Any ideas on rehab'ing a poor coat?

[OnyxGold1]

Hi All

In short my dilemna:

My girl came back from a handler after 13 months of showing. I had been having food delivered to handler's home directly....however I discovered upon picking her up that her coat & teeth were terrible.

Coat: very dry, brittle, coming out in chunks.....TONS of undercoat showing thru as her guard hairs are so brittle that she is losing them every second. She is VERY itchy and is making quite the habit out of chewing on herself. Again not certain if this is allergies to the poor quality food or to whatever products were being used on her when showing.

Teeth: completely covered with tartar....couldn't see the white for the yellow

I disovered that the handler spoke to his vet who advised him not to feed the orijen I was sending as it was "too hot' of a food for a rottweiler and to get her on Purina ONE....ewwwww.....so this is where I think most of the issues stem from.

What I have done thus far: I switched her immediately back to Orijen upon picking her up, and have added salmon oil / meal in addition to 3-4 cans of either sockeye salmon or sardines / week to her meals. Even tho I know that overbathing can cause some of these issues I have been bathing her every 3-4 days with WAHL conditioning shampoo which has shown promise in that her coat is much softer, less brittle and she is losing less guard hairs. She is also getting raw knuckle bones every 1-2 days and has shown great improvement in her teeth....I can actually SEE white again.........and her gums are nice and pink as opposed to a darker red near the gum line.

My main issue at present is that she has such a lack of guard hairs that she looks like a greyish / brown poof.

We have a vet appointment on Tuesday for a consultation regarding her coat and I wish to discuss possible allergies with the vet as well as rule out thyroid. I think this is mostly a nutrition issue and it has only been 2 1/2 weeks since she got home so I haven't seen dramatic change yet.....any clue how long to see improvement after a switch in food??

Does anyone else have any other ideas as to how to rehab what was once a lovely coat??

Thanks!

[moondog]

It sounds like you're going all the right things - getting her back on the diet she does well on, marrow bones, and a vet check to rule out any medical conditions.

I'd take care not to "over" do in hopes her coat will come back sooner. My guess is when she goes through a seasonal shed in the fall that her coat will come back as it was before, barring any medical cause.

I'd be livid if someone I had trusted to care for my dog didn't follow MY instructions, or at least CONSULT with me prior to making changes recommended by anyone, including a vet.

I had something similar with a horse I leased. I had instructed the leasee's parents that if he came up sore, to absolutely NOT give him any bute, but to rest him instead. This horse became borderline dangerous on bute. Well, the first time he came up sore, the trainer told them to bute him and ride him anyway, and a young boy came very close to suffering serious injuries because of it. That was years ago, and I'm STILL furious when I think about it.

[sweetlee]

I believe that if you are giving fish/salmon oil you are supposed to give vitamin E also.
I don't remember why, but I am sure if you search it here you will find it.
Glad you are having her thyroid checked as that will make hair fall out and nails and hair brittle.
I would use a very soft brush and brush her every couple days to distribute oils through her coat. I also would massage her daily for the same reason and to increase circulation towards the skin.
Even though most of us don't take our rotties to groomers, you may call one and see if there is some kind of a leave-in hair conditioner that you can use.
Other than that I don't have any other suggestions.
Since you've been seeing improvement to her teeth you may want to switch to a harder marrow bone once a week.

Good luck.

Sharon

[moondog]

Originally Posted by sweetlee

I believe that if you are giving fish/salmon oil you are supposed to give vitamin E also.
I don't remember why, but I am sure if you search it here you will find it.

Omega 3's in fish oils react readily with oxygen and can trigger free radicals. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that reduces the production of free radicals, so it helps counter the degradation.

Some fish oil supplements also contain Vitamin E. For those that don't, it's good to add 400 IU of Vitamin E a few times a week while using fish oil daily. I use Natural Factors Wild Salmon Oil, which is pure salmon oil....so I do add Vitamin E about 3 times a week.

[brunie's mom]

Hi Heather;
Sounds like you are doing everything to get her back into shape. I too would be furious to know that the handler did not feed the food you were sending, and allowed her to get into this shape.

For her teeth one thing I would do is also brush them with a doggie toothpaste a couple of times per week....the combination of the toothpaste and the brush...really helps the teeth to be pearly white again.

With a change onto a good diet usually within a couple of weeks you should see an improvement in her coat...that's usually what it takes with the dogs I foster.

Another thing to think about with her coat is that she may be coming into season soon? That often get's them shedding hard and blowing coat.

Hoping she looks better soon.

Gina

[blisscodisco]

Just wanted to say I am glad she is back with her mommy! Orijen has done wonders for my guys coats, the vet couldn't believe how good the 10 yo's was on it. I have a feeling it will take to the next beg shed for the outer coat to become normal again My mom got an older dog (7) that lived in a kennel most of his life and even with great food, bathing with gentle shampoos, it wasn't until the fall when he had his first good shed did it really start to shine and feel nice...Give her a big rottie slurp from me and the kids. If this is Cajun she is one of my favorite girlies out there!!

[frontierrots]

definately give Vit E with the salmon oil

I would only bathe her every week or every other week to give the skin oils a chance to do their thing also

While her coat may feel better soon it may not LOOK great til after her next shed. I knew a person whose pup got parvo and when she shed out she appeared sable! (red and black evenly throughout) This dog held this appearance until her next shed when she shed back into a rottweiler

Re the teeth, I would consult the vet as to the advisability of a short term regiem of dental antibiotic since her gums were RED/inflamed she may have serious gingivitis and that can affect the heart if untreated

Otherwise I think you are totally on track

[frontierrots]

ALSO!

If the handler disposed of the food and did not feed it to your girl, then he OWES you for the food. he also owes you for any vet bills you incur

Get your girl to the vet asap for a written eval if you have not already done so as evidence, also written statements from any other uninvolved people who saw her when you picked her up.

[MarleysMama]

Originally Posted by frontierrots

ALSO!

If the handler disposed of the food and did not feed it to your girl, then he OWES you for the food. he also owes you for any vet bills you incur

Get your girl to the vet asap for a written eval if you have not already done so as evidence, also written statements from any other uninvolved people who saw her when you picked her up.

Absolutely 110% agreed!!!

I am very sorry you and your pup are going through this...I hope you can get to the bottom of any causes :)

[adam8065]

olewo carrots should definitely help with your dog's coat. They have found it improves dog’s pigmentation and coat. Reds become redder and all other colors become richer and darker throughout the dogs body.

You might also want to try Vertex Dog Supplement is has been known to help with dogs with bad coats too!

[OnyxGold1]

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions! I didn't know about the Vit E so I have started to add that to each of Cajen's meals too!!

Just as an update for all I had her at the vets today and they did a full blood panel to see if anything was going on in terms of infections or whatnot....came back completely clean. They then ran a full thyroid panel again completely normal.

The vet (who THANKFULLY is a breeder & CKC Judge herself & knows the importance of nutrition) told me that its her opinion that this is fully nutrition related and to continue with what I'm doing but did feel that I was overbathing still even with a good moisturizing soap.....recommended that I only bathe ever 10-14 days or so with the good conditioning shampoo and to also brush her daily with a softer bristled brush to stimulate the hair folicals to produce oil.

I'm just thrilled to have her home and having the chance to be a dog......she swims daily in the dug out with her sisters & mom, gets to run with the quad nightly, chase squirrels and gophers for the better portion of the day.....she's pretty happy being a fairly dirty dog right about now!!! Maybe the 'mud baths' she gives herself after rolling when coming out of the dug out will be good for the coat too!!!

Thanks again everyone!
Heather