Hi Dr. Barchas,

Randy
San Diego, CA

I am reminded of a joke I once heard. A young child asks his mother why she has grey hairs. The mother replies that every time the child causes her stress, one of her hairs turns grey. The child ponders this for a moment. He then asks, “why is Grandma’s hair all grey?”

In fact, grey hairs occur when the pigment producing cells in the hair follicle cease to function. This can happen at any age. It is not a sign of poor health or premature aging. Grey hairs do not indicate that an animal will have a shorter-than-average life.

Grey hairs are correlated with old age, but they can develop in youth as well. My pal Buster, whose life appears to be stress-free, grew his first grey hair when he was less than two. Thankfully, this does not mean that he has a decreased life expectancy.

Plenty of young people have learned through experience that grey hairs are a fact of life. A trip to the hair care aisle in Walgreens will give you some idea of how many people are dyeing their greys.

Your dog’s greys are not a sign of bad health. Nor will they damage her self esteem. Lucky her.

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Hi,

Thanks
Andrea

It is not uncommon for dogs to react to vaccines in the way that yours did. Vaccines work by stimulating the immune system to fight bacteria and viruses. Some individuals react to vaccines excessively, causing lumps (called granulomas) to develop at the site of injection. These lumps generally are not life threatening. However, I always recommend minimal vaccinations in any pet that develops these sorts of lumps.

Although lumps at vaccination sites are not especially uncommon, lumps at antibiotic injection sites are much more rare. The fact that your dog reacted to both implies that his body may have a low tolerance for injections of all sorts. Perhaps the trauma of the needle penetrating the skin caused an exuberant immune system response. Or maybe the antibiotic and the vaccine both triggered inflammation at the injection sites, causing lumps to develop later.

Although I don’t know what exactly is causing your dog’s lumps, I definitely think you should avoid giving him injections if possible. Use oral antibiotics, and keep working with your vet to develop a minimalist vaccine protocol.

One final note. Pets can die from vaccines, but it happens very rarely. It is much more common, in my experience, for pets to die from lack of vaccines. I am aware of six dogs who died of parvovirus (which is preventable with vaccines) in one neighborhood of San Francisco last week. In my career I have not seen even one pet die from a vaccine reaction (although there have been two close calls).

Photo: Ginger has no known history of injection reactions.

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• What are the Treatments for Hip Dysplasia?

My Golden Retriever has stopped wagging her tail.
She is acting like it hurts. Can they break their
tails? She was fine Saturday and on Sunday the tail stopped.
We took her Saturday to the river
where she found water and it was cool just not
sure what to do.

Gene
Milton FL

It sounds like your dog has suffered soft tissue trauma to her tail. By this I mean that she may be suffering from a strain, sprain, or pulled muscle in the tail. It is a common problem. I see it most often in Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers. Almost all dogs with the symptoms you describe recover completely within a week.

Dogs may suffer soft tissue trauma to their tails in a number of ways. Big-time waggers can pull the muscles in their tails if they wag to excess during especially happy times (these dogs tend to be happy most of the time). Other dogs have been known to strike their tails against hard objects, causing bruising and pain.

Also, I should note that a very large number of dogs see me with painful tails after they have been swimming. Dogs use their tails, as well as their feet, to swim. This can lead to sore muscles and limp tails the next day. Based your question, I suspect that your Golden injured her tail while swimming.

The good news is that almost all dogs with painful tails make complete recoveries. In some cases, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may help dogs feel better faster. Be should be sure to discuss the side effects of these medicines with your vet before you use them.

If your dog does not start using her tail normally within a few days, a veterinary checkup is in order. Although they are rare, other conditions (including broken tails) can cause the symptoms you describe.

Photo: Miga has no known tail problems.

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Microchips are being used with increasing frequency in pets. I recommend them in my patients. Microchips have made it possible for me to reunite several missing pets with the people who were looking for them.

It turns out that I am not the only vet who has used microchips to return lost pets to their people. Here is a brief article from the October 10, 2008 issue of The Week.

Last week, Jay Getman noticed a mangy, lonely looking Golden Retriver shivering outside the travel agency where he works in Saint Petersburg, Fla. He cleaned up the dog, fed him, and took him to a local vet. Scanning the dog for an embedded microchip, the doctor found that he belonged to Elizabeth Carter of Atlanta. “Pepper” had run away nine months ago, while Carter and her family were on vacation, and somehow traveled hundreds of miles. Carter immediately drove from Atlanta to reclaim her pet. “She was blown away,” Getman said. “She couldn’t believe it.”

It’s a heartwarming story, and it definitely fuels my conviction that microchips are in my patients’ best interest.

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What are some of the things we as dog owners can
do to help a dog with hip dysplasia?

Rosie
Humble, TX

Hip dysplasia is a syndrome in which a dog’s (or less often, a cat’s) hip joints do not develop properly. This causes premature arthritis in the hips. Hip dysplasia is most common in large breeds of dogs. It has a hereditary component. Careful breeding has reduced the incidence of hip dysplasia over the last several years.

Hip dysplasia is sometimes confused with age-related arthritis. Many older animals suffer arthritis in their hips that is not related to abnormal development of the joints. However, in either instance the outcome is the same–arthritis that causes pain, stiffness, decreased mobility and a lower quality of life.

There are several techniques (some old, some new) for managing hip displasia and arthritis in pets.

Preventing hip dysplasia is by far the best option. Careful breeding is the most important aspect of hip dysplasia prevention. Less effective, but still important, is to feed at-risk puppies (Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers and other large breeds) a diet that promotes slower growth. Talk to your vet about this.

For pets diagnosed with hip dysplasia by a veterinarian, several techniques may delay the onset of arthritis. The most effective of these is weight management. Carrying extra weight puts tremendous strain on the hip joints.

Other techniques that can delay the onset of arthritis (or help to ameliorate the symptoms of arthritis after it develops) include administration of oral or injectable glucosamine, oral omega-3 supplementation, and physical therapy (mild exercise, swimming, hydrotherapy, and range of motion exercises). Young dogs diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia may benefit from a surgical technique known as triple pelvic osteotomy.

For the unfortunate individuals that are suffering from arthritis, all of the techniques listed in the preceding two paragraphs (except for triple pelvic osteotomy) can be beneficial. Additionally, treatment with the much maligned NSAID medicines can lead to a dramatic improvement in quality of life. Other, newer pain medicines such as amantadine are emerging as well that may be highly beneficial when used in conjunction with NSAIDs. Some prescription diets may lead to clinical improvement in arthritic pets.

A new generation of treatments for arthritis in the hips is also entering use in clinical practice. These treatments include stem cell injections, stimulation with certain types of lasers, and a technique known as extracorporeal shock wave therapy (it sounds scary, but it’s quite benign).

The treatment of last resort for arthritis of the hips is surgical hip replacement. Recent clinical advances have made this option more attractive than it was in the past.

The long and short of it is that there is a wide array of treatments for hip dysplasia and arthritis in pets. Many of them are new and not widely known. Your best bet is to find a vet who is passionate about comprehensive management of the syndromes. Sit down with this vet and develop a treatment plan that is right for you and your pet.

Image credit: Joel Mills. Licensing information: CC.

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