NeylasMom

Is he still keeping the prescription food down? I'm not a fan of that type of food either, but I'm with everyone else - what's important now is that he eats! Hope he's doing well.

Would be great if you could do either, whatever is easier/better for you just so I can take a look. Thank you! I don't think Zuri had any soreness afterward, but he spent the night overnight at a friend's so it's hard to say 100%. I think he would likely hide anything like that if he were feeling good otherwise, and b/c we wanted to take things easy we didn't walk on Friday and only walked for about 30 minutes in the early morning on Saturday. Yesterday morning we did do a hike (a short one for us though) and he did fine. FYI, for those who had questions about the alcohol, I believe that was a suggestion of something to keep on hand in case you can't get to a hose or some sort of running water immediately. At home, Zuri can just go in the shower, but since that's the least likely place for it to happen (since I don't have a yard) I thought having it in my car would be a good idea. You would just apply it to the crucial places you'd want water, feet, under the belly/neck etc where the blood vessels are. Pat, I also really like the idea of those ice packs that you can "ignite" to get cold. Those would be good for carrying on hikes when I would have NO other recourse if he started to overheat and we weren't near a water source, and would also be good for keeping in the car. The pepcid is to protect his stomach as apparently one of the first systems to go is the GI tract, which can lead to ulcers. He suggested the pepcid as a preventative. It certainly can't hurt! BUT...hopefully we're not dealing with this again, ever!

Anyone know what I'm talking about? I seem to remember someone with an IBD dog saying they had success with a different steroid that supposedly has less side effects than prednisone. And any idea if it's useful for cats as well? I can look up the latter once I have the name, but figured someone might already know. Thanks.

Did you ever see these dogs overheat or have this type of reaction?

Interesting comments in the article from Greytlady that extreme excitability can cause these types of problems. My friend had a hard time believing that the muzzle/toy combo could cause such a dangerous situation, but he gets SO worked up - digging at the ball frantically and trying to get it that I assumed it had to contribute. It really didn't make sense otherwise as it wasn't that hot. Normally in the dog park if he's going to be muzzled I pick up all of the toys so he can't do that, but they were playing outside while I was setting his crate up inside so I didn't realize he was doing it for a period of time. And Batmom, you are right on, he doesn't know when to stop. I joke that he's borderline OCD and also that his cuz toy is his pacifier. I've never seen a dog get so focused on things like he does. It's great for training (he would be an awesome dog for flyball competition), but not so great when it comes to his SA and apparently this. I did watch for anything abnormal with his urine today but everything is fine. He's due for his annual exam though, which includes a yearly blood chem, so we'll have a look at that when he's in to be safe. I'm pretty sure Meredith has the newer version of COTRG so I'll see if I can take a look at her copy. Definitely need to order my own copy of that book though - have been meaning to for some time. Thanks everyone. Any other thoughts/suggestions are welcome. For now, I think I will continue to let him run as long as it's not hot, but eliminate any situations where he might get as worked up as he did. And of course this weekend we're keeping quiet per my vet's advice from last time.

Honestly, hard to say not knowing what her raw diet was. I should have specified that I feed a diet of RMBs and organ meat. There are certainly health benefits to feeding a ground raw for instance, but the teeth cleaning benefits wouldn't be there. I also think the cleaning benefits from the types of bones I feed - whole lamb necks, cow feet (as a recreational item), whole chickens, etc. are much better than say chicken necks. I find it pretty hard to believe a dog with teeth in such poor shape could actually eat those types of bones, but I'm probably wrong. In the end, it's probably just really poor genetics. FYI, Neyla's teeth were in poor shape when she came off the track as well and my vet wanted to do a dental, but a year later he reported that they were great and didn't need it. That was 4 years ago. Tons of similar anecdotal evidence out there. Also plenty of dogs not fed raw who have healthy teeth (again, genetics imo) but I think many dogs that DO have dentals could avoid it, or have them much less frequently if they were fed raw bones at least on occasion. With the risks of anesthesia, especially for greyhounds, I just like to encourage people to consider it. It may not work for every dog, but it will at least help for many if not most.

I recommend chicken quarters over turkey necks anyway - much better bone:meat ratio. You can order them by the case from Whole Foods, usually at a discounted price (depending on your store). I pay about $1.10/lb.

