Chow Chow Health Problems
Chows are prone to several health problems and genetic diseases.
1. Hip dysplasia: This is caused by a malformed hip joint that results in the head of the femur bone not fitting perfectly into the hip socket in which the femoral head lies. Often, it leads to pain, lameness and arthritis. However, the good news is that this condition, though congenital, can be treated by surgery.
Since this condition is congenital, dogs with hip dysplasia should not be bred. To ensure you’re taking home a healthy pup, ask if the sire and the dam have been OFA certified, which means that the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals has x-rayed their hips to verify that they do not carry hip dysplasia. You may want to ask to see a copy of the certification, as well.
2. Entropion: Another medical condition Chow Chows suffer from is entropion. Check to see if the puppies or their parents have runny eyes. If so, they may well suffer from entropion, which is a condition caused by eyelid abnormality in which the dog’s eyelids are turned inwards rather than outwards. This irritates the eye and can even lead to your pet turning blind. If detected in time, entropion can be corrected with surgery. If, after you buy your puppy, you do see inflamed or runny eyes or crusty eyelids, you should take him to the veterinarian immediately.
3. Luxating patella: This hereditary condition occurs when the small, flat and mobile bone in the front of your Chow Chow’s knee is dislocated. This problem is more common in overweight Chows, so be sure you keep your dog in shape. This condition can be corrected surgically.
4. Intolerance to anesthesia: Chow owners are often worried about their pets being intolerant to anesthesia, resulting in complications or even death during surgery. This happens because this breed is said to have small hearts in comparison to their body weight. Since anesthesia is given according to body weight, the dog receives a much larger dose than his heart can handle. Always check to be sure your veterinarian knows about this condition before he uses anesthesia on your Chow Chow.
5. Ruptured or torn ligaments: Your Chow Chow has such straight rear legs that there is sometimes too much strain on his ligaments. This results in torn or ruptured cruciate ligaments. Try to avoid having your Chow play or exercise too enthusiastically. If he does injure himself, seek veterinary treatment.
6. Diabetes: One of the most common disorders in dogs is diabetes, which is caused by the body ‘s inability to produce sufficient amounts of insulin. The highest occurrence of diabetes is found in dogs aged five to seven years. Female dogs are affected by this disease more often than males. Keep your dog’s weight under control, since overweight dogs are more likely to have diabetes.
If your Chow Chow drinks more water than usual, urinates more frequently and may even do so within the house, or loses a lot of weight, ask your veterinarian to test him for diabetes. In addition, have your dog examined by the vet every year, and ask for urine and blood tests as part of the routine checkup. The earlier you detect diabetes, the higher the chances of controlling it.
7. Glaucoma: This is a painful and serious optic condition. As pressure within the eye increases, it can lead to blindness. Blindness can set in within 24 hours if the fluid pressure is very high or slowly over weeks and months if mild, but in all cases, it is extremely painful.
Glaucoma may either be inherited or caused by a variety of other eye disorders, such as luxation of the lens, tumors of the eye, and inflammation of the eye.
If you see your dog rubbing away at his red eyes, if his eyes look cloudy, or he is sensitive to light, seek veterinary care immediately. In order to save his sight, immediate surgery is necessary. Initially, your vet may render emergency medical therapy, but then will probably refer him to a large and more specialized veterinary center.
8. Skin, hormonal problems and allergies: Your Chow Chow can also suffer from skin and hormonal problems. Often congenital, these problems are hardly ever obvious to the naked eye in pups. Once again, you should ask the breeder about the parents of the pup to be sure that they do not carry these hereditary problems.
Skin and hormone problems include hot-spots and allergies. If your pet scratches himself a bit too much or has irritated skin that looks red and infected, take him to the vet immediately.
9. Heat prostration: If you leave your pet in a hot area with no ventilation, or out in the sun, he will be very uncomfortable and suffer from heat prostration. He reacts to extremely high humidity, particularly if the temperature rises above 80º.
To avoid heat prostration, keep your Chow cool in a shady area or room on hot days. If he is still uncomfortable, call in your vet. In the meantime, wet him with cold water or towels soaked with cold water.
10. Bloat: If he eats too much, your Chow may suffer from bloat or gastric torsion—a life-threatening and sudden illness caused due to the stomach filling with air and twisting.
I just lost my beloved Chow Chow “Buddy” to stomach cancer last week at the age of 12. The specialist said this horrific disease was common to the breed. I had never heard this before. Can you tell me whether or not that is true and if I could have done anything to prevent it or detected it sooner? Finally, is 12 years of age a reasonable life span for a Chow Chow? I feel robbed of the best friend I’ve ever known. My loss was so sudden and I’m afaid he may have been in pain for quite some time and I missed it. Thank you so very much.
