Category: Advice

For those of you with dogs, especially galgos and greyhounds, Sandra Baas of Baas Galgo has some advice on keeping the canines calm.

This is what The Bright Eyes Society says you should do if you come across a case of animal cruelty in Spain.

Mo Swatek is founder and president of Pro-Galgo. She lives and works in Spain and has considerable experience of the plight of the galgos, as well as all the other abandoned dogs there. Her association has rehomed many of their rescued dogs abroad, including the UK where the DEFRA requirements of taking a dog into the UK are very strict.

She has written an explanation (in Spanish and German) on her website of the procedures to be followed by the shelters and refuges in Spain with regard to the microchipping and vaccination of all and any dogs which are intended to be taken out of Spain for rehoming, including their transportation, and it is up to the different rescue associations to make sure that, for every dog they take, its EU canine passport and paperwork are correct.

She says ‘ I work only and exclusively with people that are members of PRO-GALGO INTERNATIONAL and can be trusted. I was fed up of being cheated by rescue groups, not paid, not receiving any adoption fees and not having any information about the whereabouts of our ex dogs… and finding out that no home checks had been done etc etc’.

Everyone is concerned to help the galgos and podencos escape their lives of hell in Spain, but it is vital that all of us who take one of these deserving and loving dogs check as far as we possibly can that their paperwork is in order, including the passport carrying a photo of the dog.

So many of you have followed the regular updates on the progress of Karmel’s health, since we first visited the vet with her in April 2008. What killed her?

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30/01/09 Update on Karmel, my galga Espagnol, who has been suffering from a terrible genetic disease for nearly a year now.

We have been backwards and forwards to the vet. Karmel had been doing very well on Megasolene, 3/4 pill morning and evening. We then introduced Imurel, which is the human treatment for this disease, which does not have any side effects. Unfortunately, after a week, the disease started to break out on Karmel’s face again. We therefore had to increase the dose of megasolene to control this.

On Wednesday Karmel’s breathing rose to 19 per minute, not exhorbitantly high, but also noisy. Straight off to the vet again. Blood test and X-ray.

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Update on Karmel 22/12/08

Karmel visited the vet again last week, for a 2nd blood sample for analysis. The results of this blood analysis will be compared with the one a month ago, to see what effect, if any, the megasolene medication is having on her liver.

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Update on Karmel 17/11

Karmel has been on 1 Megasolene tablet per day for the past couple of months, and this has kept the Pemphigus Foliaceous symptoms from reappearing. Her hair is slowly growing back where she previously suffered hair loss from the pistules, and with a daily spray of Humiderm, her skin is less dry. In herself she is a normal happy galga.

Yesterday she had another trip to the vet, for more tablets and to give a blood sample.

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Regular visits to the vet with Karmel are still necessary as we try to find the minimum dosage of megasolene for the maximum control of this disease. She was down to 1 tablet every other day, but lesions started appearing on her beautiful face, so we had to up the dose to 2 tablets per day for a week.

That week finishes today, and from tomorrow the dosage is reduced to 1 1/2 tablets per day for 3 weeks. If this keeps the disease under control, we will try 1 tablet per day.

I have been contacted by someone else whose dog has been diagnosed with pemphigus foliaceous and it is interesting to compare notes.

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Karmel is losing hair all over her body, as the pistules from her illness dry up. I have used comfrey for hair restoration on my horses, when they have had an injury involving hair loss, but, it’s sticky, so no good for a dog which lies down sleeping much of the day! Can anyone recommend a natural remedy which I can buy in France, which will help restore the hair and return my galga to her beauty?

Update on Karmel – 02/08

We visited our vet this morning to discuss the results of the biopsy. The diagnosis is Pemphigus Foliaceus, a genetic skin disease. This is a good site to read about it.http://www.dermvet.com/pemphigusfoliaceus.htm

Interestingly, research has shown that 6.3 years is the age of a dog when the disease manifests itself. Karmel is 6.

Treatment is lifelong. to help her auto immune system keep the disease in check.

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