Coat changes after spaying??

Hi,
I've just joined.

I've had Holly since Jan this year, when i adopted her her coat was very fine, long, straight and silky. She was spayed in March and soon after her coat changed. It's now very curly, just like a guinea pig's all tufty and wirey.
She just looks like a big ball of fluff and makes her look bigger too.
She never looks 'tidy'!?
She's been to the dog groomers this summer and she had a trim but i know you shouldn't 'clip' cav coats but she looks so much better when she's been done.
One cav owner told me recently that her cav's coat did this but around a year later went back to being straight.

Has this happened to anyone else? or will she be like this forever?!
Also is there anything i can do to help it look better?

xx

Hi and welcome!

Some seem to get a 'spay coat' while others don't. Things that can also contribute to poor coat would be diet, stress, extra weight, and genes. Also many say once you cut the coat, that will often cause it to grow back as you describe. If you keep it short, it will look more curly and tufty and wiry than letting it grow back in long.

Get her onto a good diet, use a good coat conditioner, keep her lean, and you'll get the best coat possible for that dog. Many feed supplements or fish oil or other things they swear by. I am told that extra fat in the diet, like oil, will help the coat.

I've seen spayed females with normal coats and spayed females with poor coats so I think it really depends on the dog and its genes, skin condition it was born with etc (humans would be similar -- some people have great hair, others do not; women go into menopause and some can get quite dry hair while others will not really show any affects like that!).

Hi, thanks for your reply

She's fed on Burns. At the moment though she's on Hills R/D prescription as she needs to loose a few pounds (put it on after being spayed)

She's also on long term antibiotics due to gum disease. Her teeth were that bad when she went into rescue when i adpoted her she had to have most of them removed

It's just the top that is "guinea pig" the sides and underneath are lovely and soft as are her 'feather's.

Do you reccomend leaving it then and letting it grow longer??

How do i do this whilst keeping her looking neat and tidy and not too hot?

Thanks xx

I've only had my 2 Cavaliers for a relatively short period of time (& they are both intact) so I am no authority on this subject. The breeders of our guys did tell us though that the ones that were spayed/neutered by their new owners seemed to develop a much thicker curly coat, while the ones left intact seemed to have a long, straight silky coats.

It would be interesting to hear from others what their coats are like.

So here are my stats:

Sonny 3 y.o. Bleheim intact male = long silky coat
Beau 9 month old Blenhein intact male = longish silky coat (still puppy coat)

My stats:

Dylan 1yr Blenheim intact male = silky coat

Mine:

Cleo 1 1/4 year old (i.e. 16 months) Spayed longish silky coat.