Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Changes in Fur

Recently, I've noticed that my basenji boy, Biko, has begun a very interesting change in his fur coat.  His fur has always been incredibly soft and fine -softer than any other dog I've ever met- and it got even more so when I started feeding the dogs a higher-quality food with salmon oil in it.  But then, just in the past few months, it started to change and I don't know why. 

Essentially what seems to be happening is that his entire overcoat fell out except for his tail, his "mohawk" on his back, and one small patch on his left shoulder, leaving only the down-like undercoat fur on the rest of his body.  The remaining undercoat fur is lighter than the former overcoat fur, and it's as soft as a plush teddy bear, which makes all the neighborhood kids want to pet and hug him all the time (which, of course, he's not a huge fan of ).  It makes him look kind of weird though, to have a mohawk of darker and coarser fur running down his back.  It kind of looks like he has his hackles up all the time, even though he doesn't. 

Check out the pictures below to see what I mean --Anyone have any experience with this, or any idea why his fur is changing this way?  I've just never seen anything like it before! 





5 comments:

  1. That IS strange, Kristen. Have you done a full-panel thyroid assay? You mention Biko is not a fan of handling by kids; how is he with adults - any temperament changes? What was the weather like this summer? Could it be just a seasonal shedding? I always thought Ruby's coat was nice, until she "blew coat"; suddenly, she was so much softer! Does this ring any bells? http://www.basenjirescue.org/chey_miller/Shedding/Do_basenjis_shed.htm

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    1. Good question. In the few weeks since I originally took these pictures, his coat is actually starting to even out a bit more. He did shed this summer, more than I'd ever seen him do, although it still didn't seem like a lot compared to the big furry dogs I'd had growing up (who shed mountains of fur ALL the time!). I've never had a thyroid panel done on him, but his temperament hasn't really changed -he's great with adults and wary around little kids because they're more unpredictable- but I'm thinking that the weird fur changes might just be as a result of shedding, now that I'm really thinking about it. Maybe I'll wait a month or so to see if things even out, and if not I'll get his thyroid checked. Thanks for the input!!

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  2. One of my senjis used to shed like this, hackles first.
    the rear haunches were the last to go, she looked like she was wearing reverse cowboy chaps. What a sight that was, lol.

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  3. Hello, did you find out if it was shedding issue or thyroid? My basenji is 4 Ursa old and this exact thing just happened. She has never done that in her previously.

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    1. Turns out it was just seasonal shedding. He had never done that before - it didn't start until he was about 9 years old. So maybe that's what's going on with your girl too!

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