Normal Shedding or Medical Problem

[NaNa8]

Laci is 9 mths old and I am not sure if what is happening is normal or not. At first I believed that she was shedding. It appears that her hair is falling out on her back only. I can rub my hand on the top of her back and lightly close my hand into a fist and end up with a fistful of hair.

She was spayed on the 16th and I am not sure if this is due to this or is there an underlying problem. I do have an appt on Monday to get her stitches taken out and I do plan to ask that question, but thought I would ask if anyone else has had that problem.

Thanks

[jesse's mommy]

She could be getting her adult coat in.

Oops, I missed the part it was only on her back.

[NaNa8]

Thanks, it has been 9 yrs since I went through spaying and this stage of the game. I honestly could not remember back to when Caila was this age and with the other problems that Laci has, I guess I tend to overact and think that she now has another thing wrong with her.

[Prin]

What do you mean by on her back only? I know when spring comes, my dogs shed clumps from their back legs and neck areas...

Is the hair getting thinner? Is she shedding but not replenishing the hair?

[StaceyB]

Is she balding in this area or just losing hair? Does it look thin? What breed is she and what other problems does she have?

[NaNa8]

Laci is a Chocolate Lab and she has hydrocephalus. The hair is very thin from her neck on the top of her back to her rump area. It does not appear that the hair is growing back. I have noticed that she has been really shedding for about a week now and I have been brushing her and it just comes out easily on this area only. I ran my hand down her back today and as a child would do, I made a light fist and my hand had quite a bit of hair in it. The shaft (the lower 1/4) of the hair in my hand was white, and the rest (about 2 inches) was brown. I also tried the same thing on her chest and the backs of her legs and it is not shedding as the back is.

[Prin]

Ok, if she's shedding and it's not growing back, she definitely has a medical issue causing it. With normal shedding, you don't notice the loss of fur on the dog- I mean, you notice the fur that comes off, but the fur on the dog shouldn't get obviously thinner.

[NaNa8]

Thanks Prin,
Could it be from the hormonal loss due to the spaying? Sounds terrible but I really am not sure as to when this started (before or after the spaying). Any ideas as to what else would cause this? Could it be due to stress as she had beeding and drainage from the incision and I had to take her back in this week for that. She was also on Rimadyl (sp) for the pain after surgery and again due to the problem with licking the incision.

[Prin]

Hormone loss or insufficiency usually causes bed wetting, not hair loss, and it would certainly not occur that quickly. Estrogen and other hormones are stored in fat, so even if you cut off the supply right now, there's plenty left over. I think thyroid hormones can cause hair loss, but I'm not sure about that.

[NaNa8]

Thyroid does cause hair loss, this I know because I have that problem. Boy if it isn't one thing it is another. And she isn't even a yr old yet. I know they took blood prior to surgery but it came back normal. If it is the same in animals as human, I don't think they test for T4 in a normal blood workup. I am so ready to pull my own hair out again.:sad: