WELCOME TO MILLERS BLOODHOUNDS

Clearly, prevention of GDV is preferable to treatment. In susceptible breeds, feed two or three meals daily and discourage rapid eating. Do not allow exercise for two hours after a meal. As previously mentioned, some owners feel that certain bloodlines are at greater risk and choose to have gastroplexy performed as a prophylactic measure.

While the genetics of GDV are not completely worked out, most breeders and veterinarians feel there is some degree of heritability. Therefore, while prophylactic gastroplexy will probably help an individual dog, it makes sense not to breed dogs who are affected or who are close relatives of those suffering from GDV.

Kathleen R. Hutton, DVM

A typical scenario starts with a large, deep-chested dog, usually fed once daily. Typical breeds affected are Akita, Great Dane, German Shepherd, St. Bernard, Irish Wolfhound, and Irish Setter. Sighthounds, Doberman Pinschers, Weimaraners, Bloodhounds, other similar breeds, and large, deep-chested mixed breeds are also affected.

Factor in the habit of bolting food, gulping air, or drinking large amounts of water immediately after eating to this feeding schedule and body type. Then add vigorous exercise after a full meal, and you have the recipe for bloat.

Of course, the fact that not all bloats happen in just the same way and the thought that some bloodlines are more at risk than others further complicates the issue.

Simple gastric distention can occur in any breed or age of dog and is common in young puppies who overeat. This is sometimes referred to as pre-bloat by laymen. Belching of gas or vomiting food usually relieves the problem.

If this condition occurs more than once in a predisposed breed, the veterinarian might discuss methods to prevent bloat, such as feeding smaller meals or giving Reglan (metoclopramide) to encourage stomach emptying. Some veterinarians recommend, and some owners request, prophylactic surgery to anchor the stomach in place before the torsion occurs in dogs who have experienced one or more bouts of distention or in dogs whose close relatives have had GDV.

Symptoms can be subtle. You should learn to recognize them:

• Continuous pacing and/or lying down in odd places


• Salivating, panting, whining


• Unable to get comfortable


• Acting agitated


• Unproductive vomiting or retching (may produce frothy foamy vomit in small quantities)


• Excessive drooling, usually accompanied by retching noises


• Swelling in abdominal area (may or may not be noticeable)

If ANY combination of these symptoms are noticed, CALL YOUR VET and get the dog there as fast as possible. Bloat is LIFE-THREATENING.

Whether it's itchy skin, infections or hair loss--any skin problem in bloodhounds can escalate into a major problem in a short time.  Bloodhounds tend to have an oilier coat than many other breeds, and this can lead to more problems.  More common skin problems in bloodhounds include skin infections (yeast or bacteria), allergies (flea, food inhalant or contact), hypothyroidism, skin fold infections and seborrhea.  Other skin problems include parasites (mange mite, worm larval infections) and cancer.

If your hound is itching, first check the obvious--fleas or flea dirt (that black pepper stuff).  Even if you don't see fleas, those little bugs can cause major skin problems.  An allergy to fleas (actually to the flea's saliva) can cause hair loss, course, or a change in hair, coat, skin infections and itchiness.  Often the areas affected are more toward the rear or tail, but it can crop up anywhere.  Since allergies are additive (i.e. flea allergy inhalant allergy can result in a skin reaction), often eliminating one of the causative agents may bring the reactive level of your hound's skin to a manageable level, or below the level that causes skin reactions.  Being sure your hound is flea free can often solve more than one problem.  Common sense dictates that you should use a product that prevents the flea from biting your hound (i.e. products that require a flea to bite in order to be exposed to the product won't do the job).

Allergies can also include inhalant allergies (weeds, pollens, grasses, etc.), food allergies or contact allergies.  If your hound gets itchy at certain times of the year, loses hair, develops a different hair coat, licks his paws, etc., it could be due to inhalant allergies (or atop).  In response to allergens (goldenrod, pollens, etc.) we sneeze, whereas your dog will itch, lick or lose hair.

