Cramp in dogs

B

Baileybones

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 September 2010
Messages
401
Visit site
2 weeks ago my Whippet pulled up looking strange after playing fetch with me on a walk. All of his muscles seemed to be shaking and he wouldn't bend his legs. I rubbed all of the affected muscles and the shaking eased off and within minutes he was walking fine again.
He has been completely fine since.

Today I took 2 of my other dogs to a secure field where they had a great run. At the end though my Saluki came rushing back to me screaming blue murder. I mean this dog sounded like she'd broken a bone! She had cramp in a hind leg and again within minutes of me rubbing the affected muscle she was completely fine and trotting around sound again.

I've had dogs for years and never had one with cramp and now two in two weeks.

The only difference in their world is that 8 weeks ago I swapped their food from Skinners duck and rice to Wainwrights Lamb and Rice.
I thought it was a superior food and wanted to improve their diet but clearly something isn't right.

Am I right to assume food?

And if I am right where do I go now? Back to Skinners? Onto another better dry food?
I'm not opposed to raw but wouldn't know where to start and rightly or wrongly I need a degree of simplicity and I'd appreciate it not costing the earth.

The dogs are:

9yr old German Short haired Pointer x Lab. No health issues but a few fat lumps and gets itchy skin.

8yr old Whippet. No health issues.

4yr old Saluki x Whippet. No health issues.

2yr old Saluki x Afghan. No health issues.

Any advice appreciated especially if you think this might not be diet related and I can stop torturing myself ;-)
 
Have a read of this article...lots of good suggestions here...greyhound cramp...
Could be diet related,lack of salts,hot weather cause,etc
http://www.greyhound-data.com/dir/189/Vet's_Notes_-_2004May.pdf
And here...scroll to p 5 cramping...diet reference suggests to avoid high carb in diet...the rest is concerning racing Greys so not suggesting you follow it all,but makes interesting reading.
 
Last edited:
Brilliant thank you. I did consider weather but on both days it was no more than 15 degrees here and with a breeze. My whippet is part sloth and getting older so with him I just assumed he'd over exerted himself. Today my Saluki had been hooning around but she's very fit and does this at least 3 times a week (with lead walks on alternate days) so I think it's odder that it occurred with her.
 
A tin of tomatoes works well for cramp sufferers. Told to me by a greyhound trainer and I've used it and it works. High in potassium which helps the muscles.
 
My Saluki x whippet did the same tonight with her hind and occasionally screams for England when she does the front, she's in the best raw meat and bones diet I can give her and I think it's related (in her case) to the weather, she's off running before she's properly warmed her muscles up. Rub her feet,leg and she's ok.
 
cremedemonthe said:
My Saluki x whippet did the same tonight with her hind and occasionally screams for England when she does the front, she's in the best raw meat and bones diet I can give her and I think it's related (in her case) to the weather, she's off running before she's properly warmed her muscles up. Rub her feet,leg and she's ok.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your girl but it's good to hear that is happened to others (if you get what I mean).
It was an Oscar winning performance and quite scary! She's absolutely back to normal now but she sounded like she was bloody dying earlier! :-(
 
Baileybones said:
Sorry to hear about your girl but it's good to hear that is happened to others (if you get what I mean).
It was an Oscar winning performance and quite scary! She's absolutely back to normal now but she sounded like she was bloody dying earlier! :-(
Click to expand...

yes,mines the same, does 100 mph playing with my other dogs before she's warmed up enough
 
this is the culprit

018_zps8ab91df8.jpg
[/URL]
 
Cramp can be extremely painful. Like they are being murdered screaming. I would feed sardines or pilchards in tomato sauce - not brine. Or feed tinned tomatoes. Even anticipation of going for a run can bring cramp on. You can find products on Greyhound websites that will help, supplements to give etc.
 
Perhaps keeping the dogs on a lead for the first 10-15 minutes to warm up before letting them loose would help. A bit like starting exercise with a horse in walk before faster work?
 
planete said:
Perhaps keeping the dogs on a lead for the first 10-15 minutes to warm up before letting them loose would help. A bit like starting exercise with a horse in walk before faster work?
Click to expand...

Agree with planete, warm them up, and massage the affected muscles before they go whizzing off. You might even try doing some stretches with them, but again, rub and massage the muscles to warm them up before you do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top