NeylasMom

So we were attacked by two off leash dogs tonight, well one was attacking, the other was sort of along for the ride. It could have been a lot worse, the dog that was aggressing was fearful and would charge and retreat, but while Skye had the second dog pinned down the charging dog apparently managed to bite Violet, who was just trying to stay out of the whole thing. They're not serious, one puncture wound and the other is a tiny puncture that's not much more than a scrape, but there is some bruising and they're painful. I feel so bad as I had checked her over and didn't find them, then she got up a little bit ago and didn't want to walk. I thought initially it was her disc until I started massaging her and noticed some blood. Anyway, on to my actual question...I've cleaned them really well with Chlorhexidine solution and put a good glob of my favorite anti-bacterial wound care, Derma Gel on each of them and then bandages and wrapped with vet wrap. There's no way the vet wrap is going to stay on though. I doubt we'll even make it upstairs to bed with it on. So what's our best option? Try to bandage better, or is it better to leave them exposed and if so, some sort of kids pants that hang over, or head collar? She's going to hate any of it, but hopefully they heal quickly. Asking now so I can go shopping after work tomorrow morning if I need to. The wounds are on the outside of her back right leg near her knee. The more serious one is up her hamstring a bit and the smaller one is just down below her knee. Thanks in advance for your GT wisdom!

Yeah, you're right. Every time I brush them I mumble to myself that I should really be giving them a bath. Skye is easy because I can take her to the local pet shop and use their self grooming tub, but Violet can't get in those tubs. We don't have a great spot at home for it so I'm leaving that as my last resort. The zoom groom helped. It seems to get out more of the top coat. I decided to try the wire brush gently on her less bony areas and the amount of soft undercoat that came out was insane. But there's only so much I can do of that as it starts to irritate her. Between the two though we managed to get a ton out.

But did it have the bolster on it? I am holding out hope that the bolster makes the difference. If not, Skye will use it even though it's 2-3x larger than she needs.

They didn't have them when I went last week, brand new as far as I can tell so it may be worth checking? Now here's hoping Violet will actually get on it.

I've been waiting for a price drop on Amazon that's never happened. The K&H elevated outdoor bolster beds are available in my Costco for $38.99 right now! They've been above $50 on Amazon for ages: K&H Pet Products Original Bolster Pet Cot Elevated Pet Bed Chocolate/Mesh, Large https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XH1J2VH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_krLfDbS65TFKG

Ha, okay, we have a zoom groom. Haven't used it in ages. I'll try it and see if it does a better job.

It's that time of year, the girls are shedding an INSANE amount. Violet's coat looks like crap because of all the dead fur that needs to come out. For Skye (my mixed breed) we can use the wire brush to get tons of fur out, but that's too harsh for Violet. Up until now I've been using a grooming mitt and it does an okay job, but not great. What are you guys using for your greyhounds that is gentle enough for their lack of body fat, but does a decent job of getting the dead fur out?

Funny, I didn't get that impression at all. I thought the article was quite balanced and I didn't feel they were promoting any one diet. On the contrary, I thought they did a really nice job of spelling out how much is still really not understood and giving multiple options for diets in the meantime. I feel like I'm coming from a pretty unbiased place since I've barely paid any attention to the issue. Anyway, hopefully some people will find it useful.

This is a really nice article on what's known about diet related DCM at this time: https://therawfeedingcommunity.com/2018/02/08/grain-free-diets-and-dcm/

Congratulations! Those first and last steeplechase runs were awesome to watch. And a few of those runs had some really tight turns for a greyhound! I can't imagine handling that kind of pressure. I forget what we're doing in our courses in class and we're not under any pressure then. I blame my 41 yo brain. 😆 Anyway, well done. Thanks for sharing, those were fun to watch.

This was my thought as well. Hoping you get some answers and that it's nothing too scary!!

Where did Briggs come from? Any chance he's spent time somewhere where Valley Fever is present? It can mimic bone cancer. Hopefully Dr Couto can give you answers. Sorry I can't offer much, but hoping for the best for your boy.

The OP didn't say his dog has SA (or that he doesn't). There are a number of reasons someone might want to do it, including the dog likes car rides. It can be done safely. People who participate in dog sports need to contain their dogs in their cars for extended periods of time and they take appropriate precautions to do it safely. No reason others can't do so as well for whatever benefit they feel it provides to their dog.

That truly sounds horrible. I'm so sorry you and Ginny are dealing with this and hope it's only improvement from here. Do post updates as you think of it, I always check for them though I have nothing helpful to add.

