Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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with all that's going on, this isn't a major stresser..., but i've noticed that gayle's hair is growing back 'different' where she was shaved for her amputation. the soft, fuzzy undercoat has grown in pretty well, but the long shiny guard hairs are no where to be found...she has a 'baby duck' look there. is this due to the chemo (doxorubicin)... just wondered if anyone else has noticed this in their babies...thanks, charon
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
etgayle said:
…just wondered if anyone else has noticed this in their babies…
Just curious, did you search for existing threads about this topic? If not, be sure to read what others had to say in this Are You Furry Again? topic about dog fur regrowth after amputation surgery.
Jerry's fur grew back like you mention, with the soft undercoat coming back relatively quickly within a couple months. His full coat took much longer but it did eventually grow back completely. There was just a slightly noticeable indent/line in his fur along the incision site.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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Maggie's amputation was mid October and her hair still isn't all grown in yet. It's not really noticeable but if you look closely, you can tell the hair is still not the same and can see the 'line' of where she was shaved. (and she hasn't had chemo).
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
What you describe for Gayle sound normal for regrowth after Doxy. They say most dogs don't lose their fur, except for dogs with evergrowing coats like poodles. That was not true for Tazzie. He lost hair wherever it had recently been shaved due to surgery (it was growing back nicely for two weeks after surgery but then dropped out after having Doxy). That makes sense since the hair follicle was active, as it would be for a dog with an evergrowing coat. It took a couple of monts for anything to regrow, and then it was only peach fuzz (underfur). By the end (another couple of months with no chemo), the peach fuzz was getting pretty thick and starting to feel a bit more normal. I bet the guard hairs will eventually come back for Gayle.
For chemo, they do say that the type of coat and even the colour can change after chemo.
Lincoln's in exactly the same boat. It came back quick at first, but remains the short fuzzy stuff. He's had two chemo treatments, and will have one to two more, so we'll see.
I know what you mean though, in the big picture, it's nothing more than a mild curiosity. I'm certain he cares not at all. 
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall – Confucius
http://credocan.....pawds.com/
Tai had her amp at the end of December and she has lots of bald patches with some occassional baby fuzz 
She did chemo (doxy) and it wasn't until after her chemo finished that she REALLY started losing her hair, I mean everywhere. She has lost it on her nose and her toes too. All of her whiskers, eyebrows, GONE. It makes it worse that the chemo causes her skin to go black so all the baldness really shows up. Oh well, small price to pay for still being around almost 5 months later. She doesn't seem to care one bit but she does look a bit like a Mexican Hairless Labrador. I've tried topical creams but besides making her smell pretty I don't think it does much.
Laura and Tai
Tai – 9 yr old lab. Diagnosed Osteosarcoma Dec 18/09. Front right leg amputated Dec 21/09. Started chemo Jan 7/10. Lung mets discovered Sept 16/10. Valiant to the end on Oct 26/10 when cancer reappeared in a leg and we made the decision to set her free. Forever in my heart where not even cancer can take her from me.
Hi Charon,
Like everyone else, it took a long time for Mackenzie's hair to grow back. And finally, after 6 months, it's almost normal but it has grown back in a different way - more curly and she has a lot of patches where it's shedding big time (I can just pull out clumps of hair and these clumps are more white in color.) I was told by our vet that chemo does slow down the growth of hair (Mackenzie did carboplatin). So it sounds like we're all in the same boat regardless of the chemo treatment. Also Mackenzie's face turned more white after the chemo - when people ask her age they think she's older (not the young 8 that she is.) Premature gray I guess you could say. But it is a bummer because this chemo has aged her face. Oh well, the price you pay......I'll take that any day.
Kami (Mackenzie's Mom)
My sweet golden Mackenzie. She became my angel on Dec 29, 2010 at the age of 8 1/2 although she was always my angel from the time we brought her home. She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in Sept 2009 and officially became a tripawd (front leg) on Nov 5, 2009. She will be forever in my heart and now she's running free with all of our other tripawd heroes. I love you Mackenzie!
maggie said:
It's not really noticeable but if you look closely, you can tell the hair is still not the same and can see the 'line' of where she was shaved.
Harley's hair grew back really fast; so fast they had a hard time getting all his staples out, they kept finding more hidden by the hair after they thought they had them all. But, the same as Maggie, if you look closely you can still see the "line" where they shaved him ... the new hair is different.
Amputation on 11/10/09, due to Histiocytic Sarcoma in left elbow. Angel Harley earned his wings on 06/24/10.
It'll come back, but maybe not until the chemo is done. Our dog Max started chemo fairly quickly after his amputation, so it took a little time for the undercoat to grow in and cover that awful Frankenstein scar where his leg used to be. And he had a good coat of outer fur all his life, so the "peachfuzz gap" left by his amputation/chemo was very noticeable. Once his treatment ended, the outer coat gradually grew back until you couldn't tell the difference. But for now, you'll probably have to wait until then for your girl's coat to recover.
Holly had her amp at the end of December, and with her last haircut (she's got evergrowing hair) the line where she was shaved somewhat faded. But she does have a patch of brown hair on her back where she was shaved that looks very funny - the rest of her hair is much lighter. And that patch is much coarser than the rest of her coat. I guess we could call her Spot now! As others said, it's a small price to pay. 🙂
Holly and Holly's mom
Holly joined the world of tripawds on 12/29/2009. She has a big little sister, Zuzu, who idolizes Holly and tries to make all of her toys into tripawds in Holly's honor. And she's enjoying life one hop at a time!
http://anyemery.....ipawds.com
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