Question:
I know it is normal for pomeranians to shed their baby coat, but is it normal to have bald patches also? My boy is 4 months old now and he has lost hair on his muzzle with the skin looking a little grey. His chest is bald as well but the skin is nice and pink. I had been reading about Black SKin Disease and it had me worried. A vet said it could be due to hormonal imbalance because he is so small. Right now he is just over 1 lb and turning 16 weeks old. I just wanted a second opinion and any advice that could be helpful. Thanks.

Answer:
Has he been tested for ringworm or mange? Mange looks similar to ringworm early on (dry grey or reddish patches of skin).
If not you need to get him tested because both sarcoptic mange and ringworm are contagious to humans (though mange cannot complete it's life cycle on a human and will go away eventually on it's own).
Demodectic mange is also a LARGE possibility as it can be inherited from the puppy's mother (actually the suppressed immune system that allows the puppy to show signs of it is).

Info on demodectic mange:
http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=729

Info on sarcoptic mange:
http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=764

Ringworm:
http://www.thepetprofessor.com/artic...le.aspx?id=211

Answer:
It is not mange. The pink skin on the chest is the healthy pink, its just grey on the muzzle, but he does have bald patches. There is no flaking or dry skin and it's not itchy =/

Answer:
Losing puppy coat should not cause bald patches or funny looking skin. I think I would get another opinion from another vet.

Rusty went through some pretty bad puppy uglies, but always had fur on his whole body.

Answer:
My pom had similar hair loss on his muzzle. It turned out to be demodectic mange, but it cleared up when his immune system kicked in, before we even had a chance to treat it. Demodex can spread quickly, so if the patches get any larger, ask your vet for a skin scraping (they have to make the skin bleed a little to get a proper sample). If the scraping is positive, there are some topicals that are good for treatment. Keep a close eye, because demodex can also be very painful if allowed to get out of control. As for the chest, my pup also got pretty bald around his puppy uglies stage, especially on hos chest from playing and rubbing on the carpet. That's the best advice I can give...I'm still a vet student for the next 3 years!

Answer:
After reading the article on demodectic mange, I believe there is a possibility it might be that, but I have had a larger dog with demodectic mange before and the affected area looked red and inflamed, not grey. I will have him checked out to be sure. Thanks for the help.

Answer:
Demodectic mange can start out just causing loss of fur, but the skin will look healthy. Since your dog already has a greyish spot, the other spots may turn greyish too if they get worse.
They also may not turn greyish at all depending on the severity, because, as kristies stated, if the mange is just localized, and your puppies immune system is not completely compromised (dunno if that's the best word to since i'm not a vet, lol) they could actually disappear on their own and appear in other spots at random.
Either way, your vet should check for it and treat it if present.

Answer: