# Hair Growth



## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

First a little history. Cali is 11.5, almost 12, spayed female Malinois. About 6 months ago she needed a tooth pulled, she'd slab fractured a molar somehow and it was infected. Since we were putting her under for that, the vet suggested removing a couple of small lumps that looked kind of like colorless (same color as the surrounding skin) warts. One on the back of her neck, and one on her side in the middle of her rib cage. 

Fast forward 6 months, and the hair still isn't normal in either spot. I'll post a couple of photos, but what has happened is some of the softer undercoat has come in through the entire area. But it's shorter then normal, and the guard hairs have only come in right in the center of each shaved spot. Where the incisions were. In those areas the hair is a normal length.

Any ideas on what might have caused this, and what, if anything can be done about it?


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## Jenny Thorp (Nov 8, 2008)

Sounds like it could be post clipping alopecia :

http://www.mckeevervetderm.com/documents/diseases/PostClippingAlopecia.pdf

Nothing to do for that but wait. Fur regrows eventually but may take up to 24 months.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Thanks for the link. I did a little more googling on post clipping alopecia and found another article that mentioned the possibility of low thyroid. Most agree with the one you posted, nothing to do but wait, but it might be worth talking to the vet about doing a thyroid check.

I had also read somewhere that the direction they shave the fur, I think it was against the grain instead of with the grain but might be the other way, can have an effect on hair regrowth. But if that was the case, I would think either A) they would know the right way to shave, every time or B) it's something that would be seen a lot more often.


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## Jenny Thorp (Nov 8, 2008)

Yes there are other potential causes.Thyroid and Cushings disease are other possabilities.
Certainly wouldn't hurt to check things out with your vet.

That's a new one on me .... direction fur was shaved ?????
Certainly would change surgery prepping protocols if that was the case


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## Alice Bezemer (Aug 4, 2010)

had something simular with my bitch Kelcey 2 years ago....at 7 years old she had to have some lumps removed (mastocytoma grade 3) also had to have her helped and have her uterus removed due to pyomethra...the lumps that were removed left funny hairspots for lack of better wording...hair wouldnt grow in properly and took agesssss to finaly come back to a semblance of its former glory...never did quite look right after that...found out it was actualy due to the fact that she was spayed...theres not a lot you can do about it or atleast thats what I found out with kelcey...I did start adding velcoate to her food...not sure if you can get it in the states but its an oil additive for horses and dogs with coat/fur issues...this made one hell of a difference I can tell you...its costly...150 ml for 25 euro but a bottle that size will do for a month so thats not to much if you look at it that way...I used to just buy the 1 or 5 liter jerrycans which cost less in comparison and I fed it to all my dogs...2 teaspoons a day. if you dont have it in the state I can send it to you of you like 

did the vet examine the lumps ?


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

I'll look for the velocate online. Thanks.



Alice Bezemer said:


> did the vet examine the lumps ?


We didn't send them off to a lab. She'd had both of them for a few years, no changes in size, shape, etc, it wasn't even anything I was worried about. The one on the neck I just figured was some sort of wart, I don't even remember when I first noticed it she's had it so long. The one on the side showed up later, but was the same type of thing. He got everything though, they weren't "spidery" or anything, and at her age I told him I wasn't going to be putting her through radiation or any other treatments like that anyway so why spend the $ on lab work. We did xray everything before surgery, to make sure her lungs were clear. Other then some arthritis she's in great shape at this point, her post surgery blood work was all normal, she just looks mangy. I did call the vet, the receptionist talked to a tech who said each dog is different regarding how their coat regrows after surgery, as long as the are isn't infected, red, angry, etc (it's not) it's just a waiting game. I asked if it can be an indicator of an underlying problem, they didn't think so, but I may still pop in and ask the vet myself, instead of just the tech. 

This is her just a few weeks before surgery


















Now all the hair along the back of the neck is funky, and she's got a "bullseye" on her side, they shaved it in a circle, and only the guard hairs right in the middle of the circle have grown back. :sad:


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## Mary Buck (Apr 7, 2010)

I had my 9 yo shaved completely down the spine and over the hips prior to his gold bead implants. It took well over a year for his hair to come in and normalize. The soft downy stuff grew fast...but the coarse guard hairs took forever and grew in spotty....I added more oils to his food...but ultimately it was just time that fixed te hair growth.


