GreytHurleyDawg

I am so sorry to hear the news about Rocky, I am just reading this thread now. I am sad all that testing was less than helpful. Please give Rocky a bunch of kisses and I hope his pain meds work while everything gets figured out!!

Many good thoughts and big hugs for Vinny!! I hope it's just a sprain or something that will heal......get some rest, dear Vinny!

The only update I happily have to report is that his ALT was mildly elevated. This is a liver-specific enzyme in dogs and usually is elevated because of a toxin. He had a 147 (normal 5-105). So, we will repeat that in a few weeks/months. It is slightly possible he ate something bad, that we still do not know of. I almost hope that's what it was (assuming he can't eat whatever it was anymore....) Hurley has been fantastic since then: he is definitely happy with life! I hope my heart dog will be okay for a long, long time!! Thank you so much for your generous thoughts!

We are back from the vet and he thinks it was a petit mal seizure. We got baseline bloodwork done to check for any changes and will continue to monitor the situation. If he has one once every 6 months lasting only for a short period, we probably won't do anything more, pending the lab findings. He may never (I hope!) have one again. Obviously, many greyhounds have seizures and many of you will know a whole lot about it. But it scares me to think it could happen while we are gone at work for 8 or more hours. We were told to keep a log of the pre-ictal, ictal and post presentation and also to videotape it if we could. I guess Jim and I will be going to State Fair today for awhile since things are fine. Hurley is 7 and about a month ago, had a tail dislocation. The C3/C4 disc in his spine had shifted upwards and was causing a lot of pain. We were given tramadol and rimadyl for the pain and it was fine within a few days. we weren't sure if maybe there was a connection between these two events but vet didn't think so. He just walked over to give me kisses and I gave him some scritches. Hurley is such a compassionate and sensitive hound. I will never have another like him!!

I looked at the vestibular disease link...there are some similarities there. I just hope everything will be alright. Luckily, I have the next three days off. The best thing about the regular vet is that they are very calm, versus the e-vet. At the e-vet, we would be talking about rescusitation choices, if it came to that. We gave him a half-portion of kibble/dinner and he went out with the other two hounds with no problems. I have cranked the a/c in the bedroom down to 70, usually it is at 73. I will be cold but I can deal with that. The humidity is sooooo bad right now. I don't have any baby aspirin but if I did, he'd have had one by now, as Dr. Coutu stated in his lecture that I heard in KY, to help with any possible stroke issue. I will buy that in the morning!

Hurley was laying on the floor and suddenly tried to get up and to stagger to his feet but had all sorts of balance problems. It happened very fast, I was facing him the whole time but all I saw was him falling onto a box instead of standing up. Nothing crashed so my husband took hold of him and I wrangled the other two dogs out of the room (they were already moving in to sniff and investigate). Hurley's back legs were splayed backwards but he was standing, sort of. His eyes looked completely black (the light in here was not too bright) and like they were rapidly shifting. We gave him another 30 seconds and he was able to stand again and appear more normal. Since he felt better, we decided to take him out for a pee and a walk, at which point he was fine. His peeing was fine (maybe not as exact on his target as usual but fine). He came back in and had water and is still panting but I have noticed him panting pretty hard all the time, more than the other two dogs, if you ask me. I don't know if his legs fell asleep or if the heat got to him. But we haven't rushed him to the e-vet. I think we will wait until our regular vet opens at 8am, 7 hours from now. He is sequestered in here with us, so the other two hounds can't bother him.

Oh Sarah, I just read this and this news is just awful!! Poor Fast!! I am so glad your dad is kicking and screaming at the stupid dog owner lady!! Many wishes for a full recovery and I'm glad to hear the West Bend police are on the ball with this one. Now I can only hope the payment of the vet bills goes as smoothly.

Just an update (we were offline for a few days since our router died after a fuse blew): The regular vet said to keep giving the Rimadyl until it's gone (so we have Tramadol in the house now with no expiration date) and monitor his activity for a week to 10 days. He has been very good. The tail still is in pain if he gets bumped by another hound but he is recovering well. We have not resorted to the e-collar since he has not been chewing at it. He chews the Rimadyl when they are served with sardines and soaked in the juice! He is pooping fine. Our regular vet seemed amused since he has never heard of a dislocated tail....Hurley told him it's very real...and they hugged it out. He said not to worry about nerve damage, that could be an issue with a fracture but this is much milder and less likely to pinch a nerve. Here he is, taken a few minutes ago:

I hope Sid is feeling better!! My hound Hurley is down in the dumps from being injured too, he sends his love and positive healing thoughts: he is busy creating extras and wants to share! And I hope we both find out what is wrong!

