Dr. Court has just published a paper identifying what he believes is the main mutation (CYP2B11-H3) that causes slow drug metabolism in Greyhounds, and he has found that Deerhounds have the same mutation. Although he still has some work to do to confirm this, this is very exciting news for us.

Research by Dr. Michael Court at Washington State University is studying the genetic causes of several anesthesia-related health problems in Deerhounds, including hyperfibrinolysis (delayed post-operative bleeding), hyperthermia (anesthesia and/or stress related), and slow drug metabolism (anesthesia and sedative sensitivity). We have supported Dr. Court both with a direct grant as well as with some of our CHF funds to support this project.

We are very lucky this year, as Dr. Court is the health speaker at the 2020 National Specialty in Richland, Washington. Please join us for what is going to be a very interesting talk, which will cover all three of the studies he is doing on Deerhounds, including some great progress made on slow-drug metabolism. Dr. Court will also be doing cheek swabs for DNA at the show.

Samples Needed: If you have a dog that had an adverse event from a drug used for anesthesia, sedation, or pain relief or experienced delayed post-operative bleeding, please consider participating in these studies. Email Dr. Court for a cheek swab kit.