Rommel the Rottweiler has been diagnosed with vitiligo. His diagnoses, vitiligo, is a rare skin disease which turned his black coat white around his eyes, mouth, body and bottom.
“He’s just getting whiter and whiter,” says owner and Grey Lynn veterinary nurse Vanessa Townsend-Paley. “Even his nails that were once black are turning white.” The six-year-old is believed to be the first rottweiler with vitiligo in Australasia.
Vitiligo also affects humans – most famously singer Michael Jackson – and other animals, attacks the cells that produce skin pigment melanin. When melanin production stops, the skin loses its pigmentation and turns white. Doctors don’t know what causes it and have no cure.
“Rommel’s the only one in the whole litter of 13 that’s changed color,” says Ms Townsend-Paley, 32.
Vitiligo is genetic but some believe it can be triggered by stress or trauma.
Rommel broke his leg six months before the vitiligo surfaced. Ms Townsend-Paley believes the trauma only sped up what was going to happen anyway. She noticed something was wrong when Rommel started losing the pigment around his mouth.
The North Shore resident works at Grey Lynn Vetcare. She asked veterinarian, Alex Melrose, to treat the problem but it didn’t go away. “Then Rommel started to develop white spots on his back, one then more,” Ms Townsend-Paley says,”that’s when we started questioning what was going on.”
She combed the internet for more information and after Rommel developed about 30 spots overnight, a biopsy revealed vitiligo. “Everyone was just blown away,” she says. “Then it was like well, what do we do from here?”
Dr Melrose suggested she try copper supplements and high doses of vitamins to help restore pigment and regulate the immune system. “But that hasn’t stopped it or slowed it down,” Ms Townsend-Paley says.
“You just don’t ever see a case like this. I’ve tried everything. Most people say it’s untreatable. “Rommel’s in perfect health otherwise, but now he’s not taking anything. We’re just letting it take its course because nothing’s worked.
“It’s just a case of wait and see.”
My Rott is turning white like this and he is a little over 3 years old. The white hair started like a month ago around his eyes and then spread over his face and he has quarter size patches on his body. At the same time the white started he also lost the color on his muzzle and nose (went from rust to pink, the nose almost white). The vet put him on antibiotics and tested him for Lupus (was negavite). The color is almost completely back on his muzzle, but his hair continues to turn white. The vet doesn’t know what is causing white hair. We started cat-sitting a couple of months ago for a friend and the cat has started attacking our Rott. From what I’m reading here I am wondering if the attacks are causing him trauma?
hey guys, I’ve been following this website. I have a male Rottweiler who is going o be 2 in 2 months from now. My boy had one white hair just behind his neck at the beginning of his spine when he was about 8 months old. That white hair stayed forever and over the past 3 or 4 months, his white hair spread increased and his back got a lot of white hair, not totally white but one out of every 10 hair would be black. Rather if you run your hand along his fur you could constantly see one or 2 white hair. He got one or 2 specks on his nose, but those pink spots have surprisingly disappeared. Although his front toe nails are turning white, suddenly I’m noticing a lot of white hair fall in him. I’ve been giving him ‘Beaphar Top 10’ multi vitamin tablets. This I feel has really helped him. He is extremely attached to me, and he used to get stressed when I was away at school for the better part of the day. Now that I’m done with school, i’m home for vacations and he seems so much more relaxed. I hope there is a cure for all your Rottweilers with Vitiligo. if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me and if you have any thought, please do contact me. Cheers
my rottweiler bitch chelsey is 3yrs old and she has vitiligo but i would say it started turning white after her mother bit into her face when they were arguing over there food. she got a cut just near her eye after that the hair near the cut went white then her nose turned a pale colour and now she has white splodges over her body here and there asif she is going old and grey looking. i first thought it was due to trauma coz of the bite she recieved, but then i came on this site and now believe it to be this vitiligo. coz it matches to everybody elses description. other than that she in perfect health and she my dog. i used to breed them and altogether i have 4 rotties mum dad and son and daughter. the rest of them ok just my chelsey :)
my rottweiler bitch chelsey is 3yrs old and she has vitiligo but i would say it started turning white after her mother bit into her face when they were arguing over there food. she got a cut just near her eye after that the hair near the cut went white then her nose turned a pale colour and now she has white splodges over her body here and there asif she is going old and grey looking. i first thought it was due to trauma coz of the bite she recieved, but then i came on this site and now believe it to be this vitiligo. coz it matches to everybody elses description. other than that she in perfect health and she my dog. i used to breed them and altogether i have 4 rotties mum dad and son and daughter. the rest of them ok just my chelsey :)
my rottweiler bitch chelsey is 3yrs old and she has vitiligo but i would say it started turning white after her mother bit into her face when they were arguing over there food. she got a cut just near her eye after that the hair near the cut went white then her nose turned a pale colour and now she has white splodges over her body here and there asif she is going old and grey looking. i first thought it was due to trauma coz of the bite she recieved, but then i came on this site and now believe it to be this vitiligo. coz it matches to everybody elses description. other than that she in perfect health and she my dog. i used to breed them and altogether i have 4 rotties mum dad and son and daughter. the rest of them ok just my chelsey :)
My Baby has had the problem for 6 years now — takes meds and has done just fine with his white spots.