Debralee McGuire - September 25, 2005 10:48 pm
Hi Debra,
According to the Animal Cancer Center, “Chow Chows and Akitas have 10 to 20 times the risk of developing stomach cancer (gastric adenocarcinoma or gastric carcinoma) compared to other dogs.”
Usually, this cancer is too far advanced for the dogs to be cured by the time it is located. Even if you would have had a yearly physical for your dog, complete with bloodwork, your vet may not have found the cancer in time.
However, twelve years is a good life for a dog of this size. In human years, it equals 91 years.
I’m truly sorry for your loss. I know how hard it can be – I lost a three year old Standard Poodle to cancer two years ago.
Free Dog Tips - September 25, 2005 10:52 pm
My 7 year old ChowChow, Tyson, died last night after returning home at 5:00 pm from castration surgery. He was really out of it and although he had not been fed for 24 hours he vomited a brown smelly substance. After he finally was able to get on his four legs, he went outside to urinate and spurted out a strong stream of diarhea. At 10:00 pm he was ok, sleeping. Had been moving from place to place, then at 2:00 am I checked on him and he was dead. He was castrated because one testicle had swollen and then turned hard and Tyson seemed to be in pain some days. Do you think he had anestesia poisoning?
Beverly Black - June 14, 2006 12:54 am
Beverly,
I’m so sorry to hear of your loss. It does sound like he had a reaction to something, but I’m not sure what the symptoms of anestesia poisoning are. I know that most Chows that have complications from anestesia actually never make it out of surgery, while Tyson made it through recovery and came home, but that doesn’t rule a reaction to anestesia out. Can you contact your veterinarian and discuss what happened?
Katelyn
Free Dog Tips - June 15, 2006 12:50 am
Katelyn, Thank you for your response. I live in Costa Rica and the vets here are not as educated and sophisticated as those in the States. So you can immagine how greatful I am for your input. Tyson was brought home to me right after surgery so his recovery was here at my house. Do you have any idea why the vomiting sort of like a bile type vomit as he hadn’t eaten for 24 hours and the forceful spurt of diarhrea. Can you possibly guess what that was all about???
Beverly Black - June 15, 2006 1:44 am
Hi Beverly,
There are so many things that have these symptoms that I think the only way to know what caused them is to do an autopsy and even then there is no guarantee that the vet would be able to pinpoint the exact cause. This site lists the common causes of diarrhea and vomiting: http://www.canismajor.com/dog/intestin.html
Free Dog Tips - June 17, 2006 11:18 pm
My female 1 1/2 yr old, cream colored ChowChow, has had some skin problems, I guess hot spots which seem to be disappearing now but she has lost a lot of hair under her tail, around her anus area. The hair loss is quite visable on her back side. Although her skin is pink she doesn’t seem to have a rash. Could it be she is coming into heat next month? What do you think?
Beverly Black
Beverly Black - August 2, 2006 9:05 pm
Hi Beverly,
It sounds like she may still have hair loss from her skin condition and the hair hasn’t grown back yet. Did you have your vet take a look at her?
Free Dog Tips - August 8, 2006 7:18 am
My chow has hot spots. I cannot find a good vet here in Costa Rica so I’m pretty much on my own.
My question is: I purchased at the pharmacy a cream
Betametasona+Clotrimazol+Neomicina:0.04 g+1.0 g=0.5 g. Was that a bad choice? After researching it on the internet it seems that maybe betametasona could be dangerous. What do you think?
I clean the spots with Bactex antibacterial alcohol gel.
then I apply a medicated powder: anti-bacterial, anticeptic, anti-fungus.
I also dab the open bleeding spots with Bactine.
She has just become pregnant so I’m pretty much affraid of innoculations such as anti inflamatory and antibiotics. Any suggestions are welcome.
Thank you, Beverly
Beverly - October 19, 2006 3:52 am
Hi Beverly,
If you’ve heard it could be dangerous, I wouldn’t use it unless it was prescribed by a vet. My vet recommends medicated shampoos that are formulated to help hot spots, but with your dog being pregnant, you really don’t want to try anything without talking to a veterinarian. Could you consult with a vet over the phone from a nearby town?
