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Periodic hair shedding by a normal bitch
Author(s) -
HALE PATRICIA A.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of small animal practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1748-5827
pISSN - 0022-4510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-5827.1982.tb01676.x
Subject(s) - medicine , megestrol acetate , estrous cycle , ovulation , physiology , gynecology , endocrinology , hormone , cancer
Over several years, the mass of hair shed weekly by a normal Alsatian bitch varied cyclically. Base‐line values were less than 5 grams, while the maximum loss recorded was over 70 grams. Moults (and, by implication, the growth of new hairs which must have preceded them) were related to the bitch's oestrous cycle, always occurring shortly before or coincidentally with the onset of pro‐oestrus, even when megestrol acetate was administered to prevent ovulation or to re‐time the oestrous cycle. Fluctuating levels of ovarian hormones over‐rode any influence upon hair cycles of seasonal changes in photoperiod or temperature.