Hair Loss in a spayed female - Page 1

My GSD female (6 years now) out of German Highlines, who had Demodex when she was rescued at 2 years of age, is a stockhaar, has a short coat. I had her spayed at 2 years of age. She looses coat the whole year round. She looses more coat than my intact male who has longer and better coat. A breeder told me that her hair loss has to do with her being spayed. Everyday, I can run my hands over her back and loads of hair comes off. I can see her dropping hair wherever she goes. She is healthy and is on good food, the same food as my male. I give her glucosamine supplement and vitamin E. She leads a good life as a house dog but also is working and playing. Does anyone know if it is true that spayed females loose coat all year round, or can recommend anything I can do to improve her coat? Sunshine

German shepherds as a rule lose hair every single moment they breathe.... thus the cute name German Shedders!! As dogs age they also tend to lose more hair and always seem to need combing out ... If her coat is dry, you might try adding fish oil capsules to her food... it has GI benefits as well as skin and is supposed to aid the immune system.. People with high cholesterol take fish oil to help with that condition... wouldn't hurt your male either.. They are a breed that really could stand to be brushed daily but once a week is minimum!!

Brushing is not the problem. Does not change the shedding. Could go at her all day until she has no more hair. I would call her a short hair GSD and the little longer hair she has, comes out like she was a long coat. I will put her on fish oil, and advise if this has an affect. What do you think about the "spay" theory? I don't have a problem with vacuuming up after my dogs, because their hair has an advantage. . . it does not stick and it is superficial so easily removable. It is just life with the chosen breed. But she sheds so much more in comparison with my male. . . and he has the much better coat. Sunshine

Sunshine, I have never seen that spaying makes their coat shed more. Some lines of GSD's shed more than others. But... If she is becoming "naked" then I would take her to a dog dermatologist. Also, check her skin and see if it looks normal. Is she itching alot? I have seen a growing amount of dogs with "incogneto" sarcoptes. Meaning that there are no other signs except for major hair loss. Skin scrapings come back neg. and no sores. THis is easily treated with ivermectin. I believe the dosage is .1cc per 10 lbs once a day for 10 days(but ofcourse check with your vet on that). If her skin looks red and irritated then an anitbiotic may be in order, as she could have a skin infection going on too. One more question, Is your male a long coat? If so, coats tend to NOT have an undercoat. Which would make for much less shedding. Codliver oil and other fish oils will provide the fatty acids that she may need. So, that is good advice either way. Good Luck! Debby

Debby, she is not becoming "naked". Her skin looks normal. She tends to groom herself alot but not to the point of causing any skin irritations. I am very vigilant about her because of having gone through the horror of demodex. She had a severe case when I got her and almost had to be put down because it was so aggressive. She is by the way light in pigment and I consider her to be very sensitive and "thin skinned". My male is a stockhaar. I even feel he should be better in coat. . . but he has a nice shinny black/brown coat and very good pigment. I feed my dogs Nutro Lamb and Rice. They love the food and I like the way it smells. The female has always shed alot. It is no phenomenon that has suddenly arisen. It just has become so extremely apparent how much more she sheds in comparison with the male. Both my dogs get alot of exercise and playtime. They aren't kennel dogs. They are kept clean and are brushed regularly. Now, they are both on fish oil. We'll see if this has an affect. Sunshine

Sunshine,

Sunshine, Sorry for that last post..... my fingers must have done some walking before I could stop them..... I am really not sure about the spay theory... I have always chalked it up more to age than the spay itself... since this dog has had demodex and pretty severely from the last comment I read (is that correct? did I misinterpret?), maybe her extra shedding is related to that. The comment about grooming herself a lot would indicate to me that maybe she is uncomfortable and itchy...... would maybe have that checked out..... Are you itching at all? Like around your waistband? that is a sign of sarcoptic mange which is quite contagious to humans ... don't think we saw it that often, but most times the owners were affected as well and didn't realize it until they were asked ..... just more thoughts..

DKiah, The demodex was successfully combated 4 years ago and no reoccurrance. I'm not itchy, neither my male. She is just a very impecable female and has some catlike behavior but it is not excessive scratching or biting. Blood work was done 2 weeks ago. . . excellent report, thyroid also checked. . . no problemo. She just simply sheds alot and has a short coat which remains throughout the year pretty much the same. Very short tight and thick undercoat and some longer hair. My question comes up because I am able to compare her to my male who just simply has a better coat but sheds less than 25% of what she does. I don't think she has any medical problems. She is in good veterinary care. She does not have much stress in her life. . . Sunshine

I doubt it has anything to do with her having been spayed. If she's on good food and otherwise healthy, she probably just predisposed to shed more than your other dog. As for my personal experience, my dogs all tend to shed twice a year...for about 6 months each time. :o) Keith

The Urban Legend, has so with died. Spaying has nothing, nichts, nada, quien etc. . . to do with shedding of hair. Thank you. And a better coated dog is allowed to shed less than a lesser coated bitch. The coat does not indicate the amount of shedding. It could have something to do with certain lines...but we are not sure yet. I think I will keep my 2 experiments running and will let you know how thing go. Sunshine and the 2 Tests