Pups Have Thinning Coat

[Smithson]

Our 2 pups are 4 - 4 1/2 months and have recently been vaccinated. They both have short hair, which seems to be thinning, they looked like they could be developing mange (the thinning is on the side of the body, rather than along the back). We've been feeding them raw food and bones mixed with rice, lately I've cut right back on the rice and made it mainly raw food. It seems to be slowly improving, but I'm not 100% sure.

We've also applied Frontline for fleas. I think the fleas, combined with biting during play were contributing to the hair loss. They also had small lumps, not sure if they were flea bites. I've been applying tea tree oil to the lumps.

The raw diet has given our older dog a beautiful shiny coat and even with the thinning hair the pups have shiny coats. I was wondering if there was something I can apply or even some food to add to the diet which might help the fur grow back.

[Nienke]

Of course completely depending on the cause of the thinning, but I've seen good results with applying grated coconut to the food (1 tbsp twice a day), coconut oil topical or EM (Effective Micro-organisms) topical.

Nienke

[elfe]

i have seen very good results in feeding cooked mackerel or other oily seafish every day a piece or as meal every 2 or 3 days.

[bina]

thinning on the sides? what breeds? boxers and others show thinning hair on both sides of body when there is an imbalance of thyroid (a saddle type thinning over the withers and not along the backbone)....

and many toy types are prone also...

bina

[Nienke]

thinning on the sides? what breeds? boxers and others show thinning hair on both sides of body when there is an imbalance of thyroid (a saddle type thinning over the withers and not along the backbone)....

and many toy types are prone also...

bina

Hypo-thryroidism can be caused by vaccines (and altering). Coconut can be of help with this problem.

I have two dogs that had thinning coat and blackening skin (never did a thryoid test, though, and he is intact, she is spayed), and both improved a lot after adding grated coconut to their raw food diet.

Nienke

[elfe]

nienke, do you buy the grounded coconut meat in bags at the market where they press coconut milk? do you sprinkle it over the raw meat or how do you feed it with raw food.

[Nienke]

Yes and both

[Smithson]

What is the Thai word for the left over coconut meat? I was trying to explain to my wife.

One is a Thai dog and the other a Pitbull, I know both of these breeds are prone to mange. They play rough (especially the Thai dog who has really sharp teeth), I think this is contributing to the hair. Here is a pic.

[elfe]

rough play and even biting or scratches won't be the cause, i've raised many puppies they all have sharp teeth and play and bite a lot. never a problem.

if both of your dogs have the same issue it might be connected with the food or environment. is the skin dry and a bit scaly? might be the beginnings of mange, how about the fur on the ears?

[Smithson]

rough play and even biting or scratches won't be the cause, i've raised many puppies they all have sharp teeth and play and bite a lot. never a problem.

if both of your dogs have the same issue it might be connected with the food or environment. is the skin dry and a bit scaly? might be the beginnings of mange, how about the fur on the ears?

The fur around the ears is fine, the skin is a bit dry and scaly along the back of the Thai pup but the fur isn't really thinning. The situation seems to be improving for both dogs, but it's slow.

What environment would contribute to mange occurring?

[Nienke]

As I've haven't seen te dogs I can't say for sure what it can be. But some options:

Before (you got) the dogs have been on a dryfood that made they were lacking in nutrients. This can cause hair loss, dry and scaly skin, conjuctivitis, excessive earwax, etc.

Because the dogs are switched to raw food, high in bioavailable nutrients, from a low grade dog food the dogs are detoxing, throwing it out through the skin. I've seen this happen several times.

It can be the dogs do have mange, although this more often starts around the mouth, eyes and/or on the front paws. Many dogs carry the demodectic mange mites. They are able to multiply when the immune system goes down, as a reaction on the vaccines, when there is a hormone boost during their puberties, due to nutrient lack when on a low grade dog food, during illness, etc.

The dogs were reacting on the vaccines.

The dogs caught fungal infection, and through the raw food there immune system is fighting it now.

Nienke

[Smithson]

Before we got the pups, our older dog was fed dry Pedigree mixed with canned food. We kept this diet going with the pups for a while, but after checking the internet and with help from ppl on this forum I've switched to a raw diet mixed with rice and veges/fruit (for approx 6 weeks now).

As a result our older dog looks great, with a real shine in her coat. She had a chronic sore front leg, around the top joint and this has really improved (I think playing with the pups has helped).

