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Brown spots on skin

My Maltese has recently developed brown spots on his skin. I am not sure what caused this, but recently he had a problem with his liver and he has been on medication for about a month. I have noticed some of these spots before on his skin, especially when we give him a bath. However, more seem to have appeared now. Also, he was extremely matted up, so the groomer basically shaved him. Some of the hair that had fallen out on its own has still not grown back (it's been about 6 weeks). How long does it take for hair to grow back that has fallen out (especially on his stomach/chest area)?

P.S. I considered asking the vet, but he always seems to perscribe 100 different medicines so I thought maybe someone else had some experience.

• I have seen brown spots on my Maltese as well. They tend to fade for a while and then come back (maybe it's a seasonal thing?). I just got a Shih Tzu puppy and he seems to have them too. What was interesting to me was that you said your Maltese had liver problems...so did my Maltese. The problems arose a few weeks after I bought him. The vets ran numerous tests on him, ultrasounds, a liver biopsy etc. ....all in all, there was no definite diagnosis (which was frustrating!) but he is doing much better now. I am curious to know about what the vet said about your Maltese' liver problem. Perhaps the brown spots are related to the liver problem. I suspected at the time (as did you) that the spots were related to his illness. I asked my vet and she told me not to worry. My Maltese has also had his stomach shaved on two occasions (for the ultrasounds) and it took about three months before his hair evened out with the rest of the body.

• Not long after we first got our Maltese, she also developed brown spots that were visible under her hair. I was quite alarmed, and contacted the breeder. She assured me that that only meant the fur would be whiter, and that the more the better. While I'm not sure that is true, this was well over a year ago and our little dog has been in excellent health. They also seem to become darker and lighter at different times.

• My 7 1/2 year old Maltese also has brown spots on her skin. I noticed them for the first time shortly after she was diagnosed with a kidney problem (glomerulonephritis - forgive my spelling) about 1 1/2 years ago. My vet seemed unconcerned. I think she just didn't know. Oddly enough, they disappeared over time but reappeared at the beginning of this summer. They've since faded some. I've been wondering if they are a response to light/sunlight (she was under heat lamps in the hospital), like freckles or sunburn...I hope your maltese is feeling better!

• We raise Maltese and have so for six years. the spots do come and go and being we believe in herbal cures we researched the problem a couple of years ago. Our vets could not give an answer and wanted to do all kinds of test. We turned to mother nature and started using black walnut extract available in almost any health food store. A couple of drops a day in the water everyday has not only taken care of the spots but our babies seem very healthy all the time. Of course we have the kennel indoors which helps. Even my Mothers Maltese seem to recover from minor ills faster using the black walnut on a daily basis. It can't hurt...try it they'll like it.