Question about what a normal moult looks like

[Emily_Babbelhund]

Wise labrador people, I need some advice on whether I should be worried about Carbon. He is shedding/moulting now for only the second time since he came out of the shelter and I'm worried about some bare spots he is developing. If it isn't normal, it may be a sign of his Leish getting worse. His Leish-friendly vet is moving practices this week so not even available by phone, otherwise I'd just take him in to be safe. But maybe you'll all tell me that this is just normal for a Lab...I hope!

What I'm seeing is small bare spots or very thin spots. The worse are pressure points on his elbows and hocks and are at the moment smaller than a dime/1 p coin. He also has some bits here and there which simply look quite thin. He has a lot of dead reddish hair that is ready to come out with brushing and the ratio of the reddish hair to the black hair seems alarmingly high.

When he shed back in spring he had many, many areas that were completely bare from being on concrete for so long and from having a too tight chain or collar on his neck. All that missing hair filled in over the summer, which means this would be his first normal moult.

Also to note, he's been on a big variety of food lately and may not have consistently gotten enough protein. I'm rectifying that now that I'm back in Germany - and @Beanwood's very healthy meals while we were there last certainly got him a jump start - but that could be affecting his moult as well.

So what do you think? Is his current patchiness normal or something I should worry about?

 

[Oberon]

As Labradors get older I’ve noticed that they’re more likely to get callouses on the outside of their elbows. So I’d say that’s normal. But thin patches elsewhere (except on the tummy...) would not be normal in my opinion. When a Labrador moults they do lose a lot of fur but what’s left is still pretty thick.

I’m assuming a dog with a proper double coat...and from pics it does look like Carbon has a proper Labrador coat.

 

[snowbunny]

With my lot, it varies tremendously from dog to dog and moult to moult. Shadow went from being incredibly fluffy to alarmingly naked on his last moult. You could see through to his skin in lots of places.
The elbows wouldn't really bother me as that's quite common in Labs, as Rachael noted.

Both Willow and Squidge also had heavy moults that made their coats look pretty awful as the dead hair came out. Squidge in particular, who has a very thick coat, took ages to get rid of hers - in fact, just last week I finished plucking the last bit of her bloomers where it was still red. Just in time for the next moult

How are his ears? I believe that thinness around the ears a common sign of a dog with a Leish flare-up - and ears are normally pretty safe from the ridiculousness that can go along with a seasonal shed.

I wouldn't jump to worst case thoughts - and remember that dogs on allopurinol need low protein/purine diets to keep their kidneys healthy, so normal canine nutrition kinda goes out the window. It's probably just a particularly ugly moult, but keep an eye on it and if it continues to worry you, have a word with a Leish-savvy vet.

 

[Cath]

A photo would help

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

A photo would help

I'll try to get some this afternoon.

How are his ears? I believe that thinness around the ears a common sign of a dog with a Leish flare-up - and ears are normally pretty safe from the ridiculousness that can go along with a seasonal shed.

His ears are fine. He caught one on something a few days ago and now has a little scab which I was worried about, but now it's showing all signs of just a normal scab. I've never actually seen his ears do the normal Leish thing, even when his levels were supposedly high. He's got scars on his ears that the shelter vets assumed were Leish-related, but upon closer examination are bite scars and not Leish at all. He's never actually shown any symptoms of Leish, which is why the vet here thought he was potentially testing false positive. But I'm also aware that could be wishful thinking, as the bare truth is that he's now tested positive twice in two different countries.

Thank you for telling about Shadow's moult, that gives me hope that Carbon could be just a particularly enthusiastic moulter. He has nearly zero undercoat and a very soft, longish and not so thick 'top coat'.

Wonder if the very long hot summer and now quick change to winter temps without much of an autumn could be effecting all shedding dogs?

 

[Beanwood]

I remember catching something on his ear with my hand when stroking his velvety ears, on a closer exam it did really look like a small scab, probably caught when playing. I also noticed though, the fur around his ears was quite thick and luxurious.

Carbon looked to my eyes to be moulting very much like Casper. Casper's coat takes on a reddish hue, and slowly thin patches appear. Where he has had callouses in the past, notably elbows and hocks, the fur there gets very thin, so they look more obvious, almost like the calluses are returning. The fur on his belly gets very thin, almost bare in places., and looks patchy. As he has got older this is looking more marked, and his fur seems to be growing back more slowly. We have had a rather warm autumn, so maybe this is having more of an effect than normal.

Regarding diet, it might be worth revisiting the purine diet, for example, how low is low and just checking you are not missing anything there, I didn't think you were, and in this case, my thinking would be less is more, not in terms of volume but any supplements etc....

Stress is also a factor here, certainly with the human immune system, although Carbon is incredibly resilient, travelling and change will have taken its toll, combined with topsy-turvy weather. So there is a probably good cause to maybe just let things settle down for a while.