What about the fleas? The 2 little ones had a lot, I was reluctant to use Frontline because they were so young, but decided to apply it to all dogs less than 2 weeks ago. The fleas left, the scratching stopped and the fur/skin problem seems to have improved a bit. Maybe it's too early to see real improvement?

The other thing is the fleas seem to be coming back and it's way to soon to apply Frontline again. The older dog sleeps with us, while the pups sleep together outside. What environmental factors could contribute?

[elfe]

it could be for example new cemented or tiled floor where the dogs have contact to which can cause rashes and itching.

for fleas you could use fleapowder instead?

my bottle raised puppies developped slight mange at ears when i switched them to more dry puppy food, then changed to raw again and fur healthy shiny everywhere now. also put some amitraz creme on the skin where the mange was, helped quickly and needed only two times, after one week again and it was gone.

if flea you should also deworm as they give worm to your dogs.

[Smithson]

if flea you should also deworm as they give worm to your dogs.

Good advice. Any idea why the fleas would return so quickly?

[elfe]

either flea were still in bedding, sofa etc in your house, all should be washed or, what i do, sprinkled with flea powder. frontline does not work so well it seems.

or your dogs have contact with other dogs which have flea.

[bina]

fleas eat where they can get food; so if there are no other places to eat (cats, other small mammals) then your pups are it... fleas dont return, their eggs are everywhere in your house so they just are new ones looking for food again...

since the pups are short haired breeds, get a lice comb and comb them out daily just like u do for your kids for lice. my boxer loves this; i found that this helps and u have to kill the little bugger fleas or catch and drop in somehting (lao khao should work well just dont drink it after wards ) and also deflea your house (sprays, powders, vacuum) depending on whether u have a child, where the dogs are, type of house...

if they sleep with u, well, expose bedding to sun, wash well, vacuum if u have one, shake them out, and, like with us, share the fleas a bit... we have a few, my daughter gets them as nasty bites as does the lhasa apso... the boxer and us dont seem too bothered... i frontline the dogs but the fleas live in our sofa, cracks in the floor, etc and i dont spray or treat indoors areas (there are 'bombs' for de fleaing houses done by professionals but they are nasty stuff).

the real problem is when u dont have a dog and the fleas look for another susceptible mammal for dinner: YOU...

there are alternative /green methods of dealing with fleas nienke probably knows or try googleing

bina

[Nienke]

Before we got the pups, our older dog was fed dry Pedigree mixed with canned food. We kept this diet going with the pups for a while, but after checking the internet and with help from ppl on this forum I've switched to a raw diet mixed with rice and veges/fruit (for approx 6 weeks now).

As a result our older dog looks great, with a real shine in her coat. She had a chronic sore front leg, around the top joint and this has really improved (I think playing with the pups has helped).

What about the fleas? The 2 little ones had a lot, I was reluctant to use Frontline because they were so young, but decided to apply it to all dogs less than 2 weeks ago. The fleas left, the scratching stopped and the fur/skin problem seems to have improved a bit. Maybe it's too early to see real improvement?

The other thing is the fleas seem to be coming back and it's way to soon to apply Frontline again. The older dog sleeps with us, while the pups sleep together outside. What environmental factors could contribute?

Well, here you answer your question in your own OP (And I realize that I didn't read the OP carefully, or I had seen you mention about the flea infestation already )

Fleas are nasty buggers and when having an infestation one should not only treat all dogs and/or cats, but also the environment where they eat sleep and play needs to be treated and carefully vaccuum cleaned. If not done, then the eggs will come out later on and the animal will be reinfested.

Anyway, you've seen now with your own eyes, how much a good diet has a positive influence on the animal's health.

The dog 'looks' ok on Pedigree, Alpo, or any other supermarket food, becasue one doesn't know the difference. But once changed to a high quality diet or, better, raw food, this difference becomes obvious.

IME it takes approximately a month for a dog to recover, although this is a generalisation as there are dogs that show improvement after 10 days already and others take longer. OR some first improve, then detox , and after that the real visible improvement sets in.

Nienke

[Smithson]

We have a mae ban who washes everything, including furniture covers, at least twice a week. EXCEPT the only thing she doesn't wash is the pups blankets, this is because last time she washed them the dogs cried when we put them out at night. I guessed it was because they no longer had the familiar smell.

What about the Frontline spray, any good?

Regarding the diet, our older dog has an absolutely beautiful coat after about 1 month on raw food.