I will try to make this a reasonable length. Try.
About a month ago we started noticing Cajun sheds a ridiculous amount. Like, an abnormal/excessive amount, not just "oh she sheds a lot." It's EVERYWHERE. I can run my hand down her back and end up with a handful of hair. I could brush her for days and get more hair off of her than I do when I brush Happy. The vacuuming required with her is crazy. And I feel like I'm going to break the washing machine every time I wash her bed.
Sometime after that observation, I noticed she has some hair loss on her neck. Initial thinking is okay, maybe it's from her collar rubbing. Or from her prong being fitted too loosely. Perhaps these things are a contributing factor, but now I'm thinking maybe this and the shedding are part of the same issue.
The more I thought about these things, the more I paid attention to her and started noticing thinning hair on her thighs and extending down her chest. A couple days ago I also noticed a cluster of some little pustules in one of her armpits.
Because she's a doberman and because I apparently so badly want one of my dogs to have a malfunctioning thyroid, I sent out some bloodwork. Part of the results are still pending, but her T4 came back concerning to me (she's at a 1.0 and the reference range is 1.0-4.0). Her TSH is pretty normal at 0.13 (range of 0.05-0.42). The only thing we're waiting on is her Free T4.
I wanted some preliminary thoughts from the vet on these values, and basically she's not concerned about her thyroid at all, but she also wants to see the Free T4 results first. She actually thinks it is more likely that this is an issue relating to her being intact? In short, she just told me to spay her.
I'm also noticing now that she has a weird odor to her. I don't even know how to describe it. It's not "dirty," it's not yeasty, it's not just normal dog smell... but there's something there. Today is Saturday. She was just bathed on Thursday. She smells.
We put her on Natures Domain Salmon when we got her. 2ish weeks ago when I was more concerned about just the shedding, I put her on Nordic Naturals Omega-3 supplement. 1 week ago we switched her food to Fromm Gold. Not noticing any changes with any of that.
Is it a "thing" that being intact would be a cause for this? I feel like that's just something a vet would say because God forbid my 18 month old should still have a uterus lol. But since intact animals are such a rarity I have no clue if this is something that occurs. I don't really want to jump into a surgery and get her spayed just because "maybe" it'll help. I was going to wait until the winter to do that. I'm still hopeful it's thyroid but I don't know!
Oh, for a timeframe reference, we've had her for 3 months. And she's not itchy or dandruff-y or bothered by her skin at all.
This gives an idea of the thinning hair on her chest
(Sorry, I didn't succeed in keeping this short)
About a month ago we started noticing Cajun sheds a ridiculous amount. Like, an abnormal/excessive amount, not just "oh she sheds a lot." It's EVERYWHERE. I can run my hand down her back and end up with a handful of hair. I could brush her for days and get more hair off of her than I do when I brush Happy. The vacuuming required with her is crazy. And I feel like I'm going to break the washing machine every time I wash her bed.
Sometime after that observation, I noticed she has some hair loss on her neck. Initial thinking is okay, maybe it's from her collar rubbing. Or from her prong being fitted too loosely. Perhaps these things are a contributing factor, but now I'm thinking maybe this and the shedding are part of the same issue.
The more I thought about these things, the more I paid attention to her and started noticing thinning hair on her thighs and extending down her chest. A couple days ago I also noticed a cluster of some little pustules in one of her armpits.
Because she's a doberman and because I apparently so badly want one of my dogs to have a malfunctioning thyroid, I sent out some bloodwork. Part of the results are still pending, but her T4 came back concerning to me (she's at a 1.0 and the reference range is 1.0-4.0). Her TSH is pretty normal at 0.13 (range of 0.05-0.42). The only thing we're waiting on is her Free T4.
I wanted some preliminary thoughts from the vet on these values, and basically she's not concerned about her thyroid at all, but she also wants to see the Free T4 results first. She actually thinks it is more likely that this is an issue relating to her being intact? In short, she just told me to spay her.
I'm also noticing now that she has a weird odor to her. I don't even know how to describe it. It's not "dirty," it's not yeasty, it's not just normal dog smell... but there's something there. Today is Saturday. She was just bathed on Thursday. She smells.
We put her on Natures Domain Salmon when we got her. 2ish weeks ago when I was more concerned about just the shedding, I put her on Nordic Naturals Omega-3 supplement. 1 week ago we switched her food to Fromm Gold. Not noticing any changes with any of that.
Is it a "thing" that being intact would be a cause for this? I feel like that's just something a vet would say because God forbid my 18 month old should still have a uterus lol. But since intact animals are such a rarity I have no clue if this is something that occurs. I don't really want to jump into a surgery and get her spayed just because "maybe" it'll help. I was going to wait until the winter to do that. I'm still hopeful it's thyroid but I don't know!
Oh, for a timeframe reference, we've had her for 3 months. And she's not itchy or dandruff-y or bothered by her skin at all.
This gives an idea of the thinning hair on her chest
(Sorry, I didn't succeed in keeping this short)