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Bald Butt


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Guest TeddysMom

Melatonin info from the Wiki.

 

If you Google melatonin + alopecia there will be several veterinary articles that come up discussing its use for canine balding.

 

What dosage are you giving your hounds?

 

Thanks for sharing! :colgate

 

3mg a day. It really seems to be putting fuzz on their butts! The perk is that it is taking the edge off of Carl's SA, too. I give it to them when we come in from the morning walk.

Could you check the dosage for sure. In reading the articles on Google and Wiki they are talking about 0.3mg instead of 3mg. I just don't want to overdose.

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Guest mcsheltie

Melatonin info from the Wiki.

 

If you Google melatonin + alopecia there will be several veterinary articles that come up discussing its use for canine balding.

 

What dosage are you giving your hounds?

 

Thanks for sharing! :colgate

 

3mg a day. It really seems to be putting fuzz on their butts! The perk is that it is taking the edge off of Carl's SA, too. I give it to them when we come in from the morning walk.

Could you check the dosage for sure. In reading the articles on Google and Wiki they are talking about 0.3mg instead of 3mg. I just don't want to overdose.

3 mg is what I was told too.

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Guest mcsheltie

I wonder what the difference is between the Melatonin for humans and the kind componded for dogs is. Thanks for post that link.

There is not dog specific Melatonin. If you are asking about Melatonex, it is a human product. It has calcium, B6 & iron along with Melatonin.

 

This article wasn't written by a medical professional. The first sentence makes that obvious. My vet suggested Melatonin and I did research before I used it. I recognize parts of several web sites that this person took information from. They changed some of the original information and added comments of their own.

 

I did get a laugh when they said Melatonin could cause female dogs to become dormant. (dormant? :lol ) It would be an exciting discovery if Melatonin was able to suppress heat cycles. In reality it may change the timing of the cycle. But the change is only a month at best. And happens so rarely that it is not worth consideration if you are trying to time a breeding.

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Guest FastDogsOwnMe

Interesting. I have two with hardly any baldness. Then I have one with just two slivers on each thigh, which he was also chewing from fleas. Those areas were red and infected. Within a week of being at my home, the redness was gone, the skin was healed, and "peach fuzz" is growing in. It's been almost two weeks now, and he looks awesome. My fourth (Zephyr) has a bald butt, neck, and tummy. He's dark brindle with dark skin so it's honestly not even that noticeable. I wouldn't be surprised if he was always bald. I love his tummy!

 

I sure hope shaved spots on Greyhounds grow back!!!! They went way overboard/ridiculous when shaving Sophia for her spay, and it looks awful. Please tell me it will grow back! :eek I think it already is, though, because a surgical shave would have been all the way to the skin. Here's what it looks like now (it's been three weeks since her spay):

 

20091230_53.jpg

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As the link I put up earlier is either written by or compiled by a laymen, I did a Google Scholar search and found several interesting articles about dogs, alopecia and melatonin:

 

Melatonin Therapy for Canine Alopecia by MANON PARADIS

 

Evaluation of thyroid function in dogs suffering from recurrent flank alopecia by Sylvie Daminet, Manon Paradis This one only mentions melatonin a few times, but it is interesting to me since they are looking at the connection, or lack of as the article concludes, between alopecia and being hypothyroid. It confirms what many have said here.

 

Canine Pattern Alopecia by M. PARADIS This journal has a picture of bare greyhound thigh!

 

If you want to read more, there are lots of articles. Just go to Google Scholar and type in melatonin + dog + alopecia or melatonin + greyhound + alopecia for articles which specifically include greyhounds.

Edited by ckruzan

Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog)

Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014

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Guest mcsheltie

As the link I put up earlier is either written by or compiled by a laymen, I did a Google Scholar search and found several interesting articles about dogs, alopecia and melatonin:

 

Melatonin Therapy for Canine Alopecia by MANON PARADIS

 

Evaluation of thyroid function in dogs suffering from recurrent flank alopecia by Sylvie Daminet, Manon Paradis This one only mentions melatonin a few times, but it is interesting to me since they are looking at the connection, or lack of as the article concludes, between alopecia and being hypothyroid. It confirms what many have said here.

 

Canine Pattern Alopecia by M. PARADIS This journal has a picture of bare greyhound thigh!

 

If you want to read more, there are lots of articles. Just go to Google Scholar and type in melatonin + dog + alopecia or melatonin + greyhound + alopecia for articles which specifically include greyhounds.

 

Okay, let me preface my ramblings... we are having puppies!!! Patty broke her water four hours ago. I have been sitting here, staring at her since then. :blink: First puppy was just born. So I have been trying to occupy my mind on GT.

 

I thought the hypothesis that a lack of natural light might explain the reason Melatonin has been successful was interesting.

 

Whippets and Dobermans develop a similar alopecia. I have been told by breeders (of both breeds) that it is passed on the dilute (blue) color gene. They have treated it successfully, but not consistently, with Melatonin.

 

I have heard thoughts that it is a sex linked gene, passed on the X chromosome.

 

Several breeds I have been involved with suffer from hypothyroidism. Shelties are one of them. Hair loss isn't limited to one area, like the Greyhound bald butt. I have seen two Greys who were hypothyroid and besides a bald butt, they had sparse patchy coats. After they were treated their coats improved, bald butt did not.

 

There was another thread about bald butts not too long ago. Some have had good luck with kelp. But that made me nervous, too much iodine can be dangerous.

 

One person posted that her hound(s)...I can't remember... regrew their hair. But when they went back to running, lure coursing I believe, they lost the hair again. So maybe increased cortisol levels are the trigger. If it is exercise related that would explain why Melatonin has been successful. Androgenic alopecia (male & female pattern baldness in humans) is hormone related. Scientists are looking into the affect of exercise. As exercise affects hormone levels.

 

Okay, I am ready for puppy #2 ANY TIME NOW!!!!!

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Okay, let me preface my ramblings... we are having puppies!!! Patty broke her water four hours ago. I have been sitting here, staring at her since then. :blink: First puppy was just born. So I have been trying to occupy my mind on GT.

 

I thought the hypothesis that a lack of natural light might explain the reason Melatonin has been successful was interesting.

 

Whippets and Dobermans develop a similar alopecia. I have been told by breeders (of both breeds) that it is passed on the dilute (blue) color gene. They have treated it successfully, but not consistently, with Melatonin.

 

I have heard thoughts that it is a sex linked gene, passed on the X chromosome.

 

Several breeds I have been involved with suffer from hypothyroidism. Shelties are one of them. Hair loss isn't limited to one area, like the Greyhound bald butt. I have seen two Greys who were hypothyroid and besides a bald butt, they had sparse patchy coats. After they were treated their coats improved, bald butt did not.

 

There was another thread about bald butts not too long ago. Some have had good luck with kelp. But that made me nervous, too much iodine can be dangerous.

 

One person posted that her hound(s)...I can't remember... regrew their hair. But when they went back to running, lure coursing I believe, they lost the hair again. So maybe increased cortisol levels are the trigger. If it is exercise related that would explain why Melatonin has been successful. Androgenic alopecia (male & female pattern baldness in humans) is hormone related. Scientists are looking into the affect of exercise. As exercise affects hormone levels.

 

Okay, I am ready for puppy #2 ANY TIME NOW!!!!!

 

How exciting! Pictures, please (well, after they are all born and mom is resting comfortably)!

Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog)

Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014

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