New to CIMDA and would welcome advice on SLO

[Sandra]

Hello, my name is Sandra and I am new to the CIMDA forum.

I have two whippets; Lizzie who is 8 years old and Dino who is 5. I was introduced to this forum from a lady who works in my local bank. She`s got a dog so we often talk about our dogs and when I mentioned about the problems Dino has been having, so she posted a message on Facebook, of which a link to CIMDA came back.

It all started in February of this year; whilst out on a walk we noticed Dino`s paw bleeding quite bad, a vet walking her dogs kindly stopped to help us as we couldn`t stop the bleeding! At this point we didn`t know what had caused this or where all the blood was coming from. We carried Dino back to the car and went straight to our vets. They confirmed that Dino had split his nail all the way down (hence all the blood) and the nail was removed. We just thought that this was bad luck and focused on caring for Dino. Then 7 weeks later he broke another nail, which had to be removed and then in May a third nail was taken off! The vet advised us that something else may be going on here and that Dino may loose more nails.

Over the months Dino has continued to break/split/loose nails, sometimes they have just sort of fell off and some have been taken off at the vets. To date he only has 4 original nails left and I can tell now which will be the next ones to go. Since February Dino has only been off the lead a couple of times, I`ve stopped him running up the stairs and I try not to let him run around the garden with Lizzie, which is such a shame as he`s a whippet and likes to run!!!!! Only a couple of months ago I let him out in the garden late at night and all of a sudden he was barking and going mad, next thing I know he`s in the kitchen bleeding really bad with 3 nails damaged! Hence another trip up the vets the following morning.

At one point Dino was on 17 tablets a day i.e. oxycare, niacinamide, essential fatty acids, vitamin E and prednisolone, however he is no longer on the steriods (thank goodness!) as the vet felt the side effects were too much i.e. Dino was lethargic, eating more, drinking a lot more (hence me sleeping downstairs for months so I could let him out for a wee in the night), his belly was distended and the extent of his muscle wastage! His back bone was showing, his eyes had sunken in to his head and he just looked like a 20 year old greyhound, as Dino is big for a whippet!

Dino is still on the oxycare, niacinamide, essential fatty acids and vitamin E, of which are administered 4 times a day. Thank goodness for Excel spreadsheets! 

We haven`t really recieved a formal diagnosis as yet, however the vet did say it wasn`t a fungal infection and that it may be SLO i.e. Dino`s immune system was attacking his nail beds. We are now awaiting the new nail growth to see what happens.

I have so many questions going around my head i.e. what caused this, was it anything I did, what triggered it, will it go away or is this something that Dino will have for life! Will he be on tablets for the rest of his life.

I would welcome any advice or experiences that people may have had with this condition.

One very worried whippet owner Sandra.

[Catherine]

Have you seen the information on this site? : http://cimda.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,22.0.html

Also if you put SLO into "search" on this site it will bring up some more information and people's experiences with SLO. Hope that helps.

[Jo CIMDA]

Hello Sandra and welcome

I don't think you need a confirmed diagnosis.  The evidence is enough to presume a diagnosis of SLO and start a treatment programme.  The good news is most SLO dogs can be brought into remission without the use of steroids but it does take many months and when this is achieved things will be so much better for Dino and you.  Long term remission is hoped for and is realistic.

SLO is an autoimmune disease (AI) and for an AI disease to develop there has to be a genetic predisposition and then a 'trigger factor'.  If you don't have my SLO seminar notes  then please email me at:  cimda@aslog.co.uk    and I will forward them on to you.  This will give you a better insight into what is happening with Dino.

You may find switching the Oxycare to Doxycycline  is a more convenient way to treat SLO as Doxy' is given only once a day and also it is less affected by food.

Jo

[Sandra]

Hi Catherine and Jo, many thanks for your responses, much appreciated. 

Jo, I will drop you an email about your SLO notes.

I will keep you posted on Dino's progress.

Best wishes Sandra.

[Catherine]

[My dog had SLO some years ago. My vet prescribed a course of Clinacin and Malaseb shampoo. It was a long process of my dog losing her nails and they grew back fairly deformed and have kept short. They have never started coming off again although occasionally a thin sliver will hang off so I trim that as much as I can. We did not use any other medication and all dogs are different but it could give you some hope that things will clear up with Dino and he will not have any more problems with his nails and would not have to be on medication for life.

