Hersham Hounds

Lady (racing name ‘Lady Patches’) came to live with us from Hersham kennels in March 2003. She is remarkably well for a hound who was 12 years old in July, but there is a story to tell about how she has come to be so well now.

We live in a town so all walks start on hard and usually gritty footways. To begin with this wasn’t a problem but during 2004 we noticed that Lady seemed to be limping slightly and co we took her to the vet. It was suspected that a racing injury might be to blame so x-rays were taken but no reason was found. Physiotherapy and acupuncture made no difference; eventually it was Denise who discovered corns on both back feet and one front.  We then went down the usual path of lotions and potions, but the only thing that allowed Lady to enjoy walks on hard surfaces was the commercial dog boot, and the only one we have found that is worth buying is the Therapaw. The photo shows Lady posing in her boots beside an appropriate registration! Even using these we still needed 3 monthly visits to the kennels to get Denise to trim the worst of the corns, although the ones on the back feet did subside after a while. A course of treatment by Daniel in Uxbridge in 2010 brought temporary relief, but after 3 months the corn had returned, which we gather is quite unusual. This was one persistent corn!

Then in March 2011 a large lump suddenly appeared on Lady’s right elbow, the same leg that had the troublesome corn. This was diagnosed as a cancerous growth called a sarcoma, and was removed by our local vet under general anaesthetic. Unfortunately the expectation was that it would grow back as it is impossible to be sure all the cells have been removed, We were offered the options of removal of the leg or radiotherapy at a veterinary hospital 3 hours drive away. Neither appealed to us and we are sure Lady would have agreed. So we asked for other options and we were given the name of a homeopathic vet in Winchester, Cheryl Sears. Her examination in May was thorough and was followed by a lot of probing into the nature and general health of our dog. The result of this was a course of homeopathic remedies and Chinese mushroom tablets.  More surprising was the recommendation of supplementing the usual food with regular amounts of brightly coloured raw vegetables (broccoli, peppers, carrot etc), fruit and dollops of tomato puree!

Well it seems Lady knows what is good for her, as she has no hesitation in eating her greens (and reds) although she is not too keen on the remedy liquid. However this is applied via a syringe into the mouth so enthusiasm is not essential. I am writing this as the fireworks go off on 5th November and so far the results of the treatment have been quite incredible. Not only has the sarcoma not re-appeared but also there is no sign of the corn either! Lady seems in excellent health especially considering her age, one of the local vets who had not seen her for about four years was speechless at how well she now seems. The theory is that the lycopenes in brightly coloured fruit and veg boost the immune system, and as well as keeping the cancer cells at bay the corn has been defeated as well. I was sceptical about the whole idea of homeopathic treatment, but the results speak for themselves. Another notable change has been the growth of a thick coat of fur on her tummy, which was previously almost completely bare skin!

Of course we know a 12 plus years old hound has not too many more years left, but to have regained the quality of life she now enjoys was way beyond anything we were expecting eight months ago. We had just one appointment with Cheryl and update her over the phone, the remedies are sent by post as required. Like our previous hound Lady is happy to chew on a raw carrot, and although the other vegetables were lightly cooked to begin with, she will now eat all of them raw.

Nick and Christine Feast, Lymington, Hants

Our dog Arrow has corns. They are very common in greyhounds and lurchers. I bet at least half of you know of a hound that has them. There are various theories about why corns form. Some say they are caused by a cut or a foreign body embedding in the pad, causing callous tissue to build up around the injury site. Others blame the papilloma (wart) virus. Corns are as common in young dogs as in old ones. Itʼs not clear why some dogs get corns and others donʼt. Some blame the genes and say they run in litters. What is very clear is that they are extremely painful. Imagine how youʼd feel, walking round with a permanent stone in your shoe...

There are loads of options for treatment: You could opt for “hulling” (the vet uses a sharp instrument to ease the corn out of its bed, from the root); use softening agents (like Epsom salts, tea tree and vitamin E oil), try homeopathic remedies like thuja or biotin ; filing down, or duct tape. The trouble is, in our experience, none of these options is very effective or permanent.

