winnie

We had laser surgery done for a corn on Celeste's foot. She recovered well. But... it was expensive and the corn still came back. We're pursing other options now - won't pay to have the laser surgery again.

We have our greys teeth checked by the vet when they go in for annual exams. We get dentals when the vet thinks they're necessary. Celeste hasn't needed one yet in the 4 years we've had her. We've had Darcy 3.5 years. She just had her first dental last month - no extractions. We've had Bonny 2.5 years. Her first dental was last month too -2 extractions. I'm glad they don't need them more often. The two dentals in March cost us around $1,300.

I agree with KennelMom about harnesses. Personally, I feel like I have much better control over my greys with regular martingale collars. One of our greys, Celeste, wears a harness, but it's only due to having a compressed disc in her neck.

I walk our three together regularly. Bonny is inclined to start barking like a nut case at other dogs which can sometimes get our other two excited. In order to control it, I keep Bonny's leash in my left hand and keep it short. The other two I hold with my right hand. It works for us.

Two of our greys (Bonny and Darcy) have urinary incontinence. Both were around 7 y/o when it started. We've had both on low doses of Proin for about the past 1-2 years. Bonny gets 50 mg per day (she's a very big girl at 84 lbs.). Darcy gets 25 mg per day (she's 65 lbs.). It works well for them - no negative side effects either.

Celeste - She loves everyone doesn't matter if she knows you or if you're a complete stranger. As a result, she has become our "go to" grey for M&Gs and adoption days. Darcy - She definitely seems to prefer women (although he likes DH just fine). She has a couple of people that she is immediately drawn to - don't know why she picks who she does though. Bonny - Total Daddy's girl. She likes me just fine, but she constantly follows DH. We both take turns feeding and walking our greys. I usually have the "morning shift" while DH has the "evening shift."

We were lucky that we, too, have a "king of the house" type cat. We had serious doubts about our first grey, Celeste, being cat-safe despite the kennel testing. However, our cat Puff straightened her out. If it weren't for Puff, I'm not sure our other two (shy) kitties and Celeste would have ever been able to peacefully coexist. Puff has made it a point to smack each new grey that comes into our house on the muzzle to let them know who is boss. I really suggest talking with your adoption group about the situation. Perhaps one of the volunteers - preferably one with both greys and cats - can come over to your house and watch how Miles reacts to the cats. We did this with Celeste. We really needed a second opinion on whether she was "cat-correctable" or not. Our group was really supportive and offered great advice.

Just to add to my original post #2... we have 3 female greys. One of our greys didn't come off the track until she was almost 6 y/o. Not one of our females has shown any interest in attempting to jump our 5' fence. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I tend to think most greyhounds aren't big fence jumpers. I just didn't want some of the comments scare you into thinking that females are more inclined to jump fences than males. That hasn't been our experience at least.

We've had great luck with Proin. Darcy and Bonny are both on it - no negative side affects. Darcy is about 65 lbs. and gets 25 mg. Bonny is 84 lbs. and gets 50 mg. We only give them Proin every other day.

We have a 5' scalloped spaced picket fence. We haven't had any problems with it.

Yeah Benrie!!! If he needs a confidence boost, I can lend you Celeste. When she sees people she whines and pulls towards them. She wants to meet every person we see.

What Burpdog said... Also, talk to your vets office about payment plans or look into Care Credit - http://www.carecredit.com/vetmed/

Definitely sounds like corns. Our grey girl Celeste has no problems walking on grass or running in our backyard. However, she becomes a 3-legged dog when walking on any hard surface.

Celeste will hack due to allergies when pollen is really bad. She doesn't get the red feet and ears though, so it doesn't sound as severe as your pup.

28 teeth! I hope your DD's pup feels better soon.

