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Old 08-10-2007, 09:35 PM
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weezyNollie
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Ugh. Louise is losing hair again?

Okay.. so I don't think anyone out there has any idea. But I figured I'd throw it out there to those that want to do some research or have any personal experiences.

Tuesday I brushed out Louise, for a good hour, and I created a mini Weezy. Well, now she looks like she did back in January. She looks malnourished, a little too thin, chemo-like, endocrine disorder-ish. Which she is, she has Addison's and IBD.

Here's the history/timeline -- for those who don't know what's been done, or how we have gotten to where we are now:

Last summer: Diagnosed the Addisons. At the time, she had a super low Albumin, non-regenerative anemia, low cholesterol, and was vomiting frank blood. We performed an ultrasound also found pancreatitis.

January: She was doing great with the Addisons, acting alert and healthy. But for some reason was losing hair like crazy. She still had some intermittent diarrhea/vomiting. Her internist referred her to the dermatologist. Who said the hair loss was not dermatological (after doing a skin scraping and what not) and said it was something the internist needed to look into.

February: Another internist at work recommended we test for EPI. Diagnosed Louise's low cobalamin (vitamin b12). At that point we weren't sure the reason for the deficiency, but started to treat. She had also lost about 5 lbs, and was looking quite ill.

End of March: After about 4-5 weeks of Vitamin B12 injection treatment, we pursued endoscopy. She actually began to look GREAT at the time! But we wanted answers, so we took biopsies of the small intestine/stomach. Diagnosis again, irritable bowel disorder.

April: Completed her 6 weeks of vit. b12 injections and started doing them biweekly, then monthly after that.

By late spring, she looked back to herself. Her coat was actually the best it looked. Prior to the hair loss, she had an overgrown coat that was out of control. Finally, she had a healthy coat. Shiny, soft, not dry, and a good flat coat. Like a normal border collie!

OKAY... now we are up to date (for those of you who didn't know, or didn't keep up).

So..
The problem: Louise looks not so hot again.
Thoughts :
-Not getting enough B12 again? Was researching the B12, and in humans it's related to anemia. Which Louise at one point was, and I don't think we have recently rechecked a CBC on her. Just her electrolytes because of her Addisons.
-Does she have another underlying issue that I don't know about?
-Is it just her Addisons? I know the signs can be hair loss, but i would think that would be prior to treatment?
-Should i have not brushed her out?! I brushed her, because on her hind legs she was blowing out the undercoat, but it was kinda matted under her guard hairs and stuck. Not attached to skin, but not coming out. It looked a little uncomfortable. Then, I got a little brush happy and did just about everywhere that had loose undercoat. So then, maybe i overbrushed her?

I think that's about it.. I tried to make this post as inclusive as possible. Sorry it got so long. Hopefully, if your a skimmer like me you were able to pick and choose the main points and get the idea. Or, if you read the whole thing.. thanks!

Any ideas?
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