!!!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.
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Bear January 2021.jpg
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Pinoy51
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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 Pinoy51 »

We have a nine year old senior who developed “black skin” disease over the last year.
It started with small patches on his belly. Now his front looks exactly like Bear’s. Simba lost his tail fur and some fur on his but, plus his entire belly is bare too.
It’s purely cosmetic, we have tried a couple of treatments so far without success.
I can’t be sure of course just looking at the pictures.
I’m just comparing your pictures with Simba’s appearance. I’m in no position to diagnose Bear.

Found this page: wagwalking.com explaining the disease quite well.

I’m also not sure if that horrible groomer triggered a hormonal skin reaction causing the appearance.
Best regards
Pinoy51
sarahhwillow
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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 sarahhwillow »

I’m crying with relief.
Just for any explanation or possibility as to why he has been subjected to this.

I’ve never heard of this skin disease but I will be spending my afternoon reading up on everything I can find on it.

Poor bear was only 1 when the stupid ignorant groomer shaved him to the skin, so his adult fur never had even come through yet, so we figured she had stunted the hair growth, the stimulation as it doesn’t know how to naturally grow on its own?
Then he was diagnosed wirh type 1 diabetes just after turning 1.

So that further explained why he was getting skin spots, infections, loosing weight and no hair growth from after being shaved.
We still believe that the groomer that butchered his coat could have possibly onset the autoimmune as their coats are their heat regulator, an unbalanced thermostat can cause havoc on a chow chow, especially one that lives in Australia and was exposed to the hot heat and then unpredictability 4 seasons of weather in one day in Melbourne.
He turns 3 in august this year, and it’s taken almost a year for most of his hair to start to re grow.

Do you happen to have any photos you could respond with so I can see what simbas condition looks like?
Bear is too young to even be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, the Veterinary was in shock when the results came back, and his insulin reading was 29 - and the breeder when contacted by a very angry me confirmed that in the 40 years of her breeding chow chow never had she had any diagnosed parents of the puppies diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
So very very adamant that the shock groom was shock to bears system that ultimately almsot took his life if we hadn’t of taken him into the vet when we were concerned about him loosing weight, secreting every 2 minutes and drinking copious amounts of water.

He has tiny hair slowly sprouting where his beautiful Maine should be so we have all our fingers and toes crossed that they keep stimulating and the hair will re grow.

He looks 90% better than he has today since her was shaved.

Again, Thank you so much for your insight and knowledge it means the world to us.
Ciao ciao 💙
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