My year old rott juts recently got a ton of grey hair on his paws. WHY?? My vet don’t know.

by Shelly
(Lafayette, LA)

His whole paw is almost completely white. The two front ones more than the back. Also, around his mouth is starting here lately. Does anyone know why?

Is it the he is just getting old? Is it just in his genes? Is he sick?? I’m just worried and don’t know if I should be doing something to prevent this or if its normal.

Please help…THANKS!

Hi Shelly
This isn’t ‘normal’ for a Rottweiler who’s only a year old, but it sounds as though he may be suffering from vitiligo which is a pigment problem and causes hair/skin to lose it’s coloring.

Rottweilers are just one of the breeds that can start to show this condition, and although there’s not a whole lot know about what causes it, a genetic component is thought to be there.

It usually shows up first on the face, around the mouth or eyes, but could appear anywhere else on the body too.

It isn’t a dangerous disease and won’t hurt your Rottie, unfortunately there’s really nothing that is known to ‘cure’ this or even stop it from developing. But if you do some more in-depth research and ask your vet about Vitiligo you may be able to get more info.

This webpage has some basic info. on it VetInfo – Vitiligo In Dogs and you could start with that.

Sometimes stress or another medical condition can cause this to happen, so you might want to discuss that with your vet too, and rule out (or treat) any other health problem.

Sorry I can’t be more help, but hope this is a starting point. It is always possible that this isn’t Vitiligo as well, I just don’t personally know of anything else that could cause this type of pigment loss, but another vet might.

If anyone here has personal experience, or more knowledge about this subject, please share here with Shelly and help her out. Thanks guys 🙂

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About The Rotty lover 2159 Articles
My name is Dr. Winnie. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Duke University, a Masters of Science in Biology from St Georges University, and graduated from the University of Pretoria Veterinary School in South Africa. I have been an animal lover and owners all my life having owned a Rottweiler named Duke, a Pekingese named Athena and now a Bull Mastiff named George, also known as big G! I'm also an amateur equestrian and love working with horses. I'm a full-time Veterinarian in South Africa specializing in internal medicine for large breed dogs. I enjoy spending time with my husband, 2 kids and Big G in my free time. Author and Contribturor at SeniorTailWaggers, A Love of Rottweilers, DogsCatsPets and TheDogsBone