If your hound is chewing or licking the paws, it could be inhalant allergies or it could be a yeast infection.  Bloodhounds get more than their share of ear infections due to their lovely, long, low-set ears.  When your dog scratches his ears, he transfers yeast from the ears to his paws.  Yeast can also cause skin infections on the ear flap, face, neck, chest, or whole body and cause hair loss, mild to severe itchiness, or redness.  Sometimes the skin will feel greasy or have a rancid odor associated with yeast infections.

Yeast skin infections can often be frustrating to treat and require vigilance in shampooing with Selsen Blue or Dermazole on a regular basis.  Skin fold or dewlap areas are frequently affected by yeast or bacterial infections.  Washing these areas regularly with an antibacterial shampoo, chlorhexidene solution, or even Selsen Blue will decrease the yeast and/or bacteria population on the skin.  Follow up by keeping the area dry (or as dry as possible considering the breed), by using a powder such as Gold Bond to protect the skin.

Other causes of hair loss on the face and neck or feet can be food allergies.  Certain components in foods, even as simple as wheat, corn, beef, etc., can cause an allergic reaction in some dogs.  I have one hound that kept losing all the hair on the ends of his ears.  It turned out to be a food allergy as well as a contact allergy.  Once I changed foods, all the hair grew back.

Certain parasites can cause hair loss, itchiness, or redness on the feet and elsewhere: these include Sarcoptic mange, Demondex mange, round, hook, or whip words to name a few.  Skin scrapes can properly identify the causative agent.

Bacterial infections can seem to pop up overnight.  You may only see on spot (often a 'hot spot' or moist bacterial skin infection), or it may occur as a generalized infection complete with red spots or crusts anywhere on the body.  Seborrhea, crusty, or greasy lesions, is often itchy too.  Ear tip seborrhea is a condition that bloodhounds are almost destined to be at risk for.  They drag their ears through everything, and the ears are often persistently wet, as a result a seborrheic condition occurs that results in the thickening or crusting of the tips of the ears.  Often, you may notice little splits occurring in the tips of the ears.  Washing the ear tips with sebulux shampoo or a tar based shampoo on a regular basis will control or cure the problem.  Sometimes softening the crusty tips with baby oil will help.   Ringworm can cause hair loss or just a red spot on the body or may appear as a raised area on the muzzle or nose.  In some areas of the country there are other fungal infections that can cause serious skin problems (i.e. Blasto or Histoplasmosis).

To properly treat any skin problem, it must be properly diagnosed.  Methods of diagnosis include a good physical, skin scrapes, impression smears, aspirates, cultures, or even biopsies.  To diagnose allergies, it is possible to do skin testing or blood testing (RAST) to determine the offending allergen or food component.  A summary table below serves as a guide, but be cautious not to generalize too quickly.  Skin problems are often complex and have more than one cause involved (i.e. allergy with secondary bacterial infection, or hypothyroidism with secondary yeast infection).

Keep your hounds skin healthy they've got lost of it!               ( http://members.fortunecity.com/houndfancy/skin.htm )
 
 

Entropion and ectropion

By Brandon Brooks, DVM
Copyright 1999, Brandon Brooks. Used with permission.

Entropion is a condition of the eyelids wherein they roll in on the eyeball itself, causing irritation and secondary infections, sometimes causing ulcerations of the cornea itself. This is very common in American bulldogs and Shar Peis, among many other breeds, especially ones with loose skin and many facial folds. It requires surgical correction and sometimes multiple surgeries are in order, depending on how young the animal is when entropion is first diagnosed. It can be fairly mild, involving only certain portions of the lids, or it can be very extensive and lead to many other eye problems. An eye-tacking procedure exists that will roll the eyelid out without removing any tissue, but this is only temporary and delays the inevitable corrective surgery that will remove excess tissue and provide a more permanent repair.

