NeylasMom

I'm so sorry to hear this Patti. Keeping you, Lacey and Fred in my thoughts. I wish there was more we could say or do for you and your family.

We were all so excited when we saw a package in our mailbox marked secret santa. We just love our Christmas necklaces and look quite stunning in them (if we do say so ourselves). Mom will post pictures of us modeling them soon - we keep nagging her to take them, but she claims she's busy, pfff. Thank you thank you thank you Secret Santa!!! Neyla & Zuri

Oops, sorry, didn't pay attention to how much he weighs.

Here's a link to an article about raw fed blood values.

I would go with metamucil instead. It's our new big D remedy for fosters and it works like a charm! You can get the flavored biscuits in any drugstore. They're for people, but the dogs go nuts for them. One biscuit upon arrival and maybe one with his first meal should suffice. FYI, the stool may have a strange consistency (gel-like) and an orange color, that's normal.

I agree with everything Burpdog said and second greyhoundlady's compliments on your post. You obviously care very much about your pups and I hope you get this sorted out. I would definitely explore the medical possibilities thoroughly if this were my dog. Not sure where you're located, but there's a great veterinary behaviorist here in the DC metro area named Dr. Marsha Reich and a second, Dr. Meyers. They are VERY expensive, but I recommend working with one if you can find one in your area. You might call one of them to get more local recommendations. I've worked with Dr. Reich on 2 foster cases and you're just not going to get the depth of knowledge, both behaviorally and medically, from any other one source. Going with a vet behaviorist, while having the actual tests run through a greyhound savvy vet, seems like your best option for something this severe. Please keep us posted!

I too love the idea of something local to my SS's area as well, but we will be happy with anything that we get. I'm also more into the dogs getting gifts than me, especially since I did my two together since this is my first year, but hey, I'm not going to complain if there's something thrown in for me.

Thanks! Meredith - the update is Dr. Radcliffe was very frank about not being near considering amputation yet. I had forgotten how much I love that man. He is the ONLY one out of all of the people I've discussed this with - vets, friends, GTers, etc. - who mirrored my concerns about anesthetizing my senior greyhound w/a history of anesthesia issues. And he wasn't beating around the bush either. At the end of our discussion, I said it felt really great to have him on my team and his response was, "Not your team, Neyla's team". Isn't that the truth, and isn't that what we should all hope for in our vet? Anyway, xrays have to go off to Dr. Canapp. I didn't have the foresight to take the originals with me, so Dr. Radcliffe wasn't able to look at the progression. But he definitely saw both the bone deterioration and the bone spur that Dr. Canapp did. So Dr. C will have a look and then they'll chat and we'll see where we're at. If the deterioration has progressed significantly since the first x-rays, then I guess we talk more seriously about our options. In the meantime, I have the full go ahead to keep Neyla doped up on Tramadol so she can resume normal walks. I asked him about long term side effects - he said if she starts robbing convenience stores to supply herself with Tramadol, I worry.

Not for either of mine, although I was feeding yogurt at the time of the switch.

Neyla has been having some stomach issues over the last few months, potentially just due to her aging. I recently decided that I would start adding some yogurt or probiotics back into her diet to see if that helps, but hadn't done so yet. I happened to mention the problem to Dr. Radcliffe during our visit yesterday and his immediate response was to start feeding her Activia. He recommended Activia in particular b/c he said it contains the same bacteria that are in our greys' stomachs. So my question is, does anyone know offhand which bacteria those are (and I don't mean which ones are in Activia, I could look that up for myself ). I admit I'm being a bit lazy, but figure someone on here already happens to know enough about the dog digestive tract that they can just tell me. Thanks!

Another one to discuss with your vet that I don't see mentioned in Dr. Stack's article is dormitor (or dormitol, I may have it wrong). Dr. K, who does all the corn stuff for our fosters is a big fan for easier procedures. It also has the bonus of having a reversal agent if I understand correctly. I can't use propofol for Neyla so that's what we discussed using if we had to do a toe biopsy. Hoping you don't need any of this info though!

