dobes have found successful may be useful info for you.

Ravenbird said:

If you go back to the vet I'd ask for a skin scraping to check that out too. Is his eye mucus always that greenish color and that thick? Looks like his nose has hair loss too. Is the skin greasy feeling or have a funky smell? Also were his allergies before expressed in skin condition? Check out the recent threads related to Blue Dobermans - good info on inherited skin problems there.

Click to expand...

Sorry for the late response! yes his mucous is normally like that, his nose seems more dry than hair loss though. his skin was greasy before but we put him on a medicated shampoo and conditioner that worked wonders so the rest of his coat has no hair loss or dry skin, but its not very shiny either. i found out about the allergies when i took him in for his skin condition, they said that the skin condition is a result of some sort of allergy. thank you so much!

Kaiser2016 said:

What eye drops are you using? And contact solution? I don’t know what that is, but does that mean he’s getting two separate drops to his eyes?

Just like for humans, the drops can become contaminated if the container touched the contaminated eye. To me, that eye does not look like the mucus situation is resolved. I agree that a skin scrape should be done. And maybe even try a different vet - I wouldn’t be ok with leaving him like this.

As far as pain is concerned, they are pretty stoic and will hide pain well, but if he is not scratching, that’s a positive sign.

Click to expand...

yes 2 separate eye drops! thank you! i have an appointment set with a new vet at the same hospital so ill ask her if thats the best route to go

AnnV said:

If it is allergy it could also be from something outdoors. Even the air quality. Perhaps you can find Air Quality alerts and advisories on weather forecast websites in your area.
The slight shade of green in the eye's mucous hints at possible infection?

Click to expand...

I thought the same with the green mucous but his vet said it was just mucous due to allergies but he has a new appointment set to try and see if it is an infection or not

schmuckums! said:

I thought the same with the green mucous but his vet said it was just mucous due to allergies but he has a new appointment set to try and see if it is an infection or not

Click to expand...

It is good to at least rule something out.
Keep us posted.
If the mucous was green at the time your vet said it wasn't more to do, it might be a good idea perhaps to have a second opinion elsewhere.