I have a 9-year-old part Shar-Pei bitch named Reno, who had her first bout with what I suspect to be Shar-Pei fever. She came down with is suddenly this Saturday, her fever spiking at 104 degrees. I made sure she was kept warm, and administered aspirin. But, otherwise, I was helpless. By Sunday morning, she was fine. Is there anything, diet-wise, or medication-wise that can prevent or lessen the impact of this disease? I want to keep Reno with me as long as I can.

theres a lot of info on the web----i also think you have to get the temperature down----not keep her warm, there is medication to help if it starts to happen often, good luck,

Dizzy, thank you for your reply. The aspirin did the trick, and, luckily, this time the fever was short-lived. I have read of Shar-Pei fever on the web, and will speak to Reno's vet about the options. She's a very special girl, and I want to keep her in the best health I can for as long as I can.

Sandy.....you are lucky to get your pei to 9 yrs old before having her first fever. The first thing to do when this happens is give her a coated aspirin & keep her as cool as you can. If she feels very hot, then you can keep bathing her underside & armpits with a cool cloth & don't let her lie on something furry etc.... The most important thing is to get her temperature down, apart from that, there isn't a great deal that you can do. Some people take them to the vets, but most don't know anything about pei fevers & can't do anything extra to what you can do at home. I must stress though, if you are concerned about her or she is showing signs on severe illness or convulsions then you must contact the vet as soon as possible. Some vets recommend putting them on Colchicine, but i wouldn't use this as there are several side effects to this drug & most vets in the US won't prescribe it now. If this is her first one at 9 yrs old, then you might be lucky & she might never have another one. Feel free to contact me if you need further help, or are interested in joining a shar pei health list........Sue.

Sue, I suspect she has had it before, and it has been misdiagnosed. She has not had it often, which is a blessing in itself. She's fine now, as regal and loveable as ever. I have coated aspirin on hand, and will watch her closely for a recurrance.

Hi Sue, I read your reply about Shar-Pei fever, I have a 4yr old bitch "Ruby" and she has been having these attacks for about three years but not very often. But, she has had a couple of attacks recently. One about 8 weeks ago and another one last night, she seems a bit better today but is not her normal self and has not eaten breakfast and gone back to bed.
I have found in the past there isn't very much one can do, but I was interested to read about giving coated aspirin, do you get that from the chemist and what strength do you give and how often ?

I lost my first Sha-pei last year when the fever sometime extends into amyloidosis as it did in his case and we couldn't save him. I have now got another male "Dudley" who is nearly 8 mths I just hope he doesn't get it.

I would be interested in joining a Shar-pei health list so perhaps you would be kind enough to let me have details.

Many thanks for any help you can give me. Mike

Mike.....i mailed you privately, let me know if you don't receive it.....Sue.

Sue: There is a controversy in my county about giving older dogs rabies shots. Some vets recommend it, some say it can kill an older dog. I'm wondering if anyone has any info regarding the correlation between the rabies vaccine and shar-pei fever.

Hi,
If shar-peis in the UK get shar-pei fever as well (do they, Dizzy?) then it can't be due to the rabies vaccine, because dogs in the UK aren't vaccinated against rabies.
:)

jeanie---its in the breed throughout------weve no idea if any in a litter we breed might be affected, --theyve spent loads in the usa trying to find the genetic link, as yet i dont think they have it, so theres no test for it-------you would never breed from anything that exhibited the problem, ---but it can pop up anywhere, in any litter.
its such a shame as its such a lovley breed, and the breeders have come a long way with it. --this is why we advise everyone thinking of owning a pei to read as much as possible----and all the health issues, as with the best will in the world a breeder might find they have problems in any litter. --- as weve no way of preventing it at the minute :(

Hi J/G, theres a theory that over vaccination has/is damaging the programming of healthy dna cells, then that damage is being passed on to to future generations leaving the immune system & any susceptability for auto immune diseases even more weakened. So dogs exported from USA or anywhere else that insists on rabies vacc. may already have their immune systems weakened from previously over vaccinated generations.
Thats the theory, hope you understand my not very good explanation :)

Christine, Spain.

Thanks for the explanation, Christine! Is the rabies vaccine thought to have this effect on all breeds, or just shar-peis? If so, the the pet passport scheme is surely a disaster?

It`s a very simplified explanation J/G but the best I can do :o not good at remembering all the technical details :D
Yes it`s for all breeds although as you know, some breeds have more of a susceptibility to certain diseases than others. The vaccines act as a trigger for them, so it could be compared with russian roulette & you just don`t know which dog it will trigger the disease in or the damage to the immune system it will cause.
Rabies vacc is known for causing damage, so I would think it probable more probs will show up now people using the pet passport are having their dogs done with the rabies vacc. Thing is tho, how many will put 2+2 together?

Christine, Spain.

For some people, Christine, that's Higher Mathematics!
:)

LOL@ J/G :D

Christine, Spain.

