Hello everyone, Recently my Shar Pei, Cooper, had a fever. And then a couple of weeks later I noticed that his muzzle is deflated. I've been reading up on the causes of muzzle deflate etc, and I'm taking him to the vet today, but I thought I'd pop in here to ask a couple of questions. Firstly, does anyone have experience with muzzle deflate with their Pei? Did their muzzle return to normal? Secondly, I read that giving him supplements to promote hyaluronan production would help him regain his muzzle. Does anyone have any insight or thoughts on that? Thanks so much!
Hello James, Welcome to the forum from Barbara, Georgina, Shar-Pei and Gwylim, Mini Schnauzer, To answer your question. It's quite normal for a Pei's muzzle to deflate when they've been ill. Georgina has never had a fever, but her chubby chops definitely shrank when she had entropion surgery. The good news is that Cooper's muzzle will return to normal once he's feeling better. To promote Hyaluronan production, there's a product called HyVitality which has been formulated specially for Shar-Pei, by Dr Linda Tintle who's acknowledged to be the world's leading expert on the breed. Unfortunately, it's only available in the US. I give Georgina a supplement called FS-50 which contains essential vitamins and minerals and make sure she has a good grain free diet and apart from having entropion when she was younger, she's a very healthy girl. Hope that helps.
There is a product called "Hyaluronic Acid, with Chondroitin" - made by Doctor's Best from iherb.com in the US and they ship all over the world. It costs ~£8.60 for 60 capsules or ~£24 for 180 capsules, plus postage. I do not know if this would be of any help but I can vouch for both iHerb and Doctor's Best products.
