Accident Prone Greyhound update and a Q

[pepperandoran]

Posted last week about my greyhound who had cut all his leg.
He needed to have stitches - and quite a lot of them. But he hasnt missed a beat through the whole thing which is good, and the wounds look to be healing nicely!

Now a question to you greyhound people (Splotchy!), given that they are very fine legged, do you have problems with injuries to their legs, time after time after time!!!?

My boy is constantly cutting himself (usually just small scratches/cuts) when he is let off to run about. It seems to be the claws that cause the majority of it. Now, his claws were clipped by the vet not long ago, but he still seems to catch himself with them.

Last night he managed to rip off one of his claws!!

. He was in the garden for literally 2 minutes so must have caught it or something! It isnt bothering him, but its yet another injury!

Short of wrapping him up in cotton wool! Any suggestions or does anyone have this problem?

 

[FestiveSpirit]

Glad to hear that he is healing well! Hmmm well I have had two whippets, four pure greyhounds and two lurchers so far and of those only one of the lurchers seemed to be slightly accident prone (Talisker, the one in my avatar). He had a 'habit' of ripping out his dew claw, he did it about four times altogether

, but it never seemed to bother him at all - it just bled everywhere

Of the others they have all had occasional cuts and scratches, one of the whippets dislocated her elbow when playing with the other one on a walk (cue me having to carry her 2 miles home....), but maybe I have been lucky as I havent even had one which needed stitching yet.... says she, fingers crossed and touching wood!

So unfortunately I would say that some are just like that (not helpful to you I know) - I would just keep his claws cut as short as possible and try not to worry too much, he obviously is enjoying life to the full

PS - I saw a JRT rip a claw out once at the livery yard, just by dashing across the gravel when it was playing with a lab. It is very easily done - it bled everywhere, but he wasnt bothered in the least!

 

[pepperandoran]

Thank you for your reply. I guess he is just accident prone, or clumsy!

If its not the horse producing vets bills, then it has to be the dog I suppose!!

 

[BigRed]

I have had 5 whippets. The only reason they needed to go the vets was to be stitched up. These dogs have very fine coats and are thin skinned. Dew claws are a problem and all KC whippets ought to have had them removed as a day old puppy. I would consider having them removed properly if he kept snagging them.

My whippets have snagged themselves on wire and brambles etc. I got very good at fixing them myself with vet wrap and steri-strips which you can buy from a chemist. Just stretch them over the wound and wrap it up. I have a very comprehensive first aid kit !

They run so fast, they forget what they are doing. My sisters lurcher broke its back by smashing into a telegraph pole when they were playing a high speed pursuit game.

 

[corribsurprise]

We've recently taken two greyhounds on - ex racers, 6 years old and litter brothers. One is (fairly, for a greyhound) bright, the other is, well, sweet ...

The second is so accident prone it just isn't funny - within 48 hours of coming to us, he'd fallen off a bridge into the stream 5 feet below, there isn't a week goes by without an application of dermagel and this week it's been an eye infection.

My vet says they have 'parchment skin' - truly descriptive!

 

[kickandshout]

i'd advise to keep the claws as short as possible if they are white you will be able to see where the quick ends ( saves you cleaning up blood afterwards) if they are black you might need a mop. you'll work out how short to go.

also when you've clipped them short take the point off so they are squared off then you can nip around the edges to take the actual corners off.
Much safer !!
greyhounds are a tough breed so dont worry too much about the odd cuts and grazes.

 

[severnmiles]

My two hoon around the place (although they're sleeping for a good 23 hours a day... lol) so far so good, they don't seem t bump into much, Celt cracked her pad but that healed quickly, although she did run smack into her brother in the paddock and fractured her near fore back in March! I would say they're far more clumby than the wolfdogs!

 

[haycroft]

glad to hear your greyhound is recovering well
some sighthounds are more prone to injuries than others on the whole whippets/greyhounds are alot tougher than most people think..i have two whippets, one has had a few injuries and good job shes insured, the other is a tough cookie.i also lure course and race her and she always in the fields looking for prey
as for the claws, do lots of road walking to help to keep them short or if they still have dew claws you could just vet wrap them when your out walking/running

 

[mrsbloggett]

I've two greyhounds and one of them usually has some cut or scrape that needs attention.

Dee Dee has managed to rip out one of her claws in the past which needed a couple of weeks of pressure dressings to stop the bleeding. Mel has something called a 'knocked-up' toe, basically she has disclocated it in the past and it has a tendancy to pop out on occassions (usually when she has had a good run). Thankfully it settles down on its own, usually in a couple of days.

The thing that amazes me about greyhounds is that if they are really hurt they don't make a sound, otherwise they cry over the slighest thing!

 

[rabatsa]

My ex racer allways has a wound of some sort, usually around his stifle as he does too tight a turn around the back of the trailer and knocks himself. There is plenty of room so you would have thought he would have learnt by now.