Losing coat - badly

[Caro]

Usually Deska has a very thick coat, and in winter looks like a powder puff.

Well we just past the winter solstice and Deska has no coat!

He dropped all his undercoat and now his guard hairs are falling out. Its worst on his butt and his 'part line' on the top. He also has dandruff on the top.

I gave him a Maleseb medicated bath just now in case its a skin infection, but I am really at a loss. He gets heaps of EFAs, omegas and fish oils for his arthritis. I have taken him off the light food back on to regular and they both get a coat supplement in winter. The vet doesnt think its due to his arthritis meds or stress because he is otherwise active and healthy. Tully has a thick coat this year and we are all outside in the cold a lot. In fact he seems to shed more when we are outside for the day.

Does anyone have an ideas?

 

[Smudge]

He dropped all his undercoat and now his guard hairs are falling out. Its worst on his butt and his 'part line' on the top. He also has dandruff on the top.

I have no advice for you, but I know the feeling. Last Christmas/winter I was afraid Smudge would freeze if his mange came back full force. Thankfully it has never showed up again. That could have gotten really ugly really quick.

You taught me something though - I was no aware that Deska and I shared a problem. Tell Deska as long as he doesn't wear black or hang out with tri shelties maybe his dandruff won't show so much. I am joking. Well, kind of. We actually do share a problem!

I didn't know shelties could really get dandruff. I guess I just never thought about it before.

 

[Caro]

Tell Deska as long as he doesn't wear black or hang out with tri shelties maybe his dandruff won't show so much. I am joking. Well, kind of.

Poor boy, since he has no undercoat his roots are showing (he has dark merling around the roots) so those white speckles of dandruff are showing up around the root line and no one wants to pat him

 

[Chris]

I sure hope Deska regrows his coat soon.

 

[Justicemom]

Have you checked his thyroid? Hair loss and danduff are common first signs.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

Poor Deska, seems like he's having a rough time with his arthritis acting up and now hair loss?

Maybe you need to change his food? I realize that you feed him high quality food, but maybe that particular food just isn't working for him anymore or there's something in it he's sensitive to.

I realize that I'm in a totally different part of the world than you, but I've noticed this year that Sadie is MUCH more naked than previous years and she's still shedding. She has almost no under coat left at all, only her rough remains full and puffy but even that is still shedding some. I don't know if she's losing more hair because of her age (almost 3) or what.

Ginny's the opposite, she looks like a puffy little Pomeranian. I actually had to use thinning shears for the first time on pants and tail.

 

[Caro]

Have you checked his thyroid? Hair loss and danduff are common first signs.

I asked the vet about that - he decided not to do a thyroid test because he says Deska is too active and lively to have a thyroid problem, same with why he thought it wasnt stress related. Maybe I should push it more. I switched him back to the usual dry food this morning (he has been on diet food for several months).

He looks so little without much fur. This is a pic of his coat last year and tonight.

 

[Justicemom]

I have seen dogs who were active and thin but losing hair be hypothyroid. Dogs with great coats but lethergic and heavy that were. Dogs with just behaviorial changes. You can sceen with just a T4 but don't base treatment on it. A thyroid panel is best. At least, you rule it in or out for the moment. Once you rule it out, you can look at diet, parasites, other hormonal imbalances etc.

For example, I just did Ember's thyroid panel. She was gaining weight and not running as fast in agility. At 2yrs old she had autoantibodies and a high TSH but normal thyroid levels. She is not on meds but I monitor yearly. I thought for sure that she was going to be hypothyroid now at 5 yrs. But her coat is the best it has ever been. The panel showed no autoantibodies, normal thyroid level(best hers had ever been) and high normal TSH(again best she ever been). Great, peace of mind, I don't need to worry about that. She has just been eating too much(she loves her chicken) and not exercising enough. I would have felt terrible if I put her on a strict diet and treadmill program and the problem has her thyroid.