SA - Sebacious adenit

 





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  About SA

Sebacious adenit (SA) is an autoimmune disease. The body destroys its own sebacious glands with severe consequenses for the skin and coat. The disease is hereditary. SA has been diagnosed in many breeds but particularily so in Akita, American Akita, Poodle and Samoyed. On top of this the Akitas have prooved to be especially sensitive to secondary infections and itching following that which adds to the discomfort. SA often develops by the age of two years, but there are examples of affected Akitas not one year old and some as old as nine years. Symptoms may range from a slightly strange shedding at times, others may loose their complete coat in a couple of months.

Dr Ina Pfeiffer at Göttingen University is making progress in her research of SA in Akitas. She has shown neither environment, bacteria nor virus triggers SA, but stress do. Read more about Dr Pfeiffers results here.

 
     
  Ida's SA

Ida is the first dog I have met with a coat as functional as Hulda's. It sheltered her from everything. As with Hulda the coat was always completely clean - despite the fact that I never brushed or bathed her. If Ida did get dirty, and she is a playful bitch, all dirt fell off as soon as it dried.

 
  March 2002
ida
  April 2002 When Ida was two and a half years she started to shed in spring, a peculiar shedding, differing from the others she had had. It started on her forehead and on her ears and then she lost both wool and hair.            
  May 2002
ida
    The coat that regrew were oily, still with an amount of wool, but you could see something was the matter.
  June 2002          
    I suspected - and dreaded - SA and persuaded a veterinarian to take a couple of biopsies. All were negative for SA. Bloodtests showed hypothyroid and severe allergy.
  July 2002          
    She started to loose coat on every warmpart of her body; first on the inside of the legs and belly, then shoulders and outer oarts of the legs until no unaffected spot could be found. No hair regrew and the skin cracked and she got skininfections. She lost weight fast.
  Aug 2003
   
   
All coat was destroyed. A period she was almost completely hairless, as if someone had ripped off her coat.

At this point Helene Raue, one of Swedens better skinspecialists, could confirm the diagnoses of hypothyroid and allergy, and with fresh biopsies also what was apparent; Ida had SA.
     
  Nov 2003
   
The hypothyroid was treated with Levaxin. An attempt to treat the allergy failed. For the SA we tried a-vitamin, cyclosporin, antibiotics, cortison and baths in any kind of ointment, with some brief succes. The tenacious infections tormented Ida. We were pretty happy with the Mikael Rampak oiltreatment, but Ida frose awfully every time she was bathed, despite any effort to keep her warm.
  Dec 2003          
   
With the assistance of veterinarians at Bruksgården we sent biopsies and bloodsamples to Dr Ina Pfeiffer's project to help her research. Nowadays the project only requires bloodsamples and a correct pedigree. More about Dr Pfeiffer's research here.
  spring 2004          
  winter 2005          
  april 2006 SA
  Lotte's olive-
oiltreatment		 Since more than four years we have ceased with all medical treatment of the SA. Instead I marinate Ida in oilveoil now and then. I don't wash it off but let the skin and coat soak until the oil is completely absorbed. It takes a day. To keep the oil contained Ida wears a coat as long as she is still oily. Due to this treatment she no longer needs to get so horribly cold, yet can keep her skin clean and healthy in a fashion similar to her earlier coat. Dirt falls off when it dries, She hasn't had any infections for years. Her whole body is covered by hair, and is today my little wirehaired Akita. The only disadvantage this oliveoiltreatment has is that during a day the other dogs finds the marinated Ida a little more interesting than normal.
    Lotte's SA-treatment
    Today Ida is fine. She has a deasent weight and is seldom troubled by her skin and coat. Her hypothyroid is medicated and not noticable. The outbreaks of SA follows when her allergy strains her system, particularily in pollen-season, but they are quite managable with my oliveoiltreatment.
  2007
    Ida spend her life like she did before, with a couple of exceptions. She tolerates cold and wet weather very poorly. But a good warm coat help. She is as sweet and funny as always, though - if possible- an even bigger opportunist.
   
  2009