Testoprop

Hi Andross,

Firstly I’m going to have to disappoint you by telling you that Testoprop is in fact an illegal drug to have in a greyhound male or female if engaged in a race.

The only reason that some trainers have been using this form of male hormone injection and have not been getting a positive swab to date is because this substance is extremely short acting.

The safest dose to use to keep bitches off season is 1/4 of one ml fortnightly of the 50 mg per ml strength, and then timing the intramuscular injection a minimum of five (5) clear days prior to racing.

The same dose could be used on a male greyhound, however other than slightly increasing muscle bulk it would have very little effect if any on the race performance of the greyhound.

As with any S4 drug the injection would have to be dispensed by a registered Veterinarian.

Cheers,
Tom

Hi Frog,

As always whether or not a drug such as this used on a regular basis is going to cause harm in the long term is impossible to predict as it depends not only on the dose rate, but also on the individual greyhound.

All I can say is that most bitches if they are allowed a normal first season, seem to breed on OK without any apparent harm when absolute minimum dosages were used to keep them off season

Cheers,
Tom.

Hi Chris,

I'm sorry mate but that is a very disappointing thing to happen just when she is in good form.

The problem is no matter how you look at it the drug in Testoprop is an illegal drug to have in a greyhounds system when it's presented for racing, and as such the dosages recommended to be used are the lowest possible to keep most bitches off season and still have a good chance of not getting a positive swab.

Unfortunately this time of the year with the increased sunshine triggering a bitches breeding cycle some bitches do break through, and it is a downer for you that it happened to be the one that you are training.

The only drug that greyhound racing authorities in Australia allow to be used to keep bitches off season so that they can have a racing career, has the unwanted side effect with many bitches becoming poor chasers, so few trainers are prepared to risk that with the girls they have in training.

One of those catch 22 situations.

Cheers,
Tom

Hi Oso,

How are you going to judge whether or not you are likely to go over that threshold when doses are accumulative to some extent, and speed of drug elimination from the body depends upon kidney function?

All that is too difficult to juge as it also depends upon natural existing levels of testosterone in each individual greyhound.

Thresholds are set to take into consideration the maximum likely natural level of testosterone in the body, so that natural excretion of testosterone does not accidentally cause a positive swab. It has not been calculated so that trainers can get away with using this drug without having to worry that it is going to cause a positive swab.

While I'm not aware that the technology is being used in the testing of swabs taken from greyhounds, it is however possible to tell the difference between the natural occurring testosterone metabolites in the urine from the metabolites that result from a manufactured testosterone. However due to the cost involved it is very unlikely that this would be done outside of the Olympic Games.

Cheers,
Tom

Hi Sean,

Unfortunately even in circumstances such as you find yourself in there is no provision in the Rules to allow the use of this substance.

However having said that, there is a maximum allowable quantity of Testosterone in the urine before it is declared a positive swab, and this is based on the highest likely quantity of natural occurring Testosterone.
This does then give you some opportunity of using a Testosterone supplement to replace what is not being produced naturally. But please talk to you Vet about both the type of Testosterone best used for this purpose and most importantly the quantity to be used.
There may even be some type of Testosterone slow release under the skin implant that could be used for this, and thereby saving you the trouble of weekly or even daily dosing.

Cheers,
Tom