My sons rot has turned almost completely white from head to tail. Her vet diagnosted her with vitiligo some time ago, but as stated her entire body is turning white. She is really quite something to look at.
hi jean, where did this occur? thanks
Failed to add facebook….
I am somewhat relieved to read this. My Betsy is just 6 years old, but I noticed a small whitening of the tip of her nose, and multiple white patches of hair on her coat. I am also sickened as I saw it can be caused by stress, and the apartment we are renting is a living hell, the landlady and “friends” upstairs are so loud and inconsiderate. I’m trying to move, and now I feel so guilty that I discovered this. I am making her a vets appointment to check anyway. Thank you all for the informative input here I was able to read.
I will say this is a tough one to understand. All new to me. Thinking back to when Keysha first got her problem was when I started my chemo. I also purchased her a new super size Kennel, because she will not sleep in anything but her kennel. I was looking at her kennel and it is made out of a different type of plastic then all the other kennels I have. I got this Kennel at a local pet shop. Now she slepts on her right side and she has more spots on her right side, soo makes me think it could be the plastic. I’m thinking about ordering her one that folds. She stays in my bedroom at night, so it will only be used for sleeping anyway. During the day she runs loose in the house. This summer I’m hoping we both can spend more time out in the sun. I hate that problem with hips and elbows. I have be through that with my first two Rotties babies in 1992. After that I kept my other babies confined until the growth plates closed at 24 months. Which wasn’t easy. But any animal over the weight of 25 lbs can have a chance of getting bad hips. Some says 50 lbs, but I have seen bad hips in a 25 lb dog. But I use to work at a Vet’s office. Speaking of things in stomach’s. I saw two pairs of socks and a tennis ball taken out of a dog’s stomach. It is unreal what dogs will chew up and swallow. They are just like Children.
So far as I can find you cannot catch it, other dogs can’t catch it — it seems to be a genetic immunity issue from what I’ve been able to read & question Vets. Stress may be the trigger — the Rott I have that has it was in a coma for 4 days when he was 10 months old — he was turned in to the emergency clinic in a coma and the people “were not that attached to him and didn’t have much money” so they wanted him put down. After the nice owners signed the dog over to the clinic his stomach was pumped and bags, seeds and rubber bands were found . . . perhaps they bought a guard dog but got a counter surfing, never met a food I didn’t like, love bug. He came to our home through a rescue worker that had tried to place him 3 times, he’s been here 6 years and has only had spots for the last couple. The spots have NOT slowed him down or given him any problems — the elbows & hips are another story (he takes meds for that too).
The Rottweiler rescue site in south Florida has a dog with the problem — site states it does not affect their health. My Rott has about 10 spots now at various locations on his body — he has mostly white toenails now (easier to cut now). My Vet has my dog on 2 meds that alternate days and Alergy3 daily in his food, it helps the other problems and seems to have slowed down the spots. Vet said that from what is known it doesn’t hurt the dog — my dog has other issues with elbows in front, hips. Some days he likes to stay out, some days he doesn’t — diet doesn’t seem to play a part. Good luck conquering this one, it hasn’t been conquered in humans either.
I have 7 yrs old Rottie female and this is very strange she is doing the same. I have checked back in her bloodlines and there isn’t any reason for this. As for the Plastic, my baby has never eating or drink out of a plastic bowls. Maybe be stress..I did wonder about me doing chemo, then again I also wondered about some type of skin fungus. I have even wondered about hormones…My Rottie does live indoor’s. I have two Rotties who lives outside because they are bigger and are guard dogs. But comes in at night. One of these dogs are kin to her and are older. Why isn’t Lady turning white?? Could be Keysha does have more stress because of me doing chemo ..Could be like of sunlight..I can’t get in sun..Keysha stays by my side..but goes outdoors severals times a day to do her business..but doesn’t stay outdoor’s in a kennel under roof. But still there is a different. This is upsetting me like the OFA hips did until I conquered that problem..
