Osteo Statistics

[cgingrich]

I'm new to this page, so pls forgive any unintentional stepping on toes. I have a 9 yr. old grey, my first. A friend's 6 yr old grey has osteosarcoma -- devastating and very sad. She was told by her "greyhound savvy" vet that 52% of all racing greyhounds will get osteo in their lifetime. Honestly, if this were true, I would probably never adopt a second greyhound. I'd be very happy to hear what others have heard about this statistic -- the numbers that I've seen are much lower. Thx.

[MP_the4pack]

Two of my ten have/had OS. I believe Dr Couto stated that it was about 25%.

[robinw]

Don't know, but all three of mine had osteo.

[oldrunners]

I just lost my Julio to osteo. He was my 9th grey, but the first to have osteo. I believe there are certain bloodlines that carry a greater risk, but I can't remember whose they are.

[Neighsayer]

Three out of thirteen here. Ages 9, 7, and12.

[greysmom]

The more accepted numbers are more like 1-in-4 than 2-in-4. Still high, but since there's no requirement anywhere for reporting we'll probably never know for sure. Being a large breed dog, they are more inclined to contract osteo, just like other large breed dogs. There is most likely a genetic component, though most of our greyhounds have such intertangled breeding lines it would be impossible to predict. And just like with people where some families have a higher probability for contracting cancers of various kinds, many members of the family get "skipped" for whatever reason.

 

Every dog you adopt is most likely going to pre-decease you for one reason or other. Osteo is only one of those reasons. Please don't let that be something that keeps you from having a wonderful companion in your life.

[macoduck]

12 greyhounds here, no osteo.

[Scoutsmom]

6 greys here, only 1 had osteo and she was 12 so she had a good long life.

[seeh2o]

3 greyhounds, my 9.5 year old was just diagnosed with osteo (leg was amputated a week and a half ago), my 13.11+ year old is ok, I lost her littermate to sepsis (possible osteo, possible bone infection) at age 11.

[JJNg]

One of the details that none of the stats I've seen look at is a breakdown of the age at which osteosarcoma (OSA) develops. All dogs are going to die of something, so I think it makes a difference to know what percentage get it in their middle-aged years vs their senior years. There has been no proof that any specific bloodlines carry more risk of OSA. Some of the sires that have been named are ones that have a huge number of offspring, so you're naturally going to hear about more cases from those lines.

[Jerilyn]

It's not just greyhounds that are affected. A friend of mine lost all three of her Rottweilers to osteo when they were about 9-10 years old.

[Hubcitypam]

Shelly Lake DVM was doing a huge study on osto in greys - not sure if it is done as of yet. Six here - one osteo. Mine have all gone with non grey specific things like GME, lymphoma and AIHA.

[TwiggysMom]

One of the details that none of the stats I've seen look at is a breakdown of the age at which osteosarcoma (OSA) develops. All dogs are going to die of something, so I think it makes a difference to know what percentage get it in their middle-aged years vs their senior years. There has been no proof that any specific bloodlines carry more risk of OSA. Some of the sires that have been named are ones that have a huge number of offspring, so you're naturally going to hear about more cases from those lines.

 

Yes

 

& Fast-growing, tall dogs are all highly prone to Osteo. Greyhounds, by all statistics I've seen, are far from the top breeds in terms of developing osteo. Among those are Great Danes, Goldens, Rotties, Burmese Mtn Dogs, and Pitties. (Pitties are more from personal experience than from published statistics).

 

Twiggy, my only greyhound (aside from my fosters), got osteo at 6 years old. She is now 12, & just hit her 5 year, 5 month "ampuversary". Her age and tireless enthusiasm is catching up to her, but she has absolutely & completely kicked Osteo to the curb.

[seeh2o]

 

Yes

 

& Fast-growing, tall dogs are all highly prone to Osteo. Greyhounds, by all statistics I've seen, are far from the top breeds in terms of developing osteo. Among those are Great Danes, Goldens, Rotties, Burmese Mtn Dogs, and Pitties. (Pitties are more from personal experience than from published statistics).

 

Twiggy, my only greyhound (aside from my fosters), got osteo at 6 years old. She is now 12, & just hit her 5 year, 5 month "ampuversary". Her age and tireless enthusiasm is catching up to her, but she has absolutely & completely kicked Osteo to the curb.

5 years 5 months, that is beautiful! Bowie is 12 days post amp. Hoping to replicate Twiggy's good health!

[gryhndsr4us]

Out of 6 greyhounds here. Two were lost to osteo, one to cancer in her spine and one at almost 14 went in her sleep. Two are still with us.

[KF_in_Georgia]

I think the general estimate is that about half of all dogs (not just greyhounds) will get cancer. Some of those dogs will have cancers that can be successfully treated. But about half of the greyhound cancer patients will have osteo. Some of them will have successful amputations and chemo, but the cancer usually will come back. But if half the dogs get cancer, and half the cancers are osteo, that's 1-in-4 or 25% facing osteo.

