hair loss - again!

[ritab]

Poor Gizzi - we got her last August and her fur improved for 3 months and then she lost most of it! In Spring it started to grow back and she was lovely and glossy, her neck was fully furred again, but her tum remained bare. Now - July - she is moulting again before her tum or haunches have got as much fur as when she came from the kennels.

Is she likely to fur up for winter? Does anyone have experience of this pattern? It was a bit weird that she lost so much fur for winter, so a summer moult seems more understandable. But I was hoping that with her good diet, and a comfy home life, she would have a better coat than she did in the kennels.

She has 3 evening primrose capsules a day and in addition to her Burns Pork & Potato, she has egg or sardine once or twice a week, plus cooked veg most days, and pigs ears or raw carrot 3 or 4 times a week.

I was adding Keepers Mix to her food but have now run out, and as the vet wasn't sure it would make a difference to her condition decided to try her without.

So... any ideas? Or is she always going to be a bit of a baldy? I know it looks worse on the black ones - but her tum is white and did have SOME fur when we got her.

[barbaranixon]

Some dogs just have naked tums.

A different breed but of the four cavaliers I've had,Teddy has a bald tum (very prone to blackheads), yet Joly is so hairy that you can't tell he has no boy bits. The other two were in between.

[jodav]

Sounds as if you are already trying some good stuff - we give Yumega every day which may be worth trying but TBH our Paddy's fur hasn't improved that much in the bald areas (a soft bit of fluff at the most ;D) although the coat is very shiny. Maybe it's a quirk of some black hounds! He's started gnawing at his chest fur now

Jo x

[tinar]

I think it must be a black hound thing. Daley suddenly lost all the fur on his neck under his chin - we blamed the collar thinking it had chafed, but he's still thinning on the sides and moulting like a ...well there's enough moulted to knit myself another dog!

I remember Sonia going really bald quite a while after we first had her - again just as I thought it should be settling down, but [touch wood] her coat is looking just nice now.

It is a worry isn't it ?

[barbaranixon]

Teddy's bald area would have been white. His chestnut hair is really thick.

He does lick the area much more than needed to clean, so perhaps he wore the roots away.

[julies]

A greyhound vet said if it wasn't thyroid it's likely to be dehydration ... I guess you do add water to their feed especially if they're on a dry complete diet but maybe try a bit more .. tho my Lucy's coat went really odd and fluffy ... Yumega was the only thing I found helped

J xx

[samburns]

We have four greyhounds here - same diet, exercise, water etc

Sibs (brindle) has a bald belly and thighs, always has (with us nearly three years). She did once grow a little hair but the next moult lost it again and although it fluctuates she has bald patches pretty much all year round.

Winston (brindle) has a good thick coat but went through a phase of baldy thighs following a moult but is now fully covered in hair again.

Dickie (white & black) has never gone bald anywhere, he probably moults the heaviest (or maybe his hairs show the most?) but has never gone bald anywhere.

Katy (black) only here for a couple of months - bald patches on her thighs, currently losing her kennel coat but hair seems to be coming through nice and shiny and her thighs are starting to look a little better.

I think there is only so much you can do to help their coats....I'm resigned to accepting its a greyhound thing and don't stress about it if its thighs and belly

[houndie]

i find coconut oil is fantastic for their coats, you can massage it i n (it doesn't stay greasy) and you can also feed it to them. It fantastic for all sorts not just their coats but it really helps the fur.

[ritab]

I do add water to Gizzi's food as I read that they don't usually drink enough. I'm not stressing about the hair loss this time - but I wondered if it is a common pattern. Although I'm a lifelong dog owner this is my first greyhound. I didn't realise when I saw her cute face on the website that there were so many greyhound peculiarities!!! But I'm learning fast.

It's coming up to a year since we adopted her and she has made progress but we still have a way to go as she's a dog that doesn't come up for a fuss. But she does seem to quite like a bit of attention now, so maybe in another year she'll be a cuddle monster. Or she may always be a bit aloof. We love her anyway and find her quite fascinating.

Should just say that my vet didn't think the original moult was anything too serious - no other signs of thyroid problems.

So keep your suggestions coming.

Thanks

[ritab]

I was sort of hoping lots of people would come on and say "it's fine - it happens to mine every year" or "eventually they don't lose so much fur".

I would really value hearing about others experiences of baldy greyhounds...

[greybeard]

Perry is still very baldy.Yumega oil didn't do anything,Some regrowth with Evening Primrose - its improved his existing coat really well,very soft and shiny.Our grey experienced vet ( have to admit that he's the local track's Vet) just says he's not worried as some greys are just like that.Apart from baldy bits Perry's a very happy, healthy hound - and that's what counts.Cath
PS sending "grow fur" thoughts doesn't seem to work either!

[Vanessa]

Our polly has a baldy bum, tried all the above treatments/ recommendations and as said she gets a little bit of fine hair on some areas but not others, but has a shiny soft coat everywhere else. ;)We stopped just accept that it's not coming back and that's it's her quirk our other hound is a brindle and he's 12 and he has a lovely coat all over. Forgot to say polly is a black hound too.

Hope gizzi fur does grow back but if it doesn't then it's fine too

[Cath]

I have two Greys. Bob doesn't have hair- his coat is cotton wool and he just moults all year.

Brenya has a proper greyhound coat and she goes bald autumn and spring. Her coat is now the best it ever has been after 4 years with us but she still has baldy thighs. I don't do anything special for her coat- she is soft and shiny because she gets so much fussing and brushing ;D

[ritab]

Thanks for all your reassurances. Black ones do show baldness more than the other colours I know. It's just that she wasn't too bad when we got her but then moulted and was fairly bald for winter! Then for summer it started to grow again, but after starting a second moult she is fairly baldy again - all 4 legs and the tum never grew back anyway. Her neck grew back really well, but I can see it's looking a bit patchy now.

Hope it grows back for the cold weather - she was so bald all last winter. The evening primrose supplement is ongoing and the fur on her back is very glossy and she was much admired on her last greyhound walk.

We maintain the gloss by using a microfibre cloth, dampened with either water or aloe spray, and just smooth the fur after grooming - it gets rid of the loose hairs and dandruff and she looks rather fabulous when she's been done!

[danhodson]

Poor Dave had loads of bald patches when I first got him, from lieing on the concrete floor at the stray kennels i presume I started giving him fish oil tablets and his coat is now lovely and glossy and he doesnt get any dandruff anymore. As others have said above he still has slightly baldy thighs though