!!!HELP!!! - Groomer shaved our 1 year old short haired Chow Chow back on the 5th Oct 2019. It still has not grown back!

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sarahhwillow
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!!!HELP!!! - Groomer shaved our 1 year old short haired Chow Chow back on the 5th Oct 2019. It still has not grown back!

Post by sarahhwillow »

Help!!!

Our perfect beautiful boy Bear had a beautiful coat and had just turned 1 on the 3rd August 2019.

October 10th 2019,
Our worst nightmare occurred when my father picked him up from (a new groomer as our usual one was booked out) and this woman had completely shaved him to the skin and left just his hair on his face, his tail and the bottom of his legs.
He looked like a shaved cat.
I cried and cried (that groomer was fired, and we did not pay)
We kept hopeful, as I knew that shaving a double coat is commonly known NOT TO EVER DO, as it can effect the dogs thermostat, which can cause issues with not regulating body temperature correctly etc etc.

Every month for 10 months until COVID shut down our city (NOVEMBER 2019 - SEPTEMBER 2020)
bear was once a month being groomed by his original groomer in the hope to desperately save his once beautiful red coat that he once had.
His mane - still has never grown back.


We booked bear in to his usual groomer in advanced for the same date every month until we were effected by the COVID lockdown restrictions (living in Melbourne Australia)
Our groomer was disgusted and beyond disbelief when he saw what had been done to him. He would groom bear every month in the hope that bathing, and trimming and brushing would stimulate the growth and the hope that the shave didn't result in stunting the re growth of his coat as he was only a puppy and his adult coat had not come through as of yet.
His fur being shaven before his adult coat had a chance to come through caused the problem of his body not knowing or being able to allow his coat to grow back. It had shocked his system.
So the hope of having him groomed at (AUD $150 every month) to help stimulate the growth and production of his hair to come back was very expensive, very slow and very stressful.
It was patchy, people would always comment on what happened to him, why he had no hair on his neck and noticed (AS IT IS VERY OBVIOUS) that he didn't look like he was looked after.
I would sense people thought I had done this to him myself when strangers would get excited that they had come across a chow chow, or that he wasn't properly cared for.
I would tie a bandana around his neck when taking him for walks because I was embarrassed.

Months and months pass, and his hair slowly is growing back - in horrible patches, bald spots all around his fur coat, hair wouldn't grow back in certain places, and his mane still hadn't shown any hair growth.
He was looking like a sheep.
8 months later, he was acting strange, he was peeing excessively, he was drinking excessively, and looked very skinny.

April 3rd 2020 - (6 Months later)
I took bear to the Vet.
The Vet sat me down and said that they needed to urgently inject him with insulin and keep him overnight to monitor his blood glucose levels and insulin levels.
My head was spinning I had no idea what she was saying.
My dog isn't diabetic.
She showed me his blood samples and explained he has Type1 Diabetes.
The normal level for blood glucose for dogs is similar to humans .... between 5-7.
Bears levels were 31.
She advised he could possibly have a seizure at any moment and this could end him up going into a coma and die.
Bear's weight was 14kg, his hair not growing back started making sense as he was now diagnosed as a type 1 juvenile diabetic.
The Vet mentioned this was very unusual and had never in her life come across a puppy being diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic, dogs are usually diagnosed with this disease in their older age (8 year old +)


I was angry, I was upset and I couldn't help but think that maybe the person who shaved him had caused this auto immune disease as the shaving of his fur would have disrupted his development of growth.
I contacted the Breeder thinking that maybe this was hereditary and they had never recorded any of their chow chows having Type 1 Diabetes.

Today January 2021, (1 year and 3 months later - his mane has not grown back) :cry: :cry:
Bear is now weighing in at 20kg, we have to inject him twice a day every 12 hours 6.30am in the morning and 6.30pm at night with insulin to keep him alive due to his diabetes, he has frequent sugar blood curve tests to check the spiking of his glucose levels to ensure they are within a safe level.
He is beautiful, his hair has slowly grown back and isn't as patchy as it previously was, however it seems like his mane might never grown back.
In places around his neck, it looks as though its bald skin, no hair what so ever. There are long hairs every so often in random places and then closes to his back of his neck his hair is thick and grown back but not to the strength and thickness that it was before he had been shaved.

Does anyone know how or has had their Chow Chow have any issues growing back their hair after being brutally groomed!?
What can I do to stimulate the hair growth where his neck hasn't grown back? It's just tough skin, it looks as though I'm looking at a bald person's head and there's no sign of hairs or roots for where the hair would grow from.
PLEASE PLEASE HELP.
Attachments
Bear Jan 2021 Under Neck.jpg
Bear Jan 2021 Under Neck.jpg (89.81 KiB) Viewed 2768 times
Bear Shaved Oct 2019   x .jpg
Bear Shaved Oct 2019 x .jpg (83.93 KiB) Viewed 2768 times
Bear Septmeber 2019.jpg
Bear Septmeber 2019.jpg (103.23 KiB) Viewed 2768 times
NYCdogmomma
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Re: !!!HELP!!! - Groomer shaved our 1 year old short haired Chow Chow back on the 5th Oct 2019. It still has not grown b

Post by NYCdogmomma »

Hi- Just wanted to express my sympathies and support for you and Bear (I call my dog Bear as a nickname!). Poor thing. Not sure if there are a lot of vets near you but based on my own experience with dogs/vets, I would recommend getting 2nd and 3rd opinions, including from specialists. It’s crazy how different vets can give such different diagnoses and/or recommendations. I almost sent my dog for surgery on both front legs based on urging from a surgeon at a highly respected veterinary facility in NYC...thank God I got a second opinion bc we decided to hold off on surgery. It’s been maybe 5-6 years since that happened and my dog has been fine! Anyway, I hope you’re able to figure out what’s going on with Bear. :(
Mireille Samaha
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Re: !!!HELP!!! - Groomer shaved our 1 year old short haired Chow Chow back on the 5th Oct 2019. It still has not grown b

Post by Mireille Samaha »

Hello...from few days I joined this group just to share my experience with my chow chow....pls can you read my review...18 months a lot of problems and visits for the vet...now my chow chow Junior 4 years and a half...zero visit to vet...most healthy skin, teeth and stomach....I don't gave him at all dry food...only:raw meat,raw chicken wings,cooked brown rice,cooked sweet potato,raw eggs.....
rmx
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Re: !!!HELP!!! - Groomer shaved our 1 year old short haired Chow Chow back on the 5th Oct 2019. It still has not grown b

Post by rmx »

may I first say that he reminds me of my Turkish. I joined this forum a few minutes ago because I am looking for another chow, preferably red. (my wife wants a blue chow but from what I've read they're much more prone to health problems.)

this is just a question so please don't think I'm accusing you of anything that is wrong with Bear... is he neutered? if so, at what age?
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