# Dry skin, thinned out fur



## kmc13 (Apr 29, 2011)

Hey!! My boyfriend and I adopted a staffy whippet mix about a 3 weeks ago. He is a year old and really healthy, his foster mom rescued him back in February, he was malnourished and abandoned. She took him to get a scratch test and everything came back fine. He has a good bill of health in all other areas as well. His fur is really nice and thick in some areas but it is really thin on his bottom and lower sides. We have been doing fish oil once a day, he has a medicated shampoo, and I just tried an oatmeal bath.. are these all good steps? Is there anything else we should try? 

Thank you!!


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## palmtree77 (Apr 5, 2011)

What are you feeding him?


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## amberly (Feb 6, 2011)

Try to avoid the oatmeal bath and find something more moisturizing. oatmeal can leave a layer over the skin.
And some staffys/pits/greyhounds they actuelly are naturally bald on the underside. Even some greyhounds back legs are naturally bald, I've wondered myself if they had something going on but people at a greyhound rescue told me its natural for some to just have it so it may be similar to the whippet?
but i hav an american pit bull and he is also pretty fairly thinned out ont he otherside along with some other pibble/bully breeds as well. So it could also just be natural to that dog in particular. you can take him to the vet and see what their opinion is or a groomer.
Both breeds can shed a lot but also have thin hair as well and normally a dog is much more thicker around the neckline.


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## KayJ (Jun 27, 2011)

Hi
Have you had him checked for an under active thyroid? My Dobermann had hair loss on the tips of her ears. The vets thought it was mites but couldn't find anything and didn't know what the problem was. I found out from a breeder that this is a symptom of thyroid problems. I think they can lose hair from other parts of their body too.


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## amberly (Feb 6, 2011)

yea they can i totally forgot about this. i have dogs at work who have hairloss and weight issues too. i have another client whos dog is gonna recently be getting tested for this because of the fur loss and all other tests have came back neg. so for now shes just using moisturizing shampoo cococnut oil to soothe and see how it does still the recent results.


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## KayJ (Jun 27, 2011)

My dog Patsy also lost fur on her eyelids and again the vets did not know what had caused this. Unfortunately, it was too late when I connected this with what the breeder had told me about her ears being due to an underactive thyroid. In humans, people can lose the outer parts of their eyebrows so may be she was experiencing something similar.

She also had what we were told was arthritis and was on anti inflammatories for a long time. I am now wondering if this may not have been arthritis and could have been fibromyalgia caused by an underactive thyroid.


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## mom24doggies (Mar 25, 2011)

Some dogs have thinner hair on their rear/tummy naturally; my dog Sam does, the fur on her belly is really thin. if her fur isn't dry/dull and her skin isn't dry or red, I wouldn't worry about it. You could always ask the vet next time you are in if you're really worried.


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## KayJ (Jun 27, 2011)

Yes one would always hope the vet would know but they don't unfortunately. In my Dobes case the thyroid problem was missed by a vet we trusted and it contributed to her death. It wasn't through malice. He just hadn't known what the symptoms meant. Now I would always additionally check on a forum like this, ask a breeder about any health problems (or a breed club) if I had a particular breed and check for any information on the internet and if I wasn't satisfied with the opinion or attitude from one vet, chose another. Vets like doctors can't and don't know everything.


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## mom24doggies (Mar 25, 2011)

KayJ said:


> Yes one would always hope the vet would know but they don't unfortunately. In my Dobes case the thyroid problem was missed by a vet we trusted and it contributed to her death. It wasn't through malice. He just hadn't known what the symptoms meant. Now I would always additionally check on a forum like this, ask a breeder about any health problems (or a breed club) if I had a particular breed and check for any information on the internet and if I wasn't satisfied with the opinion or attitude from one vet, chose another. Vets like doctors can't and don't know everything.


 Maybe not, but it never hurts to ask.


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## KayJ (Jun 27, 2011)

Yes of course. Unfortunately as mentioned, I did ask vets several times and they didn't know. That's why the internet is such a great source of information and experiences. Hopefully people who have had similar experiences can share them with others as avenues to explore. To those good vets who are open minded enough to work with pet owners it will hopefully broaden their levels of expertise. Vets don't have the time to investigate every 'difficult' case and pet owners can help here by using the internet and forums like this to bring possible causes to the vets attention. Our pets are precious to all of us and hopefully we can all help each other.


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