So last night a friend agreed to watch my dogs for me so I could go sell myself for charity in Baltimore . When I got there, we put them out in the yard with her lab Blake and her son Colin. Colin was throwing a cuz toy for Zuri, who was muzzled so he got pretty worked up (this is a typical activity for him at the dog park and has never been a problem before). At the time, it was about 80 degrees, totally shady, but humid. Overall though, it was NOT particularly hot and it never crossed my mind that it would be an issue. So as I was getting ready to leave we brought the dogs inside and I noticed that Zuri was panting really heavily and starting to look very disoriented and weak, really red gums, squinty eyes, etc. so out into the yard we went where we hooked up the hose. Several minutes in, he still wasn't doing well so I used Emily's thermometer to take him temp (with the promise to replace it ) and it was at 107.9! We did manage to get it down to about 103, at which point we stopped, toweled him off and put him in his crate. He was again fine after that, acting normally and totally fine today. Obviously it's time for me to refresh myself on malignant hyperthermia and the different types of rhabdomyolisis, but in the meantime I wanted to get thoughts from you guys. Or if you have any good resources on any of these topics (web links preferably) that you can pass along, or have dealt with any in your own dog, I would like to hear about it. My concern is that the first incident set something off and now we are going to have to deal with this on a permanent basis. I've had him for over a year and he's a very active dog, so I find it hard to believe that this is a problem he's had all along and that it's just never popped up before. Considering all the hiking we do, and playing in the dog park, I'm sure there's been the opportunity. Or maybe it's just an odd coincidence and it won't happen again? I did manage to bother the sports medicine orthopod during Neyla's vet visit about it. He recommended that I not worry unless it happens again, in which case he told me to call him and he'd call around to some track vets who would know more about the issue. He also gave me some additional suggestions on what to do if it does happen which I found helpful, including keeping bottles of rubbing alcohol and pepcid AC on hand. I'm going to make a "car kit" that includes 6 or so bottles of rubbing alcohol, the pepcid, a huge bottle of water and a dog bowl, and some other first aid items just to have for other issues while I'm at it. Any suggestions for items to include are also appreciated - I figured some vet wrap, some basic bandages, neosporin, Benadryl, some spare Tramadol, that type of stuff. Thanks in advance for any input. Sorry, I know this is a long post, and I do plan to do some of my own research, but I was hoping maybe someone else has seen this pop up in this fashion and could give me some insight. Zuri is a really young dog, really hoping this isn't going to be a long term issue. Thanks, Jen

Neyla had her vet visit with Dr. Canapp, the sports medicine orthopedist today. I asked him to take a quick look in her mouth to rule out any weird issue that might have just popped up that could be contributing to her eating habits of late and yet again I got a compliment on how wonderful her teeth are. This time, instead of commenting that I clearly brushed daily (what my vet said at our annual exam last month), he commented that she must have just had a dental! I was pleased to be able to tell him that at age 8 she's never had one and that it's entirely due to her raw diet. I just wanted to share as I often see people talking about ways to avoid having their dogs go under for a dental. Even if you aren't comfortable feeding raw all of the time, weekly bones can be a great way to clean teeth and give your dog's some enrichment. That's my plug for the day. Jen

I second Batmom's suggestion to get the PCR test for Babesia done before you start any treatment. Imizol can have some very unpleasant side effects and I wouldn't recommend it unless you're certain your dog actually has it. A titre can be misleading.

What about a flavored oatmeal? Don't know if sugars are an issue b/c of his pancreatitis and I would say go for an all-natural one (not processed stuff with artificial sugars) but maybe a little sweetness would coax him into eating it. You could even mix it half and half with plain? Or what about sweetening it yourself with a little yogurt mixed in or something like that? So glad to hear how well he's doing.

This is such great news. So glad to hear it!!!

Just got back from vacation - so excited to hear the happy news. How are things going since Monday?

GREAT news on his progress!!! Any updates today?? I am leaving town later this afternoon and want to hear another positive update before I go.

Check out the articles on vaccination and titres here: http://www.caberfeidh.com/HHC.htm FYI, Bordatella, lyme and lepto are bacterial and therefore the vaccinations do not have a lifelong effect like rabies, etc. can. I believe that's why there are no titres for them, b/c they do actually require frequent re-vaccination to remain effective. Anyway, do read that article on titres. I took Neyla in for her annual before having read it and it had been 3 years since our DHLP vaccine, so my vet, who follows the 3-year protocol was ready to vaccinate her. We agreed on a distemper titre instead, which seemed reasonable to me until I saw the $100 charge for it on my bill! Never again. Now I know better. Honestly, from what I've read, the best thing to do seems to be to give the vaccine (in our cases it would mean giving it to an already vaccinated dog) then doing a titre shortly thereafter to make sure there's been the appropriate response. Then you don't worry about it for the rest of the dog's life. I'm talking about distemper, parvo and rabies (if you can get away with it) here. That's just my two cents.

What wonderful news. I am so glad to hear Alex is eating so well and getting him strength back. It sounds like at this point the vets feel he's turned the corner? Still keeping you guys in my thoughts so that Alex can come home soon, where he will surely recover even more quickly!

No kidding, that is wild! I thought chemo made you lose your hair!

No suggestions on getting him to eat, just wanted to say I'm still pulling for you and Alex. Glad to hear he had a good night!

So sorry to hear this.

Sending good thoughts. Have you heard from the vet yet on how he's doing since this morning?

Will be thinking of you guys this weekend. Poor girl really needs to keep some food down!

Just when you think it can't get funnier! I SO look forward to these posts. I hope someday Winslow's "diary" can be published, maybe in CG or maybe on it's own, with photos of course.

Awhh, good thoughts for your poor boy. Sounds like he's been through a lot in the last 6 months, as you have. Hopefully he is eating and home safe and sound very soon.

Just use a poop guard with teh muzzle, or apply duct tape around the front of it, otherwise she will be able to work on it through the muzzle.

Pretty much, especially since Dr. Radcliffe suggested a "hyperkeratitic lesion from an autoimmune disorder" yesterday after looking at the new photo, which is yet another new (and totally scary) thought. Anyone have any links to good info on that (Meredith has already done some research for me, thank you Meredith!)? The lesion part sounds like a generic term that could be caused by multiple things, but I'm having trouble finding any info whatsoever. He did mention a biopsy to determine if that's what it is. Is that something that typically requires anesthesia? Thanks for the words of encouragement Batmom, and everyone else who has been following my ridiculous threads! It really does help to have your support.