Discoloration of fur

[Lee Seidman]

Billy has the strangest discoloration of his fur in different areas. It isn't a rash, there is no skin irritation, but on his chest, the back of his neck, and between his toes and on all four paws his coat is turning a deep reddish almost maroone color. He is acting fine, we had him groomed today and th groomer had no idea what it is. The Vet seemed to think it was nothing to worry about, but it is weird and seems to be happening to a larger area........Has anyone experienced a color change like this, especially to such a weird color?  Billy just turned one year old..............Please reply if you have any knowledge about this. You can see the color change in the attached picture, Toes and chest.  Thank you

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Hunter has super sensitive skin and I bath her alternating HydraPearls and people's Selsun Blue - not any dandruff shampoo but specifically Selsun Blue and when I bath her in the Selsun Blue it takes all of the discoloration that looks just like Billy's on her chin and feet.

[Sue Trachtenberg]

Selsun Blue takes away the discoloration?

[Linda and Murphy]

Murphy has this, but also on his elbows and haunches.

[Lee Seidman]

Exactly the same effect ... but Billy has a larger area...Does he swim, I was thinking it might be the pool chemicals........?? Billy is in the pool several times a day and seem like he never thoroughly dries out.

[Linda and Murphy]

He rarely swims in pools, but he swims. It looks almost like pressure points to me.
Murphy would love to be in the pool several times a day. Billy is his Idol. lol

[Linda and Murphy]

I see a bath in Murph's future.

[Lesley, Wellington & Bingley]

Welly has this too - it was very noticable when he was younger and it completely dissapeared. It occasionally returns slightly on his bum - but not nearly so much as it was when he was about 1 year old.

He is white and has this colouring on his bum, between his toes, in his ears, on his elbows, in his muzzle. I noticed that these are all areas where pheremones are released, so I thought it must be something in his body that is staining his fur where the pheremones are being released.

Interestingly the stains were dramatically lessened when we switched to a no poultry, raw food diet (he appears to have a poultry intollerence) and so I wonder if it is food related.

With the colouring around Billy's neck - Welly also had discolouring here from his collar tag - and when we changed to a plastic one and removed his collar when he wasn't out on a walk the fur went back to white.

[Sue Trachtenberg]

My dog is the same color as yours and has the pinkish tone to him in the same spots as yours. I'm assuming it's a saliva thing. I had something really awful happen to his coat. Whenever my River gets an injury it comes in a reddish brown color. We used the flea and tick product Simple Guard that we got from the vet only one time and you are supposed to put it along the entire back well it made him itch and lose some fur and I didn't know it until it started to grow back a weird color and now he has spots on his back. Will take a long while for it to turn back to original color or never will. So pissed for using the product. Always used Frontline with no problems.

[Jennie & Emma]

Here is a link to a detailed article about the "red staining", the article is long, but it is the most comprehensive article I have found. It occurs due to a chemical reaction between the dog's saliva and waste products produced by the fungus/yeast. Emma has the staining as well.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=126106920795808

[Terry Lauzon]

The Facebook link above provides an excellent explanation for the burgundy staining of a light coloured dogs paws.

[Kat and Winston]

Yes, it sounds like yeast and the Selsun blue may work to take it away. My nephew had a terrible skin yeast infection and that's exactly what the doctor told him to use on his body and it went away.

So might be worth a try for the Original Poster.