Pemphigus?

[ahicks51]

Ginger's lost two nails in the past couple of weeks. About a month ago, there was some foot pain- and the vet caught an air bubble in one of the nails; antibiotics cleared that up, and that nail remains intact. Also, from the "before times" (must've been more'n 6-7 years ago, before we got her), there's a missing nail that- oddly- in the past couple of months has started to regrow.

So, I sent these pics off to the vet, and although she has a greyhound and some experience with the breed, I'd be interested in what anyone here has to say- do these pics reflect SLO/pemphigus, or not?

If it *is* pemphigus, it looks pretty early to me, but a couple of those nails in the second and third image I'm not sure if the nail is separating from the quick or if it's just... normal.

Like I mentioned, the vet got sent the images this evening, but if anyone has any thoughts either way, I'm appreciative of your insights.

[EllenEveBaz]

My Scout had SLO-pemphigus, which before I got him at age 9 was misdiagnosed and treated variously as a fungal and/or bacterial infection, with obviously no improvement.  He was losing 1-2 nails a month, although they grew back quickly.  The nails that grew back were all gnarly and had a relatively soft, chalky consistency.  That misshapen appearance and the loss of memory after 15+ years make it hard for me to compare Scout's nails with the pictures of Ginger's.  The 1st nail in the 1st pic comes closest.  I remember the experience more than the visuals.  The whole process was very speedy.  He would completely shed a nail just a few days after showing symptoms of soreness.  All that was left was a candlewick-shape of a dark pink quick.  The replacement nail was formed super quickly.

After some months of treatment following the protocol of the day, Scout went from losing 1-2 nails a month to 1-2 a year.  

[ahicks51]

Thanks, Ellen; I appreciate the reply. The older advice on the web comes from Dr. Stack, over in Yuma (AZ), who used to be the track vet at Tucson and has extensive experience with greyhounds. She recommends prednisone + an OTC antihistamine whose name eludes me, along with niacinamide + omega 3 oils. She notes that antibiotics (doxycycline or tetracycline) don't work as well. That seems to have been from around 1999. The current advice as per the literature is doxy + niacinamide, which- again- Dr. Stack suggests doesn't work as well.

Our vet has prescribed doxy, and as gauged by the 500 capsules (!), it's long-term. The Stack protocol is shorter, and weans the dog off pred ASAP, then maintenance is supplements.

So I'm at loggerheads, trying to figure out if maybe my vet could be swayed by the Stack protocol. Any idea what your hound was on? Pred vs. ABX?

[macoduck]

Aaron, if you're on Facebook, there's this page:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/GreyhoundswithSLO/discussion/preview

 

 

[EllenEveBaz]

Scout was on antibiotics.  I remember this because I was a poor graduate student at the time and was buying some version of tetracycline at an aquarium supply store, where it could be got without a prescription and cheaply.  (Except you had to buy so much of it for a large dog that it probably was about the same cost.)  Check on the omega 3 and niacinamide, which I always had to be careful not to mistake for niacin.  Plus many more supplements, lost in the mists of time.  Scout was with me 2004-2008.  He was long-term on some of the supplements, but at least I wasn't buying out the fish store.  

Because they grew so quickly, his nails had to be trimmed often, which completely freaked out Scout.  He was bomb-proof in all other respects, but turned into a quivering tornado at nail trim time.  He didn't seem to react in pain to the actual cut (and, again, the nail consistency was relatively soft so it was an easy pressure), but maybe it had been so painful in the past that he remained afraid.   I discovered by accident that he was intimidated by being in the bathtub so I would lift up my poor, stalwart guy and put him in the tub at nail time, where he just trembled in fear.    

[1Moregrey]

My greyhound who passed in 2020 had SLO she was on prednisone as a taper then sniptips and niacinamide.   The trick for her was starting the prednisone at first hint of SLO.  Once we figured out the pattern to her SLO it was easy to keep her well managed and she keep her nails longer. I do not remember her nails falling out after treatment was well under way just the brittle chalky nails for the last few years.  We treated her for about 5 years.