Question on change in coat

[B-and-B]

As the title says, I have a question on the change of my Shadow's coat. I searched the boards and didn't find anything referring to it.

Here's a picture of Shadow at about 3-4 years of age..

 

 

Asa you can see, Shadow's coat was always, what I would call smooth, with a little wave to it. My wife would give her a bath about every 6wks or so as needed and her coat always looked like this with a nice shine to it.

 

Shdow is now 6 and this past 6 months of so though, her coat has become....fuzzy.. for lack of better description. Here's a pic from this morning..

 

 

We've never seen this change in her coat before and we seem to have had to brush her more this year as her shedding seems endless, but you can see how her coat looks fluffy and it doesn't have the shine to it like it used to. My wife thinks it might be due to a change in diet as she changed the food she was using (we have gone back to the previous diet about 3wks ago). We have been supplimenting both Shadow and Dusty's diet with raw egg and about 1/8 tsp of ground flax seed once every 10days or so,to help promote a healthy coat.

 

So what would the experts attribute for this change in coat? Is she just going through a heavy shed?? Is there something lacking in her diet? Or is it a natural change due to her age. I miss her lean shiny look.. Her coat makes her look fat, but my wife make sure that our dogs are kept on the lean side to insure longevity (according to the vets she worked for..) Any thoughts? Thanks

BandB

[Izzysdad]

I read recently that coats can change/grow out as they age. I noticed in the past few weeks Tobey has been shedding off of his hips way. More than past years and he just turned 7. I wonder if the change in diet is the main cause...

[caraline]

There are actually a lot of mixed reviews about feeding raw eggs to dogs. From WEBMD "There are two problems with giving your dogs raw eggs. The first is the possibility of food poisoning from bacteria liek Salmonella or E. Coli. The second is that an enzyme in raw eggs interferes with the absorption of a particular B vitamin. This can cause skin problems as well as problems with your dogs's coat if raw eggs are fed for a long time." I wouldn't necessarily trust WebMD 100%, but maybe look into the raw eggs some more.

[GentleLake]

There is enough biotin in egg yolks to offset the avidin in the albumin.

 

I also read years ago that the avidin breaks down when exposed to air, so that beating the eggs, or at least the whites, will prevent it from binding to the biotin.

 

It's also broken down by heat, so cooking the eggs , or again the egg whites, will neutralize the avidin.

[urge to herd]

Both my spayed girls got fuzzier as they aged. A friend with intact dogs told me she had noticed it in neutered dogs, not so much in intact ones.

 

And I have a vague recollection of mentioning it to my vet once and him nodding his head.

 

Ruth and SuperGibbs

[B-and-B]

I did some research here (and other sites) on the raw egg controversy, this particular page seemed to sum up my findings nicely. As far as diet, we have gone back to our original diet, so I guess time will tell if we get to keep the fuzzy Shadow or the old sleek version Thank you everyone for your input!

[Root Beer]

Tessa's coat is changing. She is also getting fluffier and her coat doesn't lay the way it used to. She is also about six (or somewhere thereabouts).

 

Her coat is very healthy. I am attributing it to age.

[mum24dog]

Towards the end of his life Ross at 14 looked like a burst mattress but as a youngster he only had a medium length coat.

His top coat was still shiny though, just everything was longer and the undercoat thicker. It was a gradual process and hard to pinpoint when it started. It wasn't just after he was neutered though.

 

Maybe the OP's dog is bathed too often and the dull coat is a result of the natural oils being stripped out? Could be a combination of that and the effect of the sun giving the common summer brownish tinge to a black coat?

 

Kye has never had a bath and is now 8 years old. His coat is still as shiny as it ever was, just somewhat longer longer. He has never had as much undercoat as Ross had.

[juliepoudrier]

My old dogs all exhibited coat changes (generally to thicker coats). That said, 6 isn't old, and I'd guess that the dietary change at least had something to do with the shiny -> dull transition. I have one dog who was very slick, with little undercoat. After having a litter, her coat got thicker and wavier, though still smooth, and this was at age 7. So maybe hormones play a part in coat changes as well.

 

P.S. Her breeches look as if there is a lot of sun bleached/old hair there, hence the redness.

 

J.

[rushdoggie]

Is she spayed? All of my spayed bitches got woolier, fuzzier and less shiny with age.

 

And have you seen any other changes? Has she gained/lost weight or anything? Might be worth adding a thyroid panel to her next check up.

 

My dog got a little heavier and a softer on the edges look, and his coat was ok but not the same, so we ran one. Turned out he was hypothyroid.

[GentleLake]

Some dogs need more fat in their diet than others, too, to maintain coat quality. Bodhi is pretty extreme this way, needing more fat than any other dog I've had. If his coat starts getting dull, I know to throw some extra fat or salmon oil in his dish.

 

He was neutered at approx. 1 1/2 - 2 yrs. old, and I've had his thyroid checked and it's fine. His coat wasn't as full for a couple years after I adopted him (at 1.5-2 y.o.), but hard to say if it was because of being neutered or from transition to cooler climate. He came from KY and now lives in upstate NY.

 

I did notice last winter and even now he has much more undercoat than he has had before. Is it because he's approaching 9, or because we had such a severely cold winter last year?