Author Topic: A question about fur  (Read 7776 times)

Offline pink2378

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A question about fur
« on: June 19, 2007, 04:15:29 am »
Hi all!  I haven't posted anything in months but Lucy (my newf) has a couple issues with her fur that I'm not sure what to do about.

The first one is that she has a dry brittle patch of fur on her lower back (near her tail).  The fur there is really thin and brittle and dry and doesn't feel nice at all.  The rest of her fur is really pretty and soft.  What is going on?  What can I do to fix it.  Is this the beginning of her "spay" coat?

The second thing is that I never took her fabric collar off her and she was getting wet a lot in an effort to keep her cool.  Well the collar got all gross and stinky (kind of mildewy smelling) so I took it off and now I can't get the smell out of her fur. I've bathed her twice and it smells ok for a couple days and then she starts stinking again. The only thing I know to do to get mildew out of anything is bleach and well, that's obviously not an option.  I've done a google search and it didn't yield anything useful.  Ideas??

oh, and I couldn't find any recent pictures of her on my work computer so I attached a baby picture!  Goodness, I can't believe she is a year this month! Time sure flies!

Thanks!!

Offline CrazyLoveRosie

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Re: A question about fur
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2007, 04:31:55 am »
Rosie has a similar problem around her backside area. She's 4 and that area seems to be where her fur is brittle and turning white. It's not thin, but it's definitely not soft, cuddly fur like she has everywhere else. We thought it was maybe due to her pee dribbling, but we're not really sure. That back hip/butt/tail area is also where she still has some of her undercoat stuck underneath, so we thought maybe it was because we needed to brush all of that out.
Rosie - Newfoundland

Offline pink2378

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Re: A question about fur
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2007, 05:14:30 am »
I cut a big ole burr out of that area on her back about a month ago and then a couple weeks ago furminated all the undercoat thinking that the undercoat was the culprit but it hasn't gotten any better.  It isn't on the back of her legs where she'd pee on it or anything but on her back near the base of her tail.   Do you think the burr could have effected the hair?

I've been conditioning that area once a week and it helps for a couple days and then starts getting dry again.

Does conditioning help Rosie?

Offline RacheH

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Re: A question about fur
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2007, 05:32:41 am »
OMG HOW CUTE IS SHE????  :D She looks almost EXACTLY like my newfie Beau!!! :) Same face same black coat same big soulful eyes... how absolutely GORGEOUS!! :) About the coat, Beau's tail always seems dry, and i'm not sure if he's shedding his puppy fur now (he's 4 months old...) but his soft cuddly plush-teddy-bear-fur around his neck, ears and back are also getting a littler drier and not so soft... will the softness come back to my little-soon-to-be-huge-softie??   ::)
"There is no such thing as a Bad Dog..."

Offline CrazyLoveRosie

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Re: A question about fur
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2007, 05:58:14 am »
We haven't really been conditioning her backside area, apart from her regular monthly bath which we use oatmeal-based shampoo, but still no conditioner. You're right, the area is still a bit too high for her pee to dribble on, but perhaps it's because it's close to that general area where the acidity and germs tend to come from. Perhaps you could ask the vet/breeder if they've seen that in other Newfs.
Rosie - Newfoundland

Offline pink2378

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Re: A question about fur
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2007, 06:21:28 am »
If it doesn't clear up soon, I'll contact my breeder.  She just had a huge litter (10 pups) and is a wee bit busy! So I haven't wanted to bug her. Plus, I know she'll want me to come see the pups and I'd give in and I know I'd end up bringing one home so I'm trying to stay away - lol!

I'm also going to call my vet to see if the burr could be the cause...even though that seems SO wierd.

I guess my biggest worry with the dry spot was that it was the start of mange or something icky like that but none of you seem to worried about that as a possibility.

As for the smell, I was worried that maybe I'd made her skin moldy.  Is that even possible?  I've been keeping her away from the water (she is NOT NOT NOT happy about that) and I've thrown the icky collar away. So I'm hoping that it will eventually go away.

Oy...She's like having a kid!  My cats have never stressed me out this much!

DenverFurKiddos

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Re: A question about fur
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2007, 07:59:10 am »
Hmmm.....I'm wondering if it's just a change in her coat.  When Winston turned 7 months, I posted about his "weirdly thin coat," which was also dry.  It turned out that he was just losing his puppy coat and growing up!  Now, it's back to being soft and beautiful! Aw....(insert tear)maybe she's growing up!

Offline pink2378

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Re: A question about fur
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2007, 05:08:43 am »
hmmm.....maybe it is her grown up coat just coming in...but it's only in one spot and at 1 year old shouldn't she have her adult coat already?


Offline pink2378

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Re: A question about fur
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2007, 06:48:23 am »
hmmm...hadn't considered that it might be a food allergy. When her bag gets closer to running out, I'll slowly change it out to something else and see if that helps if it hasn't cleared up by then.

She had been scratching and itching in that area but hasn't been as much recently and the hair has been getting a bit better.  So maybe that it what it was...burr irritation.  I will take a closer look tonight and see what her skin looks like.

thanks for the input!  I appreciate it.