AboutJana Connell RVT, CVT Expertise PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME:
I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer.
IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!!
I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals.
I DO NOT do birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!
Experience I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina.
I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.
Organizations Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.
Education/Credentials Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT.
Certified Veterinary Dental Technician
Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).
Our female 3 year old black and white border collie has hair loss on both her sides,It is her under coat without the soft long hair growing through.
The hair hair on her head and her legs is normal, we have her on 200 micrograms of oroxine as our vet said it is thyroid.
She has never had any test done and has been on the tablets for about 6 months, her diet is of commercial sausage meat to cooked mince with rice and vegetables with good quality dog biscuits.
She is one of three border collies at our house very well looked after loved walked every day.
There was a alpha dog issue about the same time the hair loss started, where my two females were competing for my attention and started to fight.
That has now settled down as we allowed the other older bitch to retain her role as alpha dog, although the older dog also has some hair loss under the chest with patches on either side bellow her arm pits.
The third dog a submissive male has an excellent coat...
Do you have any ideas on this ...There are no fleas scale sores itching ..nothing
Look forward to your reply
Smile's Powlz
Answer First thing you need to do is get this dog tested for hypothyroidism and for Cushing's disease. I can't believe a vet would put a dog on a thyroid med without a test. How would he know what her levels were so he could dose properly? While I have never heard of oroxine it must be like soloxine which is levothyroxine.
Six months is plenty of time to have seen a change in her coat if that was the issue and the correct dose.
Other conditions can look like this also,Cushing's being one of them. The bilateral hair loss to this degree is very common with a Cushings dog. It is imperative that a dog be tested for this and not just drugged as the pills can be very toxic if dosed wrong.
Here is a picture of a dog with typical alopecia from Cushing's .
Hair Loss and Thin Skin: Hair loss and thinning of the skin are also common symptoms in dogs with Cushing's disease. It is estimated that between 50% and 90% of the affected animals develop these symptoms. Hair loss (alopecia) is one of the most common reasons that owners bring their dog in for evaluation. The hair loss usually starts over the areas of wear such as the elbows and progresses to the flanks and abdomen until eventually only the head and extremities have hair. The skin may also become thin and be easily damaged and slow to heal."
Now the coat gets weird with hypothyroidism in dogs also, but usually it looks more unkempt than thinning, although it can.
The bottom line is your dog needs a trip to the vets for testing.
Another thing that concerns me is this diet you have her on. I am confused why you would be feeding her sausage at all? This food is highly spiced and not suitable for dogs. With what you are adding she is on a totally unbalanced and potentially damaging diet due to lack of a proper balance of minerals, vitamins and too much protein.
This will damage her kidneys in the near future and could be contributing to her problem now.
Dog biscuits are like feeding candy bars to dogs. They have no nutritional value worth mentioning and all they are is empty calories and fillers. They cause much sticky plaque on the teeth and weight gain.
If you think they were adding a balance to their diets I am afraid you were incorrect.
Please get your dog back for testing of both thyroid and Cushing's. I would do the thyroid first and if that is negative then proceed with the Cushing's . It is a day long test. If your vet says she is too young for Cushing's it is true that she is but it is not impossible for her to have it.
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