AngelWhispers

We're thinking of you and Deuce.

The news from OSU sounds hopeful! Sending good thoughts and prayers for Cofax.

Patsie was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy last year when she was 11 years old. The vet said he didn't know how long she had but we started her on Enalapril and he said she may need lasix or one of the other diuretic meds later. So far she's only needed the enalapril but she does get a dental every 6 months because the bacteria from nasty teeth can make the heart disease worse. My vet lightly sedates her for her teeth cleaning, and she always has a week of anbiotics after the dental. Last year she was on deaths door and now at 12 1/2 she's a very active senior lady. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

BJ, I'm so sorry to hear about Pansy Jane...OMG, those pics are adorable and will always put a smile on your face. Cathie, Bill, Jenn and Chris don't ever think the FTH program is wrong. I'm new to your program, but I have 2 of your awesome dogs in my house and they constantly make me smile. Hugs, to you BJ.

Fields had a problem with bacterial overgrowth about 3 years ago and after 6 weeks of getting 1/2 teasp a day sprinkled in his food, he was a new dog. He tends to get flair-ups of IBD so I keep Tylan on hand for him. He's never experienced any side-effects.

Andrea, I am so very sorry. Angus was such a sweet and gentle soul, and I know how much you dearly loved him.

Fields ran until he was 5 with close to 300 races in his career. He's still fast, agile and has no signs of arthritis at 8 years young. Warlock raced around 200 races and at 9 he's just starting to show a little stiffness, but he's still very agile for his age. I believe a lot of problems can be related to how they were fed and supplemented during their career, and also how well put together the dog is(heredity); as LynnM mentioned, and whether it was an injury that caused retirement. Some injuries will slow a dog down for the rest of their life.

Hilda, I'm so sorry. This has been a rough year for you and my thoughts are with you. Run with the wind baby girl.

I just saw this and wanted to make a suggestion. What you're going thru sounds exactly like what I went thru with Patsie. Blood tests, x-rays and she also had abdominal pain. I had a full ultra-sound done...the doc started with her liver, spleen, kidneys and stomach thinking he'd find a tumor because of her stomach pain when palpated so when he couldn't find a thing he looked at her heart. The problem was in the heart and he diagnosed her with cardio myopathy. She takes enalapril once a day and is a new dog!!!! She had lost 10lbs and is now back to a good weight...well maybe a little on the chunky side She was a little over 11 years old at the time and I was scared for the little girl. She just turned 12 this month and acts like a 2 year old, and gives all the big young boys a run for their money. If I remember right the ultra-sound wasn't real expensive, it's non-invasive( she did need to be sedated because she was being a pain in the rear ) and without the ultra-sound we all would still be wondering what the problem was, because her heart sounded good when 2 docs listened. It never occurred to them that it could be the problem and the u-s showed that the heart wasn't pumping the blood correctly. I would definitely go with the ultra-sound. Also I didn't read the whole thread but I supplemented Patsie's kibble with Satin balls or "fat burgers" is what I call them here. It stimulated her appetite, helped put her lost weight on plus some, and made it easy to hide her pill.

Patsie, 12 yrs old had severe knuckling and weakness. I had a full set of x-rays done and we found a severe compression of the C7and T1 vertebrae. The vet was a little surprised because thats not normally where greys get neck problems and/or back problems. Patsie does great with metacam as needed and her knuckling and weakness are only periodic now, and it's usually after she's been out running and playing with "her boys". If you haven't run tests or had a full set of spinal x-rays done, I wouldn't assume that the knuckling and weakness are caused from a neuro problem.

Diane, I'm so sorry! My heart broke for you when I saw Goods' name. I know there aren't any words to comfort you right now, so I'm sending hugs and prayers.

Mary, I'm so very sorry.

