Dog losing hair. Normal or not?
- Thread starter Ratpuke
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My dog's had same symptoms for a few years now. Multiple vets have been pretty useless. Some say diet....some say it's environmental.....one even said it was the water he was drinking. We've changed diets, tried raw food diet and every other food from cheap to uber-expensive, given rain and bottled water to drink and bath in, moved to a different state, rubbed him down with oils, bag balm, bathed him in Epsom salts....and he's still the same. If we leave him alone, he'll scratch himself bloody.
Vets gave him a steroid creme and benadryl, but it didn't help much. So far the best thing has been the Epsom salts. It keeps him itch free for a couple days, but he hates the tub so there's only so often we can bath him.
I feel bad for him. He's gettin up in years (11 or 12) and he's slowly getting worse. He's miserable most of the time. We've thrown more money at it than I care to think about, but don't know how long that's gonna last.
May have to take him for the long walk one of these days.
Vets gave him a steroid creme and benadryl, but it didn't help much. So far the best thing has been the Epsom salts. It keeps him itch free for a couple days, but he hates the tub so there's only so often we can bath him.
I feel bad for him. He's gettin up in years (11 or 12) and he's slowly getting worse. He's miserable most of the time. We've thrown more money at it than I care to think about, but don't know how long that's gonna last.
May have to take him for the long walk one of these days.
hey man just talked to me GF (Deb)... I just read her your post she will look at pics tonight as she is not by her computer... anyhow she said it would probably be some sort of problem... could not believe it was seasonal shedding (keep in mind she has not seen pics, and we dont have too many red bones up here) but she guessed maybe ringworm... which would be bad because now she could have passed that on to you or your kids.. but it should be easy for any vet to test for that... I did not ask about hot spots because just of the ones I have seen on dogs she has in the clinic, they look way worse than this... it is usually open and bleeding...
Food would not have anything to do with it because it is blotchy, but she said a food high in Omega 3 fish oils never hurts. we give out dogs this every day in their food, plus a high quality food.
I will report more if she sees anything in the pics
Food would not have anything to do with it because it is blotchy, but she said a food high in Omega 3 fish oils never hurts. we give out dogs this every day in their food, plus a high quality food.
I will report more if she sees anything in the pics
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x3 on thyroid. Energy level is generally down if thyroid problem exists.
I forgot to say she did not agree with the Thyroid based on the dogs age... dont know why she just answered "no" when I said 10 mo.
Ratpuke
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- #26
OK. Maggie is still as hyper as ever - I actually wish she was a little more lethargic. The local vet ruled out a liver problem based on her age too.
I'll try to take some updated pictures of her tonight as it's even more noticeable now.
Do dogs normally shed their "puppy fur" this noticeably?
I'll try to take some updated pictures of her tonight as it's even more noticeable now.
Do dogs normally shed their "puppy fur" this noticeably?
post up more as I will be at my GF house at some point this weekend...
Ratpuke
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An update...
Hi. Well, I thought I better post an update seeing as I was supposed to upload more photos but, being as lame as I am sometimes, I had good intentions but never got around to it. Sorry. Anyway, here is a picture I took a few minutes ago of Maggie. Turns out that the vet was right and she was going through seasonal/puppy coat shedding. The new coat is short and shinier than her old.
Thank you very much to everyone who shared their advice.
Hi. Well, I thought I better post an update seeing as I was supposed to upload more photos but, being as lame as I am sometimes, I had good intentions but never got around to it. Sorry. Anyway, here is a picture I took a few minutes ago of Maggie. Turns out that the vet was right and she was going through seasonal/puppy coat shedding. The new coat is short and shinier than her old.
Thank you very much to everyone who shared their advice.
Ratpuke
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- #31
The dogs both have collars with their name tags/city tags/shots, etc. on them but they don't wear them in the house. They used to, however, Maggie actually chewed off two of Prado's collars when I left them alone. I'm sure Prado loved that.
Thanks for the advice though
Thanks for the advice though
Exactly the Same
My Rhodesian Ridgeback is 6 months old and looks EXACTLY the same as your photos. Ive just got back from my vet and he said there's no inflammation, redness, soreness, parasites or baldness. There is fresh short hair growing underneath and when he checked the hairs they were defo new and not just snapped off as they taper at the end. He says he's sure its just normal shedding of his puppy coat in a rather "abnormal" weird pattern. Im just keeping my eye on him to see how he progresses. Id have a look and check what his skin is like under it and whether there are actually hairs growing. If there are, then that's probably what it is. (Strange that mine looks the same and is a Rhodesian Ridgeback too!)
Hope that helps
Good Luck
Spike
My Rhodesian Ridgeback is 6 months old and looks EXACTLY the same as your photos. Ive just got back from my vet and he said there's no inflammation, redness, soreness, parasites or baldness. There is fresh short hair growing underneath and when he checked the hairs they were defo new and not just snapped off as they taper at the end. He says he's sure its just normal shedding of his puppy coat in a rather "abnormal" weird pattern. Im just keeping my eye on him to see how he progresses. Id have a look and check what his skin is like under it and whether there are actually hairs growing. If there are, then that's probably what it is. (Strange that mine looks the same and is a Rhodesian Ridgeback too!)
Hope that helps
Good Luck
Spike
