omyability Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Last night when I started dremmeling my Red Raider's nails, I noticed three nails starting to separate at the base and were slightly loose. He has had a problem with losing one nail on the same foot for several years. Lost it three times. It has grown back funky and sticks up a bit. I thought it was a fluke. Now to my total dismay, three more nails are not looking right. I started reading up a bit on SLO. Raider has been rather lethargic for a few months and I have him on a diet w/o much success. I did blood work on April 17, but didn't do a thyroid. It is so hot so I thought maybe it was the weather with him. I am reading that most greys with SLO are low thyroid. This was not a happy discovery last night. Raider loves to run and I guess no running for him. Raider just turned 8 years young in May. I would prefer to go the holistic route in treatment. From what I have read, it is not curable. Anyone else with greys with SLO who are doing holistic treatment? Maybe he just has funky nails and it isn't SLO. Praying really really hard for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 If you don't want to jump into meds I would try adding EFA's (essential fatty acids) first. I really like Welactin. You may need to also add Vit E too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kudzu Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 (edited) Hope your pup doesn't have SLO but it certainly sounds possible. The core of the treatment many vets prescribe for SLO is rather holistic. EFA's, Vit E & niacinamide are all nutritional supplements & a big part of the primary treatment. My understanding though is that niacinamide has synergistic qualities when combined with tetracycline. Am not sure how much help it is separate from tetra. We did tetracycline for a few months before stopping it due to limited availability. (Didn't switch her to doxy because it had previously caused GI upset for her.) In addition to those I added in Vit B 50 complex & Vit C in calcium ascorbate form. Hypothyroid is something dogs, not just GHs, are often tested for as part of the work up when SLO is suspected. Have not seen any figures but just from being on the SLO Yahoo group it seems many, possibly most, dogs with SLO are not hypo-t. It's a good idea to check though. The problem of course is accurately diagnosing it in Greyhounds. My SLO dog was diagnosed hypo-t before turning up with SLO. Diagnosis was based on an MSU thyroid panel & symptoms. (That's for tbhounds.) Response to treatment was gauged by follow up blood work & improvement/resolution of symptoms. Her SLO started after her thyroid probs had been stabalized & SLO then regressed without any change in thyroid treatment. So I'm not able to conclude that hypothyroid had any effect on her SLO. Where did you read "that most greys with SLO are low thyroid"? Would like to read whatever said that. Edited July 28, 2012 by kudzu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omyability Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 Will start with supplements very soon. I had a retriever/shep mix - 100 pound boy - who lived to be 13 1/2. He started losing his nails the last year of his life and his thyroid was not functioning at all. After starting thyroid meds and a couple other supplements, his nails grew back, but very funky looking. Raider has gained weight and I cut his food back quite a bit with not much weight loss. He just seems rather depressed to me lately and not his normal perky self. I thought the weather was the cause Raider is my profile picture - the guy with the radar ears! I use two vets - holistic and traditional - but will schedule him to see my holistic vet as soon as possible. He uses at lot of Standard Process supplements. I use a lot of colostrum supplements and will ask him about them. I read this last night on the Greyhound Gang medical page: It is also worth checking thyroid levels and supplementing greyhounds that are unequivocally low. Many if not most greyhounds have marginally low thyroid levels normally - I certainly don't advocate putting all of these on Soloxine. Will check out the SLO yahoo group. Thanks!!! I am already on in the LP and corndog yahoo groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Hope your pup doesn't have SLO but it certainly sounds possible. The core of the treatment many vets prescribe for SLO is rather holistic. EFA's, Vit E & niacinamide are all nutritional supplements & a big part of the primary treatment. My understanding though is that niacinamide has synergistic qualities when combined with tetracycline. Am not sure how much help it is separate from tetra. We did tetracycline for a few months before stopping it due to limited availability. (Didn't switch her to doxy because it had previously caused GI upset for her.) In addition to those I added in Vit B 50 complex & Vit C in calcium ascorbate form. Hypothyroid is something dogs, not just GHs, are often tested for as part of the work up when SLO is suspected. Have not seen any figures but just from being on the SLO Yahoo group it seems many, possibly most, dogs with SLO are not hypo-t. It's a good idea to check though. The problem of course is accurately diagnosing it in Greyhounds. My SLO dog was diagnosed hypo-t before turning up with SLO. Diagnosis was based on an MSU thyroid panel & symptoms. (That's for tbhounds.) Response to treatment was gauged by follow up blood work & improvement/resolution of symptoms. Her SLO started after her thyroid probs had been stabalized & SLO then regressed without any change in thyroid treatment. So I'm not able to conclude that hypothyroid had any effect on her SLO. Where did you read "that most greys with SLO are low thyroid"? Would like to read whatever said that. That's for tbhounds. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 One other medication that's used for the treatment of SLO (though not wholistic) is pentoxifylline. I used it quite successfully with my last SLO hound (not very expensive either). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omyability Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 Thank you for this alternative. I don't think they are making tetracycline any longer so I will look into the pentoxifylline. I don't want to do pred if at all possible. One thought I had today is the ground has been very dry and hard and I wonder if he damaged some nails on pea gravel that I put on a slope last winter (big mistake) which has since spread out. He still has the one funky nail that he loses every so often. I fell on this gravel slope six weeks ago and sprained my ankle. I must stay with the pine straw! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kudzu Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 That's for tbhounds. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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