I do it, but I searched long and hard for a car that met my other requirements and also allowed me to lock the car from the outside while it's running. I wouldn't do it if I had to leave the car unlocked. Wouldn't worry so much about the car being stolen, but I would worry about the dog being stolen, or "rescued" by someone who assumed your dog was suffering. We actually did it today. Took the dogs to one of our favorite spots to hike/walk around a lake. Took a nice hour long walk, they smelled all the smells, played in the water a few times, and saw lots of new people and dogs. Then I stopped at the farmers market just down the street and they hung out in the car with the AC on and their lamb stuffed Kong's that I had made beforehand and bowl of water while I shopped for about 20 minutes. We used to do this a lot when I went to the farmers market more frequently. Once, a woman waited at my car so she could accuse me of abusing (her word) my animals. When I told her the AC was on she tried to come up with other reasons that it was abusive, leaving them in the car all alone like that while I shopped. Sorry lady, but I'm pretty confident my dogs prefer a really awesome walk or hike in a novel place followed by a short period of time in the car (plus the time with me in the car) to being at home alone the entire time, especially since one of them has SA. So be forewarned, you may attract some crazies.

Hijacking, but tell me more about how it's working for your neuromas please!

Oh no, sorry to hear that. I wondered about you guys yesterday and was hoping no news was good news.

Fwiw, I SWEAR by this stuff for fast wound healing (it does have anti-bacterial properties as well: Veterinus Derma GeL Tube 100ml - 3.4 fl.oz. + Free Sample Tube 10ml https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003MCHX4E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_j-MbDbWJWA5JX Cold laser would likely also help speed healing if there's no infection there.

Fingers crossed things are on the mend

We considered PRP for Violet's Achilles tendon injury, but in the end, her ultrasound revealed multiple small tears in two of the three tendons, which didn't make her a good candidate (versus a larger tear where they could inject the PRP). We opted for PT and she recovered well. So while I didn't do it, I will say that my ortho felt strongly that PRP was a better choice than stem cells, at least for this injury (but I think he meant in general). I wonder if the "marginal" tearing is what makes the PRP the lesser option. Sounds similar to our situation. I would have tried the PRP if it was likely to help. Keep us posted. I'll be interested to hear how things go. Hopefully well! Going to see if this link works: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://vosm.com/upload/articles/PRPfinal.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjo-pfPqOXiAhUrT98KHXfvAGwQFjAKegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw0bOpJRA9c9XYRv2UuBhtya

Yep, I've read the info and no, I'm not convinced that over time they may not contribute to an eventual cancer or other disease, but so could a million other things in our environment including the pesticides and fertilizers a ton of my neighbors apply in the name of having a pretty green (ie. boring to me) yard. I do what I can to keep my dogs out of those yards, but I'm not going to stop walking them, which they both enjoy and get physical benefits from, because there's a risk that a long time down the road they'll develop an issue. It's all risk versus reward and I choose to prevent the very real and more importantly immediate risk of tick borne diseases to both me and them rather than worry about an unproven and potentially non-existent risk way down the road. And honestly, both ofy greyhounds so far have died of bone cancer. Could chemicals have contributed, sure, but we all know there's a genetic component to osteo in our breed and I doubt anything I could have done would have changed them getting it. And again , maybe you live in an area where your exposure to ticks isn't great, in which case, fantastic for you (be grateful!), but that isn't us. We're exposed to them daily and again, pre-Seresto I've had ticks move from my dogs onto me and attach while sleeping and I've had to be tested for TBDs twice now. Unfortunately I can't wear a Seresto collar so my dogs do instead. The nice thing about Seresto is it kills ticks on contact so it keeps me safer as well. I'm incredibly open to use a natural remedy when there's one that's proven effective. Until then, we use Seresto. So to each his own, but when you say there are safer alternatives, I have to disagree, at least when it comes to ticks. I suspect folks who use the natural remedies (successfully) don't have a high exposure to ticks in the first place. In which case, by all means, skip the chemical preventatives. By the way, the other nice thing about Seresto, if your dog does have a reaction, you have the ability to take it off and bath them and not have ongoing issues. The first time mine wore them, I only put the collar on for an hour or so, then the next day a few, and then when I felt comfortable they weren't going to react I left them on.

So frustrating. I agree, can't think of much else you could do. The only thing is recheck blood work now if you haven't. If something is off, could give you a clue about what's going on. If it were me, since you saw improvement with doxy, I'd probably choose a long ass course of it at the highest recommended/tolerable dose. My concern with the steroids would be that they reduce his immune response when he's likely dealing with an infection???

It sounds like you already screened for TBDs, but did you include Anaplasmosis? Did the Valley Fever test come back negative? I missed it if you mentioned it.

Except there aren't, at least to my knowledge. I have yet to hear of a natural remedy that can effectively repel/kill ticks. I hate applying chemicals as well, but the risks of TBDs to my dogs, and me as well (I have had ticks move onto me from my dogs) is much greater and more immediate than any potential risk from a preventative. We use Seresto and are thrilled with it's performance. And my vet was very comfortable with its safety. Supposedly a dog could ingest one of the collars and be fine.

This was my thought as well To answer your question,while I have HP I have only heard good things about Pets Best.