To Mark Rodriguez:
>... last year he started this skin patch... where hair had fallen out, and
>i thought first it was a shedding thing..  then I noticed him scratching it
>alot...  but hair grew over it withing a couple weeks and I was releived...
>now again he's accumulated the same spot, but it's been almost a month
>now... what gives?  Is this regular.  like some cycle or something??
>HELP!!
 
    The size of the patch would be useful information.  Small pruritic
(itchy) patches are often cutaneous mast cell tumors, benign neoplasms of
the skin.  They may wax and wane, but usually appear as a small crusty
often hairless patch.  Larger bald spots may be seen with severe flea
infestations, ringworm, and, of course, adrenal disease.
 
    While generalized shedding may be a semi-annual cyclic phenomenon, a
single solitary bald spot is not.  I would suggest a trip to the vet is in
order for a clinical workup.
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP
Dept. of Vet Path, AFIP
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Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
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[Posted in FML issue 1297]