AFGHANS ARE US -HEALTH

HYPOTHYROIDISM

ZANAVAR AFGHANS STORIES

Hazel Cranham

Before I begin the girls story I want to emphasise that this is being told to try tell of a long chain of tragic events before diagnosis of HT was made and may be of help to others. I held a poll  in the IAC and the majority vote was to make finding health problems public. I apologise for the length of it but it has now spanned years and several beloved dogs. Incidentally it is more frightening to have sick dogs and not know why they have problems than it is to know what you are dealing with and get the correct help for them. I am very grateful to my friends for their continued support and encouragement to write this article and especially to Sylvia Evans for her untiring help and understanding during what has been an awful time for our dogs.

I brought a beautiful bitch puppy. We had her inoculated and then boosted at a year, incidentally none of my girls have been over inoculated, Peanut developed a large hard swelling on the site of the injection which was surrounded by very yellow skin, this stayed with her until the last year of her life when it suddenly vanished. I wanted a litter from her and she had a smear taken and health check before mating her, as I have always done she was put on a few days of low strength antibiotics to make sure there was no little infection lurking that may affect the newly developing embryos once mated. During her pregnancy Pea ate well for the first time in her life but had constant black diarrhoea throughout, vets, after weekly checks and tests throughout her pregnancy could find nothing wrong and finally said she was fine and it was just peculiar to her. She eventually gave birth to 10 beautiful puppies, the only odd thing was there quite a lot of unexplained fat floating in the embryotic sacs. One puppy later developed juvenile pyoderma badly but recovered once on correct treatment. This litter was stunning and I kept three girls from it, Ginger Rogers and Yummy and another I later parted with.  Pea eventually went back into the ring with her babies and apart from inter digital cysts, a later foot problem and one seemingly incurable yeasty ear all her life which the vets said was also just something peculiar to her and very bad phantoms from the first season onwards she seemed fine then. She was also, like her daughters, a very loving and sweet bitch but they all had increasing mood swings as they got older. The ones now on soloxine no longer have these so far.

I was becoming concerned about Yummy, odd things that came and went, at times I thought she was going blind but her eyes were found to be fine, her skin was going increasingly black with each phantom, she appeared to have bouts of allergies which came and went, occasional slight rear lameness, vets checks said she was fine but the symptoms periodically came back, she went from being a fast active bitch to not wanting to do very much at all, despite lots of exercise Yummy’s muscle condition slowly disappeared vets still said she was fine so we put it down to her being lazy, although she could still take a bird on the wing when she wanted to. Yummy never had a voice, vets said they could find nothing wrong. I had blood tests done on her for everything I could think of except HT as I knew nothing about it at that time. Ginger Rogers seemed fine except for increasingly bad phantoms and mood swings. Plus three of my girls and at least one of their sisters have had blind seasons at times but normal at others as they got older.

I wanted a Peanut daughter, so Pea who looked a picture of health at the time was thoroughly checked at the vets and again smear tests done as usual and was mated again to a different dog, her pregnancy was fairly normal except this time she seemed depressed and uninterested in the puppies, Ginger willingly took over all duties except for feeding. Pea was checked over but seemed fine. Despite vets telling me that her pyoderma puppy was a one off in her first litter she produced two in the second litter. Two of these dogs are now being supplemented with soloxine, the other is untested at time of writing.

I decided to mate Ginger Rogers as I wanted one last puppy and a Pea grand daughter, Ginger was smear tested and antibiotics given to make sure all was well.  The dog came to Ginger, I had 3 bitches in season at the time. The mating took place but I was pretty sure Ginger would not be pregnant by him and she went back to the vets for more antibiotics. Suddenly something seemed to have triggered these three girls later problems which can happen if they are predisposed to be HT I understand. A few weeks later Peanut suddenly jaundiced, she did not appear at all ill apart from the yellowing,  I asked her breeder to take a look which she did and we rushed her to the vets. Blood tests were taken and vets seemed very concerned but unsure as to the cause. I was convinced it was hormonal in some way. Vets were unsatisfactory and we moved Pea to another practice where she was put on a very long course of synolux, useless as we later discovered. blood tests revealed nothing obviously wrong but all three who had been in season gradually went into the worst phantoms of their lives from which they never really came out of. I was constantly asking different vets if it could be their immune systems that were causing the problems but was reassured it was not. I mentioned hormone disease so many times I was fed up myself with hearing it but was convinced their hormones had been hit by something, but the different vets seemed stuck for answers. Galastop and other remedies made no difference to them at all.