 

In the old days, dogs didn't live as long as they do now (better nutrition, better health care today). Longer lives mean there's a longer time for cancer to strike. Osteo is considered an ailment of middle-aged (7+) to old dogs, although sometimes we lose young dogs to osteo. But if you look up osteosarcoma in dogs, you'll see it's not a peculiarly greyhound affliction; it's common to large breed dogs. The National Canine Cancer Foundation says, "Larger breeds have a high propensity for the disease. Dogs like Great Dane, Irish setter, Doberman pinscher, Rottweiler, German Shepherd and Golden Retriever are at greater risk of contracting osteosarcoma because of their size and weight."

 

I've lost three dogs at the age of 8: one osteo, one immune mediated thrombocytopenia (an immune-system disorder), and one to a blood clot in surgery (although she might have had osteo that didn't show in the x-ray; she was in surgery for a broken leg). I lost one 11-year-old to hemangiosarcoma (a different cancer), and I lost one 13-year-old to old-age issues, including kidney trouble. These days, I try to adopt older dogs. I'm getting too old for crazy youngsters, and I dread growing too frail or sick to care for a dog that will then have to be rehomed. My baby is 4 years old, and if I'm lucky enough to have him into his teens, I'll be into my 70s.

 

Losing them hurts, but having them heals. It balances out.

[Annette]

We have had 7 greyhounds in total. Our first was hit by a car (4 yo). Our second survived 11 months post hemangiosarcoma tumor rupture on his spleen (11 years old). Our third was 12 1/2 yo when she was electrocuted. Our 4th was 14 years and his body wore out. Our 5th had laryngeal paralysis and we had her put to sleep when she had a very bad breathing episode which she wouldn't be able to recover from (12 yo). We lost Pogo in July to osteo. He was 8. Our third (Scarlett) also had cancer - mesenchymal spindle cell sarcoma but all signs were that she beat that cancer.

[JenniferS]

1 out of 5 for me.

[Sundrop]

We've had 6, and lost 4 of them. Only 1 (@ 8 years old) was to osteo - two were different cancers (@ 13.5 and 10 years old) and the other was to a heart attack while sleeping (just shy of his 9th birthday).

Edited February 22, 2017 by Sundrop

[TheFullHouse]

One out of 16 for us.

[MP_the4pack]

We have had 7 greyhounds in total. Our first was hit by a car (4 yo). Our second survived 11 months post hemangiosarcoma tumor rupture on his spleen (11 years old). Our third was 12 1/2 yo when she was electrocuted. Our 4th was 14 years and his body wore out. Our 5th had laryngeal paralysis and we had her put to sleep when she had a very bad breathing episode which she wouldn't be able to recover from (12 yo). We lost Pogo in July to osteo. He was 8. Our third (Scarlett) also had cancer - mesenchymal spindle cell sarcoma but all signs were that she beat that cancer.

 

Off topic, I still remember that Dewey where you lost Scarlett. That was so horrible.

[carronstar]

One of the details that none of the stats I've seen look at is a breakdown of the age at which osteosarcoma (OSA) develops. All dogs are going to die of something, so I think it makes a difference to know what percentage get it in their middle-aged years vs their senior years. There has been no proof that any specific bloodlines carry more risk of OSA. Some of the sires that have been named are ones that have a huge number of offspring, so you're naturally going to hear about more cases from those lines.

 

This. My NYC vet told me when I lost my first girl to osteo at a very advanced age, that "at this age we lose as many to arthritis". I didn't want to hear it at that point but it is a fact, they will get arthritis as they age, they may get osteo. The important thing is that they GET to an old age... at that point, we are going to lose them to something, so we should not take away our opportunity to love them.

[Guest GoingGrey]

I thought racing greys were almost at the top as far as osteo breeds go. I know they've been doing the genetic studies to determine if certain bloodlines are more prone and did narrow it down somewhat... What's interesting is how much higher the incidence is in racing greys opposed to AKC greys. I think the racing greys are so inbred that it would be hard to really pinpoint genes, but what do i know.

 

I lost Elvis to osteo last October. He was a couple months short of birthday number 12, so I can't really complain. But after much reading of other osteo stories and much talk with his vet (who was a senior track vet in Wisconsin for 14 years and saved his life from a different issue 6 mos earlier), I frustratedly asked, 'Do ANY of them just die of old age??" Her answer? "Nope."

It's almost always osteo at the end if something else hasn't happened first. Wow. So it's SO common that it IS what causes them to die of old age, in a manner of speaking...

 

If that's true, it makes me wonder if/how long their lifespan would increase with bone cancer not in the mix...

[queenwinniesmom]

Of 9 Greyhounds, 2 had osteo. But Lacey was an AKC Greyhound who was an abuse case, and she was about 13. Winnie had her leg amputated at age 8, and we lost her 3 1/2 years later when she was in kidney failure. She kicked osteo's butt too!

[JJNg]

AKC greyhounds are a whole lot more inbred than racing greyhounds. They have their own problems, some of which are worse than osteosarcoma. Look up greyhound neuropathy. And from Nancy's post above, it looks like AKC greyhounds aren't immune to OSA. There are no genetic studies I'm aware of that have confirmed certain bloodlines being more prone to OSA.

 

Very few dogs just die of "old age". As a vet, most of my patients are euthanized due to things like cancer, kidney disease, debilitating arthritis, heart disease, etc. In the past week, I've had 2 young, healthy patients just drop dead at home in their yard without any warning. One was a 10-month-old lab, and the other a 4-year-old greyhound. You just never know, and there are no guarantees in life.