Greyhound Illnesses

[Guest fastcasper]

I am also looking into and reading about the galgos. I think I read somewhere that they do not have a higher rate of getting OS, but I would like to talk to Dr. Couto as he has owned at least one and certainly works with many. I do think greyhounds are magnificent and I can't imagine my life now without at least one in my home, but their diseases, treatments, and deaths are very hard to cope with and does not ever get any easier.

[Guest kar]

scotch is crying in pain - I am devastated

[dmswartzfager]

Well, I will add my personal experience….

 

Marcus - had a hemangiopericytoma removed from between his front legs shortly before we adopted him at age 10, but was otherwise the picture of health until he began coughing the night before his 12th birthday and was gone 24 hours later - we suspect pulmonary thromboembolism

 

Tyler - rather unusual primary presentation of malignant histiocytosis in his left humerus - I took him to Dr. Couto for that diagnosis. We were getting ready to amputate, but further testing suggested it had already spread to his lymph nodes, so we opted to let him go at 5 years old before the leg broke.

 

Carrie - cancer scare with a toe, which we opted to amputate at age 8; turned out to be a bone callus or similar. She developed an inoperable abdominal tumor and we had to let her go at almost 13 years old.

 

Frazzle - developed laryngeal paralysis at 12 years old; we did the tie-back surgery and he felt great afterwards, but then injured his back multiple times and we let him go at 13 years.

 

Blitz - we adopted him at 10, and almost immediately we spent a great deal of money on exploratory abdominal surgery to diagnose IBD; he did not recover well and ended up needing transfusions and whatnot, but he pulled through, and once placed on a raw diet with avoidance of beef, he was great. His back end started getting weak, and when I found him one morning where he had slipped and fallen and urinated and defecated and was unable to get up out of his waste, we let him go at 14 years old.

 

Symbra - broke her right femur while being placed on the X-ray table for radiographs to determine the cause of subtle limping; osteosarcoma. We amputated the next day and she survived 17 months before breaking her right front leg; she was 11.5 years old at time of death.

 

Scarlett - we adopted her at almost 11 years old only to discover she had PLN and that she already had blood clots in her distal aorta. She pulled through the first "crisis" wherein we had to put her in the ER for pain management and the neurologist correctly diagnosed her the next day. We were working with the cardiologist to try to break up her clots and prevent new ones from forming when she had a second crisis that she did not survive. We had her just shy of five weeks, so she had not yet turned 11 years old.

 

Wren - we have had since she was 2.5 years old, and she is approaching 13 years of age. Other than a neck issue that causes her to limp on her right front (which is the same foot on which she has a corn) that is fairly well controlled by Deramaxx, tramadol, and amitriptylline, she is doing quite well (*knock on wood*)

 

Momma Mia just joined us and is a greyhound mix (she really looks like a galga) and is supposedly about 11 years old and was a brood mama; other than extreme fear issues when she's outside her comfort zone of the house and its people, she's also quite healthy.

 

So for our experience with nine greyhounds, our hounds are in the 11-13 year old range before it's their time to go. We've certainly had some weird diseases along the way, but when I compare the thickness of veterinary charts of my dogs versus some of the other breeds of dogs seen by our hospital… I'll stick with the greyhounds.

[cometdust1]

Thanks everyone for sharing all your experiences with hounds that have lived a full life. It definitely has helped me feel more positive that my hound has a good chance of living into his teens. I will try not to focus on my other dogs passing early and instead remember all of your stories. Jeep has pannus. If thats all I have to deal with until old age I will be very happy!

[Guest roweboy]

Just wanted to add another thought. I've followed this thread and read all responses. I come away with a few things. One, grey owners are passionate and well-informed. You all seem to love this breed (which I knew next to nothing about until 2 months ago) and I understand this after being an owner for only 3 weeks.

 

I was walking CJ the other day and an older woman with 2 small dogs (schnauzer & bichon/poodle mix) came by to chat. She'd adopted her one dog from the shelter and rescued the other in Mexico. We got talking about dog breeds and I'm a sucker for schnauzers (mine lived to be 15-16). She said she'd had schnauzers all her life and none had lived to be 10.