We have a 2 yr female rottie, Ella. About 2 wks ago she starting getting these little white spots, In the last few days she’s gotten alot more and their getting bigger, the black on her nose is even turning a pinkish/tannish color. The family and I have been baffled, like hey Ella’s turning white. I then looked up “Do Rottweilers turn white?” and came across this site. I’m just so glad it’s nothing serious, cause she’s our baby whatever color she is, but it will be funny to see people’s reaction when they ask what kind of dog she is and we say an AKC registered Rottie!!
I have a seven year old rott who has spots all over her body and face. Her legs and feet as well as nails are all perfect coloring. I don’t believe she is stressed but she did rip her cruciate ligament a little less then a year ago and surgery was not a option so we healed it on our own. This could have helped these spots come out. I actually just thought she was gettin old, but once I researches it I found out that’s not the case… POOR PUPPIES
This is definately what my 6 yr old female rottweiler has. Shes had alot of different trauma in her life. she had parvo as a puppie and we got her at 5 mths old she had already been beaten soo many times and had brocken her front paw which never was treated. I first noticed her eye lashes went white..i thought it was aging…then she started to get patched RANDOMLY all over her. and now her nose had lost all its pigment.
Im glad that i finally found some answers….not the most serious answer tho….which is … Is Vitiligo in my dog harmful to my 2 yr old son???? Anyone that has any suggestions or answers for me…i would be greatly appreciated.
Dora our rotti seems to be in good health otherwise…a little more additude and less paitences with things….but she does seem to be the same dog we have always loved. However we can not afford to take her to a vet. Nor does it seem that any treatments work. We can live with her appreance….but i couldn’t live with myself if she was “diseased” and passed it to my son. I thought she may have a parasite…or something infectious.
Thanks sincerly Brooke, Dora and family
hi lynzee,
the good news is that vitiligo isn’t fatal or harmful, so the only thing you have to prepare yourself for is a change of appearance in your dog.
nathalie
My 3 1/2 year old rotti has Vitiligo and he hasn’t had any trauma. We recently got a new puppy, but that was after this had already started. My rotti started out with the pink gums, nose and around the eyes. We saw it progress into his nails turning white and a few spots around his ears and he’s quite spotted grey on the top part of his head. I have read that this does not affect their health at all, but it’s still a concern as to why it happens. I have viewed pictures and saw that some can turn almost all white. I am just wondering how quick your dogs are turning white so I can prepare myself for when this will happen. Its been ongoing now for about 8 months. That’s when we first noticed it. We’ve looked at photos previous to it starting so we can determine all areas of where he is affected, and it’s just insane how quickly it happens.
Our vet did tell us to remove all plastics (incl water/food dish) and get stainless steel. Apparently something in the plastics can cause this. We changed it right away and some of this lip black started to come back, but in spots…but that has stopped and the white on his head came in more.
My rott had it. It came on after she got hook worms when she was about 6-7 years old. The vet thought it was old age but must not have known. And over the years it just got worse and worse until she looked like a grey ghost. I dont think it affected her health but wow it did change her appearance.
I too have a 2 year old female Rottweiler that is looseing her black color on her nose and her lips. There are patches of pink on her nose and lips. We thought it was a seasonal allergy but its winter here now so that cant be the cause. We recently have changed her dog food to a no grain brand and are hoping that will help. Dont know what else to do???
Our rottweiler is 1 1/2 years old. We have discovered small (.5-1mm diameter) spots first on Nesta’s nose about a month ago. Once a large spot occurred on the corner of his nose I noticed his gums had turned almost completely pink over the month. Eyelashes on one eye are white and he has a couple of white hair spots on his face. My vet suggested nothing other than biopsy. I see all these ads for human treatment, as I search for rottweiler treatment. Only vitamins for dogs?? Haven’t seen any comments about successful slowing or stopping progression of vitiligo… If you’ve had success, submit what you did.
yeah, again, my four year old is literally getting whiter by the day, soon, i think he’ll be a reverse dalmation! when he was one and two years old he had two surgeries for tplo, his knees. so, i think trauma definetly triggers it, not sure what to do to help the pigment??
my 5 year old male rottie has started developing this — currently has 8 spots on his body. I was researching the problem and found this site — what did we ever do for information before the internet?
i believe my four year old rottie has it as well, been getting grayer by the day