I went thru this last year with my Bridge Angel, Wanda. She was 11 1/2. I highly recommend an ultra-sound before anything else, and the aspirated fluid should have been sent out to a lab to determine what's in the fluid. When Wanda started bleeding there were nucleated cells in the aspirated fluid, and that pretty much told the dr. that the tumor had ruptured. When Wanda had her first aspirant there were no nucleated cells, and an ultra-sound of her liver showed 2 nodules and a healthy spleen...I wasn't given the option of surgery or I would have gone for it. Nobody told me I could have saved her life by having the surgery done. Anyway, she survived for 10 more months until the cancer spread to her spleen and the tumor ruptured. If you can afford it, I would get an ultra-sound and then surgery. Your guy is young and has a good chance of survival. Sending prayers

The meds seem to be helping the princess, she's eating regular meals again. I didn't have to go thru everything in the pantry and refrigerator to find what her highness would find appealing, and I didn't have to syringe feed her prescription food. Last night she ate her regular kibble dinner with a tbsp of canned mixed in, same for breakfast this morning. She was hungry early...she woke me up at 5:30am to go outside and then she wanted breakfast...she usually doesn't get her pretty head out of bed before 8am. Did you know it's dark at 5:30am? Tonight she ate her dinner with gusto and it was just her plain kibble dampened with warm water. This afternoon Patsie even went out and chased her boys around the yard and did her routine barking to get them moving. Last week she could hardly get herself out to the yard to potty. It's wonderful to see her getting back into her normal bossy princess routine, and the boys loved having her out herding them around the yard again. I just hope she hasn't decided that 5:30am is now the new wake-up time!! On the 25th she goes back to Dr. Pearce for a check-up and dental...I'm a bit nervous about the dental because of her heart. I'm not going to feel totally relieved until she gets through that...then maybe I can relax a bit. It's been a challenging 2 weeks. Brooke had a dental 2 weeks ago and almost hemorrhaged to death while the vet's office was closed for lunch...that's a whole different story. She's fine now, but it was a scary 24 hours and not something I wish to repeat. Thanks everyone for the thoughts and prayers, now we need to get her through her dental next week. At least she'll hopefully be a little healthier since she's eating again.

Patsie has been acting just like Freddie. She got so thin and I felt like I had an anorexic teenager and she barely ate enough to stay alive. She's on cipro so she can have her teeth cleaned next week, and the dr put her on a heart medication. After 48 hours on the meds and she's a new girl. Praying that Freddie just needs a little "tune-up" and he'll be back to his old self again. I can't believe he's 15...it seems like yesterday he was living in the closet. Hugs from TN

We're finally back. Dr. Pearce did ultrasounds on Patsie's liver, spleen, pancreas, kidneys and couldn't find anything...her organs are actually in good shape. He took x-rays also and her lungs are clear and her bowels and intestines were good. Her blood-work was excellent. He decided that since he had her knocked out he'd take a look at her heart and that's where he says the problem is...I think he said cardiomyopathy. I was so relieved to hear there wasn't cancer or tumors anywhere that I might not have heard the diagnosis correctly. Anyway she's on enalapril for her heart and cipro...something(an antibiotic) for her mouth. Her teeth need to be cleaned but they're not too bad. She's going back to see Dr. Pearce on the 25th so he can check how she doing on the enalapril and have her teeth cleaned. He said the enalapril should make her feel like eating. We'll see how that goes. Anyway, gotta go. She's really groggy from the valium and her back legs don't want to cooperate for her, so I've been sitting with her to keep her calm. I'll update later or tomorrow. Keep the prayers coming. Thanks everyone.

I miss you too. I had planned on coming up for your event, but Patsie had other plans for me. I might come up for GPA's event next month...we'll see how things go.

Patsie is feeling a little better this evening. She must be feeling better because she went to the pantry for her bedtime snack. Every evening after last turn-out she gets a snack that I keep in the pantry, so she'll go wait and whine in front of the pantry door until I take care of her Highness. Sometimes she wants a cookie and sometimes she wants a cup of kibble. She waited and whined until I got her a cup of kibble and put it on her blankie. She didn't want a cookie just her kibble....she ate half of it and then tried to bury the rest in her blankie. She hasn't wanted a bedtime snack for almost 2 weeks.