We had a pretty uneventful night...woke up about 2 hours ago since we all slept in. He did poo at 4 am in the backyard and at 11am in the backyard, it's not even diarrhea yet. He doesn't poop in the front yard. I think we will be staying home today instead of joining Jim's family for a cookout and fireworks (it's my MIL's birthday, too ). He has not cried out in pain since returning home!! He has been picky about where to lie down though and we finally found a bed he liked that I put next to the couch, where I slept, so I could watch him. He is really spread out now, looking completely relaxed. It's time for his Tramadol though, so I'll have to disturb him. The vet did bloodwork prior to prescribing the meds: she was the SAME E-vet who was his primary for his bloat/gastropexy in November so I know she cares about giving him the right drugs....he was really depressed on the Fentanyl patch, for example. She is pretty nice but all the vets there suggest extreme measures first and then back down upon seeing the reactions of the owners. I've heard that from other people and heard clients talking amongst themselves in the waiting room, too. I hope I don't go to unnecessary extremes. X-rays made sense, as did giving mild anesthetic to facilitate that and she was able to do the full rectal exam with that in play. Without my husband, it's hard to make the decisions, although he tends to tell me to make the final decision even when we are together so I feel a little better about that. Finally, he ate pretty well last night....I gave him 3/4 of his normal amount of kibble and he threw up 2 tiny pieces afterward because he had been drinking so much water...so it was just water and the 2 kibbles. He has been extremely thirsty so I have been letting the bowls gets emptied and refilling after a short wait. He has not been peeing extra. Time to remedicate my patient!! Have a good 4th for you fellow Americans and a good weekend to the rest of you!

Just took him out for a short potty. He squatted as if to poop once but Jim didn't notice and he kept walking so it didn't happen. I asked Jim why he wanted me to hose him and he thought he could have been too hot to relax and poop. I hope he doesn't need surgery....he just had a major e-vet visit in Nov., it's too soon for him to have something else! I think nerve damage could lead to paralysis. Before the xrays, the vet said amputation is worst-case scenario but with the drugs, he was able to lift it without crying out so she said that was a good sign. He does seem to stick his tail out funny now (she said it's kinked)....she did not mention if she moved it back into position so I don't think she did. The pain relievers are supposed to do the magical work of solving the problem but we think it will still be out of position. At some point, his tail must have got stepped on by one of the other two, we think. I did not see anything happen but at least I was home and he wasn't pained for many hours before we got home. Boy, my topic title is pretty nasty....I meant he has a bug up his butt about SOMETHING and I just didn't know WHAT!!! My attempt at humor has backfired. Good night, and thanks for all the concern...it was nice to rush to the vet and NOT think you are the only person that would not wait until Monday!

We went to the vet. It does not appear to be an obstruction (which I really did not think it was) but he has hurt his tail somehow. One of the tail vertebra nearest his body has dislocated (luxated is what she said and I had to look it up just now....it means dislocated...she DID draw me a picture though) and is causing the pain. Nerve damage is still a possibility, so is surgery to correct. But he is home. They used a tiny bit of anesthesia to get the xrays so she said he would be acting drunk. To prove her right, I have not been able to get him out of the car, which is in the garage. So I have the door between the house and garage open and blocked the other 2 from going out there and am listening from about 5 feet away. Jim gets home in about an hour. He will need e-collar when alone and leash pottying, no running, jumping. Tramadol and Rimadyl for the pain. Reassess Monday or Tuesday. We are supposed to do a parade on Monday, I'm not going to count on that happening for him. Jim said to hose because all I was able to tell him when I spoke to him is that he can't sit and hasn't pooped and I guess he thought that would cool him down and make him poop? Who knows. I walked him for a bit before going there: he was trying to produce a poop but only got liquidy spray out so i was quite afraid he could be blocked up. BTW, I had read that 4th of July weekend is THE busiest e-vet weekend and I was there for over 3 hours but he did get anesthesia and bloodwork so they take time anyway. But Several clients seemed to come and go while I remained! Good thing I had no plans for the evening. Now I just hope he doesn't have any more trouble. I don't think he's going to want to eat tonight but the Rimadyl should be given with food so ??....wake up, dear snoozy Hurley!