Ectropion is the opposite of entropion, and this describes the condition where the eyelid tissue is everted, or rolled out, leading to increased exposure of the eyeball. It can be caused by excess eyelid length, weak eyelid muscles, or over-correction of entropion. It is easily fixed by either resecting a wedge of the eyelid or sewing the lids together at their outer margins of the eye. If not fixed, ectropion can lead to chronic irritation, drying out, and subsequent damage to the cornea.                www.animalforum.com/dbreed/medentrop.htm

KCS is a common problem among bloodhounds, in fact they are 5th on the list of breeds most likely to develop KCS.  What is KCS--it is most commonly known as 'dry eye'.  The problem is that there is insufficient tear production to keep the eye moist and lubricated.  The dogs eyes will appear to have dry corneas as opposed to the normal shiny, wet cornea.  They often have a ropy, white discharge at the corner of the eyes.  As the disease progresses, their cornea become opaque or colored more darkly, this is referred to as corneal pigmentation and neovascularization.  In some cases, they may develop corneal ulcers.  KCS can have many causes, the primary one being that they are a bloodhound and the breed is predisposed to developing KCS, also things such as distemper infection, sulfa drugs, trauma to the eye, and lacrimal glad removal (or 'cherry eye' removal) can also lead to KCS.

In order to determine if your dog has KCS, a simple test called the Schirmer tear test can determine how much tear production your dog has.  If when you look at your dogs eyes, they appear dry, or the corneas are not shiny and clear, or if there is a lot of discharge from the eyes, you should suspect KCS.

If KCS is left untreated, your bloodhound can become clinically blind.  As the opacity and pigmentation of the corneas progress, your dog will not be able to see more than shadows between light and dark.  I know many people joke about the fact that most bloodhounds act as if they were blind, always following their nose and ignoring the tree or parked car in their path, so they need to preserve all of the sight that they do have.

There have been many treatments for KCS, and there is a new treatment that is very exciting.  Traditionally, treatment consists of topical artificial tears or ointments, but this requires application every few hours to be effective. Pilocarpine given orally has also been prescribed, as well as topical antibiotics if there is evidence of infection, or corticosteroids if persistent inflammation is a problem.  A relatively new drug for treatment of KCS is cyclosporine A.  This drug has been used in human medicine for years as an immunosuppressant for cancer treatment.  Cyclosporine A has been found to be effective in treating KCS, although the exact mechanism of how it works is still not clear.  It increases the tear production dramatically with only twice a day or even once a day application.  This drug is currently supplied by a few pharmacies and veterinary medical colleges across the country and will soon be available through a major pharmaceutical company in ointment form.  Since it is a new drug, it is still relatively expensive, but the dramatic results and improvement in the well being and sight of the dogs is well worth it.

Because of their long heavy low-set ears, bloodhounds are susceptible to ear infections.  Most of these can be prevented with proper routine maintenance.  Healthy ears should be cleaned at least once a week.You should read the link below very useful.

For more information, please visit

http://workingdogs.com/doc0079.htm

Elbow Dysplasia may be due to different growth rates of the three bones making up the elbow. In affected dogs, the joint is lax or loose and, in mildly affected dogs, leads to painful arthritis.Severely affected dogs can develop osteochondritis dissecans (OCD), fragmented medial coronoid processes and united anconeal processes resulting from the stress in the joint.

Through selective breeding strategies, veterinarians and breeders are attempting to eliminate Canine Hip Dysplasia. All breeding dogs should be x-rayed and certified clear by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) and/or by the University of Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Program (PennHIP).

The thyroid gland is located on the trachea (wind pipe) of the dog, just below the voice box. It exerts its influence on the dog's body by producing and releasing thyroxin into the blood stream. This hormone, and thus, the thyroid gland itself, is very important in controlling growth and development and maintaining normal protein, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism of the dog.

Hypothyroidism usually occurs between the ages of two to six years. The most common sign is an increase in body weight. Lethargy and some form of skin disease (i.e., thin coat, loss of hair, dandruff, oily skin, increased scratching) are also common signs of Hypothyroidism.

The treatment is through thyroid hormone supplementation given orally once or twice a day. Usually thyroid supplementation improves the clinical signs associated with the disease within four to six weeks. All the clinical signs of hypothyroidism are reversible, once treatment is started.