When will Chocolate’s hair grow back in?
As
Chocolate continues to improve, a lot of his well-wishers that have seen his
pictures and video have asked, “When will his hair grow back in?”
That’s a great question. First, recall his hair was shaved as part of
the preparation for surgery, just like what is done when humans go to
surgery, too. How fast his hair will come back so that the shaving is
not noticeable can vary quite a bit.
Consider that for all the time he was alone and on the run around the
Tri-Cities, he used a lot of energy, experienced the deterioration of his
front quarter muscles, and probably did not eat an optimal diet. No
doubt he did not get enough calories for the amount of energy he expended
staying out of harm’s way nor did he get all the nutrients he needed.
Thanks to the veterinarians at the Meadow Hills Veterinary Center in
Kennewick, Wash., once Chocolate got to care, he was, and has been, getting
an ideal diet. You might want to know too, that Hills Science Diet
provides most of the small animal food fed in WSU’s Veterinary Teaching
Hospital so that we only have a cleaning and sanitation fee associated with
handling food while animals are patients here. Hill’s food gifts each
year—of which Chocolate is benefitting—amount to about $90,000 or more.
Now back to his hair. Hair growth in dog’s is actually a very complex
process. A dog’s hair typically does not grow continuously. A
dog’s hair grows in cycles much like human eyebrows do. A new hair
regrows alongside an old hair first in a process called anagen. Soon
afterwards the old hair falls out. The intermediate phase of hair
growth is called catagen. Following that is telogen or the resting
phase of a hair follicle. During this time, the follicle goes dormant
and the cycle starts again. So why don’t we see bald dogs? Because
each hair follicle is not in the same growth phase at the same time.
It’s going to take quite a while for Chocolate’s hair to all be back in, but
I think he’d agree the trade off for fine functioning forelegs and the warm
care of people who care for him is worth it.
Last Edited: May 06, 2008 3:32 PM
