winnie

Hoping Murray's progress continues. Sounds like he is on the right path. YAY!!!

Beautiful tribute to a one of a kind dog.

Our 14-3/4 y/o Darcy doesn't see well. For some time now, she will not potty on the last walk before bed when it is dark out. OK, no big deal. Unfortunately, now with the time change, it is also dark when we get home from work. Darcy now won't potty on the after work walk either. We do have street lights and carry a lantern. No luck. Darcy is not incontinent. If she has potty accidents inside the house, she will use piddle pads. Last night, she didn't have any accidents - just held it until this morning. That is a long time to hold it! Any suggestions for those of you with dogs that won't potty in the dark? I should add that Darcy only developed this issue as her vision declined.

Well, the pathology report is back. Vet aspirated in a few locations and was told that the quality of the slides was good. Unfortunately, the only thing that they could tell was that there is a lot of necrotic tissue. They can't tell exactly what type of sarcoma it is or if it's benign or malignant. We just know that it's getting an inadequate blood supply and cells are dying off. We can only get a definitive diangosis if they surgically remove it. We're not going to put Darcy through surgery at her age (14 3/4) and the vet agrees. We'll try a round of antibiotics to try to prevent infection and will continue to keep her as comfortable as possible.

I'm so very sorry about your sudden and unexpected loss. Ben was indeed a special hound loved by many.

Vet called today. The good news is that Darcy's bloodwork is normal. All organs functioning as they should. The pathology report will be back later this week. Darcy is currently on Tramadol and Gabapentin (she was on both before this). So, she doesn't appear to be in any pain.

I have a horse that I board and have had several greyhounds and a galgo. My dogs do just fine around horses. Unfortunately, the barn where I board does not have adequate fencing to allow them off lead. The barn has a mixture of typical 3 board fencing and electric wire. The hounds could easily go underneath the fencing (I've seen my barn owner's boxers do it). So, it is completely dependent on the type of fencing you have.

Our Darcy has a large, hard lump towards the end of her rib cage. It's grown fast. Took her to the vet today. Initial diagnosis is soft tissue sarcoma. Waiting of blood test and pathology results. We've already decided that we're going with palliative care. Darcy is 14-3/4 y/o and fiercely independent. It just sucks.

Due to aggression issues within our pack, we now have to separate them using baby gates in different areas of the house when we're at work. So, they are now all free-fed. It has been working out great for us. It usually takes old lady Darcy 1/2 day to eat her breakfast and she needs the calories. Fat galgo Beatrix can no longer steal food from her sisters and has lost weight.

I'm so sorry for your loss Alicia and Sterling. What a beautiful tribute to Henry. I'm so glad to have met him.

YAY!!! I'm so happy for all of you.

I remember how concerned you were about Murray at Grapehounds following his dental. I'm so glad that you were able to find out the issue and pursue treatment. Enjoy your time at Dewey! Hope to see you and Burke soon.

Here is the link to the harness referenced above. We recently purchased one for our Darcy. We're not quite to the point of needing it yet, but since the are made to order, we wanted to have it handy. https://www.etsy.com/listing/225448995/greyhound-assistance-harness?ref=shop_home_active_2 For now, we walk behind Darcy going up the stairs. Before heading down the stairs in the mornings, I put on her Wiggles, Wags & Whiskers harness and hold the back control loop as I walk alongside her. Old dog (14 years 8 months) is so darn determined to do things herself. This morning, as I was holding onto the back of her harness, she took a leap four steps from the bottom... on purpose.

I'm so sorry that you didn't have more time, but feel comfort that his suffering wasn't long.

Oh Alicia, Just seeing this post now and was hoping for better news when I got to page 2. I'm so, so sorry. Henry is lucky to have you and Sterling. Wishing you peaceful days ahead.

Welcome Home Jules!

If you are in the US, I strongly encourage you to contact the Lexus Project. http://www.thelexusproject.org/ I'm very sorry about the cat, but now it's time to protect your hound from any repercussions.

I can't offer any advice on diapers, but we recently bought this harness. https://www.etsy.com/transaction/1059032377 We haven't had to use it yet, but wanted to keep it handy. I tried it on our dog and she didn't seem to object. Wishing the best for your Reddy!

