Need Help with SLO!

[Guest Broodyhen]

Last month Izee pulled one of her nails off, I thought she had caught it on something so off to the vet we went and got her taken care of and didn't think too much about it, but last week I noticed that one of her dew claws was gone, just the quick was there and then yesterday she lost another nail. I quickly realized that this was NOT normal and got online and did some research and think she has Pemphigus aka Symmetrical Lupoid Onchodystrophy or SLO for short. I guess Greys are one of the breeds that this affects? Most websites and forums all refer back to an article written by a vet from Arizona, Suzanne Stack, who gives a description with pictures of this disorder. One line in this article says "While toenail pemphigus/SLO is an oddball diagnosis in other breeds, it should go straight to the top of the list in Greyhounds experiencing mulitiple nail loss." Everything points to this with Izee but it's the treatment that I am concerned about. It says that you need to give an antihistime (Chlorphenerimine)and Prednisone and that this treatment may have to continue for the rest of the dogs life. I am very reluctant to put Izee on Prednisone at all let alone the rest of her life. The other thing that really concerns me is the diagnosis, the only real way to diagnose this disorder is to amputate the end toe bone, including the nail just like de-clawing a cat. I do NOT want to put Izee through this which is why I haven't had her back to the vet yet. So, I am coming here to see if any of you have any experience with this rather strange disorder and if so are there any other treatments or holistic treatments that we can try. I really don't want my baby girl to suffer. Thanks as always for being here and listening, here's hoping that one of you knows about this.

Edited February 12, 2010 by Broodyhen

[Guest TheUnrulyHound]

There are quite a few hound owners who have a hound with SLO or similar things, I am sure they will speak up soon

 

If you can still edit your topic, change the title to include "SLO". that will get more attention

[Guest Broodyhen]

There are quite a few hound owners who have a hound with SLO or similar things, I am sure they will speak up soon

 

If you can still edit your topic, change the title to include "SLO". that will get more attention

 

 

I can't figure out how to edit the title just the body of my post Let's hope that the folks who know about this read my post so I can get some help, thanks for letting me know that they are out there

[ahicks51]

There's one treatment I've considered, but there's no proof it'd work. No idea if it'd work in a hound, no idea if it'd work on SLO, but it's being advanced as an experimental treatment for a variety of autoimmune conditions in humans. Very low doses of the opioid inhibitor naltrexone, administered right before bedtime, can 'right' the immune system. See also:

 

http://lowdosenaltrexone.org/

 

It's inexpensive, the side-effects are just about zero (problems sleeping the first week), but most doctors- let alone vets- aren't familiar with it.

 

So- you wanted off-the-wall alternatives, and that would be one of them. Not recommended, but- to be frank- I've wondered what it would do for SLO.

[tbhounds]

SLO is a pita but, thankfully it's a disease that can be controlled. Many vets will start your pup with a short course of a of pred to reduce the inflamation in the toes but, you will also need to start a combo of niacidimide and tetracycline (they bind) and fatty acid (like derm-caps). There has also been success using another different protocol---derm-caps and trental.

I encourage you to find a vet comfortable treating this condition--sadly many vets aren't familar with SLO--perhaps a derm Dr near you??

[Guest PA_Greys]

Our greyhound has SLO. He gets tetracycline (500mg) & niacinamide (500mg) 3 times a day, plus a dermcap twice a day. We have been doing this for about 3-4 years now and this has worked for him. The idea was that he would eventually be able to go on a lower dosage of the medicine, which apparently is the usual protocol, but as soon as we lower his dosage he starts losing nails again. We are very grateful he responded to the tetracycline and niacinamide regime (there are not really any side effects), the specialist we saw told us if that did not work we'd have to go the prednisone route. Hope this helps

[joejoesmom]

Prednisone is often just at the beginning, to reduce the initial (untreated) autoimmune reaction. It also helps identify if an autoimmune disease is present. Be sure to find a doctor who is very familiar with this.\

 

There is also a Yahoo group for this:

 

SLO Dogs

 

If it is SLO you will probably end up using low cost and safe drugs and supplements for the long term.

 

Also, be aware that when the nail grows back it will likely look funky (twisted and/or soft).

[Guest Grhndad]

We've had one with SLO. She was 10 when it was diagnosed this was back in 2002. She was treated as stated in the "Care of the Racing Greyhound" with the prednisone treatment. She was on the preds,low dose, for the rest of her life. The preds had no lasting affect on her. When we attempted to lower her already low dosage, she started losing nails again. The nails grew back deformed, twisted and hollow but it didn't bother her.

[EllenEveBaz]

My Scout had SLO. With help from other experienced greyhound folks and our vet, we got it under control with a couple of cycles of tetracycline and niacidimide plus omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. As I remember, we never had to try prednisone. If we did, it was only for a very short time. We got the nail losses reduced from about 1 each month to 1 every 6 months, and then 1 a year, and just had to keep with the fatty acid supplements. It really was manageable. Scout only seemed to be bothered for a few days just before and just after a nail loss. I put Neosporin on the exposed quick.

 

His nails seemed to grow super quick, and they were the deformed, gnarly type mentioned above. Easy to cut, though.

 

One thing to be aware of is that SLO is an auto-immune disease, and dogs (like people) with one auto-immune disease seem to be at higher risk for others.

[Guest Broodyhen]

My Scout had SLO. With help from other experienced greyhound folks and our vet, we got it under control with a couple of cycles of tetracycline and niacidimide plus omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. As I remember, we never had to try prednisone. If we did, it was only for a very short time. We got the nail losses reduced from about 1 each month to 1 every 6 months, and then 1 a year, and just had to keep with the fatty acid supplements. It really was manageable. Scout only seemed to be bothered for a few days just before and just after a nail loss. I put Neosporin on the exposed quick.

 

His nails seemed to grow super quick, and they were the deformed, gnarly type mentioned above. Easy to cut, though.

 

One thing to be aware of is that SLO is an auto-immune disease, and dogs (like people) with one auto-immune disease seem to be at higher risk for others.

 

 

thanks everyone for your quick replies. I am going to check with our vet tomorrow to find out if she knows anything about this. If not I am going to tell them what I need and if she won't treat Izee this way I will find a vet who will. She seems like her normal self so let's hope she stays that way, I love my baby girl so much and can't stand the thought of her being in pain and sick.

[Guest Luvastorm]

Did you ever get anymore information on SLO besides Dr. Stack's article.

I researched further and found two articles that say Essential Fatty Acids should be started right away and Vitamin E also.

 

My Sunny lost a toenail on Thurs. She's an old broodie (8 in Sept.) and already has one shriveled misshapen toenail so she's obviously had this condition before. (We haven't had her 3 months yet.)

 

We have an appt. with our vet for next Wed. to get cats vaccinated and I'm going to ask about tetracycline and niacidimide, as I want to avoid prednisone also.