You could try putting some socks on the affected paws, at times, to stop him licking them if he is doing that. Dog boots would also help protect his nails being knocked when he goes outside. Just make sure that you keep his feet clean, dry and aired if you use the socks, boots.






We haven`t really recieved a formal diagnosis as yet, however the vet did say it wasn`t a fungal infection and that it may be SLO i.e. Dino`s immune system was attacking his nail beds. We are now awaiting the new nail growth to see what happens.

I have so many questions going around my head i.e. what caused this, was it anything I did, what triggered it, will it go away or is this something that Dino will have for life! Will he be on tablets for the rest of his life.

I would welcome any advice or experiences that people may have had with this condition.

[Deeinnz]

Hi Sandra,

Welcome, but sorry you have to be here. My boy Bossdin (RIP) had SLO, amongst other things. He lost all his nails twice. The first time they grew back they were quite deformed, the second time they were all normal bar one that was a bit crooked.

I think he had a mild case of the disease as he never had to go on steroids and was only on antibiotics when necessary. He was on pain meds when needed, I kept a supply at home. I believe one of the reasons his case was mild was because I had access to the sea. The fresh salt water did wonders for helping to clean any infection and to dry and shrivel up the quicks. It was also great for helping a loose nail finally fall off, with little pain. If you don't have access to salt water try soaking his feet in a salt water solution or Epson Salts.

I maintained him on the high dose fish oil pills only. After he lost his nails twice he had more issues with nail bed infections (treated with courses of antibiotics.... if really bad and a brilliant cream called Neo-Topic) than he did with the nails actually breaking and falling off again.

Once the new nails grow in, it's important to keep them as short as possible. I learned to trim Bossdin's myself. Many people suggest using a grinder trimmer.....pedi-paws or something similar.... .. I brought one of those too, but he hated it. I had better success with the ordinary cutter type (don't know what it's correct name is). It was important to hold the nail firmly though, at the base, to help minimise any movement and therefore possibly discomfort.

All the best

Dee

[Sandra]

Hi Dee, many thanks for your reply.

It was interesting to read your experiences of SLO.

We have another problem now! Dino has had a sore in between one of his toes for weeks now. I did wonder if it might be linked to the condition. I tried myself to clear it up but it would look better and then look really sore! So back up the vets last week and they think it may be an inter digital cyst, a swab was taken and the results should come through in a weeks time.

Following the feedback from this forum I did have a list of questions for our vet in relation to SLO! For now Dino is staying on the medication and we'll see how things go. There are two nails which will be the next to go but I'm hoping they just fall off as opposed to breaking and bleeding.  I will keep the forum updated on Dino's progress.

Many thanks for all your support, best wishes Sandra.

[Jo CIMDA]

Hi Sandra

Interdigital cysts can be very stubborn but the ones that were on a bulldog that I once knew resolved completely with Dorwest Herbs Garlic and Fenugreek and Mixed vegetable tablets.  It might be worth a try.

Jo
 

http://www.dorwest.com/Category/Skin-and-Coat

CALL US ON 01308 897272

[Sandra]

Hi Jo, many thanks for the link to the Dorwest Herbs Garlic and Fenugreek and mixed vegetable tablets, I will definitely give these a go. We've been back up the vets tonight, after 10 days of antibiotics Dino still has the interdigital cyst and now has another one forming on his other paw! He has another 14 days of antibiotics! The vet did mention surgery to remove these but I said I'd rather try the tablets first before we go down that road.
I will keep you posted.
Best wishes Sandra.

[Jo CIMDA]

Hi Sandra

The bulldog had lots of inter-digital cysts and the tablets did the trick.  I hope you will be as lucky. 

Removal will get rid of the ones she has now but I do think there is a good chance of others developing because the condition is suspected to have a genetic link.  I don't think I would opt for surgery (not at this stage anyway) because the webbing between the toes is usually removed, and that may cause other problems later.

Jo

[chelynnah]

Hi Sandra

I'm sure the vet has suggested this, but have you tried soaking a couple of times a day in warm water and epson salts (or even regular salt)?  When one of our girls had a bad interdigital cyst (blew up her whole toe in 24 hours) this did help.  Immediately after the first soak it opened up and started draining.

I know there are different forms of these cysts, but if you're not soaking it might be worth giving it a try.  And definitely give the Dorwest things a try.