Shadowridge Veterinary Hospital & Creature Comforts Pet Hotel

Greyhounds have their own special personalities and their own set of special medical problems.   

I have personally adopted and raised Greyhounds since 1994.  My Husband started my interest in them because his family had had greyhounds for over 20 years at the time.  In fact, his mother's greyhound lived to be almost 18 years old before I finally had to put her to sleep due to old age and her legs giving out on her.  We usually have two to three greyhounds pushing us off our bed or running laps around our two acres.  

What I discovered while attending UC Davis Veterinary School in the early 1990's is that not many people know that much about Greyhound medicine.  Our first greyhound was adopted as a young adult but would become agressive at times and painful.  One day, he  chased a rabbit in a field for about 5 minutes.  Later that day, he was urinating a brown liquid that looked like dark sun tea.   None of the specialists at the Vet School knew what was going on.  I did research and finally discovered that Greyhounds get a disease called Exertional Rhabdomyolysis, similar to tying up in horses.  It can cause them to go into renal or kidney failure if not treated properly.  

I was referred to one vet at Davis who knew something about Greyhounds-  she was from Australia.  In Australia, Greyhounds race but they are more popular as a sporting dog and companion dog so they do not have the racing industry problems.   They see lots of sports injuries and more than their share of medical problems in the greyhounds they treat at the practices down under.   This veterinarian had done an internship at a large specialty practice in Australia and had a little "grey" book on greyhound diseases and treatments.  She was nice enough to share this information with me.  The Little Grey Book on greyhound medicine had a lot of interesting and unique things that they don't teach you in vet school.  

Over the last 16 years, I have passed some of this information onto the vets I have hired and mentored.

I am using this page to share with you some of the information on some things you need to know about greyhound medicine:

Anesthesia - of course everyone knows about the greyhounds sensitivity to certain anesthesia drugs.  When greyhounds are placed under general anesthesia, the best induction agents are either a short acting barbituate like propofol or a valium/ketamine combination.   Most modern vets do not use the older types of medications that caused problems but some old school vets still have not caught up with the times.  

Hyperthermia - some greyhounds get anxious or excited when going to the vet or other activities.   If the greyhound is shaking or nervous, check their temperature.  If it is >103F, then a premedication with a medication like Acepromazine to lower stress and sedate them is indicated.  Nervous greyhounds should stay with their parents until the injection is given and then transferred to the treatment room for the procedure to begin.   For routine office calls, other tranquilizers that are given orally are often helpful when indicated. 

Exertional Rhabdomyolsis of Greyhounds:  (= "exercise induced muscle breakdown") This condition can happen at anytime to any greyhound after moderate to severe exercise.  In this condition, the muscle cells start to breakdown after exercise, causing release of a muscle protein called Myoglobin.   Myogobin circulates into the bloostream and clogs up the kidneys as it goes through them.  The urine will turn a dark orange or brown color when myoglobin is present.   The urine dipsticks that test for blood in the urine will test positive for this protein because myoglobin is closely related to hemoglobin, the protein found in blood.   Mild cases may pass without notice or only some muscle pain.   Moderate to severe cases will show more muscle pain and can lead to damage to the kidneys if not treated quickly.   The treatment consists of putting the greyhound on IV Fluids to flush out the myoglobin from the bloodstream and keep the tiny tubes in the kidneys open.   There is no prevention for this condition other than to try to prevent your greyhound from overly exerting itself when running.</p> <p>Blood Tests: Greyhounds have several atypical findings on their blood tests that are actually normal for the breed but would be abnormal for other breeds.  On the CBC, they should have a high hematocrit, which is what makes them good blood donors too.   They usually have low platelet counts which can also be normal and not a sign of thrombocytopenia.   They have a different shaped eosinophil, or type of white blood cell, that can throw off some automated differential counts.</p> <p>On the chemistry tests- it is expected that they run a higher creatinine than other dogs.  It is common for them to run a creatinine in the 2.5 - 2.9 range and it does not mean they kidney disease.  This is probably the biggest mistake that vets make when interpreting their blood tests and I have had to explain it to many a new vet.   The reason behind this has to do with the higher muscle mass to body weight ratio that greyhounds have compared to other dogs so it throws this value off. Finally, a greyhound's thyroid level will be lower than other dogs and they are normal.   The thyroid level will also be low when they first come off the track and into an adoption facility.   The stress and poor nutrition along with concurrent illnesses will artifically lower the thyroid test.  So any dog that tests low when they are first adopted should be retested in a few months if not showing convincing signs of hypothyroidism.   I have been able to taper many greyhounds off thyroid medicine that were incorrectly prescribed it when they first came home. </p> <p>Fractures and Dislocations-  Greyhounds have great tight hips which make them great runners.  But they are prone to various sports injuries- fractures of certian bones in the ankle or wrist as well as dislocations of their toes.  Since most of these happen on the track and not in homes, we will not bore you with the details now. </p> <p>Von Willebrands Disease-  Many greyhounds are carriers for the VWD defect.  This condition causes affected individuals to have a problem forming proper clots when injured or cut, or post surgery.   The condition is characterized by a defect in the VW factor that is responsible for helping the blood to clot.   If cut, an affected dog will stop bleeding in the first five minutes due to the action of the platelets in the blood.   But after a short amount of time and up to one day later, the cut or injury will start to slowly ooze or bleed again.  </p> <p>Dogs that have this disorder will also tend to bruise after a blood draw - they are seemingly fine at the vet but will develop a large bruise by the next day as the vessel starts to ooze overnight.   A test is available and is a good idea for any greyhound undergoing elective major surgery where previous bleeding history is unknown. </p> <p>Dental Disease - Okay this one was not covered in the original Little Grey Book.  But it is such an important part of greyhound care that I thought I would mention it.  Most greyhounds that come off the track have been fed a type of gruel food.  So they do not chew their food and no one ever brushes them.  They will have advanced gum recession and periodontal disease at a young age.  If the area inbetween the roots of their teeth is exposed, especially to where you can put a probe into it, then the tooth should be removed.  </p> <p>It is difficult to try to save a tooth that has an open 'Furcation".  It can be done, with daily brusing and a water pick, but usually the grey will be much happier without the chronic low grade infecton and pain.</p> <p>Fractured teeth do not have to be removed.  Dental sealants and bonding agents as well as root canal therapy can be done to save the teeth.  I prefer to do a root canal on broken upper carnassial teeth and canine teeth because it takes the same amount of time to do the root canal than to remove the tooth and it is less painful.  Unfortunately not all vets do root canal therapy so you need to find a veterinary dentist in your area.   I was fortunate enough to be trained in root canal therapy while in Veterinary School at UC Davis.</p>"</p>"</p>"