I've felt every part of his tail but the only thing that elicits a response is lifting it so it could be sprained somehow? I called my husband at work and he said to hose him down and see if he poops but I didn't have a chance to say lifting his tail hurts him, I just wanted him to give me an opinion about rushing him to the e-vet. I really don't want to have to go there, especially if it's just a sprain or something I would overreact about.

I am not quite sure what to do with Hurley. He is yelping with pain upon sitting down, then he pretends to need to lick his butt but stops. I can touch his back end with no reaction but if I lift the tail, he winces noisily. I got enough of a look at his bumhole to see that nothing is terribly wrong but I have no idea how to find out what is painful. It could be a sliver or a pimple or some awful thing that is making his inner rectum hurt. But he is panting now from having me follow him around to inspect him and he won't sit down or lie down. He refused his treat because of this. My drama boy. Maybe he has to poop but the beef riblet bone is ready to come out undigested. Actually, I wonder if this could be the issue. I decided to trr a little package of beef riblets and maybe they were too hard to chew so he swallowed it whole. If this is the problem, how in the world do I get him to poop? He is now upstairs so I put the a/c on for his comfort but I can still hear him crying. I'll go see if he can sit yet.

Our boys are very protective of me, especially. Hurley goes so far as to growl at the other 2 dogs and stand between them and me if he feels they are being naughty. People-wise, he stands between me and my husband for a few reasons: support for me, respect for me and the hope that we will stop arguing. However, when my husband and I are yelling at each other and not close to each other, if there is a harsh enough tone, Hurley runs for the safety of the upstairs bedroom!! This at least causes dh and I to laugh and is a behavior that I find effective! Woodie is extremely protective of the house and has created problems when welcomed visitors arrive. He needs to be watched (or crated or leashed) because he does like to growl and occasionally bite a guest. He has issues we are probably going to need a professional trainer to help us with because he is the sweetest hound to my husband and I, just not to anyone that may be scared of him in our home. In public, he is docile and a little scared....go figure. Petra is a barky monster and I am sure she would bark until she felt safe but that could be immediately, for all I know, if a burglar tried to come in. I'd like to think they would scare off anyone with their barks but beyond that, I would probably have to BE home, to BE protected. On walks, Hurley is always protective, he is perceptive to my needs as a gentleman would be. Woodie? It would depend. Petra? Too soon to tell. We came home one night last week and found 5 poop piles (or 4 + 1 puke pile?) and we also found an unused fountain type firecracker on our front step. We think some kids were shooting fireworks off and were planning to light one in front of our house. They either fled (neighbors saw? our dogs were loudly barking? cop driving by?) without getting a chance or it was thrown and landed standing up on our step. Anyway, it makes me uncomfortable. The dogs are noisy when they bark at fireworks and I can imagine it could be annoying but I don't like kids knowing we are not home and doing evil things to our house/dogs/property. we reported it to the police in order to find out if others have been reporting the issue. No one else had. Dh is on the warpath now and wishes to catch the next kid red handed. The dogs? They probably pooped to release their fear.

It is perfect because whenever you see the ocean, go into the ocean or think of the ocean, Riley is there for you!! Tears are just streaming down my face, it's really a beautiful thought!

I am so sorry to hear of your greyt loss...and so belatedly. I hope he is running free with all the other hounds up there!! Riley is so lucky to have been your pup and so lucky his last years were in sunny Hawaii!! HUGS TO YOU AND THE IGGIES!!!

I have VPI and have been very happy so far. All three are now on the plan...I get routine coverage and have premium plans now for Hurley and Woodie who are both about 7. Petra has one level down, so cancer-care would be decreased for her, she is only 3. I like the routine reimbursement and have gotten a large payout ($1000 of a $3000 bill) for Hurley's bloat/ possible gastric volvulus (twisting of stomach, which it was not.) with preventative gastropexy (tacking stomach to chest wall) surgery. That was on the second-highest plan, with his current plan, I would have gotten closer to $2000 of it. I found that our emergency vet was extremely nice when i asked her to detail everything for my insurance company and had no worries about that....pet insurance is handled backwards: the insurance pays AFTER the procedures so you never have to get approved (unless you want to check with them to make sure they will reimburse if a procedure is done just for your own peace of mind). It keeps the vets in line just a little bit because they know their decisions will be "inspected" later. The vets on staff at VPI look over the details and will reimburse for reasonable tests and procedures and if on the benefits list. I am slightly worried now after reading a few of these because my renewals say that VPI can terminate coverage when they want to, so although they say they won't start coverage after the age of 9(?), I thought they would continue as long as I wanted and I'm unsure of what their right to terminate coverage means. There's another thing to add to my list of things to do! It is very nice to have insurance and the less you use it, the better off you are anyway!

