# Hair loss & Dander- not thyriod per Vet.



## Tucker (Sep 27, 2008)

Tucker came home with us last January. 3 year old male & neutered. He had a bad case of dander along his back, nowhere else. Changed food, couple of baths and good to go except the dander would reappear at different intervals, two weeks, then two months, 5 weeks, 3 weeks, etc.. The vet put him on a full dose of Advantex every two weeks for two months and it seemed to help. The vet said the dander was due to mange mites burrowing out of the skin????? The double dose of Advantex seemed to stop the dander. For a while.
Fast forward 8 months and he is scratching constantly. He chewed a hotspot on his left haunch and his hair began falling out on his shoulders, his sides and his throat. Not the usual places for allegory induced hair loss, according to the vet. This is mostly the undercoat. The larger hair and the feathers do not seem to be affected.
Vet did blood tests and ruled out thyroid. Eyes and ears no smell or discharge great shape per the vet. She had us changed food from Nupro’s; Natural Balance Lamb and something to Wellness, whitefish and sweet potatoes. Vet said eating something they have never been in contact with before might resolve the problem if there are food allegories?? One of my coworkers is feeding her dog the same diet and has had good results for his allegories. We changed antihistamine from Benadryl to something else, I’m at work pills are at home. The Vet gave us some medicated shampoo to use every 2-3 days. The vet said that his pours were clogged??? They also shaved the hot spot and gave us some spray/antiseptic to sooth the wound and keep him from gnawing at it.
Two weeks later, the hot spot is almost healed and the hair is growing back. Itching and scratching is way down to almost nothing. But his hair doesn’t seem to be growing back in.
The day before yesterday was the 4th bath and today he has the oily feeling coat and severe dander. He would be a great candidate for head & shoulders commercial if they made a K-9 product.
We are judging hair growth by where they shaved the hotspot and it seems to be coming back very slowly???? Is this normal?
His coat on his shoulders and chest seem to have stopped the hair loss but still seem to be very thin with little or no undercoat. We can’t tell if we have hair growth or not. He is still far away from where he once was with his coat.

Now to the questions:
We have never had a Golden before and were wondering if the breed is overly susceptible to allegories? If they are, does anyone have any suggestions about what else we can do?

Any help with the oily coat and dander. It is only along a 6 inch wide patch from just forward of his tail to his shoulders.

Hair loss and regrowth.:
For lack of a better term do Goldens’ molt? Is this hair loss seasonal?

How fast does the undercoat grow?

We have a cat, could he be allergic to the cat?

The Shelter said that he lived outside and was kept in the garage. I don’t know if there could be any connection but thought I would throw that out for consideration.

There seems to be a wealth of information in the collective experience of this forum. Any suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated. We love out boy and just want him to be as happy as he can be in his new home.
Thanks,
Dan & Sarah


----------



## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

My 11 1/2 yo Golden experienced some of the fur loss issues you are dealing with. Yes, Goldens are prone to allergies! We use the medicated baths, 2 antihistamines (you can combine antihistamines for the best combination--just consult with your vet first), and just started him on thyroid medication to help with the thin fur spots. Our acupuncture vet recommended Selsun Blue to use on him--you can use dandruff shampoo on the dogs. We tried it and I believe it made the problem worse. I honestly think the oatmeal shampoo we generally use is the least caustic to my golden. 

The fact your dog has hot spots indicates allergies. Dogs can be allergic to anything humans can, including cats, pollens, dander (including human dander), wools, grasses, foods, etc. Allergy testing can help you identify certain allergens. Allergy injections can be formulated based on the test results. Testing for food allergies can be tricky as it involves the process of elimination. 

Goldens are prone to thyroid disease as well and the standard lab tests do not necessarily pick up hypothyroid issues. Our vet sent his labs to Michigan State University for a more complete thyroid panel. His results were problematic, we retested again and we now have him on a trial of thyroid for 6 weeks before running a new fasting thyroid panel. 

I was told that after a hot spot, fur regrowth depends on the growing season of the fur--in other words their fur grows at different rates during the year and it just depends on seasonal timing. I was also told if the shaved areas are still bare after a couple of months perhaps it indicates a low thyroid. 

The spray your vet gave you can be drying to your dog's skin if it is alcohol based. My vet recently prescribed neo-polydef with Tetracain for our younger Golden--we had much better results. 

I know of several Goldens in our rescue that have molted. Stress can also induce fur loss in Goldens, just as it can in humans.


----------



## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

*one Thing I Learned On Golden Forums Is That A Low Normal Thyroid Reading For A Golden Is Actually Low For A Golden. Two Of Our 5 Goldens Had Thyroid Problems, But Both Tested Out To Low Anyway. They Were Full Brothers, Different Litters. The Oldest Was Dignosed Just About The Time He Turned 4. He Had All The Classic Symptoms--hair Loss And Getting Coarse, No Energy, Sudden Weigt Gin, Chnge In Temperament. The Youger One Was Diagnosed About The Time Heturne 10. He Ad No Symptoms At All And His Was Caught In A Full Blood Panel Before A Dental.*

*also Had Littermate Brother And Sister Tat Had Allergies. Huner's Ws Nt As Bad As Kaycee's And In Fact He Had Nt Had Problems Fo A Longwhile Before Proheart6 Killed Hi8m Just Aftr He Turned 4. His Sister, Kaycee Was Allegic To Live Oak And Pine Pollen, Mold Spores, Fleas, Bermuda Grass, And Probably A Few Other Things, But No Food Allergies. Se Would Get Hot Spots About 2 Times A Year--spring And Fall.*


----------



## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Did the vet do a skin scraping recently?


----------



## Tucker (Sep 27, 2008)

We had a skin scraping done several months ago and then a couple of weeks ago. Nada on both.
The medicated shampoo worked well twice and the third time we had dander the next day. My wife thinks his coat is comming back, I am not sure. Another bath tonight. At least he is getting into the tub by himself. Keeping the medication on for 10 minutes is recommended .He loves having me rub him and spend that quality time with him.

The hair loss where the vet shaved him is slowly gorwing back, and the spray is no longer necessary.
Thank you all for the information. 
This is almost as big of a challenge as raising a human baby. And just as rewarding!


----------



## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

What were the thyroid levels when they came back?


----------

