Coat growth - need help from long-haired yorkie owners
 

My Bubba had a beautiful coat, then he got matted in the undercoat -I foolishly cut it out & it has never grown back - it's been almost 2 yrs :confused: He eats high quality food with missing link added - but maybe I'm not using enough ML - he gets 1/4 tsp a day - he weighs about 4 1/2 lbs.

I've attached a few pix of him. The coat thru the body is thin, with only one layer - the undercoat is about an inch long at most. I believe he has a silky coat.

I have spent hrs reading, I think every thread on YT about oils, long coats, etc. - but I'm still confused and have some questions.

1) If the coat isn't growing could it be because it's dry??
2) How do I know if Bubba's coat is dry - does it look dry?? it doesn't feel that way to me, but I'm not sure what it would feel like
3) How do I find the right product? -- I want to promote growth & healthy hair - should I go with a cream or an oil to achieve this result??
4) Should I add an additional supplement to the Missing Link?
5) Should I consider changing shampoos also?? Should I go to something with oatmeal?? I use a shampoo with these ingredients: Coconut shampoo base, aloe vera gel, essence of lavender, essence of mint, chamomile extract, sage extract, nettles extract, rosemary extract, wheat protein extract (natural deodorizing agent), tea tree oil, vitamin E, vitamin C.

From reading other threads, I have narrowed products to treat his coat down to these choices:

Plush Puppy Seabreeze oil
Emu or Almond Oil
Vellus Satin Cream
Pure Paws cream

Right now I'm leaning towards the Vellus because I've heard hair will grow with this. Have you used this?? Does oil help promote hair growth? Or should I use the Vellus & an oil??

Sorry for all the questions, just want to get this corrected in my sweet boy :aimeeyork

Ther is a good article on a Lowchen website about how to grow hair on a door knob. You might read that. Your boy is very pretty and looks to have a nice silk coat.

What is the under coat? Yorkies are supposed to have a single coat, not a double coat.

one more question
 

Will trimming his hair promote growth?? Even just trimming the tips??

I've thought of cutting him entirely down to see if that bottom layer would grow. But really don't want to lose the beauty that he already has.

Ok, all I know is his hair is not as thick as it was before I cut out matts. And he has a layer of hair under the long layer that is extremely short. So I guess I'm just trying to figure out why all the hair isn't growing :confused:

bumping this up, because I still need help!!!! Plus, now he's started scratching a bunch - began on Monday

A few months ago the groomer thinned Cali's really thick cottony easily matted coat out and it is so much easier to take care of and still looks thick enough. I am really happy with it I am just curious too what happened to her hair as it also is not really growing back?

I would have the vet check him out. It looks from the pictures that he is missing hair around his muzzle and eyes and if he is scratching he may have mites. The only other reason he would have shorter under coat is that you may be brushing to hard with the wrong brush and on a dry coat and simply breaking the coat.

well the scratching just started 2 days ago - and Roxie's not scratching & neither is the cat. So I think something else is going on.

I use a cc brush and I never brush a dry coat, and I am extremely gentle with him.

Do you have any advice for what I could use to help him if he has a dry coat?

How old is he?

he just turned 6

Well at that age I would for sure check with my vet and have a full blood panel done on him, just to rule out any health issues. Once that is done and everything checks out you can then start trying different things.

well, I think he is just reacting to something right now. I really need to find out how to treat his hair and any dry skin

Well, I think I've solved the recent scratching issue. I had been given some Natural Balance lamb roll samples and I had been adding a bit to his food & I looked at the label and it has wheat flour in it -- so I'm thinking he has an allergy to wheat.

I'm very confused about what you said about him missing hair around his eyes and muzzle. I see no missing hair. Some hairs were kind of stuck together in those photos - all taken the same day -- so I'm not sure I understand what you are seeing??

My Mandy lost lots of hair and it was fine and thin. I started using NuSalt shampoo and Relief Creme Rinse on the advise of my vet. Mandy's hair took about 6 months to grow back in stronger and healthier than ever!
I also use V3 Caps liquid on her food.

The first picture is now and the second shows when she just started to get thin hair. The second picture was just before she got bald spots on her back from dry skin.