Galgo News

hypothyroidysm in sighthounds

Hypothyroidism, an underactive thyroid condition, is a relatively common endocrine disorder in dogs. It is less common in other species. Hypothyroidism causes the bodily functions to slow down. Clinical signs of the disorder include lethargy, weight gain, and haircoat and skin changes.

Dr Jean Dodd of Hemopet says too many greyhounds are misdiagnosed with thyroid conditions because they normally run low in thyroid. Read more about it in this link.

Thyroid – From my experience, too many greyhounds are misdiagnosed with thyroid conditions. A greyhound normally runs low in thyroid, so the single thyroid test will NOT tell if a greyhound has a low thyroid. A full thyroid panel must be run – all four tests. Dr. Jean Dodd of Hemopet is an expert on thryoid blood panels, and will consult on all greyhound cases if asked. Do NOT put your hound on thyroid medications, without all four tests being performed.

More on the subject.

Coping with hearing loss in dogs

My little Podenca Andaluz Bebe is now 17 going on 18 and age is starting to catch up with her. She's already very grey in her face, on her legs and behind her ears. Cataracts are developing in her eyes and her hearing - in her gorgeous pointy ears - is failing.

Here's an interesting article on coping with hearing loss in dogs.

Sago Palm - poisonous to dogs

From a Veterinary Clinic.

'Please help us spread the word about this. We are seeing more and more Sago Palm's for sale as house plants. We were very disappointed to see that the Sago Palm plants in some stores still have no warning label. These plants are very toxic to pets. It takes a very small dose to cause liver failure. Many dogs don't survive, even with treatment. We took the picture on the left at Home Depot (warning tag). Walmart in the US are also selling them and none of the Sago's at Walmart had warning tags. These have also been seen at Target and Ikea.

Familiarize yourself with its distinctive appearance, because often they are just called "palm plants" (technically they are not palms, but cycads) or not labeled at all.

Edited to ad: The seeds are the most toxic part of the plant, but these small versions usually are not big enough to produce seeds. However, the entire plant is toxic, so please be careful.'

Acorns are poisonous to dogs

Acorns are poisonous...often meadows are surrounded by acorns and if horses eat enough, they suffer. I didn't know that some dogs might also eat acorns until I read this article.

Greyhounds In Need Autumn/Winter newsletter

Click on this link to read all their news about GIN work with galgos and rehomings.

Recognising heatstroke in dogs

Hypothyroidism in dogs

Recently our galgo Bracken has been off his breakfast, losing hair on his tail and feeling the cold weather more. So a trip to the vet was booked. After an examination and a blood test, he was discovered to have a low thyroid problem. He's now on medication, Forthyron, probably for life. He's 11. Read about hypoththyroidism on this weblink.

Tribute to animal rescuers

To Love a Rescuer:

To love a rescuer you must love all of her. You must love the scars covering her body from panicked and hurt animals she was trying to help. You must love her fractured heart, that has been broken so many times she no longer even takes the time to mend the pieces.

To love a rescuer, you must embrace her grit and determination, and know that although she fights a war she can never win, she can and does win a few battles. You must love the tears she will shed over those she lost. You must give her comfort that she refuses to accept, as she blames herself for things she could have never foreseen.

To love a rescuer you must acknowledge the rage she feels towards the world at times, and know that anger is driven by a love of life too few have. You must give her space and room to cry and mourn for the losses that others have caused out of carelessness or cruelty.

Whole Dog Journal - things to consider on fostering a dog

In the 13 years I've been involved in the plight of the Spanish galgos and podencos, I've fostered several dogs which I've brought back with L'Europe des Levriers from Spain for rehoming. Only 3 of them didn't go on to forever homes elsewhere. Podenca Bebe, galga Carmela and galgo Bracken remained with us. Why? Well, Bebe was my nickname at school and she was rescued by a wonderful young Spanish girl called Marisa - which is my daughter's name. So you see, I couldn't let her go! Carmela came as a foster with serious behaviour problems and by the time over 2 years had passed and she had become what I would term a 'normal' dog, I could not break her trust by homing her elsewhere. And Bracken? He was already reserved by a couple in the UK and we took him and handed him over ourselves. Sadly a few months later due to unforeseen very serious health problems with the couple, their hounds had to be rehomed. As soon as my husband knew, he hopped in the car and drove back to the UK to bring Bracken home!

Fostering a dog is very rewarding and it helps the shelters insofar as when one dog is fostered, it leaves room for another needy dog to be rescued. Unfortunately at the moment, our household is not suitable for fostering. Bracken and Polar would not tolerate another male dog introduced and Bebe is such a dominant bitch she would not tolerate another female.

So here are some other points to consider about fostering.

Read the full article on this weblink.

Dental care for your Galgo's teeth

All my galgos have luckily arrived with fairly good teeth but my little podenca Bebe was about 5 when she was rescued injured from a Seville road, very thin and petrified. Her teeth were already in a poor state. In the 12 years she has been with me, she has had her 4 front teeth removed because they were bad, and also a couple of back teeth. Despite being given chews regularly.

The Blue Cross charity has the following advice on dental care for canines. Click on this link.