A nice soft padded boot like Therapaws will help ease the pain between treatments, though we found they are the very devil to fit and to keep on. Try one of the spares at the kennels before committing to the expense of these. More effective is surgery (cutting deep into the pad to remove the corn under general anesthetic) or, as a last resort, toe amputation. Even these are not sure-fire success strategies. Iʼve heard heart-rending stories of dogs who have gone through surgery only to have the corn come back; or of dogs whoʼve had the toe removed and then a new corn pops up on an adjacent toe.

Arrow has had corns for years, heʼs had them for as long as anyone at the kennels can remember, for at least five years, maybe longer. In his eleventh year, the risks of general anesthetic tip the balance against surgery. And with four corns on three of his feet, we donʼt much fancy the thought of playing Russian Roulette with his toes. So we have been opting for hulling at the kennels. It doesnʼt hurt, but the corns themselves hurt so much that Arrow has a horror of anyone touching his feet. So the monthly hulling isnʼt a pleasant experience for him or for Denise.

Then I got chatting to Edwina at the Birthday Bash this year. She told me her vet had developed a non-surgical treatment for corns and had a very high success rate. The following week we visited Daniel Doherty in Uxbridge, who told us all about his treatment. Basically he trims back the calloused tissue and treats the corns with a special paste which he has developed, holding the paste in place with dressings, which stay on for the week. After three weekly treatments like this, your dog is free of the dressings and you follow up at home by dabbing on Danielʼs special tincture for a few weeks after that.

Daniel told us heʼd treated over two hundred greyhounds and in only one case had the corns come back. We liked those odds! So we agreed to give it a go. For a dog with phobia about his feet, Arrow was remarkably relaxed about treatment under Danielʼs gentle hands. There wasnʼt a dry eye in the house when Arrow made a special guest appearance at Julie and Johnʼs Quiz Night, sporting three enormous dressings after his first treatment. But he got along just fine during his three weeks in dressings. We hardly dared to hope. But as the treatment progressed he seemed increasingly light on his feet, he was losing the habit of avoiding hard surfaces on walks, standing more upright and he had more energy.

That was nearly three months ago. At a recent check up with Daniel he confirmed what we already knew. Our dog, Arrow, had corns: but he doesnʼt have them now. __________________________________________________________________
Footnote - we visited:

Daniel Doherty at MyVet 24/7. His address is 258 Cowley Rd, Uxbridge, UB8 2NJ. Tel 01895 271 444.

If you have a dog with corns, there are some good articles here:
www.greyhoundwelfare.org/resourceDet.php?resourceCategoryKey=32
www.grassmere-animal-hospital.com/corns.htm
www.chinookwindsgreyhounds.org/articles/corns.htm

Fiona first came through our doors in June 2009, as a volunteer dog walker, at that time, little did we realise that she had so much more to offer the greyhounds in our care.

Fiona, a fully qualified animal physiotherapist, soon picked up on the greyhounds that weren’t moving quite as freely as they should. I’m not talking anything major here; but a slight imbalance when they moved, or a gait or rhythm which didn’t feel right. She would come back into our yard and have a chat with us about them and would very quickly pinpoint the most likely cause, and with our agreement lay her ‘healing hands’ on the hound in question.

Fiona always moves around our hounds in a quiet, reassuring way. They are perfectly comfortable in her company and willingly lay down to enjoy their own, individual, physiotherapy session. More often than not, at the end of their session, they are so relaxed that they have gone off to sleep.

Fiona visits us on a weekly basis, and has built up quite a clientele list. There are several greyhounds that she sees each time she visits, they may not need physiotherapy each time, but it means that any problems are picked up on straight away. Then there are the new kids on the block, who have come into our kennels with an injury which would benefit from physiotherapy. Fiona has time and patience for them all, and her feedback to us enables us to pass on any relevant information to their prospective new owners. Of course, there are our resident oldies, who, with age, are finding they lack the mobility and ease of joints that they knew in their youth. A session with Fiona makes such a difference to their quality of life.

Prior to qualifying as a Chartered Veterinary Physiotherapist, Fiona was a Chartered Physiotherapist in the human field. I mention this purely because I’ve seen that knowing glint in her eye when she’s watched some of us older kennel hands moving across the yard with a slight imbalance and a gait that doesn’t look quite right!

To find out more about Fiona and the work she does, please visit the link to her website on our links page.