I started getting worried phone calls from some of the first litters owners, and then from the second litters owners, mainly to begin with about hard to cure ear problems but always in only one ear, one bitch constantly shook her head and further investigation showed her to have air bubbles trapped under the skin of the ear drum, and later suddenly one died from leukaemia, another from Pancreatic / spleen cancer, another from pneumothorax, it was noted that his vets thought there was another underlying cause but found nothing, they did not test his thyroid levels. Yet another seemingly very fit dog was diagnosed suddenly with a heart problem, an emergency appointment to see a specialist was made but he collapsed and died before he could get there. Another had aspergillus and took a long time to respond to treatment (low immunity?) and another  from lung torsion who died suddenly, also benign tumours on several of them, the list goes on and on. I was almost living by now at the vets, wanting answers to what was happening to so many of them and and my own dogs, all of these dogs were between 5 and 8 years old! I am not saying they were all HT, we will never know now, but there did seem to be a lot of serious problems although the vets at that time said it was just coincidental. Update 23-04-05 we now have just heard of another one of Peanuts daughters who is critically ill with the same mammary masses (now deceased). Update 22-10-05 another daughter diagnosed with HT. Further updates continue at the end of this article.

Her two daughters were still locked in phantom and I was becoming increasing concerned by now, especially about Yummy whose skin was black and sticky, and had what seemed to be allergies at times including extensive sneezing sessions, I asked the vets again if they could be thyroid problems but was assured that it could not be as they did not have the symptoms, overweight, cold intolerance etc (if anything it is the heat my girls don't like) Yummy was given Atarax tablets which seemed to clear the problems, until the next time! I truly believed by now it was just the three girls who had been in season who had problems but I didn’t want to risk anything happening to Tilly and it was decided to have a puppy from Tilly’s sister (not owned by me) who was out of my second litter to get my Peanut grand daughter before I lost her, and they were healthy although very difficult puppies.

 Yummy is very thin but the vets remarked how her womb was normal but her organs had too much fat around them like Peanuts.  I asked the vets if it would be a good idea to test the others thyroid levels but was told no as they had no very obvious symptoms and it would be a waste of money and time, why did I listen to them? The symptoms normally do not show until the thyroid is well on the way to being destroyed I understand and often are wrongly diagnosed to begin, from what I am reading it is often the worried owners who finally insist their dogs are tested for HT in desperation.

Peanut was very fragile, the cancers had spread so rapidly we decided to take each day as it came with her, she also had blackened skin in places. Oddly the large yellow lump suddenly vanished. On one of my many vets visits I told him that lights upset her and she had taken to laying in dark places or panicking when I got the camera out, the vet laughed and said she was a ‘strange one’ as he never knew what she would do next! (so descriptive of HT from what I know now)  Peanut was put on prednicare to keep her comfortable for as long as possible and it made a difference to her quality of life for a few months. Peanut's life came to a sudden end less than a year after being spayed.

By now I was hearing from the owners of some of my first litter’s deaths and frantic about what was happening with my own girls. On one of the vet visits I had remarked how Ginger had a small lump on her belly, he insisted on removing it and having it tested, it came back as benign but grew very quickly back, it was causing no problems so I left it alone, Gingers was also locked in phantom and again it was decided very reluctantly she should be spayed and at the same time the vet removed the small lump again along with most of the back teat, tests showed it to still be benign, her womb was reasonably normal considering the length of her phantom,  I collected her after the surgery and was shocked at how she looked, she went into post anaesthetic shock and only recovered slowly from the surgery, the wound healed but she was deeply depressed and in less than a month Ginger suddenly developed a mammary mass in the same way as Peanut but much smaller. Around the same time and just before Christmas,  Tilly started to vomit her food back, only 3 times but I took her to the vet as I didn’t want any more problems over Christmas, he said everything was fine, gave her some anti sickness pills and a short course of antibiotics (on looking up my medical records it was antepsin and metoclopramide), I took her home and she seemed fine. Then Plum and Yummy had a couple of small bouts of bringing back undigested food and lastly Ginger, it was decided by the vets they had a viral infection which would just work it’s way out of their systems and they came home with medication.  I was getting more and more worried about Ginger Rogers, something was very wrong and getting worse rapidly, I really worried when I got the camera out and Ginger ran to hide from it exactly the way Peanut did, she went to the vets yet again, still just a virus I was told and the vet laughed about my theory of the lights hurting her eyes, his comment was ‘like mother like daughter’s’! exactly I thought,  we went back daily with me demanding to know what was wrong with her, a pancreatic problem was mentioned as a possibility and Antepsin suspension and antibiotics given, I wanted her hospitalised but was told there were no places as it was holiday time, on new years eve I was desperate, I could hear Gingers heart beating louder and louder, the vets didn’t x ray her saying medication would sort it out, on new years day I was there again and finally they x rayed my girl,  I did not know lungs and heart could blow up to such an enormous size, Ginger had the classic Dilated Cardiomyopathy symptoms, I was devastated, still I could not get her hospitalised and was sent home with her, finally at 4pm on the 2nd January I was offered a place for her at Newmarket, nearly 3 hours drive from us, I did not think she could make the journey and asked for a few minutes to talk it over, I was then told it was too late, the place had been taken but the head vet offered to see her again at the surgery, in one last desperate rush I set off and Ginger died minutes after entering the surgery of Dilated Cardiomyopathy and in less than 6 months from the death of her mother and two months after being spayed.

