Tuesday, November 13, 2007

I'm losing my FUR ... AGAIN!

NO, I'm not doing a Britney and shaving myself, I'm actually losing some of my fur and it's not the first time it happened. Let me start at the beginning ...

Back in October 2006 I had my very first rabies vaccine. What none of us knew was that I was allergic to the liquid mixed in with the vaccine. Right after my shot I developed a lump on my right back leg where the shot was given and the vet said that it should go away. Well it didn't and it got worse! A week or so later, the lump still there, mommy and daddy started to notice a perfect hairless circle in and around where the shot was given! My hair had fallen out leaving a bald spot on my back right leg. Well, it didn't stop there ... I began losing small patches of hair all over my body, including my chest, ears and around my eyes!

In November 2006 ... my spot was growing!
We went to see the head vet and she said that this was not uncommon in some breeds of dogs such as poodles and chihuahuas, however, she never did see it in the miniature pinscher breed. That's when she told us that I was allergic to the liquid in the shot and from now on would need to have my rabies vaccine given to me deep in my muscle and not just under the skin. She said that the additional hairless patches over my body was a side effect of the shot called aloepacia (just another fancy smancy word for hairloss!) and that it could be treated with medications. She gave me an antibiotic and it cleared up in a couple months, however, she told us my circle patch on my leg may never fully grow back. We had options of having it surgically fixed but mommy and daddy didn't want to put me through that.

December 2006 ... you can see the tip of my ears were going hairless

January 2007 ... my spot was completely bald within 3 months.
Over the months anyone that would see me would constantly ask what the spot on my leg was or people would laugh and say I was defective (sad, I know ... people can be so mean). That's where mommy and daddy came in and said that I was just special and loved me even more! They would say that they would always know it was me because of my spot.

May 2007 ... Still bald but I didn't care ... I was still proud to be me!
Over the summer, mommy noticed something great ... my fur was coming back in. Sure enough, slowly my spot filled in to where you could just barely see any skin at all!

June 2007 ... my fur growing in just a bit!

September 2007 ... just about all grown in and looking good!
Here is where things go from good to bad again ... I got my updated rabies vaccine back on October 17, 2007. She gave me the shot deep in my muscle like was marked on my chart and things were going great. BUT ... just recently mommy noticed some bald patched in the same area! Could it be happening again?

November 10, 2007 ... little bald spots emerge almost a month after my rabies vaccine.
We hope that it will just be these spots and I won't loose anymore hair. You can see from this picture how well my fur did grow back. After all this, I know I'm still cute and pretty and most importantly LOVES! But I can make jokes about it ... I'm my very own Chia Pet!!

2 comments:

Molly the Airedale said...

Thank goodness that your fur grows back and that you have pretty clothes to cover your nekedness while it does!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Anonymous said...

Fur or no fur you are just gorgeous anyway. I do hope you don't have a serious reaction to the vaccine though.

River

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