A representative from the Missouri Dept. of Conservation told us it was 48 hours. He also said the majority of disease (at least in this part of the country) is transmitted by the female Lone Star Tick, which can easily be identified by a prominate white dot on the middle of her back. Those are the ones I found on myself while showering, after stupidly hiking in shorts in North Carolina. I found them in my neither regions... That was a year or two ago though and I seem to be TBD free. And after having to remove those, I'm no longer squeamish about pulling them off of the dogs.

My guess is it was the meds that caused the problem. Hopefully there wasn't any damage to her kidneys and she'll recover fully. The normal bloodwork levels sound very promising to me and honestly, if it were my dog, I wouldn't wait a terribly long time to switch back to normal food if they stay that way. I think those prices are really high, particularly the bloodwork. I live in the DC metro area, where everything is ridiculously expensive and I still pay around $100 for a full blood chem/CBC (that also includes a urinalysis). The lab my vet uses charges that for a senior profile, but we run the "senior" profile on both of my dogs (Zuri is 3) b/c it's cheaper that way. If you were to run the 3 things individually it would be much more expensive. Since your dog is already a senior, you would think your vet would be choosing that option regardless, but it may be something to ask about. I hope your girl feels better soon. I went through this with Neyla when she was about 5 and she did recover. We didn't get to the point where we had to put her on fluids, although we did do an ultrasound that showed acute kidney failure and she was peeing about once every hour. She's 8 1/2 now and kidneys have been fine since. We feed a raw diet.

Aimee, I have been waiting for your post here so that I could offer my condolences. I followed your entire thread in health & medical, but the post was locked already when I read of your loss. I truly am sorry, 10 months certainly isn't enough, but I hope you can find comfort in the fact that she was lucky enough to be totally loved by not one, but two families thanks to you. Hoping you soon have only fond memories of your sweet girl. Jen

I cannot recommend strongly enough that people still use their tick preventatives. I took my pups camping this weekend, we hiked for about 3 miles, flicking ticks off of them as we went (every time we'd stop, we'd see them crawling on them and flick a bunch off). And yet, when we got back and did the once over, I pulled AT LEAST 20 ticks off of each dog. Most were not embedded but a few were. It took about 15 minutes per dog and two people before I was satisfied that we'd removed them all. I do a LOT of camping and hiking and I have NEVER seen so many ticks on my dogs. They were also all over my boyfriend. I treat my hiking pants with permethrin. It had been a while since I had done it (you're supposed to redo it after a few washes) but my guess is it was still effective as I was the only person who escaped their wrath. Even had to pull one out of my boyfriend's neck. Thank god I'm no longer squeamish about these guys! Anyway, to the OP, you can certainly see an inflamed area at the site of the tick bite. It doesn't mean the dog was infected with a TBD and I wouldn't worry since the redness is going away. Do you know how long the tick was embedded (was it swollen at all, or still flat)? If the latter, he probably wasn't on there long enough to transmit any disease - the exact timeframe is slipping my mind, but I think it's something like 36 hrs that the tick needs to be attached, if the tick is even carrying any disease.

Diane, so glad to hear that Tootsie is eating and pooping!!! What greats news!

I think you're right, if we're talking about snips here, then the chips would be used to see if your dog had a predisposition for osteo, not if he had an active cancer. Either one sounds very promising though, so I'm anxious to hear more!

Tootsie, sober up and start feeling better!

Okay, we are in. I entered Zuri and Neyla together since funds are tight this year and this is our first time around. I'm sure once we figure out the madness, we'll be up for separate entries next year. I hope I can live up to their expectations and work out the evil elf business so they give appropriate gifts!

That is incredible, you have an awesome vet! Hope Tootsie perks up soon and glad to hear about the other improvements.

Do most people with multiple dogs sign them up as one "package" or enter them separately? I'm assuming the idea is that if you enter them together, then the total value of all gifts is still $20 even though people have said that many people go over???

C'mon Lacey, remember, you have to kick that cancer's a$$!!!

Sending good thoughts your way. How's she doing this morning?

I have been looking for an excuse to use this one anyway, so c'mon Tootsie, stop being so picky for your mom. She's working hard to give you the good stuff!

Haven't heard anything in a while. How is Tootsie doing?