Hi Sandy, I don`t know anything about shar pei fever but I do know it`s a fact that only healthy dogs should receive any vaccines. I think I`m right in saying it`s an auto immune disease? therefore that disqualifies him. Here`s a link below for you to have a read & make your mind up yourself.

http://www.kavishi.freeserve.co.uk

Christine, Spain.

Sandy......as you now know, we don't vaccinate for rabies in the UK, so i can't really comment on whether doing this regime on an older dog will make any difference as regards to the fevers etc... Your best bet would be to join a shar pei health list, they are mostly US breeders & would be able to give you their input. Everytime we import a shar pei into quarantine, they have to have a rabies vaccine on arrival, regardless of whether they were up to date in the US or not. We have imported 8 shar pei now through quarantine & none of them have had any effects whatsoever from the rabies vaccine. I also have a male arriving on the pet passport next year, but he won't have to have the rabies on arrival as he will only be at the kennels a couple of days.

I have a 6 year old Shar-Pei bitch named SiSi - she has been diagnosed with Swollen hock syndrome - temperature has been consistent the last month but the actual swelling of the Hocks has been painful and not her normal self.
She has been put on human gout medication named ColGout without much change !!
This is going to sound bizarre but a Chinese Herbal practitioner suggested "Chinese Pearl Barley" soak over night then cook up into  porridge type consistency.
After three days of about one cup with tuna or vegetables the swelling in the hocks has all but disappeared !!!
The swelling was very very pronounced and very noticeable to everyone even to the extent people were constantly commenting on them.
Not saying this will reduce fever but definitely reduce swelling and her demeanor is back to normal and has been running around without pain and socializing with all the other dogs !! Not typical know but thats her personality - she actually socializes with many breeds except German Sherpards.
It has to be Chinese Dried Barley - not normal European Barley

I have been owned by this wonderful breed for about 22 years and have lost one with kidney failure at nearly 4 years old,she started with fevers from about 10 months old.
I hope and pray that one day a test will be found,until then I will NOT have another shar-pei.
Wombata you say its "not typical" for a shar-pei to socialise,my girl mixes with all sorts of different breeds everyday without a problem.
Wish I had heard about the barley before, I would have tried anything to eliviate the swelling for my poor girl

Hi Sue

I have two sharpeis,  one male and one female, they both get the fever and have re-occuring bouts - too often!!!!  Hugo the male seems not to be too severe with it, however Dottie (the bitch) reached a temperature of 107 and had to be put onto a drip at the vets, she has since had a further two bouts of this (thankfully not so serious), however within the space of one month, she is only 20 months old, the male is controlled quite simply with an asprin and couple of hours rest, whilst Dotties cases seem to be much more severe...  Do you have any advice as this illness really does worry me, is it wise to look into Colchicine.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi....i gave up breeding shar pei 4 yrs ago due to the ongoing health problems & i felt that the breed was going downhill.  I personally would not go down the colchicine road with the fever issues....all i ever used on my girl was the aspirin & kept her comfortable...this is what most breeders do. You cannot stop the fevers from happening & i don't feel that any specific medication has been proven to alleviate the condition. It's a very frustrating & sad situation for any pei owner...you are very unlucky to have 2 that suffer from fevers...especially with your girl reaching a temp of 107...that is exceptionally high. They can of course live to a ripe age even with fevers but most of the time the long term outlook isn't that great....hope you don't think i am being too negative...just speaking from experience. The best you can do is love them for the time they are here & treat the fevers as they arrive. Good luck.         

I find it eerie that this 8-year old thread was resurrected at the same time as a certain producer of a certain programme was going on about Shar-peis......

Good to see that you are still around Sue!

Margot

I think we've been here too long!! :(

Just caught up with this thread and would like to comment on the rabies vaccination.
I had a fit, healthy dog coming up 11 years of age. She was always prone to a sensitive stomach but we  never quite knew the trigger. It wasn't food related as she was on the same food all the time and yet one day you could wake up and her stomach was off and could go off for a couple of days. We decided to buy some property in France to eventually retire to so had to have all the dogs pet passported. The first vaccines were done, then the second and then the blood test. Shola's blood test failed and I was invited back to the Vets to have her checked over. The Vet found no problems so gave her her third vaccine. She was then blood tested positive. Great, until the dreaded day approximately one month later when we felt her glands up in her neck. Lymphoma! She and we found hard to save her but unfortunately the inevitable happened. I am convinced to this day that because she had a sensitive stomach her immune system was compromised and therefore she wasn't able to fight the Lymphoma. I have discussed this with my Vet who at least does listen and can see my point of view. I feel that 'maybe'  the vaccine was enough to bring down her immune system at a time when she was vulnerable. Also having three vaccines may just have been enough to overload her system. Only my point of view but I do wonder if other people have had similar and not been able to put two and two together.