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Operation News – September 2025

Is a Greyhound a Dog?

What happens when you take a little DNA from a dog, cat, horse, llama and sprinkle it with a bit of alien, then mix it in a blender? A big, beautiful greyhound, of course! This analogy is often used by greyhound expert Guillermo Couto, DVM. The point of his analogy is that greyhounds are different from other breeds.

Let’s discuss a few key differences in the breed and how they can affect medical care.

The “Heart” of the Matter

Greyhound hearts are different from those of other dogs due to the breed’s athletic nature. Compared with other breeds, a greyhound’s heart is huge (very close to the size of our hearts). Many veterinarians unfamiliar with greyhounds believe they have heart murmurs when they hear a noise typically generated by turbulent blood flow in a diseased heart. For a greyhound, however, the noise is generated because of the massive amount of blood pushed through the heart with every beat, and is not usually an indication of a heart problem. Likewise, greyhounds often have blood pressures on the high side of normal and have slower heart rates than other dogs, again due to their athletic nature. At rest, a heart rate of 60-90 beats per minute is normal, but it may increase if the hound is excited such as at the veterinarian’s office.  

Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve “Spleen”

A greyhound’s spleen is typically larger than that of other breeds due to its unique physiology, which is designed for intense athletic performance. The spleen acts as a reserve of extra red blood cells, which can be deployed into the bloodstream on demand to increase oxygen-carrying capacity during a race. 

Only the Vampire Knows

Our greyhounds have different blood values compared to other breeds. Some notable examples are:

  • *Red Blood Cell (RBC) Count: Greyhounds have significantly higher RBC counts, hemoglobin and packed cell volume (PCV). This is a crucial athletic adaptation for carrying more oxygen to their muscles.
  • *White Blood Cell (WBC) and Platelet Counts: Greyhounds often have naturally low WBC and platelet counts. This physiological difference is thought to make “room” in the bloodstream for the increased RBC load.
  • *Kidney Values: Greyhounds typically show higher serum creatinine and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) levels. This is attributed to their large muscle mass, not kidney disease.
  • *Thyroid Hormone (T4): Their thyroid hormone (T4) levels are normally about half that of other breeds, which does not indicate hypothyroidism and should not be supplemented unless clinical signs of the condition are present.

These are just a few examples of how our hounds are different from other breeds. The more you know, the better equipped you’ll be to advocate for your hound. Idexx has an excellent greyhound breed-specific reference, which can be found here. Why not print a copy the next time your hound has a vet appointment?  

Always moving forward,

Nancy

Nancy Lynberg is the Operations Director of Southern Arizona Greyhound Adoption and can be reached at nancy@sagreys.org.