Greyhound Gets 'foamy Mouth' After Hard Exercize

[JohnF]

I wonder if anyone on here has also noticed this kind of thing? Sometimes after running too hard or too long Peggy will pull up breathing with a frothy foamy mouth as though she brought up some phlegm or maybe clear gastric reflux fluids?

She has always been prone to it so I wonder how to stop it happening other than restricting running to about 300 yards max which, when they are chasing and having fun, is hard to stop?

 

She is regularly vet-checked, heart and lungs are sound, she's regularly wormed with Milbemax, she isn't allowed to run until a couple of hours after eating.

 

Thoughts?

[RedHead]

Teague gets that too sometimes when he is running off leash. He doesn't have any health issues, so I don't worry about it. I think it is just the drool getting frothed up from the hard breathing.

[JohnF]

Teague gets that too sometimes when he is running off leash. He doesn't have any health issues, so I don't worry about it. I think it is just the drool getting frothed up from the hard breathing.

 

Could be, but it's worrying that she is breathing this bubbly stuff in and out ; it clears after about 3 minutes. Certainly it would be an impediment to an actual racing dog.

[RedHead]

I don't notice excessive foam, so maybe my case is different from yours. Kind of looks like this.

 

 

[JohnF]

I don't notice excessive foam, so maybe my case is different from yours. Kind of looks like this.

 

 

Like that but about 10 times more and breathing the stuff in too... Makes me wonder if the exercize brought on reflux?

[Scooby172]

Interesting, Jack just gets lots of slobber when he runs. When he shakes, it gets all over his head and nose, gross!

Linda, Jack and Keeva

[3greytjoys]

How old is Peggy now? I wonder if Peggy's foaming may be a bit excessive for a Greyhound.

 

A few things come to mind to watch, and consider discussing with your vet:

Check her gum color. As you know, many healthy hounds' gums are light to medium pink, but some have darker markings on their gums naturally. (Very deep dark red, purple, or blue gums raise a medical alert flag for us.)

Listen to her panting to notice if it's excessively noisy or labored. Has her voice/bark changed over time?

Smell her breath for clues of possible oral/tooth infection, or internal organ infection.

I assume the outside temperature is not too warm for her to run (increasing her body heat excessively).

I assume she's not drinking excessively while still in a heightened physical state.

Retching or vomiting would be something to consider as abnormal.

 

Glad you wait at least two hours after meals before allowing her to run. I wonder if you've tried exercising her two hours prior to eating a meal to see if she has the same result. As you mentioned, might be reflux or food related. (Our hounds acid related fluid is usually bright fluorescent yellow.) Rarely, we'll administer 10 mg. of Pepcid with food. (If you don't have Pepcid in the UK, maybe you already use a veterinary recommended mild reliever that is safe for dogs.)

 

In our case, a couple of our hounds exercise must be limited to walks due to their medical reasons. Good luck. Hopefully it's nothing abnormal.

[JohnF]

Thanks for those helpful considerations. She's six now and has occasionally had this foaming issue ever since I had her, maybe it was why she was rehomed at 18 months?. She's a real show-off dog when it comes to running and will twirl mid-run to taunt slower dogs; I just think 300 yards is enough for that kind of a sprint fanatic but of course can't always stop her that soon if the other dog is having fun.

She is a morning 'biley' dog anyway and the vet lets me have some Zantac for a few days if she gets an upset; usually a slice of bread late at night prevents it. This running-related foam isn't yellow-tinged it's just mucus to me; and i don't think she has KC or other respiratory virus either.

Teeth? She's going to be de-scaled and carefully checked after Christmas and isn't too bad gum wise at present

Metabolism? The vet says she's still fine... just needs the teeth done.

 

Generally she's a happy dog now and it's only the extreme running which is of concern. In the summer she's not allowed so much running as she overheats quickly but Fall and the Winter is her favourite time of year.

How old is Peggy now? I wonder if Peggy's foaming may be a bit excessive for a Greyhound.

 

A few things come to mind to watch, and consider discussing with your vet:

Check her gum color. As you know, many healthy hounds' gums are light to medium pink, but some have darker markings on their gums naturally. (Very deep dark red, purple, or blue gums raise a medical alert flag for us.)

Listen to her panting to notice if it's excessively noisy or labored. Has her voice/bark changed over time?

Smell her breath for clues of possible oral/tooth infection, or internal organ infection.

I assume the outside temperature is not too warm for her to run (increasing her body heat excessively).

I assume she's not drinking excessively while still in a heightened physical state.

Retching or vomiting would be something to consider as abnormal.

 

Glad you wait at least two hours after meals before allowing her to run. I wonder if you've tried exercising her two hours prior to eating a meal to see if she has the same result. As you mentioned, might be reflux or food related. (Our hounds acid related fluid is usually bright fluorescent yellow.) Rarely, we'll administer 10 mg. of Pepcid with food. (If you don't have Pepcid in the UK, maybe you already use a veterinary recommended mild reliever that is safe for dogs.)

 

In our case, a couple of our hounds exercise must be limited to walks due to their medical reasons. Good luck. Hopefully it's nothing abnormal.

[3greytjoys]

It might be helpful for your vet if you could journal Peggy's medical symptoms for a week or two including meals, exercise timing, and take a photo of her when actively foaming for your vet. Since there are many causes for excessive foaming, listing any other minor symptoms that may otherwise go unnoticed could help diagnose a root cause, especially if it's something other than an oral/tooth problem.

 

Peggy may still have too much undigested food in her system even after waiting 2 hours after a meal before hard exercise. If weather and time permits, try waiting about 4 hours before allowing hard exercise. (If I recall correctly, some racing kennels in the U.S. do not feed breakfast on a Greyhound's racing days.) Excessive white foaming is one of the symptoms of bloat too. Understandably, Peggy is still with you so she hasn't bloated, but as you mentioned, better to curb her exercise a bit rather than letting her go beyond her individual healthy limit. Good luck.