Large animal folks are definitely more inclined to give their own vaccinations. You don't need a script to purchase many large animal vaccines. Still, you'd think that since large animal vets aren't making money off routine vaccines that they'd charge a fortune for non-routine things - yet they don't. I've had x-rays and ultrasounds performed on my mare that cost way less than what my small animal vet would charge for the same things. My equine vet has just as much overhead as my small animal vet too. Go figure... I do think I get a much better payouts on my equine insurance claims since there simply are way less equines than dogs and cats. If small animal insurance paid 100% on claims, they'd probably go bankrupt.

Not sure I would agree with that... at least not around me. Large animal ownership in my area is expensive. Anyone can own a dog or cat, but very few people can own horses or cattle - the land is simply not readily available. Those that do own horses are lucky to have one or two - not a herd - so they tend to take exceptional care of them. Owning lawn ornaments is simply too expensive and slaughter is no longer an outlet. The equine vets could make a fortune around here if they chose to, but their prices are extremely reasonable compared to the small animal vets.

Nope... we go to Dr. Amy Dillon at Caring Hands Animal Hospital in Centreville, VA. Nope... we're looking at about $700 EACH. Neither is a "routine" dental. Bonny will likely need 2-3 extractions. She already has a root showing. Darcy has a growth on her gums - vet plans to remove and do a biopsy.

We got VPI insurance for our greys when we first adopted them. Honestly, for the amount of money we got back on claims, it just wasn't worth it. I guess I'm spoiled by my equine insurance which is EXCELLENT! I did research some other companies after deciding to drop VPI. That was a couple of years ago. We never did wind up insuring our greys again. Plus, now that 2 of our 3 grey girls are officially "seniors," they might not even qualify for insurance. ETA... our most recent bills are things that our old basic VPI plan wouldn't cover - routine wellness exam, vaccinations and dentals.

The vet said that Bonny will likely need 2-3 extractions. She can see the root on one of her teeth already. Darcy has a growth on her gum that will need to be removed and biopsied. So, they are not just "routine" cleanings. As for the expense... lets just say I'm very happy I sold a saddle and some other tack on eBay last week. I wasn't planning on using my eBay proceeds towards vet bills, but that is life...

No kidding... that was my reaction too. My horse is due for her exam and spring shots on March 8. I usually never pay more than $200 for that appointment - and that includes my vet driving nearly 30 miles out to the barn. My horse's annual dental runs about $125 which includes the farm call AND sedation. Equine dentals are hard work for the vet too. I used to think small animal vets were more expensive than the equine vets since they had more overhead (office, office staff, etc.). However, my equine vet built a large new clinic a few years ago (clicky). The clinic has state-of-the art equipment to handle x-rays, surgeries, etc. and is fully staffed with office staff, vet techs and assistants. Yet, their prices didn't go up when their clinic opened. I'm baffled now why my dogs vet visits cost so much more than my horse.

DH and I took all three of our girls to the vets office yesterday for their annual exam and routine vaccinations. During the exam, the vet determined that Bonny and Darcy both need dentals. It's the first time any of our greys have needed dentals since we adopted them, so we're OK with that. Celeste doesn't need one. So, the vet drew blood for the two that need the dentals and gave us the meds we need to give them prior to the procedures. Total vet bill from yesterday... $826.50. We also got the quotes for Bonny and Darcy's dentals scheduled for March 12... both are going to run about $650-700 (this is AFTER the 10% "dental health month" discount too). :eek

Our greys and horse have annual vet checks and vaccines, if necessary. Our cats haven't been to the vets office in years. They are indoor cats, have little to no contact with the dogs and HATE traveling.

Two of our 3 grey girls (Celeste and Bonny) roach all the time. Darcy is a "closet" roacher.

Well, I made sure to clear the poop as soon as it hit the ground (actually snow) yesterday. I guess we'll need to buy another poop muzzle. We haven't been using our muzzles lately. Due to the snow, the dogs aren't running around - they are in and out of the house pretty quick. Darcy just turned 9 y/o last Friday. I was hoping she was too old to learn new tricks - guess not. I just hope Celeste doesn't get in on the action too. Celeste doesn't really seem to pay much attention to what her sisters do at least. Yes - I really wanted to kill her for that one.