Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 4/28/2011

Question
My 7 yr old rott has had a drastic change to her coat.  It was shiny, black as you see on most rotts.  After she had surgery to repair a torn acl, her coat has become redish, duller, and about 1/2 to 3/4 inches long.  In addition, where they shaved her leg for surgery, has never grown back in fully. She has about an 8 x 8 area of peach fuzz.  She had a morphine strip after surgery, she takes tramadol 2 pills every 2 days as a precaution for pain and stiffness.  She has had a thyroid check come back normal. She also takes gabapentin as a anti seizure medicine.  She had a seizure 2 yrs ago. She is current on all shots.  It is as if a winter coat came out and stayed.  Thanks for your assistance.

Answer
Well coat changes are caused by many things Mike. Diet, of course is the main one, but surgeries and drugs can also affect it as well. I will say that gabapentin is a really potent drug for one seizure that was had two years ago. Most vets do not use that drug first of all and most vets won't put a dog on any long-term drug for one seizure only. While I know this drug is used for seizures now I don't understand the long term usage for the one time seizure.

I would suspect that her liver is having some issues with all of the drugs that she is on and that she is having a hard time clearing them out of her system. Gabapentin is a nerve drug that is highly addictive. Put some potentially addictive morphine on top of that and her liver is probably freaking out.

I would ask about a liver function test for her and then put her on some kind of a liver cleansing diet or supplements. Hill's makes a prescription diet called L/D for the liver that could help. It helps the liver heal itself and is easier to digest.

Usually I tell people to put their dogs on Science Diet and it cleans the coat right up and makes it shiny and healthy because the dog is healthier but I have a feeling that there is more to this than just diet. Certainly if she is on a bad diet that won't help.

In any regard, I think I would ask your vet if you can discontinue or cut back on the drugs and see if her coat starts to improve. Hair coats will change in a three week period with proper diet and good liver function. I am not sure when her surgery was but it can take 3 months or longer for the hair to grow back because the liver is cleaning out the drugs used for anesthesia.

So talk to your vet about her dosages and drugs and see what he can do to help her with this.
I hope that is all it is and that he can help you with this. Please let me know how it goes.