 The following day I went back to the surgery, I kept thinking of the vets ‘like mother like daughter’s’ remark and demanded my remaining girls be tested for hypothyroidism, there was a new vet there and he agreed (incidentally he has been really helpful)  We did not think the two younger ones were HT as they looked so well but it was something I wanted eliminated from them for sure by now , great coats, nice bodies, well muscled and fit apart from Tilly, after five years of never having had a phantom, having three increasingly very bad ones on the trot and the Plum her first season and a dreadful phantom!  the tests results returned and to my horror Tilly was also HT with Plum low borderline with indications from her thyroid profile that she may develop hypothyroidism in the future so will need testing for life.  I was shocked but it actually felt like a ton weight had been lifted from my shoulders because now I knew WHY at last. They still look the picture of good health as did the others! You could not tell by looking at these beautiful girls what is going on inside them.

On Sylvia Evans advice I had the girl’s bloods taken again and sent to Jean Dodds in America along with 5 generation pedigrees of all five them and full health histories, the results are the same but I have now got full thyroid profiles of them. This is a familial disease which does not mean they all have to be HT but some are, only testing them will tell. Jean is acknowledged as the world expert on this subject.

Quote Sylvia Evans “Sadly even this is no guarantee that even if clear at time of mating etc, that these dog (s) will not later develop HYPO -T or their puppies...It is important that the Thyroid  antibodies test is undertaken pre mating”    Unquote.

I contacted the owners of my dogs and of as many owners of her grandchildren as I could and told them of the problems,  I cannot make them have them tested but I begged them to do so for the dog’s sake and some have already done so with mixed results in both sexes. Oddly enough the pet owners were on the whole much more keen to have their dogs tested! they did not panic but put their dogs best interests first, some are still young so will need retesting as they get older as this disease often does not show until middle age I understand or can be triggered by different things such as infections, viruses, stress etc if they have the predisposition to become HT. Also according to Jean Dodds you cannot equate human thyroid problems to the canine ones.  There are so many 'grey' areas to this disease and nothing is black and white it appears.

Yummy very recently started to go into failure, she had been coughing increasingly and a heart murmur had already been detected, this can go with HT, her thyroid levels suddenly dropped again even though being supplemented with soloxine, it appears that another health crisis can cause this to happen. She has now seen a heart specialist and her heart is stable now and she is on drugs to help keep it that way but he also found what appears to be a lung infection although it is far from certain, she is on yet more medication and it needs further investigation as to the cause. Yummy was first put on the same drugs that Ginger was on, she has responded to them when Ginger could not, why?  Perhaps because she has already been on soloxine for a year!  Tilly is also on soloxine, when I questioned Jean Dodds who is one of the worlds experts on thyroid problems, as to whether Tilly should be on medication as she showed no real symptoms of HT apart from the blood tests readings Jean was adamant she should be and called her a ‘ticking time bomb’! to wait for symptoms to show could be too late for Tilly, I wouldn’t risk her life by not having her on soloxine at this time and at present they are being tested monthly to keep a strict eye on thyroid levels. Tilly no longer sucks her feet and is much less unpredictable, she even has bloods taken from her neck un muzzled now! It will be interesting to see how bad, or not, her next phantoms will be now her thyroid levels are better. Hopefully now at least two of my girls will make old age without too many other problems although Yummy’s future is still very uncertain at present.

