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This page is devoted to the posting of health questions, issues and links. We do not support these projects, and are unable to vouch for their findings. All information posted is the opinion of the originating source and not of the Border Collie Health Foundation, Inc. Your veterinarian should be consulted about any questions that you may have about any of these issues.
A Note from our President
SKYE HIBs OA OAJ OAP OJP CD
February 10, 2005 – August 29, 2008
It is with a heavy heart that I write to tell you that I lost my beloved Skye. I fell in love with Skye the first time I saw him, at age 4 weeks. That never changed. Skye was my gentleman - rock stable. He was my companion, my best friend, a source of courage to continue on in spite of adversity. He was responsible for major changes in my life. Without Skye I wouldn’t have met so many people I now consider friends, and I would have been much the poorer for it. Skye was my first agility dog - now I own a building full of agility equipment. Skye was my first herding dog - now I have a barn full of sheep. He was always willing to work at anything I asked. He did a little obedience, a lot of agility - but his first love was sheep. At six months of age he first saw sheep, dashed out, gathered them together and held them to the fence. He would find sheep wherever they were hidden, no matter how far away, and bring them in fast and furiously. He never quite understood the concept of pace - but he always got the work done, mostly in spite of me. To this day a ewe has never stood him. Skye approaches and the most stubborn sheep turns and trots off, as if to say "Sorry, Sir, I really didn’t mean it. I’ll do anything you say." He still turned a ewe two days ago - and I still had a hard time calling him off his sheep. Now he has gone to join his best friend Red, and the two of them will happily gather all the sheep in Heaven. God speed, my love.
August 27, sent to the agilityDogs list at: AGILEDOGS@APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM
Name withheld
"Zen (my nearly 8-year-old B&W BC) had gastric surgery on Friday, August 1 to
remove a blockage. He started out at the emergency clinic with a procedure
performed there (gastric lavage) and then moved back to my usual vet for
surgery. Zen's recovery was complicated by a bunch of odd symptoms that
didn't line up with either procedure. They are:
- Slow wound healing
- Difficult swallowing
- Dry eye with resulting corneal ulcers
- Odd eye movements that the vet had a name for
- Balance and coordination issues
- Hives
- Stridor (hoarse breathing and panting)
- Incomplete bladder emptying
- Lack of intestinal and anal tone resulting in stool leaking
- Fever of 103 or greater with no evidence of infection (white blood cell
- count and other blood work was normal on repeated test)
Clearly some of these things make you wonder about a neurological issue and
why would that result from a gastric surgery? My vet did some research on
the drugs Zen was given by her and by the emergency vet. Zen was given an
anti-nausea (anti-emetic) called Zofran (ondansetron) at the emergency
clinic and if you look in the human literature for the drug, nearly all of
the above symptoms are listed as side effects. The drug is supposed to have
a half-life of 3 to 4 hours but apparently Zen's liver was unable to remove
what for him was a toxic substance. If you look in a vet drug manual, it
states "collie breeds may be more sensitive to the effects of the drug".
The human literature states all side effects resolved themselves with time
and that is what I was hoping for but I had to make the choice to put Zen
down on Monday, August 25 as he took a sudden turn for the worse. He was
fighting to breathe, had a temperature that shot up to 109 and was bleeding
from his rectum. In 24 days, he was unable to eliminate a drug that should
have had a half-life of hours.
So, this may be a very isolated issue to just this one of my dogs but I'm
not letting Zofran be used on any dog owned by me - even if they test clear
genetically (see below). I want to warn those of you in particular with
"collie breeds" to be careful about any drugs used. I'm NOT saying there is
anything wrong with the emergency clinic or any of the doctors there. I
would just be sick if something like this happened to someone else. I do
know that this drug has been successfully used on another BC for nausea due
to chemo so I'm not saying it isn't a good drug. It just might not be good
for all BC's.
This dog was never tested genetically for the MDR1 gene - this drug is
listed as a potential problem for those with the mutation. Here is a link:
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/announcements/ivermectin/index.asp
Here is a link to the human literature:
http://us.gsk.com/products/assets/us_zofran.pdf
Here is a link to potential problem drugs:
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-vcpl/drugs.aspx
This incident will be reported."
Attention Border Collie Owners!
Do you have a middle-aged Border Collie who was a dynamite worker as a young dog, but who now seems to "blow you off" when training or competing? If so, the problem may not be curable with more training. Have you considered that your dog may have developed a hearing loss?
Dr. Mark Neff at the University of California-Davis is currently studying non-congenital deafness in Border Collies. Non-congenital means that the deafness was not present at birth; rather, the deafness has a late onset, usually when the dog is between the ages of 4-6 years. Typically, dogs with this condition do not lose all of their hearing; instead, they seem to have an impaired hearing ability - much like a geriatric dog who is hard of hearing.
Dr. Neff's research has proven that the above-described hearing deficit is, in fact, inherited; but more information is needed to be able to develop a DNA test. Therefore, if you own such a dog, - or if you know someone who does, - please participate by sending in a cheek-swab sample from your affected dog. Do it Now!
Participation is free, including postage.
To request a collection kit, go to http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/cghg/kitreq.php
For further information, go to Dr. Neff's web page at:
http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/cghg/index.php
On behalf of the dogs, Thank You.
The above announcement is for your information only and does not represent an endorsement by the BCHF
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