Hair loss and back pain | The Health of the racing Greyhound

Brenda
Guest

Hair loss and back pain Apr 7, 2015 14:22:20 GMT 10

Post by Brenda on Apr 7, 2015 14:22:20 GMT 10

Hello Tom

I have adopted a 4 year old ex-racer and have had her for six months now. She has been showing a couple of issues of late.

She been losing quite a bit of hair, especially on her belly and sides of her thighs. Wasn't sure if it was due to the hot weather, but that's over now for the most part. I feed her kibble and some tinned wet food (high quality, no rubbish ingredients...but sometimes wonder how healthy even high quality kibble or tinned food is) and a little olive oil, but I wonder if she is stressed by something or if her diet isn't quite right, hence the hair loss. She is alone at home in the day and sleeps well generally during the day. I've got an Adaptil dispenser in case she's freaking out during the day over noise lately (she tends not to like windy days) and the stress is too much. She has peed in the house at night a few times recently, despite being let out a lot in the evening and just before bed. I took her to the vet recently and she has a good concentration of urine so seems like the kidneys are okay and there was no bacteria in the urine when the tested in-house.

The second issue is back pain. She tends to get walked on the lead, runs around my paved back yard to catch her toys and sometimes spins when she's exited on the paving. Since last night she hasn't wanted to lie down, has had trouble jumping up on the couch or bed (not usually allowed on the bed, but she seems to want to be near me for comfort but can't get up there) and at around 1am her heart was racing, she was panting and pacing so I took her to the vet who thinks she might have back problems (she yelped when pressed near her hips). She's on Tramadol, but she seems to be exhibiting anxiety at the same time as pain (the cat-obsession has ramped up...yesterday evening and today she just wants to look out the back gate and front window the whole time...might be distracting herself from the pain...who knows). Anyhow, not entirely sure if she might have muscle spasm or arthritis, so just resting her on the vet's advice, to see if it dies down. The vet also thinks the back pain may be causing her to hold off on peeing until the 11th hour, hence the accidents.

Is there any kind of diet you can recommend that might help support her in regards to the hair loss and possible arthritis, or at least to prevent any arthritis or muscle spasms? I'm imagining a pinch of iodine (as long as it isn't in her dry kibble) and some chondroitin, from reading other posts. Just wondering if there's something I can also be adding to her general diet like salmon or something, that might help too.

She raced for 2 years and had I think it was 52 or so starts. She's a lovely girl and so is a typical greyhound.

Thank you!

Brenda

Tom Meulman
Administrator

Posts: 1,182

Hair loss and back pain Apr 7, 2015 17:10:22 GMT 10

Post by Tom Meulman on Apr 7, 2015 17:10:22 GMT 10

Hi Brenda,

There certainly seems to be a few problems with your girl. While I can take a guess at some causes without being able to examine her it is difficult.

Firstly when you mention kibble I would have to assume that this is not the old fashion style of crushed biscuits, and most likely a dry food that is formulated to provide a complete meal for the dog on its own. The moment you mix meat with that type of kibble, especially tinned food, the protein levels of the diet become way too high

High protein diets are not good for greyhounds, particularly older greyhounds as this places kidney under severe stress, and kidney problems will cause a lot of pain around the coupling and kidney area.
I realise that the Vet has tested the urine and has declared good kidney function, but that does not mean that the kidneys are not under stress.

In regard to the diet you have two choices; one is to replace the kibble with cooked rice, the other is to do away with the meat and just feed a quality complete meal.

It certainly seems that the girl is not happy, and pain around the kidneys will aggravate that and also aggravate hair loss. There again looking at her routine you may be able to do something extra with her, other than racing as it would appear by her actions such as looking for things to chase she misses that.

I'm sorry but other than changing the diet there is not a lot I can suggest, adding a firmly cooked egg to her food twice weekly with provide the amino acids needed to make Her feel a little more relaxed.

Cheers,
Tom

Last Edit: Apr 7, 2015 17:12:02 GMT 10 by Tom Meulman

Everything that happens to a greyhound can only happen because of an action or inaction by its carer, so don’t blame the greyhound when it all goes wrong.

Brenda
Guest

Hair loss and back pain Apr 8, 2015 14:25:54 GMT 10

Post by Brenda on Apr 8, 2015 14:25:54 GMT 10

Hi Tom

I'm grateful for that advice. I was feeding her soft food with her kibble as she rarely eats kibble on its own, I think she finds it too boring, no matter what the brand and flavour. But now I know it's stressing her kidneys to mix the two, I'll try chicken and rice and some egg twice weekly. And yes I do get the sense she misses chasing. She furiously runs at other dogs at the dog park, growling and barking, trying to make them run away so she can chase them. Doesn't go down too well with most dogs, who seem to find her terrifying so I've stopped taking her. I'll have to think of some creative way to keep that part of her nature satisfied! Might have to start running with her myself as I have done at times when there's no other dogs in the park. She loves that and I could probably do with more exercise!

Thank you Tom.