I have a rough collie who is 10 years old. She was ill a while ago with pyometra and had to have her womb removed. She was quite poorly and we had trouble to get her eating again. Anyway she is eating more than ever now but her fur is just coming out in great big chunks.!! Nearly all her undercoat has gone and the top coat is very thin and still coming out. I noticed her skin smells like, well a cheesy smell. and it is sticky and brownish. We bathed her in Sebocalm that the vet gave her before. She did have this sort of thing before when she had just got over "blue eye" hepititis. Is this thing usual in rough collies.? Or should I take her to the vets.?

I would definitely take her to the vets.

Hi there,

The smell is something that I might have the vet look at, but the hair loss is entirely normal. I have one exactly the same at home at the moment. She was spayed on 2nd May and went incredibly scraggy, but it's starting to grow back nicely now.

M.

At first I'd say it's normal, boy remember the RC coat moulting when I was a child.

How is she weight wise etc.  Could it be something like hypothyroidism maybe brought on by the trauma of the pyo etc?  Just a thought.  Though this is usually the right time of the year for them to lose the coat.

Massive hair loss is quite normal in my breed too after an anaesthetic, or other stressful event. However the sticky skin and the smell certainly doesn't sound normal to me and would have me at the vets? I usually find when mine are casting heavily that if anything their skin is very dry.

It is quite normal for a bitch to have a huge moult after being spayed similar to what you would get after a litter of pups, ti is to do with the hormones, or in this case lack of them.  As a Rough collie is heavy coated it is all the more noticeable, it will grow back but will take a fair time.

I would definately have the vet examine her.  It may be simply a response to the anaesthetic but, personally it is not something I have ever seen, and in view of her health having been so recently compromised by a nasty womb infection I would be concerned that something else was going on such as an opportunistic skin infection which will not become easier to deal with the longer it is left.

> I would be concerned that something else was going on such as an opportunistic skin infection

That's sort of what I was thinking. My dogs never have sticky skin, especially discolored and cheesy smell sounds suspicious to me - maybe yeast or bacteria?

Many thanks to you all for your replies. After Amber was ill with Hepititis she had  the same thing happen to her coat that is why the vet gave me the wash, which I have used on her. So maybe it is because she has been ill that it has happened again.I will keep a close eye on her. It is really good to know they do lose their coats after the op though. She just looks such an sight compared to how she looks normally.

My old dog has recently had similar, it turned out to be a yeast infection on his skin, the vet prescribed a course of tablets & shampoo to bath him once a week. He improved after the first bath.
The sooner you can get her to the vets & start treatment, the sooner her fur can start growing back.

ETA: the smell & greasy coat is an indication of a skin complaint such as a yeast infection, if not treated a secondry infection can take hold and cause awful itching (which my dog got) :(

ETA: the smell & greasy coat is an indication of a skin complaint such as a yeast infection,

Very true -and yeast infections can of course easily happen after the individual (animal OR human) has been weakened and in particular has been on antibiotics.