Greys4Us

Don't despair. Last month, our group got in seven greyhounds from Florida for adopters. One came in with a virus (vomitting and diarrhea). Then it went to all the other dogs (our own included). One of our own dogs, Cassie, ended up at our vet's on an IV for three days. By the time it was all over, we had nine dogs here with vomitting and diarrhea. It's all over now. These things seem to happen in bunches. I hope that the "limping" episode means nothing bad and that it will all get placed in the "why did all this happen at the same time" files. Hang in there: "This too shall pass!"

So sorry for your loss; may you take comfort in the fact that you shared your life with her and gave her what she wanted...your love.

How beautiful. And clearly written from the heart. My sympathy for your loss; you are to be commended for your love and devotion. She was blessed to have you and you surely will be too for what you did for her.

You have all of my sympathy, love, admiration, and lots of hugs. You did such a good thing to give Jitters the best home possible. Those of us who have lived with the knowledge that our hounds have a limited amount of time with us understand what you have been through. I hope that Jitters is running free along with Craiger who also left for the bridge on September 19. We will all meet in that better place someday.

I agree with AndysMom. A lot of vets don't seem to know a lot about LSS. We lost a ten year old to this. Have your vet check for it. Good luck!!

Bless his precious heart! What a sweet boy! Tears and sympathy for your loss, but thank you for loving him.......I'm sure he lived a good life because of you.

What a wonderful tribute to Sparkle. Thank you for giving her the best years of her life. She left knowing that. Run free Sparkle.

Run free sweet Sassy. I'm so sorry for your loss.

Run free sweet girl. You were greatly loved.

You were loved sweet boy; run free and forever without pain.

What a wonderfu tribute to Keeper. Run free sweet baby.

Our most heartfelt sympathy on the loss of this wonderful pet. Run free sweet Elvis.

Craiger came to our rescue group from Florida on June 9, 2007. He was destined to go into the home of a young family but circumstances changed when the family came to visit him. They chose a big fawn male instead that had also been sent with Craiger as an extra foster dog. He stayed at our home for the time being because there were no foster homes available for him. And as he made himself comfortable, we realized what a really nice guy he was. He was curious, attentive, energetic, and just a big black love bug. He was always under foot and in the way, but in a nice way. It was just too hard to get annoyed with anything he did. He learned that baby gates were something to jump over and there was none here that he couldn’t conquer, no matter how high we put them. However, that was not a problem for us because there was nothing he wanted to do on his own. The only reason he jumped them was to be in the same room with us. He found a way to get his head between the door and the door jamb every time we opened a door. We had to watch not to close his head in the door accidentally. He was an “in your face” kind of dog, but in a quiet and unimposing way. Those “Craiger” eyes were something to behold. He had the deepest and most expressive eyes of any greyhound we have ever known. He could look into our eyes and it would make our hearts melt. At the end of June, we was slow to start one morning when we went out for the first time of the day and we noticed that it hurt him to move his head. A trip to the vet resulted in a course of antibiotics for what was diagnosed as a possible infected salivary gland. But after the antibiotics were done, a large egg size lump persisted in his neck. By early July, the lump had not gone down, so we took him to the vet again and this time the prognosis was dire after an examination of his lymph glands (which were all swollen). A biopsy was recommended to determine if Craiger had lymphoma. At first we weren’t worried because he was so young. And then we thought that if it was lymphoma, he could certainly live a lot longer on chemo. But a week later we received the worst possible news: Craiger had high grade lymphoma and it was too late to treat him with chemotherapy. It was then that Craiger officially became our dog when we adopted him. We brought him home and he started on a high dose of prednisone to keep him comfortable. His life expectancy was between two to six months. This early period was the hardest on us because we had to digest this information a little at a time and then accept it. Our lives consisted of getting up every day knowing that this wonderful dog had a limited amount of time to live. But after watching how he enjoyed his life and knowing that he was feeling well each day, it became something we just learned to live with. And it was good to cook for him and give him supplements and watch him still jump over those baby gates many times a day as we walked around the house. When he pressed his head on our leg and walked with us, the connection was almost spiritual. How can a dog hold his head flat against our leg and still manage to walk and jump over baby gates? He did it. Every day we hoped that by some miracle, the diagnosis would suddenly be proven wrong and that he just had an infection or some other easily curable disease and he would snap back to normal once that mistake had been corrected. There were even some days when we almost forgot for as long as an hour that he was not going to be with us for months or years. And now we have had to face the day we had been dreading. He had a bad day a few days ago and we thought then that the next day would be the day for him to cross the bridge. But then the next day he was back to his normal self. That lasted for two more days. Then this morning it was clear that he was not just having a bad day. There was no mistaking the eyes. They were vacant and empty. We have had some sad times losing dogs that have been part of our family. But this is one that is exceptionally hard. Craiger was so young. We wanted so much for him to have a long life to look forward to here as part of our family, but that was not meant to be. We will mourn his loss greatly but be gratified in some unexplainable way for knowing him and having him grace our lives if only for a wonderful brief period of time. We love you Craiger and will miss you more than words can ever explain. And you have taken a piece of our hearts with you that will never be replaced. Please look for another big black guy named Cody and a sweet little black girl named Keisha.

