Chat
03-28-2016, 11:14 AM
Help! Cuzco is losing his hair by the bucketload! Two weeks ago he was shedding normally (undercoat coming out first and only a few guard hairs coming loose with brushing). Then about a week ago I noticed him losing his guard hairs (unusual this early), and I also noticed him coming in every morning with the hair on his flanks sticking up like he'd been itching at it even though I don't think he's been able to reach that spot for several years. When I went to smooth the hair back down, it came out in a clump. It was sticking out because it wasn't attached.
In the last couple of days the rest of his coat has started coming out at an alarming rate. He's got bald patches on both sides of his back just behind the withers, both flanks, and in a few miscellaneous other places as well. This has come on very, very suddenly even though I can't think of any recent changes that would cause this. I gave him a dose of ivermectin in case it's parasites, but I'm wondering if there might be other reasons for him to lose all this hair at once. I did read that zinc deficiency can cause sudden widespread hair loss and that too much calcium in the diet can interfere with zinc absorption. Cuzco is at the point in his life where his diet consists mostly of late cutting alfalfa and alfalfa pellets since he can't chew grass hay.
Does this type of hair loss sound more consistent with a parasite problem or a mineral imbalance? Or could it even be stress-related? Only recently Cuzco quit actively defending his place as herd king and is avoiding confrontations with Finn. I've read that sudden hair loss sometimes goes hand-in-hand with stress. What do ya'll think?
In the last couple of days the rest of his coat has started coming out at an alarming rate. He's got bald patches on both sides of his back just behind the withers, both flanks, and in a few miscellaneous other places as well. This has come on very, very suddenly even though I can't think of any recent changes that would cause this. I gave him a dose of ivermectin in case it's parasites, but I'm wondering if there might be other reasons for him to lose all this hair at once. I did read that zinc deficiency can cause sudden widespread hair loss and that too much calcium in the diet can interfere with zinc absorption. Cuzco is at the point in his life where his diet consists mostly of late cutting alfalfa and alfalfa pellets since he can't chew grass hay.
Does this type of hair loss sound more consistent with a parasite problem or a mineral imbalance? Or could it even be stress-related? Only recently Cuzco quit actively defending his place as herd king and is avoiding confrontations with Finn. I've read that sudden hair loss sometimes goes hand-in-hand with stress. What do ya'll think?