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## Gina Pasieka (Apr 25, 2010)

Unfortunately, surgical clipping has to be against the grain of the hair or else you will not get a clean clip down to the skin. Unfortunately this is a common problem along the back....took my dog about 16 months before the shaved area was normal again ](*,). Just tincture of time


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

I finally got a photo uploaded, this is what she looks like after 6 months. :-(










Guess we'll just have to wait and see if it all grows back in. I'll look into the supplements people suggested also.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Gina Pasieka said:


> Unfortunately, surgical clipping has to be against the grain of the hair or else you will not get a clean clip down to the skin. Unfortunately this is a common problem along the back....took my dog about 16 months before the shaved area was normal again ](*,). Just tincture of time


When I took orthopaedic surgery elective rotation the first time, they told us any stifle/cruciate surgery (TightRope, TPLO, TTA) needed to be shaved up to the spine and past the midline onto the other side if they were getting an epidural. The inventor of the TightRope surgery is at our vet school and he got so many complaints from owners that the hair over the back took forever to grow out (especially on labs), he had us do a slightly more limited clip when I took orthopaedic surgery rotation for my required rotation about 8 months later. He also switched from doing an epidural to a femoral nerve block. For total hip replacements, they still do the more complete clip though. Lab fur is the worst...


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## Gina Pasieka (Apr 25, 2010)

Hey Maren....my dog unfortunately had a autologous bone graft taken from his ilium...so no way to get around the hair clipping along the dorsum. Of course it didnt help that he is pretty much naked anyway...I have an Italian Greyhound :razz:


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

OK, possibly stupid question. Why can't the hair be plucked out instead of shaved. Like waxing. The dog is put under before it is shaved for surgery, right? So they aren't going to care either way. Pulled hair will grow back just fine, and much faster than shaved.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Some do pluck for male cat neuters. There's this special powder you can apply which makes it easier to pluck. But the size of a kitten scrotum is much smaller than if you're shaving an entire leg, like for a total hip replacement or a cruciate repair, or an abdomen for an exploratory. I'd suspect that due to the thickness of the fur and the time (and money) that the dog would have to be under anesthesia for quite a while to do a good pluck, it's probably not a good idea. I haven't examined enough cat scrotums to see how well the pluck job grows back either.  ;-)


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

"Special powder" = chalk. Done it with a few terriers! :wink:
I would think the time involved would be a pia. Then there is the sensitive dog that can't handle stripping. Most of my little terriers would just sleep in my lap while I did it. Terrier coats are a different then most dogs. Hard, coarse, and (usually) easy to pluck.


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

Waxing is pretty quick... And if they are put under for surgery anyway, sensitive or not doesn't matter at that point. Might matter if the skin is exceptionally thin and likely to get damaged though? 

Trust me, on a mal, plucked hair grows back just fine and much faster than shaved. :lol:


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> Some do pluck for male cat neuters. There's this special powder you can apply which makes it easier to pluck. But the size of a kitten scrotum is much smaller than if you're shaving an entire leg, like for a total hip replacement or a cruciate repair, or an abdomen for an exploratory. I'd suspect that due to the thickness of the fur and the time (and money) that the dog would have to be under anesthesia for quite a while to do a good pluck, it's probably not a good idea. I haven't examined enough cat scrotums to see how well the pluck job grows back either.  ;-)


Wow, one sentence just got weirder after the other. Powder for plucking???? Kitten scrotums???? Plucking and neutering should never be stated in the same sentence. For that matter, leave the balls alone! (grin). Maren I'm thinking you are studying for S&M Veterinary Services not straight up Vet Med. 

Oh and Kadi, I had the same thing happen with one of my dogs. It took some time but the coat returned to normal. Soft coat first, then it filled in just fine.


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## Jerry Cudahy (Feb 18, 2010)

Kadi, any steroids involved?


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## Gina Pasieka (Apr 25, 2010)

Post clipping alopecia doesn't occur in all cases. Waxing takes longer to grow back than most episodes of shaved hair...all you gals should know that ;-) I also would think that the density of hair would be a certain problem, as you would have to first clip the hair down to a reasonable length and likely require mutiple waxes to the same area which is bad for the skin. So I don't think waxing is a reasonable option.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Jerry Cudahy said:


> Kadi, any steroids involved?


No. Just some antiobiotics (the tooth being pulled was infected). Maybe some pain meds, but I don't remember for sure. If we did give her any they would have been an NSAID like Rimadyl.


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## Brian Anderson (Dec 2, 2010)

http://www.nustock.com/

we have used this product for years. I suggest every dog owner keep a tube at hand. Follow the directions and watch it work. Excellent to eliminate demo mange mite infestation, cuts, sores, scrapes, torn pads, burns etc. Regrows hair better than anything I have seen. 

Best of luck to you!!


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