We feel for you. We got a wonderful black boy in June 9 from Florida and he weighed 80 pounds. He is such a wonderful dog. He was diagnosed with lymphoma in July. It is high grade lymphoma, too late for chemo. He is on a large dose of Prednisone to keep him comfortable. My husband and I adopted him immediately when the biopsy results came in. We are loving him every moment and are giving him all the love and attention we can while he is with us. He dropped from 80 pounds in July to 68 pounds now. It's just a matter of time. What is worst is that he only turned three years old April 28. Every single day we get up knowing that it may be his last day. But we are here for him and will do what we can. We promised him and ourselves that we will not allow him to suffer. The minute we think that he is not feeling well, we will call our vet and they will be expecting us. Of course, it's not fair. But we have to live with what we have and we must give him what he deserves. He doesn't know that he is dying so we won't act like he is. He is the most loving and sweet dog and it's so easy to have him with us every single minute. He spends all of his time with us and we constantly give him attention and kisses, etc. Right now, we think that he only knows us and our home. It's going to be heart wrenching to let him go. If he suddenly miraculously recovered tomorrow, he'd be our dog forever. But we know that it is never going to happen. So we try to do what is best for him as it's what he deserves right now. Please understand that there are people who know how you feel. Please PM me if you want.

One of my greyhounds has a normal creatinine level of 2.1. You can take a urine sample to your vet. Depending on what that sample reveals, you can do a blood test for creatinine plus BUN levels. If all are normal (remember a greyhound has a higher creatinine level), you may not have anything to worry about. Don't worry about a higher creatinine level unless the BUN level is out of normal range. The blood test may also reveal the possibility of diabetes. But get that urine sample analyzed first.

You are not alone. I understand what you are thinking and feeling and you need to know that you are not alone. My mom died April 17, 1987 of a massive stroke. It was totally unexpected. She was a beautiful, loving, vibrant person whom everyone loved. I was busy working full time, working on a master's degree, and serving in the Navy reserves. She passed one day and the next day I went to my Navy drill weekend. I didn't know it at the time, but I was in shock and would not accept it. It didn't hit me for some time after the funeral, but when it did, I sunk lower than I ever have in my life. I miss her every single day. It's OK to grieve. They deserve it. And it's OK to celebrate their life every day and miss them. Love is something special reserved for special people and your mother was special to you. Keep her close in your memory and heart and think of her every day. Your memories are bittersweet, but you know that they are happy. The sad part is losing her. Just remember her the way she would want to be remembered, and know that she loved you. It's the best tribute that you can pay to her.

So many here understand your sadness and pain. Know that we care and are here for you.

Lots of hugs and love being sent your way.

I can't thank you all enough for your support. I have always thought of myself as a very strong person. But this has me doubting my abilities. Craiger was sent to our group for a family that requested a black dog. Then when he came in with the fawn dog, they picked the fawn. We had him listed on our web site and got lots of questions and interest, but none of the leads resulted in his adoption. We had made plans to go to Grapehounds and had asked some of our volunteers to watch him while we were gone, but nothing seemed to work out. So we cancelled our trip. I am thinking now that all of this has worked out for a reason. You must know what a special greyhound he is. He is standing here with me as I type this with his head resting against my back. He loves to do that. Of all of the fosters we've had here, he is the ONLY one that can hop over a three foot baby gate set one foot above the floor as though it is nothing. We don't scold him and never have as he does nothing wrong. He just wants to be where we are. He can hop over anything that he wants to hop over right now. He is eating steak, chicken, yogurt, getting lots of vitamins, and going for slow walks. He has a special "sofa" style dog bed that is his. I will be asking for much support. We do fine and then it "hits" us and we start to cry. I'm sure we'll get through this, but sometimes it just gets too much to bear. It is hard to know that our older dogs may be gone soon, especially when they start to slow down and fail. But this dog is so young and so special. And we feel so helpless. Thank you all for every hug, word of support, and prayer you can send our way for Craiger.

http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z135/He...Craigerface.jpg Craiger has been diagnosed with high stage lymphoma. He cannot be treated with chemotherapy. He is starting on a course of Prednisone to reduce the size of the lymph glands and will be given the time left that he can enjoy. He is ours now and he will be here with us until we help him cross the rainbow bridge. A sweeter dog we have not found. We only hope that we can return to him what he has given us in the short time we've known him. There is no guarantee that any of us or any greyhound will live a long life. Craiger only turned three years old April 28. But, as he is showing us, it's not how long we stay, it's what we do while we are here.

We are heartbroken. Our foster, Craiger, went to the vet today for a biopsy. Our vet is 95% sure that he has lymphoma. He only turned three in April. He is such a wonderful dog. We should get the results back in a few days, but we are not hopeful. My husband and I are adopting him, not matter what and we will try to do what is best for him. He lost seven pounds in a month. He did not go through the surgery well. Please pray for him and send good thoughts his way. He is so young and sweet and it hurts so much to see him so sick.

You are in our thoughts and prayers this evening.

When you look at how many retired racing greyhounds there are compared to other breeds of dogs and then look at the medical problems associated with the breed, you'll find that the population of greyhounds with medical problems is quite low. What you are refering to is like the analogy of buying a new car. You never notice the cars on the road until you buy a certain model. Then suddenly you see a lot of that model! That's how it works. And like other posters have already mentioned, not a lot of people have multiples of any other breed or who are so passionate about them.

All of our officers and board members are over 50! In fact, I am now collecting Social Security (aaaaacccchhhh!). We are located in the western Maryland area and you are welcome to join us at any of our activities. Just check out our web site. If we are too far away, the folks at Blue Ridge Greyhound Adoption (see above) are Greyt and I'm sure would welcome you too!!!

So sorry to hear this! I can't imagine how frightening this is for you. Sending good thoughts your way!!!