Help with my parent's pet

[deer2art]

Ten years ago, I bought my parents a Norweigen Elkhound. She has been a joy to them. Healthy, active, absolutely loves cold weather. This winter, Gypsy began losing her hair symmetrically, all over her body and her coordination is poor. She still eats and drinks very well, uses the bathroom regularly and still loves attention but my parents have had to put her in the barn because of her fur being gone and her coordination being so bad. Outside of being wormed and shots regularly, she's never been sick or had to visit the Veterinarian.
My parents are now afraid of taking her in for fear that they will be charged with neglect because she looks so ghastly or that a Veterinarian will put her down. I told them I would see if I could find some answers. Can someone out there offer some advice on how I should handle this?

[Tucker'sMom]

Hi deer2art:
I am dealing with a similar problem myself. I just had my dog to the Veterinarian after 2 weeks of not wanting to eat his food. His liver enzymes were elevated and the Veterinarian thinks it could be Cushing's Disease. One of the symptoms is the loss of hair. My dog doesn't have that problem, but some of the symptoms he does have is increased diet (he will eat anything he can find), weight gain, limping, increased thirst. Other symptoms include increased urination, heavy panting. I'm not sure about the coordination thing. I think it would be worth a trip to the Veterinarian. I was worried that my Veterinarian was going to accuse me of neglect, also, but the way she looks could be an important key to helping the Veterinarian diagnose. Please keep me informed.