 

The pp who mentioned that while smaller dogs may live longer it isn't always mentioned how long they were in a health decline is absolutely correct. Here's my experience: Doxie that lived to be around 15 was constantly plagued by anal sac problems, and was fecally incontinent for a couple of years before he woke up vomiting constantly and it was the end. There rest of him was fine except for that. That means I cleaned up a lot of sh*t for years. The old schnauzer was deaf, finally started having dementia and would circle a room getting lost in a corner. He even managed to fall into a covered window well and survived intact. When he spent 3 days pooping uncontrollably indoors and then falling in the mess, I called an end to it. This is just a sample of the health concerns I've dealt with in my small dogs. It's never easy to make the call to end it. It ALWAYS hurts terribly.

 

My point (again) is that we take on pets without knowing anything about their lifespan. Would we not adopt if we knew we'd only get a few years with them? The pain of losing a beloved pet should always be tempered by the knowledge that you improved another life, and in turn yours was made richer. Losing one means you have room for another - never to replace but to open your heart to another friend in need.

 

I should add that while we love our pets, I personally think it's insanity to spend small fortunes or endanger our own financial security pursuing treatments for short life extensions. Dogs & cats don't think like humans. Once their quality of life is gone, they don't contemplate their future. In nature, they would become food for another species. We can offer them a peaceful passing which, however painful, should be a viable option before bankruptcy.

Edited March 15, 2014 by roweboy

[Guest DeniseL]

 

Racing greys may be more prone due to popular sire effects. Just look at Molotov.... And there are so so so many more...

 

.

I'm curious....what is prevalent in Molotov's lines?

[Guest AngelPup]

I'm curious....what is prevalent in Molotov's lines?

 

That one grabbed me too. My Cindy Lou is a decendant of Molotov. Although I did feel better when I saw that he lived a long life. Still curious about his lines, though.

Also, how do you find something like that out? Unless you are in the racing industry? Do they keep records of what the dogs die of to find trends?

[dmdsmoxie]

There is really nothing to find out. Molotov shows over 7700 offspring and he probably has many more than that because not all are entered into greyhound data. Because of the high number of offspring there are a number of his offspring that had osteo and from there the speculation on GT was that he was the dog that osteo started from. That isn't true.

 

Osteo was around before Molotov.

[Hubcitypam]

Oddly enough, out of my six bridge kids only one had Molotov in their lines - he was Buck's sire. HB's Commander, however, shows up five times. Like I said, No osteo here just lots of totally random things. My vet has never flat out said it, but he has alluded to greyhounds in general having a lot of problems. Maybe being at OSU sort of jaded him, like people read Health and Medical and think all greyhounds are sick because no one posts about the healthy ones.

Edited March 16, 2014 by Hubcitypam

[FiveRoooooers]

There is really nothing to find out. Molotov shows over 7700 offspring and he probably has many more than that because not all are entered into greyhound data. Because of the high number of offspring there are a number of his offspring that had osteo and from there the speculation on GT was that he was the dog that osteo started from. That isn't true.

 

Osteo was around before Molotov.

Thank you, Dick. Seamie is one of the 7700+ sired by Molotov and today we are celebrating a bit, he is 13.9.

[IndyandHollyluv]

Well, perhaps it was just dumb luck ...

 

My first grey lived to 12-1/4 (nasal cancer);

Second - 12-3/4 (PLN);

Third - two weeks shy of 11 -- horrible back problems (After racing he spent several years at a blood bank. Poor soul. He was almost nine when I adopted him);

Fourth - two weeks shy of 13-1/2 -- cognitive dysfunction (He was 11-1/2+ when I adopted him).

 

And my fifth? She just turned 14-1/2 yesterday! I adopted her almost two years ago at 12-1/2+. Never thought she would still be with me!

 

No osteo to date.