Feeding? dogs I bred and others I have heard about have been fed differently and not all are on complete feeds, some spent their life on Barf  but still developed HT.  We tried to feed Barf but ended up treating for Campylobacter despite feeding the best we could obtain and Tilly refused to eat raw chicken from day one.  I now feed  from the Natural Dog Food Company, on which they are doing very well. I also understand both parents have to carry the gene that can cause Hypothyroidism?. Afghans can have bad phantoms as we all know but after over 50 years in the breed I have never known phantoms as bad as the ones I am seeing nowadays.  Awareness not blame is the key but we do have a responsibility to sell healthy stock so these problems should be discussed more openly. Thankfully many vets are now understanding more about thyroid and other AI problems which helps. As to showing, there is no reason why once HT dogs are stable they should not continue to be shown if they enjoy it and I hear of many dogs that are are shown, and some very successfully.

It has taken over 3 long years, several much loved Afghans and thousands of pounds to discover what is wrong, for us and others this will go on and on.. Since I made our problems public I have been hearing more and more about Hypothyroid dogs but it seems only a few people want to talk openly about this sadly.  If I had not got angry and want the cause treated and not just the symptoms I might never have known but I love this breed and not just my own girls with a passion.

Hazel Cranham

March 2005

Updates

Peanut UK / USA bred,jaundice and many mystery and immune problems, seriously ill for 3 years - died a year ago aged 10 of cancer. Both litters by different unrelated UK sires

Ginger Rogers - Daughter - showed all signs of being HT - Pancreatic problem but diagnosed too late- died aged just 8 years of Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Rhana - Daughter - died Aged 7 years - Pancreatic / spleen cancer

Amber - Daughter - died aged 5 years - leukaemia

Tyron - Son - died aged 6 years - Pneumothorax

Rudi - Son - died aged 7 years - Sudden Heart failure - Died 12 hours after showing first signs of a problem.

Tayha - Daughter - died aged 7 years  - LL torsion / Chylothorax

Amber 2 - Daughter - last heard that at 8 years was seriously ill with mammory cancer in Spain. Died aged 10 years

Oliver - Son - aged 7 had severe Aspergillus diagnosed HT - doing well on Thyroxine now aged 12 1/2 years / medicated with Soloxine for a good while

Yummy - Daughter- ill from the age of two, heart problems, HT. Almost lost from heart failure earlier this year, often has lung infections, heart now reasonably stable aged 11- Update 5-09-08 Yummy is  12 1/2 and still doing well. Yummy has been on Soloxine for a very long time.

Tilly - Daughter - aged 7 years HT, mammary cancer diagnosed Feb 06 - currently having a bleeding disorder investigated. After a years treatment including a mamary strip etc now aged 9 Tilly's thyroid is still being supported and she is very fit and well now Aged 9 years - Update 05-09-08 sadly after 22 months of doing well Tilly has developed cancer again, this time Adenocarcinoma and we lost her 3 weeks after diagnosis - 29th September 2008.

Izzy - Daughter - aged 10 years HT but doing well on Soloxine - benign tumours removed

Kira - daughter - aged 7 years HT - Had a thyroid problem followed by a pancreatic problem. Once treated her thyroid is now recovering.  Update sadly Kira died of Gastric Torsion in 2008 aged 9 years

Crunchie - Grandson - aged 3 years - HT and doing well on Soloxine

Plum - Grand daughter - aged two - thyroid profile shows abnormalities but not yet HT and not yet known if she will become so or not. Needs life long testing. Has recently developed a heart murmer (not echo). Murmer has risen two grades by the age of 4 years. Now aged 5 and no more changes as of yet. Has a serious weight problem which is hard to manage otherwise fine.

Henry - Son aged  10 years - HT, Heart problems - poorly but showing signs of improvement on Soloxine - Updated 2009

Flash - Son aged 8 years - sudden death, cause unknown to breeder

Tango - Daughter died aged 10 years - not informed of cause by owner.

Coco - Daughter - Died aged 9 cause unknown to breeder

Other grandchildren have since died under 6 years of age.

Plus others of Peanuts children and grandchildren diagnosed positive HT, some still untested (foolish) some have had tumours removed. I have not listed all the less serious problems.

God Bless them all but please don't tell me there isn't a problem.

"They are our friends, our partners , our defenders , our dogs. We are, their loves, their leaders. They will be ours, faithful and true, to the last  beat of their hearts. We owe it to them to be worthy of such devotion."