Katelyn
Free Dog Tips - October 24, 2006 6:39 am
my 12 year old chowchow seems to be having trouble walking,and sitting. He also seems to have lost his appetite.He seems very stiff aruond his hind legs and he appears to be a little hunched back. Could this be hip problems? Is this common in this breed at old age?
nelson - November 14, 2006 4:58 pm
Hi Nelson,
It sounds like more than hip problems. I’d say it was arthritis except for the loss of appetite, which concerns me. Talk to your vet right away.
Katelyn
Free Dog Tips - November 20, 2006 7:48 pm
I just wanted to make a comment concerning our chow chow. Yogi’s nose was cracking and bleeding for several months. We tried several types of ointments. We started giving her two omega 3 vitamins everyday. After one week we started noticing a difference. Now, after several months, her nose is shiny and normal. I think this vitamin has helped her skin as well.
Bonnie - August 10, 2008 7:59 am
My chow is really skinny and she has food out 24/7 but she doesnt want it..How do we get her off table food? and find a food she likes?or could something else be wrong?
Tasha Linteau - September 9, 2009 3:23 am
i have a 2 r old blue chow named Bear. In Nov last year he started shedding really bad took him to the vet cause it was more than normal. They gave him prenisone it helped no problems till the begining of October this year took him back to vet same thing again gave hime prednisone now the vet said its probably just a seasonal allergy, but he wants to do the hydrothyroid test if it continued but now the hes not really loosing hair he was having bald spots at first but it has grown back. I brush him every other day sometimes everyday. Its not getting any better and the vet visits are getting pricey is their anything i can do at home to try n ease him till i can get him back to the vet??
my e-mal is boomer_7484@yahoo.com of anyone has any tips
Ashley - October 24, 2009 9:46 am
Hello there
I hope you can help with my concern. I have a 17 months chow and at the moment considering to have him castrated. Is it ok at this age and will it affect him after the operation, knowing something is missing.
I am thinking to have this done at the same time for his eyes lids operation, is it better?
Thank you
Yin - March 18, 2010 4:20 pm
my chau dead befor a year, he was almost 5 years old and his name was sean. he was alike my brother.In a weak when he start to vomit till he dead . it was very hard to me that i lost me best frinde.My vet said that he think it was cancer Tumor . do you think that is typical for this kind of dogs?
thank you
almogbm - May 3, 2011 9:35 pm
Our chow chow Amber had a tooth surgically removed about 1 month ago and since then she tires very easily and her breathing is very labored after going about 1 block for a walk. We are concerned about her labored breathing, do you think that this is something to be concerned about? We have called the vet and they don’t seemed concerned but we are. Could the anethetic have done something to her?
Debbie Christie - July 1, 2011 11:02 pm
hello there, im terribly conserned about my Male Chowchow Ollie.. His a black male at the age of a year and 4 months, at the age of 6 months i started to notice that my Ollie was limping, he is very sensitive about his two front legs, i have also noticed that he limps more when its cold and rainy, is this commom in the breed.
I also had 2 chow chows before, male and femail, i had to put both of the to sleep in 2009, they both reached 11/12 years of age! I took my male to my local vet one day when i noticed that he didnt respond to anything, he was lying on the floor crying, i tried helping him up, but his front legs was locked and his hips just gave in, he cried and cried, there was no respose from his eyes.
My vet looked at him and then told me that he had organ failure and that it was to late to do anything and that there was nothing i could possible do to prevent it.
After saying goodbey to my beautifull chow where he was just lying there lifeless and crying, which broke my heart i kept an close eye on my femail.
Unfotunatly it seemed that she started falling into a depression because of her life long buddy that had passed on, i also started to notice that her hips started to give in and that her front legs also became stiff, she was still waliking but she gave up on eating and drinking, i then realised that she is suffering the same and took her to the vet before it started to go worse, what confussed me was this time i took her to a different vet and he had told me that it was just her age.
At the moment i have my Ollie and a 8/9 year old female, i dont want them to suffer this!!!!
I am also terrible concerned about Ollie’s joints…
Charlene Theron
Charlene - December 28, 2011 1:13 am
My 3rd old lab chow mix has been having seizures for close to a ye now. Is this common and am I being told the truth that there’s nothing that can be done for Buddy??
Jacqueline
Jacqueline - January 24, 2012 6:49 pm
hii!
i dont really know how this works but i hope ill get an answer asap
i own a very pretty cream chowchow which is just almost 1 and a half years old and he suffered from many skin problems specially in his neck, its very nasty i dont really know its from what but im really scared this time its spreading i went to many vets they all say its nothing they give me some medicine it works but after 2\3 weeks it comes back again, its more like many pimples and the hair dosn’t grow or it falls off very red and purple places, i really need help please
fatma - February 11, 2012 4:40 am