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Old June 23rd, 2010, 10:54 PM
Gail P's Avatar
Gail P Gail P is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Ontario
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Goldfields View Post
What you need to watch for here in both Collies and Shelties too, apart from eye problems, is that those who have white around the nose or lack pigment there can get nasal solar dermatitis, leading to cancer. Is that sort of cancer seen in Canada, Gail, or only here where it gets really hot? I love that first photo by the way, a gorgeous boy.
Thanks
I'm sure it is seen here too but I don't know how frequently. Of all the collies I've had/known, Noah is the first I've seen with anything like that and it's only started occurring in the last couple of years. He doesn't even have any white around his nose. Those with white and naturally occurring pink skin there would be more prone to sun sensitivities. The fall of 2008 (7 years of age) Noah lost some pigment just above his nose and had a pink spot there for a few months. Gradually the colour came back and all was well. Then last year in the summer he suddenly got into a whole mess of problems, terrible hot spots on his belly and back of his thighs, losing hair and pigment on his nose and around his eyes and getting kind of scabby spots on his face. Even the tips of his ears were affected. Because it all happened in the later summer, a little earlier than the year before and all these things happened at once to him I assumed it was environmental allergies and treated it as such. Eventually the hot spots cleared up and most of the pigment and hair came back on his face, though there are still spots that appear to be somewhat scarred and he still has a pink spot above his nose. It was starting up again this spring, no hot spots but loosing hair around the eyes etc. just a week before the vet came to vaccinate so she had a look at it and suggested a skin scraping, to rule out mange, bacteria, yeast etc. The scraping was clean so she just recommended keeping him out of the sun and if it got worse that we might consider doing a biopsy. Luckily it has cleared up quickly this time, the hair has now regrown and he's not all bald around his eyes anymore. I'm not really sure how the sun could have much affect in his case. He spends hours outside in the sun in the winter time without any problem, it only happens in the hotter weather and although the sun may be more intense then he's not really out in it much. If he's in the yard he's often laying in the shade or else inside in the a/c when it's really hot. He's turning 9 this fall, I just hope it doesn't continue to get worse each year as he ages

ETA: Here's a picture of him from Oct. 2008 that shows the pink spot on his nose. That time the pigment did come back after several months.

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Found a couple more pics that show it better. First one is Nov. 2008 when the pink spot was getting smaller, second one is March 2010 and scarring can be seen as black-ish spots. Those areas and more had lost hair, turned pink and been scabby. Once they began healing the skin turned black and some hair regrew but not all. He kind of looks like he's been all bitten up or something but at least it's not inflamed and bothering him.

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Last edited by Gail P; June 24th, 2010 at 08:33 AM.
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