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They Say You Learn Something New Every Day


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Well yesterday I did. I had noticed Joey pawing at one eye. I checked it out, it looked fine, no weeping, no obvious injury so I just watched him closely for a few days. Well on Friday he came in from outside and ran to a bed and didn't even see Bullitt on it so I decided to check out his eyes. Kevin got a flash light and we looked in Joey's eyes and saw that his eyes were dilated and didn't constrict with the light from the flash light. I got very concerned, called the vet right away. After angel Emmy losing her sight, I watch the dogs eyes very closely.

 

We took him in yesterday, Dr. B checked his eyes and said physically they looked fine. He mention a few things that could be causing the problem but normally in just one eye, not both at the same time. Then he mentioned high blood pressure could cause his eyes to remain dilated. I told him that he is a full litter mate to Bullitt who has high blood pressure and kidney disease.

 

He immediately checked his blood pressure and it was 300!!!! A normal dog visiting the vet with a little stress should have blood pressure around 140-160! He told me to take him home right then and give him the same meds that Bullitt is taking for his blood pressure and he wants to see him again tomorrow, so we will make another vet visit tomorrow to see if the meds are working.

 

I had no idea that high blood pressure could affect a dogs eyes like that. If it hadn't been for his eyes, I wouldn't have even taken Joey to the vet because he's the picture of health, just had a physical and even checked his kidney function because of Bullitt and it's great.

 

Just thought I'd throw that out there so if anyone else ever see's that their dogs pupils are staying dilated they might want to have their blood pressure checked!

 

I have an appointment for next Tuesday to take in Pistol and Sammie and have their blood pressure checked since they are full siblings to Joey and Bullitt.

Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel

Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee

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Thanks for letting us know this - it's not something that is obvious.

 

My dog's blood pressure is usually high at the vet's office and they have to do it 3 times and then they average the readings from that. I have it done yearly and the vet charges between $20 to $40 for the procedure. There are also some recommendations like having them lie down, only using the back legs and a few others that I can't remember now. It seems like it's becoming more of an issue with getting good readings and with that, I'm thinking of getting a blood pressure cuff for the doggies and measuring it myself a few times a year. Have you considered that?

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I didn't know it affected the dilatation of the pupils, but I did learn high blood pressure affects the eyes. Nadir's blood pressure was near 300 on several readings on one of his visits to Auburn, readings at subsequent visits were around 180. It was explained to me they can look at the fundus, which is at the back of the eyeball for damage to determine if the high blood pressure is an ongoing problem or an isolated incident.

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No, they have a special BP cuff at the vet's. it's quite a bit more complicated getting a dogs BP than a human. They just don't put a BP cuff on them.

Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel

Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee

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a good friend just went thru the mystery of how to take a gh's blood pressure- her vet took it - it was HIGH,the dog was standing. she was sent her to a cardio specialist. the specialist told her that a gh must be lying down when bp is taken. from what she remembered it's due to their anatomy- large chest and extra volume of blood. her dog was rechecked- normal on his side. just thought i would share that tid-bit. not sure if it's fact or fiction, but it came from a visit to a caridio specialist.

 

good catch on your observation anyway....

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:eek

 

Hope Joey's ok...

 

 

Thanks for this info!!!

 

Nancy...Mom to Sid (Peteles Tiger), Kibo (112 Carlota Galgos) and Joshi.  Missing Casey, Gomer, Mona, Penelope, BillieJean, Bandit, Nixon (Starz Sammie),  Ruby (Watch Me Dash) Nigel (Nigel), and especially little Mario, waiting at the Bridge.

 

 

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a good friend just went thru the mystery of how to take a gh's blood pressure- her vet took it - it was HIGH,the dog was standing. she was sent her to a cardio specialist. the specialist told her that a gh must be lying down when bp is taken. from what she remembered it's due to their anatomy- large chest and extra volume of blood. her dog was rechecked- normal on his side. just thought i would share that tid-bit. not sure if it's fact or fiction, but it came from a visit to a caridio specialist.

 

good catch on your observation anyway....

Any animal should be laying down when BP is taken. Try convincing a cat to stay laying down while you put a cuff on them and inflate it!

Kristie and the Apex Agility Greyhounds: Kili (ATChC AgMCh Lakilanni Where Eagles Fly RN IP MSCDC MTRDC ExS Bronze ExJ Bronze ) and Kenna (Lakilanni Kiss The Sky RN MADC MJDC AGDC AGEx AGExJ). Waiting at the Bridge: Retired racer Summit (Bbf Dropout) May 5, 2005-Jan 30, 2019

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Wow!

 

I'm sure glad you caught it. I hope the treatment works quickly and he's soon 100%.

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I hope the medication gets his pressure back within normal limits. And thank you for sharing this.

Cynthia, & Cristiano, galgo
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After being on the meds for 3 days, Joey's blood pressure was within normal limits this morning! He will have a recheck in a month and we may be able to adjust some meds at that time. The dilation of his pupils was down a bit this morning, I was hoping what I was seeing wasn't just wishful thinking but Dr. B saw it too so we're headed in the right direction.

Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel

Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee

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Guest undergreysspell

I'm glad Joey's doing better. 300 sounds scary! Just had Gracie's checked this morning before we start her on Proin and it was 130 so I feel good that we now have a baseline. The vet didn't think it was necessary, but I insisted. It seems like such a simple thing that could possibly prevent trouble in our beloved greys.

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That's good news!!! Thanks for sharing, I knew nothing about dog bp's. To anyone, should all greys have yearly BP checks?

 

 

You know, before this happened to us, it never even occurred to have their BP checked but I'm rethinking that now, especially seeing what serious consequences can happen from undetected hypertension.

Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel

Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee

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That's good news!!! Thanks for sharing, I knew nothing about dog bp's. To anyone, should all greys have yearly BP checks?

 

 

I've been checking the BPs on my greyhounds for about 3 years now at their annuals. Problem is that the dogs get nervous at the vet and it makes the pressure go up. Vets are also not very proficient in doing it and not all know that the dogs should be lying down and I believe it is supposed to be done on the back legs. The readings can be very erratic, so just as long as one of the readings is 140 or less I don't get too worried.

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Yes, lying down and on the back legs. My vet will take a couple of reading to double check and make sure he's getting an accurate reading.

 

Now that two of my four litter mates have hypertention, the other two will be checked on Tuesday.

Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel

Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee

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Yup, and BP is something that a lot of Vets do not routinely check. JD, our oldest 'Tzu, lost an eye to BP issues.

Wendy and The Whole Wherd. American by birth, Southern by choice.
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