Something is wrong with Bailey and the vet can't figure it out...

Last year our beagle boy had some kind of attack. He ended up in the emergency vet (which charged us over $1,000 for basically giving him fluids intravenously and some dog food) overnight. The next day they said he made a "miraculous recovery" and sent him home with his tummy and part of his leg shaved bare.

The hair never grew back in the areas they shaved.

Not long after he developed a 'pouch' on the side of his mouth where food kept getting stuck. It got to the point where his lower lip actually hung down. He started losing a lot of weight and his eyes had this weird look to them (they actually looked like pictures I've seen of birds nictitating membranes). The vet said to give him protein to bring the weight back up. His weight did indeed come back up and the pouch on his mouth seemed to tighten again.

Well now he's got another issue. While rubbing his hind quarters one day I found some kind of bumps on his back. I assumed he had rolled in something outside and proceeded to give him a bath. The bumps didn't go away. Set up a vet appointment and they did some tests but could not determine what was wrong with him. Now the hair on his back is coming out and he's got several bald spots on his back.

The spots do not appear to cause him distress. He does not scratch or chew at them but it looks awful and I'm fearful when the weather again gets cold he'll have problems with exposed skin.

Any thoughts on what might be causing it? We were thinking maybe a food allergy. A friend of ours from the shelter was wondering about mange. The vet can't figure out what's wrong with him this time and it's very disconcerting.

Any thoughts on what's happening would be appreciated.

usually doesn't itch but hair will fall out - the patches are pretty much circular and spread - you can use athletes foot, jock itch cream or even cream for vaginal yeast infections - what ever is cheaper, but it won't work if that isn't what the problem is. (my experience is personal and with livestock, never actually had a dog with it)

allergies and mange usually itch

spine. The vet said it was "just a mass" and as long as it moved when we manipulated it and it didn't grow all was well. He want to make sure it didn't attach to spine. Dog had it for several years and it never seemed to bother him. Don't know about the hair lose unless, like yo said it is allergies. Was there something put on the lawn? chemicals, fertilizer?

Those symptoms sound like the ones our dog Misty had (she was 14.5 yrs old when diagnosed, but the disease strikes much younger dogs on average). This was in 2000 and I had to ask the vet to check for Cushings....I found out about it on the Internet.

I looked it up and several of the symptoms seem to fit. We're going to ask him about it tomorrow. Thanks. :)

:hug: There is medicine for it, as you probably have read by now and I'm sure if that's the case, you will all have some relief from worry.

The vet just called and that's what she said is the problem.

Maybe someone will have some suggestions. There are a lot of knowledgeable people there.