Are Your Greys Having Medical Problems?

[Guest meakah]

Koda has Pannus so I put minor problem and ongoing since it is easily managed.

[Plymgreys]

Bobby, 9yrs, no health probs, has had the ocasional bump but nothing major.

Lottie, 4yrs, no health probs, had to have lotsa teeth taken out when she retired also has the odd knock or scrape.

[LBass]

Piper's epilepsy is major and on-going. His low thyroid is managed nicely with medication but is on-going as well.

[turbotaina]

Depends on what you consider major or minor...

 

Turbo's been battling a hip strain for 6 months now. We're on weekly PT which is kind of a pain in the butt, but he doesn't seem to be in major discomfort and it has not affected the quality of his life in any meaningful way (except he really, really, really, really wants to run and is forbidden!). We *might* have an autoimmune problem going on, but I highly doubt it. We go to a specialist on 6/23, but as I understand it, must autoimmune disorders are controlled fairly easily, with the exception of occassional flare-ups.

[Guest harthounds]

Well ole Jackie has Arthritis so I said an ongoing problem...apart from that all are well.

[CleosMom]

My four are happy and healthy. Only minor problems over the years caused by the girls lack of coordination.

 

We did have a few tough months with Cole earlier this year but he's finally 100% again.

[Guest ChrissyB]

Yes---Benny has a pulled muscle that he keeps re-injuring. He is now on his second round of Pred.

 

I just want him to heal----he is pretty uncomfortable.

[Jiffer]

We have ongoing problems with two of ours.

 

Icarus has epilepsy (Petit Mal), and left rear knee problems (for the past year).

 

Atlas broke his hock on his last race (it's not troublesome unless I miss his Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM) and has a heart murmur. Lately, he's been off his food, but is slowly coming around.

 

Echo is perfectly healthy.

 

Orion is perfectly healthy.

 

Tap wood on those last two. I don't want to jinx anything.

[Devotion]

4 and nothing major here. arthritis and older age with one but that's it.

[Guest greyhound_bug]

All 4 here have problems.

 

Joe, Simon and Sullivan have Pannus.

Eli has seizures (very mild-only 2 since we adopted him is Aug '05)

Sullivan also has Osteo

[Guest TBSFlame]

I have 4 greys and all are and have been very healthy. Flame retired with a broken leg but it doesn't stop him. 2 are 6 and 2 are 10.

My first greyhound that died of osteo at 9.5 was very healthy until he got cancer. He also raced till he was 5.

[Guest star]

I voted special needs as my recently retired 3 year old greyhound bitch had been diagnosed as low thyroid. less then total t4 of 5. ie did not register. her race performance were poor and she was stressed and slept in the corner of her yard like a dog will do if they are not well.

 

Since being on thyroxine she is a different bitch, her behaviour is normal and she is excelling at lure Coursing. We put her on as much as 12 X 100 tabs of thyroxine daily hoping to get her back to the track. Still to slow, so have been gradually reducing the tabs and monitoring.

 

I have just reduced her down to 1 x 100 tab this week and no visable sign of stress or unnatural behaviour. her keenness at Lure Coursing is excellent and her scores keep improving each time she goes.

 

Because the thyroid issue is so controversial, No vet really knows what the right level is for a greyhound, I prefer to monitor her health, vital signs, attitude, eating habits, energy level, stress, food metobilism, heart rate , temperature and generally if she is a happy dog.

 

On 2x 100 tabs she has been excellent so that is why she has been reduced down to 1 x 100 just in case when her thyroid tests were done she was not suffering some inflammation of the thyroid gland.

 

PS, I have also done a lot of research on this both on the canine and humans. I think that the biggest problem, at least in my case was diet related.

 

Canines or humans with hypothyroidism have special dietary needs as many foods and nutrients interfere with thyroxine.

 

So a small summary of some of my thinking is.

 

Tabs 30 minutes before feed.

Calcium at least 4 hours before or after

Iron at least 4 hours.

Reduced fibre as excess fibre inhibits throxine....

reduced fat as fat interferes with thyroxine and as the metabolism is slowed down fat is not eliminated.

 

There is a heap more but i have found that by attention to the diet may have allowed me to reduce the dependence of high levels of Thyroxine.

 

PS I am in Australia, and I have had her since a pup, raced and trained her myself so she is not a rescue dog as such but has been retired from racing and will be a pet and Lure Courser and I am also trying to train her for Agility as well with not much luck at this stage.

Edited June 6, 2006 by star

[Fastgals]

Girlie recently underwent a uni-lateral tieback operation for laryngeal paralysis. Girlie is 13 years old and LP is something that can appear in older large breeds. In effect, the LP is now "cured" - so she no longer has this condition. As far as I'm aware no other health problems, apart from the usual age-related rear-end stiffness. The other two, Maggie - 8 and Lulu - 4, are in excellent health and apart from the very occasional sprain/strain type injury, are not prone to illness.

