[Gpdd] HEALTH: Hair loss -- endocrine system?

[C Nieder]

Our Comet has also had a lot of lost hair.  The vet thinks it is definetly
endoctrine; in fact it is due to a large ovarian cyst that she developed.
>From what he said, and what I've read in the list these are quite common on
older GPs (she is going on 6!)

She went through a ceries of 4 "chrorionic gonatropin" injections, also
known as HCG.  These are essentially a synthetic hormone.  She responded
quite well and the cysts decreased in size by about 85%.  I also noticed
some significant hair regrowth, but by no means has she stoped being bald.

He suggested a new hormone called Lupron that they use often on ferrets and
birds.  He thought it would probably work, but he had never actually tried
it on GPs.  (I go to the Ryan Vet Hospital at UPenn, so they tend to  be
quite cutting edge)  I decided against it, since I didn't want my GP to be a
GP!!!    He also brought up spaying, but on a 6 year old, that is a high
risk event.  Since otherwise she is quite healthy, we've decided to just let
her be bald!

Carlos

From: "Patricia Simon" <patriciasimon at shaw.ca>
> Our little boss pig Hazel has been losing a lot of hair in the past month
or
> so.  There were no visible parasites, however, she (and her sisters) have
> been treated with a series of 3 ivomec injections.  The hair is still
coming
> out in clumps, and the vet now thinks that the pattern of hairloss
suggests
> problems of the endocrine system -- possibly adrenal glands, possibly
> thyroid, or remotely possibly ovaries.  (Hazel was spayed more than 2
years
> ago, but one of the ovaries was left intact.)  The vet showed me a big
> picture book of endocrine-related hairloss in dogs, and the pattern in the
> photos is very much like what Hazel's developed.
>
> We're now looking for any information available on treating these kinds of
> problems in guinea pigs.  Hazel is not a good candidate for further
surgery
> (too many previous bladderstone surgeries, plus the spay and tumor
removal),
> so if possible we'd like to consider non-surgical treatments.