HEALTH REPORT 2023
Very sadly I have to report that I have received information of our first fitter to my knowledge since 2009. This is a 19 month old male hound for whom the breeding may conform to our protocol, (do not breed from a fitter, do not breed any further from it’s sire or dam and do not breed from it’s siblings) but who has known producing of fitting in the 3 generation pedigree of both it’s sire and dam. Also the Aunt of the known producer is in both sides of the 3 generation pedigree. I am in touch with his owners and we will obviously do everything we can to support them including informing them of the very recent KC webinar on epilepsy which in giving them the most up to date information may prove helpful.
I wish to report that I attended the Kennel Club seminar for Breed Health Co-Ordinators and others where I was able to book appointments with a member of the KC Health Team and also one of the main speakers on heart disease. I explained to them the breed’s sporadic heart problems including Dilated Cardiomyopathy. It was agreed that a program should be put into place to study this and I hope to speak further to them at Crufts in March as to how we make progress including funding. In the meantime please report to me, preferably with full diagnosis, any heart problems that your hounds may have the misfortune to suffer.
I received a report of suddenly four hounds suffering from Bloat, one with torsion, one very sadly died and the other 3 have recovered. These hounds were related to each other through my breeding which is something that I have recorded in my personal notes and will follow very carefully. However, there may have been other circumstances involved, one was extremely stressed at the time and the other three were on this new arthritis wonder drug, which it is being reported causes excessive thirst, so if your hound is being treated with Librela please be aware of this. I have read many, many reports regarding it’s fantastic efficacy regarding pain blocking so it is simply a case of discussing in depth with your vet whether you should monitor your hound’s water intake. Librela is still classed as a ‘new drug’ so any suspected side effects should be reported by the owner to their vet who should pass it on to the manufacturer so they can include it in their 6 monthly reviews.
I was informed of a couple of cases of Juvenile Cataract in another country, which is something I have not heard of in the breed previously so I have asked our friendly vet Will to write a general article on the subject for us so we may be forewarned as to what to look out for and I hope this may appear in the next Newsletter for your information.
I will be updating the Fitting List and the Glanzmans tested list very shortly, together with our Hip and Elbow scores all of which will be on the Club new website so everyone can refer to them.
I trust you will all have a happy healthy year with your hounds and we look forward to you all joining the 45th Anniversary celebration events throughout the year, especially the weekend in September and making it a great fun year for the hounds.
Judith Ashworth
Breed Health Co-ordinator together with your Health Committee