(Disclaimer: I plan to ask the vet about this later this week when we pick up some dog food; in the meantime I’m just curious about what it might be.)
Our English springer spaniels had their second summer clip ever (pretty much shaved down all over) earlier this year. A few days ago we noticed that they both have swaths on their backs where the fur is noticeably shorter. It’s not a result of a bad clip, because they were both perfectly smooth when the clip was fresh. They don’t tend to shed in clumps, but just sort of all over at once, and they don’t really seem to be shedding now. There’s no bare skin or irritation that we can see – just those patches of short fur. They haven’t had any baths recently or run into any sort of allergen that we know of. They are inside/outside dogs, about half and half of the time.
Some kind of reaction to heat/stress? Just a weird shedding pattern that we haven’t noticed before? They are both spayed females, ages 5 and 7, otherwise healthy. The younger one is on meds for spay incontinence (was Proin, about to be switched to DES). They are both on Heartgard and Frontline.
Yeah, I thought it was weird that they both have it. Today Mr. S speculated that maybe they’ve been rubbing up against the fencing (chain-link) on their kennel or something, with it being only on their backs.
They’re eating the same food they’ve been on for the past year. They do occasionally get into things in the woods (deer poo is a favorite), but usually the older one is more adventurous and the younger one hangs close to us.
No fleas that we’ve noticed, and the Frontline should be taking care of that.
Maybe the hair grows faster on some parts of their bodies than others. My sister is regrowing her hair after chemo and has noticed the sides are growing faster than the top.
Maybe . . . it’s only their second short clip. But I would have thought I’d have noticed it before.
Probably no big whoop. It’s just so odd. After a thing with a previous dog where we waited a little longer than we should have to get something checked out, we’re a little gun-shy and tend to ask whenever we notice something that doesn’t seem right. Better to be told “It’s nothing” than “Why didn’t you bring her in sooner?”
We’ll ask the vet about it in the next few days. He’s great about answering questions without going through he whole whoop-de-do of an office visit if one isn’t needed.
Dermatology is a very visual area of medicine. It is also very rare for a dermotalogic problem to be an emergency situation. In my area, fleas are a big deal right now.