Vet gave us a script for Tramadol. We're going to try that in combination with the Gabapentin. I asked about NSAIDs, but she is concerned about kidney and liver issues due to Darcy's age. She thinks the Tramadol will help with pain and have a calming affect too. She also thought the x-pen was a good idea. I really do appreciate all of the responses! I suspect we're going to have a bit of trial and error, but hopefully no more injuries.

Yes, Darcy is the one we suspect of hurting Bonny. I'm not sure I'd call this a drastic change in behavior. Darcy has always had space and food aggression. It's just now she doesn't give a growl/bark warning. She just snaps. My concern of using a muzzle on just Darcy - and not all three - is that if she was to snap, and the other dog reacted, she would not be able to defend herself. The x-pen seems like the best idea for when we're home and have the pack together in the same room. We're using baby gates to separate when we're out. Thanks for the supplement and drug suggestions. We'll ask our vet about adding a NSAID. Celeste is on Metacam for arthritis (12 y/o and, unlike Darcy, really struggles with stairs). We don't have insurance and are already paying close to $800/month on Care Credit. So, not likely to seek out veterinary specialists unless our regular vet recommends it. One of the ladies at my barn is a vet and does accupuncture. She may do chiropractic too (need to check). I've already touched base with her about Darcy about acupuncture. The plus is that we can do it at the barn (Darcy gets really stressed at the vets office). Thank you again to everyone. I truly love my old crab pot. I also want to keep the rest of the pack safe.

Thank you for the responses thus far! Darcy is on a daily joint supplement (Dasuquin MSM), in addition to the 200mg of gabapentin 2x per day. Darcy is as determined and stubborn as she is old. We do walk behind her going up stairs and hold onto the back of a harness going down. We'd be just as happy if she stayed on one level, but she wants to be in our bedroom with the entire pack at night. Our pack is separated when we're not at home with baby gates. I always thought that if you have one muzzled, you should have all muzzled. Darcy snaps without warning. What would happen if she were muzzled and one of the other dogs reacted back? Things happen in an instant, even when we're in the same room. I like the idea of using an x-pen to create her own space. Any x-pen recommendations? For anyone curious, this is Darcy running last month. She is the black hound at the start of the video. For her age, she really is pretty amazing. She is very sweet with people, but I worry about our other dogs. Unfortunately we will not be a Dewey, but thank you for the information!

Our 14.5 y/o greyhound Darcy has always had some space and food aggression issues. In the past, she would bark and growl if another dog got in her space, but it would never escalate beyond that. In the past six months, she no longer gives warnings. Although good with people, we have had recent incidents where she has snapped at other dogs. With greyhound skin being as delicate as it is, this is an issue of serious concern. At home, we're keeping our three dogs separated by baby gates when we're out of the house. Our dogs haven't seen a crate in nine years and Darcy never crated well even when we did use them. When we're home, all of the dogs like to spend time in the same room with us. Unfortunately, even that now has its risks. We could muzzle, but that means that we'd pretty much have to muzzle all three whenever we're at home. We took Darcy to our vet in May for a full check-up. She is generally in very good health for her age, but does have arthritis and vision loss. Our vet put her on 200mg of gabapentin 2x per day. We're going to discuss possible calming supplements or drugs with our vet this Saturday. We're really hoping our vet has some ideas for us. I'm also looking into acupuncture for Darcy's arthritis. I love this old crab pot so much. Some have asked if she is going senile. We don't believe so. Darcy is still very sharp mentally. She is alert (hearing is great) and knows exactly what time it is for walks and meals. She still goes up/down stairs on her own and has a hearty appetite. Posting here to see if others experienced increased aggression with their aging greyhounds. If yes, I hope you're willing to share your experiences and how you handled the behavior changes. Thank You.

I'm so sorry for your loss. RIP Mickey.

No Sams Club nearby and I try to avoid Wal-Mart. I get scrips (pet and human) at Costco - always very reasonable. No membership or fees required (although I'm a Costco member). Even though my medical insurance copay is $10, they'll sell me scrips for less when they qualify.

My condolences on the loss of your beautiful Shanti.