Roland was born in March 1998. His whole litter was sick at about 9 weeks, but recovered nicely. We picked out Roland at 10 weeks and brought him home at 12 weeks of age. He was a wonderful puppy -easy to train, housebroken in 1 trial, and generally a really good guy. We began training him for the breed ring, for flyball, for agility and for lure coursing. He grew to be 29.5 inches tall at the withers and weigh between 92-95 lbs.
In Jan of 2000, I came home from work to find him quite ill. He was vomiting bloody stuff and having bloody diarrhea. We rushed him to the emergency clinic where hemorrhagic gastroenteritits was diagnosed. He was treated and released. The bleeding seemed to stop, but he was not better the next day. So, off we went to our regular vet. Our vet was afraid that Roland had an obstruction in his bowel. So after more than 2 liters of fluids, Roland had surgery for a potential bowel obstruction. The vet was able to reduce an obstruction in his colon without opening up the bowel. Roland recovered well from the episode, although it did take quite a while to gain back the weight that he had lost. He had to be on an "intestinal diet" for more than a week and it was hard to give him enough cans of the stuff for a dog of his size (about 75 lbs at the time). The whole episode did give him a real preference for chicken and rice canned food. It also gave him an aversion to pills or the threat of a pill. This is presumably related to the awful taste of the Flagyl (metronidazole) that he was given.
Roland grew into a handsome and healthy greyhound. He finished his championship in the breed ring and became an outstanding lure courser. He won the lure coursing competition at the national specialty one year - the same year his father won the breed competition. Later that year he finished his AKC lure coursing championship. He also earned enough points to become a flyball dog champion and was chosen for a spotlight on Animal Planet as a breed champion that plays flyball. He was such a trooper during the filming of the flyball runs with cameras all over the place. He was not so good at agility because he was too easily distracted, but he did love to run and jump. He finished his novice agility standard title and also his open jumpers title. He was oh so close to excellent jumpers legs on several occasions, but never quite got there.
Then, on Oct. 28, 2005 2 of his toenails fell off. The next day 2 more fell off. He had symmetric lupoid onychodystrophy (SLO). Over the next 2 months, he lost all of his nails. SLO is not an uncommon disorder that affects all breeds of dogs. It is thought to be due to an immune reaction to a protein in the nail bed. The nail comes loose and then separates from the quick. It is quite painful and frequently bleeds as it separates. Until all of his nails had fallen off, Roland hated to walk in the grass or on any uneven surface. We became quite adept at soaking his feet in cold water to stop the bleeding and to numb the toes a little and then wrapping his foot until the nail came off. It was a challenge to keep him comfortable and to keep the blood stains to a minimum.
Treatment for SLO is to start with high doses of tetracycline, niacinamide and lipids (fat). If this doesn't control the disease, then steroids can be used. The disease will never be cured and the nails will always be soft and misshapen. Untreated, the nails will grow in and then fall off again. Roland was started on tetracycline 500 mg 4 times a day, niacinamide 500 mg 4 times a day, DermCaps at 3 times the dose used to treat skin conditions and 1 scoop of unflavored gelatin. We keep that up until all of his nails had fallen out. However, it was difficult to maintain a treatment 4 times a day when both of us work full-time day jobs. So by the end of 2005, this regimen had been tapered to tetracycline and niacinamide twice a day. After about 6 months we tapered the niacinamide to once a day. It was the only pill that was not available in capsule form and it must have tasted awful, because it was difficult to get Roland to eat it. The tetracycline capsules were, and still are, covered in peanut butter. For the lipids, we used a combination of DermCaps (capsules) and the liquid formulation. On this regimen, Roland's nails grew back with only one really deformed. The SLO forced his retirement from doggy activities.
Between Oct. 2005 and Dec 2007, Roland lost only 3 toenails and these happened with minimal distress. Therefore, he was maintained on tetracycline 500 mg twice a day, niacinamide 500 mg once a day, DermCaps (total of capsules and liquid = 3 times the dose recommended for skin conditions) and 1 scoop of unflavored gelatin with his evening meal. Because of the pills, he was being fed twice a day. Because of his height, he was always fed with his dish on a chair or table.
In Dec. 2007, he regurgitated clear liquid and mucus two or three times. There was no food or bile in these 'blurps', and he did not retch when it happened. The first time was odd. Neither he nor I could figure out what happened. The second time he was trotting across the backyard and barely hesitated when it happened. Over the Christmas and New Year's holidays, we spent alot of time on the internet and discovered megaesophagus. The description matched exactly.
Then, on Oct. 28, 2005 2 of his toenails fell off. The next day 2 more fell off. He had symmetric lupoid onychodystrophy (SLO). Over the next 2 months, he lost all of his nails. SLO is not an uncommon disorder that affects all breeds of dogs. It is thought to be due to an immune reaction to a protein in the nail bed. The nail comes loose and then separates from the quick. It is quite painful and frequently bleeds as it separates. Until all of his nails had fallen off, Roland hated to walk in the grass or on any uneven surface. We became quite adept at soaking his feet in cold water to stop the bleeding and to numb the toes a little and then wrapping his foot until the nail came off. It was a challenge to keep him comfortable and to keep the blood stains to a minimum.
Treatment for SLO is to start with high doses of tetracycline, niacinamide and lipids (fat). If this doesn't control the disease, then steroids can be used. The disease will never be cured and the nails will always be soft and misshapen. Untreated, the nails will grow in and then fall off again. Roland was started on tetracycline 500 mg 4 times a day, niacinamide 500 mg 4 times a day, DermCaps at 3 times the dose used to treat skin conditions and 1 scoop of unflavored gelatin. We keep that up until all of his nails had fallen out. However, it was difficult to maintain a treatment 4 times a day when both of us work full-time day jobs. So by the end of 2005, this regimen had been tapered to tetracycline and niacinamide twice a day. After about 6 months we tapered the niacinamide to once a day. It was the only pill that was not available in capsule form and it must have tasted awful, because it was difficult to get Roland to eat it. The tetracycline capsules were, and still are, covered in peanut butter. For the lipids, we used a combination of DermCaps (capsules) and the liquid formulation. On this regimen, Roland's nails grew back with only one really deformed. The SLO forced his retirement from doggy activities.
Between Oct. 2005 and Dec 2007, Roland lost only 3 toenails and these happened with minimal distress. Therefore, he was maintained on tetracycline 500 mg twice a day, niacinamide 500 mg once a day, DermCaps (total of capsules and liquid = 3 times the dose recommended for skin conditions) and 1 scoop of unflavored gelatin with his evening meal. Because of the pills, he was being fed twice a day. Because of his height, he was always fed with his dish on a chair or table.
In Dec. 2007, he regurgitated clear liquid and mucus two or three times. There was no food or bile in these 'blurps', and he did not retch when it happened. The first time was odd. Neither he nor I could figure out what happened. The second time he was trotting across the backyard and barely hesitated when it happened. Over the Christmas and New Year's holidays, we spent alot of time on the internet and discovered megaesophagus. The description matched exactly.
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