I just spoke with Dr. Pierce and Patsie is seeing him Fri. morning. He wants to do an ultra-sound and new blood-work. He suspects she might have a tumor since she doesn't have symptoms of IBD or pancreatitis. My vet mentioned the same thing...not what I wanted to hear. In the meantime Dr. Pierce wants me to continue with the tramadol to keep her comfortable, and keep trying to get her to eat. Keep those prayers coming. We know what the power of GTers can do.

I called Dr. Pierce and he's going to call me back to discuss some options before I haul her into Memphis. I'll let you know what he says. Thanks and keep Patsie in your prayers.

No vomiting, no diarrhea...stool is a little soft but not surprising considering the way she's been eating. The vet did blood-work and it's normal, he did a fecal and there's no blood or parasites. He checked her teeth and they're good. I asked about putting her on an antibiotic for her tummy...something like metro, or tylan in case it was IBD, but he wanted to wait...for what I'm not sure.

I found a vet in Lexington to take care of the houndies...he's caring, didn't mind that I gave him a copy of Care of the Racing and Retired Greyhound and told him to read it, and he called my WI vet to get anesthesia protocol for Brooke's dental. But...Patsie isn't well and has stopped eating, she has abdominal pain on palpation, she has 103 temp, and she's lost 7lbs in 12 days. My vet doesn't have an ultra-sound machine and says an x-ray probably wouldn't show anything. He says there isn't anyone in the Jackson area that he would feel comfortable recommending, and that if I want an ultra-sound done I need to take her to Memphis. He mentioned Dr. Pierce, but wasn't sure if he could do an abdominal exploratory if needed. I think my vet is reluctant to do much because of Patsie age, but she was healthy and sassy up until Labor day weekend and then she just suddenly refused to eat. I'm not willing to just give up on her until I find out the cause of her tummy ache. The vet gave me some Hill's A/D and I spoon feed her about 2-2 1/2 small cans of that a day, and then she doesn't want any more. She'll eat a 4 oz container of Activia...mixed berry is her favorite. And depending on her mood, I can sometimes get her to eat some slightly warmed chicken gizzards. She has Tramadol for pain, but it really doesn't seem to make a difference. Does anyone know Dr. Pierce? Would they recommend him or someone else? I need a vet that's equipped to run tests and make decisions, and not just take a wait and see approach. I've done that and it's not working! Thanks everyone and keep Patsie in your thoughts and prayers. She's 11 years young and I want to keep her around a while longer.

Last year Fields (6 yr old at time) was diagnosed with bacterial overgrowth and his B-12 was very low and we weren't sure of the cause. He gave me a scare because of blood in his very loose stool. My vet opted to treat him with 3 weeks of Tylan powder and 6 weeks of B12 shots that I gave at home, and I went to a food with a single source of protein for easy digestion. I noticed an improvement in Fields after the 1st injection. He had lots of energy, and his eyes brightened up and he was more alert. By the end of the 6 weeks Fields had gained his weight back plus a little extra, had firm stools after the 2nd injection, and was a new man with a new attitude. A dog that has an absorbtion problem for whatever reason will have soft stools, have a lower energy and alertness level, be hard to keep weight on, or eat lots without gaining or even lose weight even though he/she is eating good. Fields was eating me out of house and home, and losing weight. Fields is healthy, looks good, has firm stools, and loves to run. I say give Filbert a 6 week round of injections. My vet gave Fields the 1st one in the office and then sent me home with syringes all made up and ready to go. They only need to be stored in a dark place. I am wondering why your vet is recommending so many injections. Fields' cobalamin was almost non-existent and we only did 6 weeks and that brought it up within the normal range, actually it was high normal. Good luck

Per my vet, 1 mg per lb is the correct dosage and can be given every 8 hours. Warlock takes 75 mg every 8 hours and he weighs about 77lbs.

Oh Nancy, I'm so very sorry!!! I know how sad you and Bob must be feeling right now, but you did what was best for Major Turn. Give Bob, June Bug and Carla a hug from me. Run with the angels, Major Turn.