I have a 3 year old boxer who started to lose his fur on the sides of his body.  First vet said it was SFA and said for us to give him melatonin and it should grow back.  He has had his thyroid tested and came up a little low but the vet is not concerned with it and says to re-test the thyroid in 6 months and prescribed an antibiotic for his skin.  He has had the skin scrapings and all the normal tests but for some reason his fur is not growing back.  He eats a little pro plan wet food mixed in with goodlife dry food and this has been the same food he has been on before this issue started about a year ago.  I am at a loss of what it could be.. please help me get my big guy back to normal.

Hi LM86,

A lack of protein or essential fatty acids in the diet can be a cause of hair loss and coat issues?  May not be the cause but in looking at the ingredients of the Good Life kibble it is possible.

I had a foster dog come to me with missing hair on her legs and on her head in front of her ears.  She was with me for only two weeks while her normal foster parents were on vacation.  They were feeding her Purina ProPlan kibble.  I started her on Merrick Before Grain kibble with added egg, raw meats etc.  She had a full hair coat when she went home – lost it after being there again…  Argh…  “Sometimes lack of essential fatty acids or protein in the normal diet may trigger hair loss. This can be corrected by supplementing your pet’s diet with food items rich in protein.”  http://www.wearethecure.org/blog/tag/canine-hair-loss/   I posted a research paper on this in a previous thread but don’t have time to go back to look for it – sorry…

The Good Life only has 26% protein and a chunk of that is from vegetable proteins.  This is the beef formula –

INGREDIENTS:

GROUND CORN, CHICKEN-BY-PRODUCT MEAL, CORN GLUTEN MEAL (SOURCE OF LUTEIN*), BEEF, WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICE, ANIMAL FAT, RICE, NATURAL POULTRY FLAVOR, WHEAT FLOUR, DRIED PEAS,

Corn, corn, rice, rice, wheat, peas (a lot of carbs).  The meats are not from quality sources – rendered meats which are not a high bio-available source of protein.  Animal fat is known to be contaminated with pentobarbital (the euthanasia drug) – also posted in a previous thread with a link to the original article at the FDA’s website.  Pro Plan canned is better but still has some questionable ingredients.

I know this is the same food he has been on for a while but nutrient deficiencies take time to manifest.

The "biggies" for hairloss include external parasites, skin infections (bacterial and yeast), food allergies, EFA deficiency and endocrine disorders. In my opinion, "a little" low thyroid isn't a viable diagnosis;l either you have a balanced, healthfully functioning thyroid, or your dog's thyroid is in the process of petering out! Remember, rarely does disease occur overnight.....if your dog's thyroid is suboptimal now, it will be more suboptimal in 6 months. If you didn't run a complete thyroid panel, I'd recommend this. I prefer to test all of my patients through Dr. Jean Dodds Hemopet Lab. Your vet may prefer MSU, but if you do a little research, you'll see why I pick Dr. Dodds (she doesn't assume the 8 yr old neutered male's thyroid profile will be the same as the intact 1 year old female maltese....a good assumption IMO). In any case, before you up and start synthetic thyroid replacement, I recommend you work with an integrative vet to bolster your pet's natural ability to produce adequate thyroid hormones (if you don't have a holistic vet, now is a good time to find one: www.ahvma.org). Your pet can't produce a terrific coat with suboptimal thyroid levels.

Certainly address diet. It would be difficult to get all of the nutrients (including adequate EFAs) from Proplan, over a pet's lifetime. Occasionally rotating brands, protein sources as well as meeting your pet's living food requirement is very important. If your vet has ruled out yeast and resistent bacterial infections via culture as well as skin parasites via skin scrape, then consider testing your pet's adrenal function. At my practice, adrenal disease is actually the #1 endocrine issue I see (probably because I now do a lot of testing in suspicious patients, like your dog :). Omega 3's are very sensitive to heat and light, so in all dry foods there is not enough to meet your pet's biological requirements. If you haven't addressed some of these issues, doing so could make a big difference in the amount of hair you see return!