gracegirl

If this were me any my Gracie girl (who hates the vet so so so much) I think I'd still leave her there. It would break my heart 1,000 times over. But I do think it would be best for her and while I'd be more than willing to do the IV at home, I'd still want it done at the vet's office. And I'd maybe request a few more trips outide as well.

Looking forward to more updates as he heals.

I know someone who has two greyhounds like this. Both raised from pups. I dog sat one time for one night....never again! I believe that a lot is product of the environment. I have one ex-racer and one oops. They are very much the same while also being quite different. Some is genetic, some environmental. Fenway came to me just shy of four months old. I'd had Grace for a year. She certainly helped raise him! I also used to take them to work with me where they'd stay in a day care environment with 30 other dogs for 8+ hrs a day. His two best friends were littermate yellow labs, Abby and Chuck, who were one month younger than Fen. So...he thinks he's a lab sometimes. Here are the characteristics I've noticed: Fenway: high prey drive, chiow hound, amazing muscles (impressive, even for a racer), super fast, very vocal, nervous around a lot of kids, major cuddle bug, loves to wrestle, play bitey face and tug. Grace: medium prey drive, medium chow hound, loves kids, quiet, and the only game she plays with other dogs is chase. Both are lazy, terrible jogging partners, love to cockroach, and both know a ton of tricks. And I adore them both with all my heart!

Fenway only has accidents durring the day when I am gone. He has a dog walker come mid-day. Nothing at all changed in his schedule, yet the accident led to the discovery of the kidney damage. So yes, my advice would be to get a first of the day sample into your vet for a urinalyis and cluture. That's where I started, then moved to bloodwork before getting an ultrasounds to diagnos the problem. I, too, suspected it was behavioral at the start. With the urinalysis results, we discovered it was medical. Yep. The test is simple and cheap. Always rule out medical first! If you don't have a pie pan on hand, I've also had success with a soup ladel. Or buy the disposable ziplock tupperware at the grocery store/Walmart that will fit a sandwich (the shallow kind). I have some on hand for pee collecting purposes.

When this started happening with Fenway we went through all the steps...vet visit, urinalysis, complete blood work, treated for an unconfirmed UTI, etc. Nothing helped, so eventually we did an ultrasound because the vet felt it was medical and not behavioral. Low and behold....kidney damage. So he just has to drink more water and pee more often. For now I have pee pads in his favorite spots, but will hopefully be transitioning to diapers soon. I want and need him to be able to go when he feels the urge so as not to make his condition worse. My theory, always run tests to rule out medical first, the explore behavioral problems. I could be that she is anxious with changes in pressure due to storms. Could be a UTI. Could be stress. But always best to rule out medical first. I'd start with a urinalysis and make sure they culture it. Then go from there.

What are the benefits of raw vs. Cooked? Which is better? And how about the shell...throw that in there too?

How is Chloe doing? I hope all is moving along well! I also second the feed bread/don't panic advice....but I realize this is way too late now!

Grace is indifferent, just like she is with most non-greys. Fenway is curious and terrified at the same time. I took him to the barn with me a few times I had to bring the horses in from turnout. Just like Mr. Milan, I led the horse and Fenway into the barn together. This is Fen's prefered interaction wtih them. I let him off leash in the pasture next to a gentle old gelding and he would cautiously approach, until Joey moved or made noise, then he would run away. Wimp!

Any update on Merlin today?

I remember Monty well. I'm so sorry for your loss.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Godspeed Giselle. You are loved and missed!

Batmom nailed it, as usual. I was going to say the same thing. Continue with the ABs. Then do a urinalysis. Then culture. At some point it would be good to do bloodwork as well if you haven't already. This will give you a pretty good idea if any of the kidney indicators are "off". Fenway's bloodwork was normal, but the urinalysis indicated that he has low USG (urine specific gravity) which is an indicator of kidney function. When I could find no other answers, I opted for the ultrasound. Personally I'm glad I did, but in your case since the ABs help I would pursue that a bit longer before doing an ultrasound. Please keep us posted. I hope True feel better very soon!

In my house all I'd have to do would be to yell "SQUIRREL" a few times.....they'd go rocketing into the backyard to get that rodent without a second thought of the dog door. In all seriousness though, I'm jealous of your dog door. Long story short, I'm renting and desprately want one but it won't currently work for a variety or reasons.

From memory....I believe that vennison is a low phosphorus food. It's what Fenway is on now, has been for over a year...and if I recall correctly I decided a rapid change in diet was not needed because his phosphorus levels are within range.

after spending my tax refund on an ultrasound rather than new shoes or a purse...I'd say that an ultrasound will probably tell you a whole heck of a lot of info about what's going on. I'm now quite glad I did it.

