Dull coat?

[SunnyNJazzy]

My 9 yr old mini aussie Jazz suddenly has a very dull/coarse coat. She used to have a nice soft shiny coat and the past few months I've noticed it's become increasingly dull/coarse. I switched her from Innova Evo Low Carb food to Orijen Adult a few months back could that of caused the change? If so, what is another food that may be a better option? Is there anything I can do to improve her coat until I finish this bag of food (I just got a new bag a few weeks ago)??

Thanks!

 

[HayleyMarie]

You could try giving her Salmon oil or feeding her some mackeral fish. That should add some shine to her coat.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

I use fish oil capsules, vit e, and salmon oil. Is there a reason you can't go back to the feed that seemed to work best?

 

[SunnyNJazzy]

I got fish oil capsules today I will start adding to her food

I switched foods because I was trying to get her and my 1yr old on the same food (the pup's too active/high metabolism for the low carb version) and because her activity level is lower now and was worried about the high protein level... I am going to switch to a different food after this bag since she's not doing well on it... possibly Acana or Go! Endurance Formula...

 

[Saeleofu]

i give my dogs fish oil and vit e too. Logan also gets ShowStopper especially during shedding season (like now) but it's pretty expensive. If her coat does not improve with supplements/diet change you might look into medical/metabolic causes.

 

[SunnyNJazzy]

That's what I was wondering about as well - medical/metabolic causes.... does anyone know what some of those things are that could cause a dull coat?

 

[SaraB]

If this is a sudden change in your dog's coat, a vet appointment is warranted. Thyroid issues are the first to pop into my mind.

 

[Dekka]

also worms. Sport normally has the shiniest of coats (when he's clean lol) and all of a sudden in looked and felt horrible,started to mat.

Turns out he had a persistent tape worm.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

And... the weather. Don't Aussies blow coats with seasonal changes?

 

[HayleyMarie]

also worms. Sport normally has the shiniest of coats (when he's clean lol) and all of a sudden in looked and felt horrible,started to mat.

Turns out he had a persistent tape worm.

^^THIS^^

I knew we went through that with Emme. Her coat started to look horrible and she was loosing weight so we decided to de worm her and right away after the de-worming was done there was a very noticable change

 

[Saeleofu]

Worms and thyroid are also my top tow rule-outs.

Logan also has a pretty crappy coat right now because he's shedding.

 

[SunnyNJazzy]

It was sudden, I dewormed her yesterday, if things don't improve in the next week or 2 I'll take her to the vet... She is shedding right now but she's NEVER gotten this bad of a coat from shedding and all the other dogs are shedding and are still looking good.

OK one more question - in general how quickly do you expect to see a difference in a dog when changing food and/or adding supplements?

Thank you for all your help guys!

 

[Dekka]

If it was worms, a single deworming dose might not be enough, nor might it get the particular worm in question. It took 3 rounds to get rid of Sports tape worm (hence me calling it persistent)

When we finally killed it the change happened in a week! Never had coat issues caused by bad food or not enough what ever in the diet so can't say how long that would take.

 

[HayleyMarie]

^^ What Kerri said. We also had to give Emme a couple of doses, but as soon as the worms were killed there was an instant change.

 

[SunnyNJazzy]

OK good to know, having never had a dog with worms other than puppy round worms, how will I know if the treatments are working/that i should continue treatments? I check her stools daily as is and haven't seen any worms in them prior to treatment.

 

[SaraB]

OK good to know, having never had a dog with worms other than puppy round worms, how will I know if the treatments are working/that i should continue treatments? I check her stools daily as is and haven't seen any worms in them prior to treatment.

Most worms are not visible to the naked eye. You need to bring a stool sample to the vet.

 

[SunnyNJazzy]

ok thanks a bunch guys. When I went home at lunch today I have to say either I'm crazy or I'm already noticing a difference!