Hair loss on back, Follicular dystrophy/dysplasia

[balthazar]

http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=421

thank you to Angeldog(i believe) for posting the link to this article in another thread.

My boy seems to have Follicular dystrophy/dysplasia (non-color linked)

Does anyone else's Boxers have this? If so does the hair come back and the dark streaks go away? The article doesnt give any kind of cure, is there one?

He started loosing the hair from the small of his back about a month and a half ago. Dark streaks developed as well and his hair seems to be thinning along the streaks.
I had a skin scrapes taken at the vet to make sure it wasnt any kind of mange and no mites were found.
It doesnt itch him and it doesnt seem to bother him at all, but it looks, well..........funny.

He is currently on a mix of Eukanuba (boxer specific) Dry food and Eukanuba canned food. A mix of vitamins is included(vet recommended)

I'm hoping it clears up soon so I can take him to the dog park when it warms up a little, but I don't want other owners to think I have a diseased dog playing with theirs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[HurricaneBox]

First of all, I love his name!!!!

Secondly, I am sorry you are having to deal with this. I am not experienced with this particular problem, but my first reaction is always - check the nutrition the dog is (or is not) receiving. If you go to www.dogfoodanalysis.com you will find that Eukanuba (boxer specific or not) is actually not a very good quality kibble at all. You may want to consider something a little higher quality. Its amazing how many health problems our babies have secondary to poor nutrition. Just because a food is marketed as good or for specific breeds doesn't make it actually good for them, unfortunately. Your vet probably won't tell you this, they are generally not highly educated in nutrition during their vet educations (only about 8 hours of nutrition training) and they are taught that foods like Science Diet, etc are healthy, which they are NOT at all. Most of the kibble on the market today is trash, and awful food to feed. My advice would be to get him on a quality kibble, or consider feeding a RAW diet, and see if that helps his skin/hair condition. Good luck, and I hope he gets better soon!

 

[balthazar]

Holy Crap....My pet food stinks. Poor guy, I would be mad if I had to eat an all grain diet too!

No wonder he drools so much when I don't share my chicken and steak............but then again he drools when I don't share my animal crackers either.


I'm not sure if I can do the raw diet, but will get him on the EVO right away. Probably more cost effective then Eukanuba dry + canned anyway.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[HurricaneBox]

Holy Crap....My pet food stinks. Poor guy, I would be mad if I had to eat an all grain diet too!

No wonder he drools so much when I don't share my chicken and steak............but then again he drools when I don't share my animal crackers either.


I'm not sure if I can do the raw diet, but will get him on the EVO right away. Probably more cost effective then Eukanuba dry + canned anyway.

Thanks for the heads up.

yeah you know he is sitting there thinking "there is something wrong with this picture..."

Don't worry about it, we have all been there until someone told us different. Evo is a GREAT food, just be aware that even with premium kibble not every dog does well on every kibble, so you may have to search around and try a few before you find one that fits him. Kind of like us... not everyone loves seafood, or broccoli, or brussels sprouts, etc.

I hear you with the RAW, I have my boy on Canidae and I give him RAW every now and then as a treat, but I just can't do a total RAW diet right now, even though I know its the best thing!

And it is more cost effective, you feed so much less of the food and they can absorb so much more of it. I pay less to feed Canidae at $40 a bag than I did when I was feeding Purina at $15 a bag! :eek:

Good luck, and glad to help!

 

[EAO76]

Just a warning my two didn't do well on the EVO Red Meat (loose stools) we now feed Solid Gold and they look awesome!

 

[catcrazy56]

The link is gone so I don't know what this is my ruby has spots on her back that are bold I think its hormonal since she came from a puppy mill my dogs are on Orejen which is 6 star a good food solid stools but her hair isn't growing back in we are looking into hormone injections

 

[balthazar]

EAO76: Thanks for the heads up, I got him the EVO large chunks chicken (would have probably got the red meat but they didnt have it). I mixed the whole bag with what was left of the Eukanuba so it is probably a half and half mixture.
This should give him time to get used to it without shocking his system.
We will see.....

Catcrazy56: Click on the link I provided, then Click on the Dogs tab at the top.
Next click on Diseases and Organ Systems, then on Skin Diseases in Dogs: Allergies & Dog Ear Care.
Next is causes of skin lesions and after that is Causes of Hair Loss.
That will take you to all of the causes and symptoms.



My boy doesnt have any other symtoms like lethargy or depression, but he has always ran to the heating vent as soon as it comes on. I'm hoping it is just Follicular dystrophy/dysplasia and not some sort of thyroid issue....will have to just wait and see if it improves in spring.

 

[ProppaStyle]

Dog Food

I just did some extensive research about dog food. I had purchased Eukanuba for Boxers which I thought because it said it was for boxers was going to be perfect. After looking on the www.dogfoodanalysis.com I seen that it received a low B score. I paid $43.99 for a 36lb bag at Petsmart.
Numerous websites with people's comments talked highly about Canidae All Stages. It received a score of over a hundred...114 or 117 I believe. Incredipet carries this brand. The lady even said it was there most popular selling dog food. It cost $36.99 for a 40lb bag.
I was pleased to see that 3 of the top 5 ingredients are meat.
Take a look...
http://canidae.com/dogs/all_life_stages/dry.html