Woodie is our non-leaper. He seems stiffer than our other two and if he is tired after a walk, he almost always needs a boost. Most times, he puts his front paws up and I provide a lower step with my hand for one of his back paws. Every once in awhile, he'll just refuse to get in at the time we want him to and the "Come on"'s and "Up"'s won't work so we will plant his front paws into the car. Usually this is on a hot day after a walk, of course! Because there are the rare times when he jumps in pell-mell...it's always a bit of a surprise when he does and puts a smile on my face! The level of excitement determines his flexibility, I think!

Petra freezes from time to time on walks but we don't take daily ones like many of you do so she has not been on a whole lot of walks since we got her in October and then good ole winter came around to stay. She does MUCH better when we have the other hounds along....she is more interested in keeping up. When alone on a walk, she will be the most troublesome. We have also had a few instances of her staying in the car once we return home. We would have to grab hold and carry her out, sometimes she would drag her feet since you can't lift her too high in our car. Then we took the three of them with us to pick up some Topper's pizza and that girl LEAPED out of the car and ran up the stairs into the house. So, pizza worked for us, too!! Lol. I'm pretty sure when Petra gets more excited about living here, her problems will be conquered. Best of luck to all of you!! Actually, I forgot 8-0 that she had huge statuing problems going into our fenced-in backyard...meaning her housetraining was extremely difficult. She still refuses to go out a few times a day (because the boys run out there every few hours whereas she will go out only ~3 X a day) but we don't care because she does her all of her business outside. During that period, I was completely shocked at the incredible power of the statue: she was determined not to be agreeable, I thought, but it just took some time working with her calmly and the frustration I felt was not helpful but I vented quite frequently too....it was the only way to cope with the feeling of failure I had.

I'm glad you will be able to get a 2nd dog someday. I bet your girl will benefit from it! Best of luck, we all get frustrated but it is important to recognize it.

I am just going to add my two cents about my female greyhound, whom we adopted 3 months ago. I am not very good at training my dogs, as the people who have posted previously are, but I have a working knowledge (I really should break out some of the training books) and you do what works for you. My girl is the first female we have had and she is so different from my 2 laid-back boys. She is a barker....I would easily call it a scream because the pitch is extremely high, so this may be similar to your screamer. She will stand in front of us and start to bark, getting more and more frantic if you haven't stood up to soothe her or feed her or take her outside. We are not working on it 24-7 because we assume, with time, she will stop the franticness if we ignore her tantrums. To me, it sounds like she is actually talking while piercing your eardrums! She is gradually getting used to life here at our home but the point is, it is very gradual. It's not something you notice day be day, but month to month, I see the changes she has made. I can only say this because we are on our third greyhound. The boys had their issues and, to be honest, compared to this, they were relatively minor, but they either went away on their own or we worked on the specific problem and got them through it. Our other problem with the girl is mostly gone now: she had an aversion to using the 3! measly backsteps to go out to the yard, which is fenced. She just wanted nothing to do with them. She was happy going out the other 3 doors and using those steps but the backyard or the back steps just spooked her. I finally realize that it may have been the rowdy boys who spooked her. They run up and down those steps willy nilly and will plow right past her or wait impatiently behind her or barge in/out at the same time as her, usually causing her to bump the door or at the very least scrape up her legs on the steps...she was constantly hurting her legs/paws because she would bump the steps on the way down. She enjoyed their company while outside and it would inspire her to relax or play because they were around, so we knew it wasn't them terrorizing her. Although, I've seen Hurley pee on her while she squats to pee....darn him! He does that to every dog! But, nowadays, she prefers to go out the door on her own. Sometimes she goes out right after I have closed the door to let them out, other times she prefers to wait until they are indoors and she'll go out and sprint around for 10 minutes on her own. I let her choose. Are you thinking at all of getting a second dog? I know the adoption group can help you if you are. Some dogs open up more quickly with a fellow member of the species. I don't think that's the only answer, but it is one possibility some people like to consider. If you are not, just work with her, using the recommendations from posters here and from the books or your adoption group, but also know that time is often the most valuable healer. It takes time to adjust, it takes time because progress is not always forward...there are usually a few steps backward to slow down the steady pace (speaking of which, our Petra also freezes quite frequently! She wants to go away from the house on walks when I want to go back to the house or she just wants to stand and not go anywhere. Having the 2 boys along usually cures this for her too. She is most often alone when she freezes. We always thought it had something to do with the racing pack....either they want to keep up with the other dogs on the track or they want to just skip running altogether...don't know if I make sense. She still freezes when exitting the car: we have to carry her out and she won't come down the steps from the 2nd floor but I never said she wasn't completely and utterly spoiled! The thing I haven't figured out yet is what her motivation is during the freezes, other than something is telling her that something is wrong and she can't see a way out.....living with us is the only thing that will help her: she will gain the confidence she needs to stop worrying and freezing up.) I know you said she is on her second (but forever) home now.....so she has been away from the track for years now. I guess this nulls most of my experiences because Petra IS fresh off the track but it still is a different environment: one she does not recognize or remember. Perhaps she is wondering where her old family is. I think someone who has experience with bounces will be able to provide a clue here. The one certain thing is that your love will help her and the learning curve is always different with each greyhound or any dog. She is responding and that's what counts! Is it on your time-schedule? No! That's her prerogative....you can train her out of it or accept that time will heal these wounds. Best of luck, I hope you don't mind my ramblings but I have gained so much insight from other greyhound owners, it sometimes gives you hope that you can't get anywhere else.

