Health advice for retired greyhounds – by Dr John Kohnke

Over the past few years, about 10% of the letters received to the popular ‘Ask the Vet’ section in the Star, seek answers to problems related to retired greyhounds, which many people adapt as a family dog or pet.
There are a number of excellent books available on the care of the ex-racer, with advice on feeding, exercise needs and general management.
Most of the inquiries relate to arthritic problems as the greyhound ages, as well as toe and muscle injuries as a legacy from racing.

Reasons for Retirement
There are a number of reasons for a greyhound being retired from racing.
The most common is muscle, toe or wrist or other injury,which results in lameness and break down in more severe cases.
Injuries can be sustained by collisions and race falls, over exertion with muscle sprains, especially when racing poorly maintained track surfaces.
The second common cause is lack of ability or speed in an individual greyhound and loss of competitiveness relative to age.
After 31⁄2 years of age, many greyhounds become less competitive in races, and although there are races suited to older greyhounds, the combination of age, and in many cases, chronic underlying injury, often forces retirement.
Other less common reasons include severe muscle wastage due to stress-induced acidosis or hyperthermia, ‘racing thirst’ and chronic ‘cramping’.
Many of these greyhounds are retired to a life of ongoing physical disability and recurring medical problems.
Behavioral problems which can force retirement include failure to chase, nervousness and a non-competitive nature in the occasional young greyhound.
The majority of these greyhounds are reasonably healthy and sound in all respects, retiring to make faithful, loving pets for the family.
Although liver and kidney problems are often touted as a reason for retirement, these are not common in greyhounds less than 5-7 years of age and are more likely to develop in old age in retirement due to sickness or other aged-related diseases.

Muscle Injuries
Chronic muscle injury in the shoulders, hip support and gracilis muscles are usually a result of ‘wear and tear’ during racing or recurring injury due to an earlier muscle tear which does not heal successfully.
In most cases, walking and an occasional slip gallop as a retired greyhound, will not aggravate an underlying injury of this type, unless the animal is used for sporting or is allowed to run freely in a pack with other greyhounds or dogs as a form of exercise.
In some greyhounds, loss of muscle development (atrophy) at the site of the muscle injury, is noticeable, and in this case, massage with a warming liniment as required,will help improve comfort and mobility.
In a retired greyhound with multiple muscle, joint or bone injury as a legacy from racing, then the purchase of a magnetic field cage, such as a Portamag, is a good investment to reduce discomfort from general muscle, joint and bone injuries so as to improveoverall comfort and well-being.
There are recommended settings for a variety of injuries and when considered in comparison with all of the physiotherapy machines available, pulsed magnetic field therapy (PMFT) is safe and effective to help keep a greyhound, or any other aging dog for that matter, more comfortable and mobile.
The cage form of PMFT allows the animal to be given therapy as it rests, saving time and allowing the animal to be treated without direct supervision.
PMFT is suitable to warm up muscle and arthritic injuries before walking a greyhound and generally helps to improve circulation and well-being.

Joint Injuries
A common reason for retirement is either wrist or hock injury,with internal bone or ligament damage.
These joints are subjected to high loading stress when galloping and cornering at speed.
Often, in older age, the damaged joint surfaces develop cartilage erosion and degenerative joint disease.
The damaged joints may also begin to show reduced flexion or in more severe cases, pain and discomfort on flexion or lameness when weight bearing.
In cases of mild joint damage without excessive joint swelling or lameness, feeding a daily supplement containing glucosamine and/or MSM, can help provide minor pain control and may assist joint surface repair.
Usually, a loading dose is given for an initial 14-21 days, depending on the response, and then reduced to a maintenance dose for long term daily relief.  Consult your own vet for advice.
At least one brand of the dry feed formulated for aged dogs contains glucosamine and other joint active nutrients to assist joint function in elderly greyhounds.
In cases of more severe joint discomfort, a combination of oral supplementation, combined with controlled doses of coated phenylbutazone tablets or other anti-inflammatory compound for relief of more chronic pain, may be useful, as prescribed by your vet.
In severe cases with more mobility and pain, injections of cortisone drugs into the joint may help reduce arthritic pain.
This is usually regarded as a last resort in most cases, because of the risk of more long term internal joint surface deterioration and calcification resulting from the cortisone injection.
It is probable that if the injury forced retirement, that this type of therapy may have already been used to help ‘patch up’ a joint to allow the greyhound to continue to race.
Magnetic field therapy may be a useful adjunct to manage soreness, swelling and discomfort from joint conditions.

Skin Conditions
Some retired greyhounds develop seborrhea-like skin conditions with greasy, inflamed skin under the belly and around the head and ears.
Skin scraping for demodectic mange should be carried out by your vet, because as a greyhound ages, natural suppressive immunity wanes and the parasites become more active.
Other common skin conditions can be caused by allergies to diet or environmental allergens.
In most cases, if they persist and cause discomfort with scratching, then examination and treatment by your vet is recommended.
In cases where the skin is oily and inflamed, check the bedding for allergy by removing it and replacing it with a low-allergy dog bed covering.
In most cases, this type of skin allergy will subside in 7-10 days if the bedding is changed.
If a greyhound is allowed to roll or rest on a lawn or grassy area in a yard, a short–coated animal with a bare underbelly, such as a greyhound,may be sensitized to compounds in the grass, especially the newly cut surface of a lawn after mowing.
Restricting access to the grass for a few days and administering anti-inflammatory medications, as prescribed by your vet, may help resolve this form of contact allergy or skin hypersensitivity.
In really allergic reactions, simply covering the area affected area with a thin layer of kitchen film to help avoid excess moisture and risk of infection, and applying ice or a frozen wet towel over the allergic skin to help keep it as dry as possible, can help to settle it down until a definite diagnosis can be obtained from your vet.
The most common dietary related allergy is red meat allergy, most commonly to beef, which affects mainly greyhounds and German Shepherds.
Sensitive animals can develop a low grade skin allergy with soft wheals or whelts over the belly, chest and neck, but in most cases, they also suffer from mild-unrelenting diarrhoea until the red meat is withdrawn from the diet.
Often this form of allergy is established during a greyhound’s racing career and fresh red meat is avoided, with the diet being based on dry food and chicken or fish if available.
I often recommend a diet based on 500grams of boiled mutton flaps for economy and 300grams of boiled rice for 10 days, as these feeds are considered low allergenic.
This can help reduce diarrhoea in sensitive greyhounds and also some allergic skin reactions. It is important to remove any bones from the boiled mutton flaps, as boiling makes the thin rib bones brittle and they are likely to shatter when chewed, risking damage to the mouth and gut.
Very dry skin conditions can often be rectified by feeding a supplement of mixed Omega-3 and Omega-6 oils, usually 1-20 ml per day in the feed, or in severe cases, capsules of Evening Primrose Oil with trace-minerals, which I have found to be very effective in managing skin allergies and flakey, dry skin.