[Guest gr84me]

Brody's only medical problem is arthritis, due to broken hock which ended his racing career. Compared to other breeds I've owned, his health is the same or better at his age (8).

 

Pam

 

P.S. I would imagine formal studies have been done to find correlations between racing history/careers (including training) and the type/frequency of injuries/medical conditions in greyhounds. I'm thinking of TBD's, injury-related arthritis, things like that. You'd have to remove all of that to make a legitimate health comparison to other "pet" breeds. Also, people post on the GT health forum because they are looking for advice because their dogs are having problems; therefore, the sampling is tainted. You'd have to get a true random sample of greyhounds somehow to get an accurate picture of the health of the breed overall.

[ShantisMom]

Voted other. My grey is on Soloxine for low thyroid. She does great on her medicine 2x day with her meals. No big deal. Only have to test once a year unless she gets strange on me.

[Guest nwtothis]

Loose has arthritis in a front leg - from racing - he's on Glygoflex and the occasional Derramax. His titer for Lyme disease came back positive on Saturday. The vet wants to recheck him again in a month to make sure it's not a false positive. (it was negative last year). So, we'll see where we go in a month's time.

[ElizabethGPAPS]

Two Greyhounds, both 11 and Sloughi, 13 - no medical problems whatsoever.

[Guest Tenderhearts]

Well, I voted 'minor' and ongoing. Lori Ann is the only grey of mine with health issues (knock on wood), but I have 4 seniors total with various age related health issues. All four are now on the GlycoFlexIII for arthritis, plus Raven (lab/hound doggy mix) is on enalapril and furosemide for congestive heart failure.

 

It's an on again, off again issue with Lori Ann's bad teeth and abscesses, plus we are dealing with increasing hind leg weakness in her. Some days it's worse than others, but for now she can still get up on the sofas/bed, and more often than not, does her wild sprint across the back yard to come inside. I do give her Deramaxx once in awhile when she's having an extra bad day with the hind legs. She turns 13 this month.

[Guest longdogs]

Angel: bad teeth

William: some arthritis in his knee

Nugget: I don't want to think about it. Can you get a mortgage on a dog?

[Guest SillyDog]

Prancer is 10ish and has typical mild arthritis. I didn't count him because it's an aging thing. I should've voted that he's got an ongoing problem because I forgot he's positive for chronic Ehrlichia. It doesn't affect him much, obviously! I just need to watch out for certain things.

 

Carly is almost 5 and has to be on a strict diet (no veg! no people food! no grains! etc.) & a urinary acidifier called methioform. If I fail to keep her on her diet she gets big D. If I forget her methioform she gets very bad UTIs. I voted ongoing minor problem for her.

[Guest FordRacingRon]

Leia is just fine,,,a three year old now.

 

When we got her the paperwork showed she came off the track with a gum infection,,cleared up with meds,,,her teeth and gums are better then mine or my DW.

 

Our first wellness check the Vet stated she had an ear infection (at 1 week post adoption when the spay stiches came out) but that was cleared up in a week, with some meds.

[krissn333]

I said Yes, minor and Ongoing because Ace takes thyroid meds, but she's having her blood drawn tomorrow for our first retest so we'll see, I'm sure she'll be able to come down in dose...

 

 

 

We HAD trouble with Fritz's toe FOREVER but it seems as though we're FINALLY at a point where it will take a licking and keep strong, so, if not for Ace's thyroid we would have NO problems!

 

 

 

They are 5 and Ace was just started on the thyroid pills so I think we've done pretty well for ourselves health-wise.

 

 

 

Oh, does bad breath count as a problem? They both have good teeth but bad breath!

[Guest BrindledGreys]

Poor Mabel has all the issues. She has a thyroid problem, pannus, and dental issues. It looks like she may be developing cataracts, too.

[Guest lotsogreysmom]

10 greyhounds, 1 whippet and 1 bull terrier puppy here. No problems right now. We really haven't had any major issues with any of our dogs.

[Guest Mollysmum]

Our vet is considering a diagnosis of SLO, but we are currently treating Molly for bacterial & fungal issues. They may be the actual problem, but most likely the secondary result of breaking and cracking nails due to SLO.

 

She's a good girl though and never gives us any trouble. We have to soak her feet for 20 mins every night, and she gets a pedicure at the vets every 2 weeks. She's lost a total of 5 nails but in the last 4 weeks she hasn't dropped any. Our Vet really is great and he's not wanting to go to any other meds if we can control this with the current regimen and she's healthy and happy. Her feet look like a disaster zone and her nails are being kept horribly short - but she's happy and has boundless energy so that's all that matters

 

M