I just wanted to laugh (with not at, of course!) because my boys have rejected the boots but they never gave me trouble when putting them on! They will stomp around and eventually the boots come off....so the boots make little sense for them! I would be stunned if they were smart enough to complain during the process of putting them on!!! I have always been able to whip clothing or costumes onto them b4 they realize how much they dislike something! I agree that booties are unnecessary if the dog doesn't want them as apparel. Injuries are different, of course. I even send them out without jackets when it's 15-20 F...they seem to enjoy the freedom of nakedness because it means less static and complete freedom of movement, not to mention less time until the door is opened. The paw wax is a good thing! I noticed the pet store carries a brand that was about $20 for a small jar but I KNOW there is something out there that is much more cost-effective and probably the same quality. Do a search if you feel like it! And just remember, new dogs alter their routines regularly due to separation anxiety, changes in weather, changes in household (like getting a new dog or losing one), or just because! Sometimes you can figure out the reason, other times you have to wait it out and sometimes it is illness so being watchful is a good thing in case you need prompt medical attention or even a little bit of first aid to stave off a problem. Aren't these dogs greyt and just so full of life??????

Woodie has been a frozen poopsicle fan. I just remember him throwing it up in the air and playing with it before chowing down on it! He has since stopped. Petra is completely addicted to any poop: her own fresh-made or old poop. I am going to check the stores in town for the supplements or order online. Some are too expensive.

Sheesh, I forgot about my thread last time I was online and there are all these greyt suggestions here. I will be researching all the products and suggestions. One other thing I just saw online was that meat tenderizer sprinkled on the food may work as well as Forbid or Deter because of the MSG in it. But isn't MSG bad? I would love to get her past this problem. This is her first winter with us, of course, since her Gotcha Day was just in October. So, she hasn't even spent a summer with us yet with the freedom to romp in the backyard as she pleases. She has enjoyed the trench I shovelled through our foot of snowfall, however! I understand now that the poop with bits of food in it is tasty for my Petra pup. And it is twice as gross coming out the front end as the back end....the smell isn't too bad, maybe a little poop-like but it is just SOOOOOOO DISGUSTING (and I have to work with human poop and sputum and urine and aspirated fluids at work all the time!)......and the fact that she is doing the vomitting means her body cannot handle it, of course. The only way I could clean up all the fresh poop outside would be if we confined them to a smaller area because with 3 dogs, it's impossible to monitor every dog all the time: there would be poop SOMEwhere I didn't see it! Lastly, we had a horrible night this week: Petra had explosive diarrhea in her crate while we were at work that splattered all over the wall and she must have managed to eat some of it too because then there was also vomit, which she may have ingested as well.....cleaning up, you know. I'm beginning to feel sorry for her now, because from what I've read online, eating poop is very common among dogs and other animals so it must be instinctive for her.