Yep. This. Fenway is easier to pill than Grace. But Fenway also likes to spit the pills out of anything I hide them in, whereas most of the time Grace will take the pills with her food. Rubbing the throat really will help. That's what makes them go down for Fenway. And I follow it with a treat. Good luck!

Dang it! I'm so sorry to hear that your boy has been having accidents. Unfortunately this is all too familiar to us. Fenway is 4.5 years old and just like your boy, starting having accidents. Here are the steps I took and the results: First of the morning urine sample (x2 one week apart) - low specific gravity (1.014 and 1.15) Bloodwork - showed nothing out of the ordinary Another urine sample, this time a sterile sample which was cultured - nothing showed on the culture **at this time we put Fen on ABs, just in case it was an infection. They did not make a difference** Ultrasound - revealed kidney damage This all happened over the course of late February and into March of this year, so this is all new to me as well. The good news is that the veet did not seem overly concerned about the results of the ultrasound. He took more of a "lets keep monitoring the situation" approach. The vet suggested I could put Fenway on a home cooked or a commercial kidney diet if I chose to. I have researched the commercial kidney diets, but I don't think I'm going to go that route. Or maybe I will. I'm still undecided. My next steps are to actually get the report from the radiologist with the results of his ultrasound so that I know exactly what we are working with. I'm also going to wait until the end of April, and then see an internal specilist. The reason I want to wait is because I think I want to do the bloodwork and U/A again to see if his number have changed at all (ie is he getting worse, or just staying the same). I'd suggest an ultrasound even through they are expensive (around $250-$300). It was the only way I knew for sure what we were dealing with in Fenway. So that was money well spent. Now I just have to decide what the next steps are. Yes, this too. I brought this up to my vet and we considered this as a possibility until the ultrasound revealed the kidney damage. From the reading I did on diabetes insipidus there really is no "test" for it (as in, you can't draw blood, check for DI, and know it's the problem) but rather you'd treat as if it was DI and see if the meds seem to work. I *believe* that DI dogs are usually drinking a TON more and peeing a TON more. And I also believe that the specific gravity is also typically lower than Fenway's were at 1.014. Do you remember his USG number? I would have done this if the U/S did not give us the answers.

I'm going to start with just offering hugs, because as you know we are going through a similar thing here. I'm planning on getting Fenway's ultrasound report and taking him to an internal specialist in the next few weeks. I want to recheck blood and urine (free catch, first of day). Fenway's only "off" value is the specific gravity of his urine. His only symptom is peeing more often. The ultrasound finally gave us the answer to his kidney problems.

Congrats on a beautiful addition to the family, JP. She's perfect! Welcome home Kali.

Ditto!

Oh, that's intereting...I would have made the same assumption. I guess you could always call *your* VCA and have the records faxed to the *other* VCA...but it's interesting that there's not a shared system. (In the case here, the VCA I'm considering transitioning to is a 24 hour emergency clinic.)

Fenway is 4.5 years old and a recent ultrasound revealed kidney damage. My vet suggested I look into all of the script foods, didn't recommend one over any other. He also suggested, if I chose to go the home cooked route, to consult the team at UC Davis (but there is a fee for their home cooked diet recommendations). I also asked a vet friend of mine who practives emergency medicine in California and she suggeted Purina NF because it's more pallatable that other kidney formulas. I've joined the yahoo kidney and kidney diet groups. I have not changed Fenway's diet yet as the only number out of range in blood work or urinalysis was the specific gravity. I'm going to see a specialist next month and will decide from there what to do. Good luck to her and her pup!

dogaware.com is a great site wtih tons of info on kidney disease. You might check there to see if it can help you make sense of things. It's helped me since Fenway's ultrasound and discovery of kidney damage.

Yep, what Luv said. I've used the rapid change in direction method before. I've also used the method where I just plain stop. If the dog knows sit, you can stop and ask for the sit before continuing along. To be successful at either of these, though, it's my opinion that you need a very short leash. That gives YOU the leverage to be in charge. The longer the leash, the more power the dog has. I have always from day 1 used a 4 foot lead on my two pups. I do own a few 6 ft leads but they are in storage as they are never used. For dogs that are learning to walk at a heel, I love the leash with the control loop about a foot from the snap. That would be really handy as a way to not jerk your dogs neck, and to also keep him close. It's also important to reward the pup for a job well done. Starting out, keep Riley right next to you and say heel, then immediately treat while Riley is right there. Keep doing this over and over. Combo this with the change of direction game....you'll have a very well behaved dog in no time. I take great pride in my very well leash trained dogs. (okay, okay...Grace came that way, but still I was the one to train Fen!)

I'd suggest full blood work in addition to a urine culture. Sorry your boy is not feeling well.