Is seasonal alopecia hereditary?

[mcnamaraliwo]

Hi,
Molly and I were out in the park and we met another boxer. Daisy is 5 year old classic fawn girl. Daisy had been rescued from a backyard breeder. Her owners have had her for two years. Prior to that she had six litters (in otherwords by age 3 this poor girl had had six litters). When she could no longer produce pups she was given away to this great family who had her spayed and enjoy her for the wonderful girl she is. Daisy has very bad seasonal alopecia on her back (at least that's what her family thinks it is...also possible it is a thyroid thing). She loses her hair in the spring and in the fall.
My questions are:
Does having alopecia have any link to having so many litters early? and can she have passed this problem on to her many pups?

I'm just glad she's healthy and happy right now. Her family adores her and she is the sweetest thing. Thank goodness for rescue.

Lizzie & Molly-0

 

[JulieM]

It may be in some way genetic as it seems to be more common in Boxers than in many other breeds; however I have not heard any information on a direct mode of inheritance. The cause of seasonal flank alopecia is currenlty unknown.

Typically with seasonal alopecia the underlying skin turns dark/black - if this is not happening, I would certainly recommend thyroid testing (a full panel).

 

[mcnamaraliwo]

Thank you JulieM. I'll make sure to tell her owners. The skin on her back IS black. Daisy doesn't appear bothered by it and her hair does grow back. We were just wondering if there was a link with this problem to all the puppies she'd had. So I guess its just a throw of the dice with alopecia. Thanks again.

Lizzie

 

[Augie]

Seasonal Alopecia

Hi
Tell your friends to contact - Hiltonherbs [worldwide] -
you can get their address from their website - www.hiltonherbs.com
My Boxer girl had seasonal alopecia and we gave up on anything. Then we came across an advert in a dog paper for hiltonherbs. One tub of very reasonably priced - "Phytobalm" which you massage in every day - hair grew back over course of couple months. This company is very helpful and service excellent. My girl has never looked back skin wise.
Augie

 

[WorkingMom]

We know a lot about this in our house. Our reverse brindle (looks like a Boston Terrier) goes through it every year. Starts right about now. In fact, we just noticed it last nite.

We do the Phytobalm on the skin as well as giving Fish Oil & feeding Wellness. BUT... the real trick for us was Melatonin. That was the one thing that really made the difference after months and months of baldness on the back.

After having the thyroid test come back negative I was pulling my own hair out.

We started with 6mg a day - 3 in the am & 3 in pm with his meals. Once his hair was back in, we went to 3mg in the am only for another month & then stopped altogether.

So now we will start back on 3mg to see if it helps (b/c its not bad at all). If I don't get results I want, we will go to 6mg.

We just get Melatonin at any grocery or store like Target. Cheap & works great. I take it to sleep. It also helps with anxiety since my dog is afraid of storms & gets anxious.

Hope this helps. I know how frustrating it is when you think you are doing everything & its not working.

Also - search for "Just Call Her Baldy" post in the forums - many of us had a long thread going about this very topic.

Best of luck!

 

[Max's Momma]

Melatonin is working for Max also!

Good Luck