Author: Dr. Vidt

Medial Luxations Often these are termed “congenital” due to the fact they occur early in life and are not associated with trauma. Luxation may not be present at birth but the anatomical deformities that predispose to these luxations are present at that time and are responsible for later problems. The occurrence of medial patellar luxation is characterized by: Coxa vera — which is a decreased angle of inclination of the femoral neck. Genu varum — in which the distal third of the femur is bowed medially. A shallow trochlear sulcus with poorly developed or absent medial ridge. A hypoplastic medial...

      The kidneys consist of millions of nephrons in each kidney. A nephron has a filtration unit called teh glomerulus. Here there is intimate contact between blood vessels and the kidney cells which allows the exchange of waste products or protein metabolism from the blood to the urine. We routinely measure some of these waste products in the blood called the BUN and the Creatinie. From the glomerulus, the urine proceeds to the kidney tubules. The cells lining the tubules reabsorb some materials in the urine which the body wants to save such as glucose, albumin, etc. and also adjust...

A periodic fever syndrome characterized by a long history of episodic fever attacks. Attacks occur every 4-8 weeks and last 3-7 days. Clinical signs include lymphadenopathy, abdominal pain and diarrhea, headache, hepato/splenomegaly, arthralgia/arthritis, and skin lesions. Laboratory findings reveal acute phase response with high C-reactive protein levels, leukocytosis, increased TNFa, IL-6 and IFN?. Also increased levels of anti-inflammatory substances IL-1ra, sTNFR p55 and sTNRF p75. Most typical is an elevation of IgD with many showing an elevation of IgA as well. Treatment involves use of anti-inflammatory drugs including colchicine. It is an autosomal recessive hereditary disease with mevalonate kinase the...

This seems to be an uncommon syndrome that I’m seeing in young Shar-Pei. These pups have excessive wrinkling and overdone heads. At some point moderate to severe itching develops with excoriations due to self-trauma the result. In addition the skin becomes excessively scaly with serum exudation drying on the surface as crusts. I suspect these individuals have excessively high levels of hyaluronan (mucin) which can lead to inflammation of the skin. In one article it was demonstrated that Shar-Pei have five fold higher levels of hyaluronan than other dog breeds. It is also known that hyaluronan (HA) can broken down...

Hyaluronan (HA) also known as hyaluronic acid, hyaluronate and mucin is a polysaccharide composed of repeating disaccharides of glucuronic acid and N-acetylglucosamine. Hence hyaluronan belongs to the family of glycosaminoglycans. An HA molecule can be made up of hundreds to thousands of these repeat sugar units. HA tends to maintain the status of a viscoelastic solution or paste depending on the concentration and size of the molecules. These long molecules tend to aggregate into mesh works. In solution HA molecules assume a complex ribbon coil structure. A good analogy would be Jell-O®. When Jell-O® is diluted with too much water...

THE CHINESE HISTORY OF THE SHAR-PEI There is no direct evidence to indicate the Chinese Shar-Pei, as we know it today, is an ancient breed. There is much evidence to support the theory that Hong Kong dog breeders developed the breed in the 1960’s by crossbreeding the Chinese Fighting Dog with several breeds including the Boxer, the Bloodhound, Bulldog and possibly others. Consider the following documents: Letter from the Hong Kong Kennel Club to R.G. Horsnell dated July 15, 1975 concerning dropping the Chinese Fighting Dog from its registry due to crossbreeding and deviation from type. This letter is found...

I consider the following steps when finding and selecting a Shar-Pei puppy: Deciding if you want a Shar-Pei puppy Try to find out as much about the breed as possible before you start looking for a new pup. This involves reading books about the breed, talking to people who own Shar-Pei and checking on the Internet. The Chinese Shar-Pei Club of America has a web site at www.CSPCA.com and my web site at www.drjwv.com has a lot of useful information including a listing of Shar-Pei books and a listing of Shar-Pei health problems. The Shar-Pei does have some unique health...

    The proper diet is very important for the life and health of your Shar-Pei. Most pets become overweight and inactive if they are allowed to choose their own diet. A fat dog is not a healthy dog and will have a greatly decreased lifespan.       RECOMMENDATIONS: Puppy diets with or without water are best until the pup is 4-6 months old. Stick with brand name diets such as Iams, Purina, Pedigree and others. Currently I like the puppy diets for large breed puppies made by Eukanuba® (Iams) and Purina. These diets help to maintain a slower growth rate....

Puppies open their eyes at about 7 – 10 days of age. In Shar-Pei, this is often when the first symptoms of entropion appear. Typically the puppies open their eyes, but quickly they begin squinting and closing them. Often there is a mucous eye discharge and these puppies usually don’t eat well or gain weight like their littermates. EYE TACKING is a temporary measure in which sutures (stitches) are placed in the eye lids to roll the lids “out” of the eyeball. Often this can be done without anesthesia in very young puppies (2-4 weeks of age). Sometimes gas anesthesia...