Edited March 16, 2014 by IndyandHollyluv

[BatterseaBrindl]

"Just wanted to add another thought. I've followed this thread and read all responses. I come away with a few things. One, grey owners are passionate and well-informed. You all seem to love this breed (which I knew next to nothing about until 2 months ago) and I understand this after being an owner for only 3 weeks."

 

Yes...we are passionate...but I imagine other breeds owners are just as passionate about their chosen breed. We were Dobe owners for many years until we could not stand the thought of losing another one at a young age from heart disease.

 

"My point (again) is that we take on pets without knowing anything about their lifespan. Would we not adopt if we knew we'd only get a few years with them? The pain of losing a beloved pet should always be tempered by the knowledge that you improved another life, and in turn yours was made richer. Losing one means you have room for another - never to replace but to open your heart to another friend in need."

 

Absolutely!!!

 

 

"I should add that while we love our pets, I personally think it's insanity to spend small fortunes or endanger our own financial security pursuing treatments for short life extensions. Dogs & cats don't think like humans. Once their quality of life is gone, they don't contemplate their future. In nature, they would become food for another species. We can offer them a peaceful passing which, however painful, should be a viable option before bankruptcy."

 

I have to agree with this as well.....

[Guest AngelPup]

There is really nothing to find out. Molotov shows over 7700 offspring and he probably has many more than that because not all are entered into greyhound data. Because of the high number of offspring there are a number of his offspring that had osteo and from there the speculation on GT was that he was the dog that osteo started from. That isn't true.

 

Osteo was around before Molotov.

Oh, ok. Misunderstood your statement. WHEW!

[FiveRoooooers]

Well, perhaps it was just dumb luck ...

 

My first grey lived to 12-1/4 (nasal cancer);

Second - 12-3/4 (PLN);

Third - two weeks shy of 11 -- horrible back problems (After racing he spent several years at a blood bank. Poor soul. He was almost nine when I adopted him);

Fourth - two weeks shy of 13-1/2 -- cognitive dysfunction (He was 11-1/2+ when I adopted him).

 

And my fifth? She just turned 14-1/2 yesterday! I adopted her almost two years ago at 12-1/2+. Never thought she would still be with me!

 

No osteo to date.

Yay!!! Happy 14.5 b'day. You have had some old timers. Thank you for adopting the seniors

[Guest kar]

you are very lucky to have had them to live such long lives, I was not as fortunate. they are indeed a special breed, and wonderful dogs, I just cant have another piece of my heart go with them.

[Guest kar]

just curious - your grey who had did of pln - when was she diagnosed with it. was she diagnosed young or at an older age?

[IndyandHollyluv]

Jan (FiveRoooooers) - thanks! My old girl doesn't do much except eat (and unfortunately she is a very picky eater), sleep, pee and poop; she's kinda like a throw pillow at this point.

 

Kar - my Holly (adopted at 2-3/4 y/o) fell ill one morning in 7/11. She had an awful dry-heaving / vomiting / arched back / drooling incident which lead to several vet visits over three days (including two specialists / ER hospitals. Ruled out bloat. But abdominal ultrasound revealed a duodenal ulcer (which can be a part of the kidney equation). Blood work, UA, etc, revealed PLN.

 

The specialist (internal med) prescribed a truckload of meds for Holly - Prilosec, antibiotics, Tramadol (I think?), and something else for the ulcer. Carafate? Unfortunately, after three days Holly decided she had had enough and refused all meds. She also was not interested in being compliant with a renal diet. I tried prescription food, home-cooked, etc.

 

Some dogs will eat anything and happily take meds. Holly was not one of those dogs. She was a very sensitive girl and I decided not to force the issue. I made a quality of life decision. I did give her little spoonfuls of Manuka honey to help soothe the ulcer - which I think helped.

 

With a very sad heart I said goodbye to my sweet girl in 12/11. Holly was 12-3/4 y/o.

 

So there are many variables - age of the dog, level of care, and the dog's cooperation.

 

I do understand how much it hurts to say goodbye - and it never gets any easier. Hugs.

Edited March 17, 2014 by IndyandHollyluv

[Guest kar]

snow is seven she was diagnosed 2 years ago