# Darker hair on injuries



## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Yes, on Teaka my silver, who will get black hair from minor skin injury, it takes about two months for it to be gone.
Once when she was young, I found the strangest four teardrop shaped black spots on her rear. I was really puzzled as to how that could have happened, but finally it dawned upon me that they were the exact distance apart as her older sister's big teeth - she must have not moved out of range of a warning snap quick enough lol. There had never been any visible skin injury, she must have just gotten a good pinch as she dodged away lol!


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

They likely will, *Michele*. We were just talking about this in another thread!
http://www.poodleforum.com/5-poodle-talk/126498-callie-has-developed-small-red-spot.html#post1471258


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

Beau is five and looks all white today, but he's really a cream born with apricot highlights, especially his ears and a wide stripe down his back. All that faded by the time he was two. He had a cyst removed from his back a few months ago, and the hair grew back in its original apricot color. We call it his "beauty mark." It's already beginning to fade.


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## Possipoodle (Nov 2, 2014)

Isn't this interesting?! I know it's not a poodle, but a few years ago, my very territorial/possessive of me rabbit chomped one of my others on his lip when he got too close. It was a pretty bad bite and bled and got swollen, poor guy! Anyway, it healed pretty quickly and there was no visible scar, but for the rest of his life, the fur where the bite had been grew in black while all the fur on the rest of his face was white. I'd never heard of anything like that before! Does anyone have an explanation for why the fur itself grows back a different color if the skin has been disturbed? It seems so odd!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

There is a medical name for it, but I don't remember what it is...


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

Possipoodle said:


> Isn't this interesting?! I know it's not a poodle, but a few years ago, my very territorial/possessive of me rabbit chomped one of my others on his lip when he got too close. It was a pretty bad bite and bled and got swollen, poor guy! Anyway, it healed pretty quickly and there was no visible scar, but for the rest of his life, the fur where the bite had been grew in black while all the fur on the rest of his face was white. I'd never heard of anything like that before! Does anyone have an explanation for why the fur itself grows back a different color if the skin has been disturbed? It seems so odd!



I believe it would be due to the pigment producing cells being damaged. If you think about it the skin was damaged. When the healing process started the body created new cells, those cells being new had to start the pigment process over again. In Yuki's case, take a silver poodle for example. They are born black and over a certain amount of time faded to silver. The newly formed cells would have to do the exact same thing. Over time those areas should return to the same color. Unless the pigment producing cells are too damaged then it might be permeant. But in Yuki's case I doubt that would happen. It would take a more serious/deep injury or constant damage to the skin cells. 
With your rabbit I am thinking maybe the pigment producing cells were damaged a bit to much and when he started to heal the cells got a bit confused and placed eumelanin (black pigment) when they should have not placed any color at all (white). 
Think about freeze branding dark colored livestock. They use an extremely cool source to burn the brand into the skin. This damages/kills the skin cells and when the burn heals and the hair grows back it grows back white, lacking pigment. The pigment producing cells were damaged/killed causing them to not produce eumelanin (black pigment)or phaeomelanin (red pigment). 
So it all comes down to how damaged the pigment producing cells were and how the body responds to the damage. Hope that helped a bit and didn't make it even more confusing ?.


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## Michelle (Nov 16, 2009)

What doesn't make sense to me is he grew dark hair on his minor injuries which were very unnoticeable , while about a month ago he split open his face right between his eyes (chased a rabbit into the garden fence) and the hair never changed colors...he even had a gaping hole that had to be closed up by the vet.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Generally melanin is produced more efficiently at cooler temperatures, like on a siamese coat patterned cat or other mammal (rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters all have similar patterns possible). Melanin is the major pigment that darkens other colors. When you lose fur or hair in a spot the skin is cooler there since it isn't insulated. The new fur/hair grows in darker. As those dark hairs gradually get replaced the new hairs grow in lighter.


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

Baby my old silver beige toy poodle used to hassle my cats and get poked for her troubles, she had an array od small darker brown freckles until she learned to leave the cats alone


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## Bellesdad0417 (May 18, 2014)

LEUllman said:


> Beau is five and looks all white today, but he's really a cream born with apricot highlights, especially his ears and a wide stripe down his back. All that faded by the time he was two. He had a cyst removed from his back a few months ago, and the hair grew back in its original apricot color. We call it his "beauty mark." It's already beginning to fade.


I've had a white Spoo that it was pretty common for her to have discoloration spots in her fur where she had skin injuries. Now granted it was not inocent puppy teeth scratches but where she had cysts removed so you're picture does not supprise me.


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## Hermelien1989 (May 30, 2014)

My parents had a bearded collie with cancer in his balls (sorry, don't know another name for it )
Because of the cancer his whole behi d got bald.
After the neutering, his hair came back, but he got puppyfur(darker, fluffyer). Only after a year his hair got back the old way.


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

They will eventually. Actually that's why Sunny's breeder had to stop showing him as a pup.....I guess he injured his back leg after she had begun showing him and the coat grew in very very dark apricot in a very visible spot on his back leg where the injury was, so she never "finished him" - eventually it came in cream again, but not sure how long it took.... I will also say my black poodle, Jake, was attacked by a dog when he was about 1 and the dog bit him on his back.....Jake's coat eventually returned to the original color--however, it was very very coarse where the injury had been for the rest of his life.


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## hopetocurl (Jan 8, 2014)

Just noticed that Willow has some darker hair patches... Where she recently healed from the attack in Sept. Interesting....


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

hopetocurl, I am sure you will see that those patches will lighten up as Willow sheds out in that area over the next few months..


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