You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Melanin is everywhere in nature - but what is it ?

Melanin is a range of pigments which give a range of colour hair and skin ..including black, red-brown to yellow. They are all derived from an amino acid - Tyrosine which is converted to dopa and then to dopaquinone. This is then oxidised to create various pigments under genetic control ...so hair coat colour is genetically transmitted form parents to their offspring. The chmical reactions involved in pigment production require the presence of an enzyme (called tyrosinase) which contains copper - which is why in animals with copper deficiency the coat may be an abnormal colour, -for example black hair may turn red-brown. 

A total lack of pigment is called - albinism, and the patient is an albino. This is an inherited condition in which the animal can not produce melanin because it lacks the enzyme tyrosinase.

Updated October 2013