Lifespan and Causes of Death in the Irish Wolfhound - Vetsuisse ...

It is interesting to notice that even though they are usually considered sighthounds,
Irish Wolfhounds in this study had values similar to non-sighthound breeds rather
than Greyhounds, which are routinely used as a reference for all sighthound breeds.
The only significant difference was the platelet count, which was lower than the
values found in non-sighthounds, but higher than the values reported in Greyhounds.
The authors suggest thus that Greyhound reference values should not be used for
Irish Wolfhound blood (Clark and Parry 1997). However, it should also be pointed out
that the relatively low number of dogs as well as the geographic isolation of the
population might have had an effect on these results.
3.13.2 Blood Pressure
Blood pressure reference values were established in n=158 non-sedated Irish
Wolfhounds of normal body condition score that had passed a clinical cardiovascular
examination and an electrocardiogram and whose clinical history as given by the
owner did not indicate any signs of cardiovascular disease (Bright and Dentino 2002).
Measures were taken repeatedly at the coccygeal artery, using the oscillometric
technique. Mean systolic pressure was found to be 116.0 mm Hg, mean diastolic
pressure was 69.2 mm HG, and mean arterial pressure was 87.8 mm Hg. There was
no significant difference in systolic blood pressure between standing and recumbent
Wolfhounds, but diastolic pressure was slightly, yet significantly lower in standing
animals as compared to animals in lateral recumbency.
A highly significant effect (P24 months old), with older animals having a tendency to have
increased blood pressure within this cohort. However, no such correlation was found
in animals