Older Pom with fur loss...

[Vicki]

My soon to be 15 year old Pom, Trevor, has had fur loss for the past year. The loss is on his back, sides, and neck. The head and all the legs are just fine. It's not red or itchy or smelly......just regular skin with no fur. My other Pom, Huey, had experienced some fur loss (though not to this degree) a couple years ago and the vet found no medical reason for it. Then Huey's fur all came back for no apparent reason. So...when Trevor started to lose some fur I decided to wait and see....since there were no other symptoms. Well....nothing has come back in so I am taking him to the vet next Monday to check his thyroid and whatever else the vet might suggest. I've heard that sometimes, some kind of hormonal fluke can cause fur loss. I was just wondering if anyone had any opinion on this. Trevor still eats and acts like normal....plays sometimes. Only symptom is the fur loss. Also, he needs to have his teeth cleaned....I had thought my dad was brushing his teeth but he must have stopped doing it and I didn't realize it until it was too late for me to do anything about it. I use a scaler on Huey's teeth regularly but there is too much on Trevor's back teeth for me to do anything with. I'll be talking to the vet about the teeth cleaning too. I am worried about putting such an older dog like this under. Anyone have any experience with putting a 15 year old dog under anesthesia for a teeth cleaning? Is there anything that can be done to clean the tartar off without putting them under? I know he'll have to have blood work ahead of time to make sure there are not medical issues that would make anesthesia a problem. Thanks all! Vicki

[Traci]

If bloodwork has been normal and the thyroid panel is normal, then you might contribute the fur loss to stress, or at least try to determine if there is excessive grooming as a result of stress. Another rule-out might be pet shampoos or topicals you might have used.

Sometimes, tarter can be chipped by using your fingernail or a scaler, but if it's severe, only a dental will take it off, plus, you can't get to the rear molars.

Along with the pre-surg screen prior to the dental, I would also recommend an ECG for an older dog.