Has anyone had their elderly dog lose fur due to skin mites?

My 14 year old dog has recently begun to lose fur from his back legs. The veterinarian said it is due to mites which his immune system is having a hard time coping with due to his age. The vet prescribed Cipro & a medicinal dip after his bath. Does anyone else ever experienced this with their dogs?

He's just getting older. It's natural.

Yes 3 of my German Shepherd pups developed this at 6 months old. I kept one and she was on medication all her life until someone stole her from my yard.

yes and no my dog is like 9 years old and i have started to see only skin on his on the side of all his legs and why i say no is he as no mites so i just think it is the age

Helena means well, but is incorrect.There are two types of mites that affect dogs: demodectic and sarcoptic. Both are caused by mites.I have been treating my beloved Afghan Hound for Demodex ( secondary to impaired immune system) for 10 years now. We have used Mitaban dip and Ivermectin injectable (given by mouth in dose much larger than that for prevention of heartworm). She is given antibiotics only when a secondary infection is present (caused by biting/scratching).It is heartbreaking to have a pet go through this, but it can be controlled. My heart goes out to you and your furbaby.Please email me if you want/need moreinformation.

If the loss of hair is caused by a mite it's probably Demodex. My German Shepherd had this as a puppy & we went through a lot to help him. I'm happy to pass on what I learned.First, we also took our puppy to a conventional vet who prescribed 2 different medicines. It was a long time ago but it seems like one was an antibiotic & the other was a topical pesticide. Seriously. And it was toxic! Please read up on your medicines. We gave these to our puppy for about 3 days when we finally wised up to the fact that A) they were just making him sicker (he wouldn't eat & had diarrhea) & B) they were actually toxic! – things that we were to not let come in contact with our own skin. It just didn't add up. The next thing we did was take him off all the meds & search for a different option. Thankfully, we found a holistic vet in the area that we still go to 3 years later. And guess what! – no more demodex!Everybody has demodex. It's natural. They actually live in humans eyebrows & they eat at hair folicles. And all dogs have a certain amount of them. The demodex aren't necessarily the problem. The problem is when, for whatever reason, the dogs immune system is low & can't keep the demodex "in check" as it otherwise naturally would. As the demodex number gets larger & larger, the more hair loss you will see. Our preferred method of treatment was to treat the actual underlying issue & not just the symptoms. This can often be a long process but I'm happy to say it works! If you can boost your dogs health then the problem should naturally take care of itself. If I were you, I'd try everything I could to first NATURALLY help your pup. I encourage you to find a holistic vet as soon as possible & seek their advice. I hope this has helped you & good luck!What our vet had us do:1) Switch food to the best diet possible. (FYI- this is NOT Science Diet as many vets would suggest. We switched to Wellness. But I believe a completely RAW diet would be even better.)2) Supplement with Chinese Herbs. (I played around with this a little bit b/c I was skeptical at first. Every time I would stop giving him the Chinese Herbs, I could see an increase in the loss of hair. So I can tell you from experience it might not be "main-stream" or the most accepted practice but it works.)3) Supplement with Omega Fatty Acids. (VERY good for the coat/skin.)4) Apply a mixture of Coconut Oil, Neem Oil & Tea Tree Oil to the affected areas. (The Neem & Tea Tree oils kill off the mites & help bring the area back to health. Although it can smell a little stinky it's 100% natural & healthy, undoubtably unlike the topical treatment your vet has given you.) 5) Switch to a natural dog shampoo that wont irritate the areas.