WHIPPET HEALTH
The Whippet Club of Scotland has appointed a Health Officer to monitor the health of our breed, should you experience any problems with your whippet, please do not hesitate to get in contact with her. This will be of great help to the future health of the breed.
Marie Whyte can be contacted through our Contact Us page above
Marie Whyte can be contacted through our Contact Us page above
The whippet is generally a long-lived healthy breed, they are still used for the purpose for which they were originally bred, an efficient hunter of rabbit, a racing dog, a lure-coursing dog, and even an agility and obedience dog. Truly a versatile breed kept free from any physical exaggeration that can lead to poor health.
When looking to purchase a whippet puppy it would be wise to look for a breeder who is a member of one of the Whippet Clubs, the clubs have a code of ethics to which all their members should adhere. (The Code of Ethics is detailed on this website) This should go a long way to ensuring a good relationship between a prospective owner and the breeder
In December 2008 The Kennel Club asked that each Breed Club appointed its own Health Officer in order to monitor the incidence of any health problems and report these to The Kennel Club. The clubs were also asked to report the most often encountered conditions in the Breed.
Although the whippet is on the whole a healthy breed we cannot afford to be complacent as whippets can be affected by certain conditions, this does not mean they are commonplace but that they have been reported in the breed. The Health Survey conducted by the Kennel Club in 2004 reported cardiac (heart) problems in their many forms to be the most common cause of death after old age, followed by immune-mediated diseases.
The Whippet Breed Council has appointed a Health Co-ordinator who will collate all the information currently being gathered by the individual breed clubs and this will then be discussed by the Breed Council and forwarded to the Kennel Club.
If you would like more information on Health matters in the breed or to report a health problem then please contact Marie Whyte.
Link to sites of further information regarding whippet health - http://whippet-health.co.uk/