Alopecia X

My first experience with Alopecia X was when a friend's Samoyed began to
lose coat for no apparent reason. I took interest in the case because the
dog was a sister of my dog and I was concerned about a genetic
pre-disposition to any underlying causes. Sundance had many medical
problems over her lifetime including UTIs, allergies, bouts with bowel
disease and so forth. One time the glands in her face became very inflamed
and burst open leaving her with bloody sores all over her face. No cause
was ever identified but we had several suspicions. She was tested for Cushing disease
and diagnosed at one point with pseudo Cushings. However after many tests for
her skin problems and loss of hair, the veterinarian concluded that it was most likely
a sex hormone problem and that the catch-all term for the condition
was Alopecia X. Sundance's owner was frustrated to say the least.
As a last resort the vet suggested the use of Melatonin on Sundance. She
was given 3 mg a day for several weeks. The result was dramatic. After three weeks
Sunny's skin became white all over. On closer examination we discovered
that she was flaking off skin because new hair was growing and emerging from
the follicles. It took several months but Sundance grew her entire coat
back and kept it. Once again she was a beautiful Samoyed. Neither
Sundance nor her sister were ever bred and are not related to
any of the dogs in my breeding program today.

A number of years later I met and married my husband Mike who breeds
Pomeranians. That was the start of my re-introduction to Alopecia X.
Although Samoyeds are one of the breeds that gets Alopecia X it is no
where near as prevalent as it is in Pomeranians. I've only been involved with
Pomeranians for five years, but have already personally witnessed coat
loss in multiple dogs both at our house and in other breeding programs. Some
of the cases have responded to Melatonin, some of them have not, and in a few
cases other causes for hair loss were identified and the problem corrected.

Fortunately there are a few research projects currently underway on the issue
of unexplained hair loss in both Poms and Samoyeds. Many thanks go to the
Canine Health Foundation for their support of research and to the two breed
clubs for their efforts. In Samoyeds we are trying to have one person as the
contact person for each disease that afflicts our beautiful dogs. Because of my
interest in and experience with Alopecia X, I agreed to be the contact person
for the disease. I am interested in hearing all of your stories of dealing
with Alopecia X in either Pomeranians or Samoyeds and am especially interested
in any articles in scholarly journals that are published. Below are
some links to useful web pages and articles about Alopecia X. Many thanks
to Pam Barbe for her web side on canine health issues.
Please visit her web site for information and links to other
sources of canine health information.

Pam Barbe's Canine Health page

Treatment of canine Alopecia X with trilostane, by Rosario Cerundolo, David H Lloyd,
Angelo Persechino, Helen Evans and Andria Cauvin, Veterinary Dermatology 2004

Adrenal steroid hormone concentrations in dogs with hair cycle arrest (Alopecia X)
before and during treatment with melatonin and mitotane, by Linda A. Frank,
Keith A Hnilica and Jack Oliver, Veterinary Dermatology 2004

Identifying "look alike" endocrine diseases, by Pat White DVM MS diplomat ACVD
DVM June 2001

Dr Linda Frank's web site on hair loss in dogs.

Black Skin disease - Mapping Canine X Chromosome Linked Alopecia:
Gary Johnson, DVM, Ph.D., University of Missouri, Columbia

Alaskan Malamute Health Site on Alopecia X

E-mail me with your stories and additional sources of information!

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