NeylasMom

I can't add anything to your question, but I am sorry for your loss. I agree that it's hard enough to deal with a loss when you know what happened, let alone when you don't.

Nichole, we checked specifically for Soba but he wasn't on there. I think it's a good idea for us to start looking for our Seabrook dogs on there as they come in. Any ideas how to find older lists, or lists for other areas? It's interesting if nothing else, and sometimes it could help us with a foster with an unexplained or vague injury. Thanks to the original poster for sharing.

Don't worry about it. The tick needs to be attached for 36 hours before it will transmit disease. I'm guessing from it's location that you would have noticed it within that timeframe. Most vets now use the 3D snap test to test for heartworm/lyme/ehrlichia so when you take her in for her yearly exam, you can make sure the vet uses that one and checks for it. Of course, keep your eyes out for symptoms, but I really wouldn't worry. It's 1 tick, likely not infected, and likely not on there long enough to transmit infection. But do start using Frontline plus!

Crap, so I gave Fenway a bath and put Fronline on him when he dried (about an hour later).....I'm glad the fleas and ticks are not terrible around here! This is totally fine. This is what we do with all of our incoming dogs. Bathe, let dry, apply frontline. I've always felt like 24 hrs was enough time for it to absorb but I don't really bathe my dogs often so it's not generally an issue for me.

Sorry you're having such a hard time. Sounds like you're doing the best for your pups though. I don't know how old Missy is, but if her teeth aren't in terrible shape (ie. they just need cleaning, not extractions or anything like that) why not start working on them at home? I know not everyone is immediately comfortable with the idea, but feeding raw bones can do wonders for teeth. That, combined with daily brushing, might be enough to avoid or at least postpone the dental so you can take care of the mass removal. If you need more convincing , I've posted other places that Neyla came off the track at 4 1/2 with horrible teeth. Vet ordered dental but we waited and started feeding chicken backs for dinner. At our next exam, she got the all clear on her teeth. She's 8 now, and has never had a dental (and I've never brushed her teeth). I now feed an all raw diet, but for that first year, I fed Canidae in the morning and chicken backs in the evening. You can get chicken backs by the case at Whole Foods for $0.79/lb. A case (40 lbs) would last Neyla nearly two months so for about $15/month (less the cost of the kibble you would have been feeding) you can have clean teeth. Something to think about. I hope everything works out. I'll be hoping you win the lottery (as I wish it for myself as well, even though I don't play the lottery). Jen

Just reading this thread now. Just wanted to chime in that I'm thinking of you and wishing your girl the best as well. You really are both troopers and I hope there's a happy outcome.

Well I can't chime in on LS, just wanted to offer my support. Why do these things always come in waves?! I hope Katie is okay.

If it looks like a tapeworm and smells like a tapeworm... Actually, I'm not very good about what looks like what in stool, but I would say collect it and take it into your vet today. If it is a tapeworm it's helpful to know which one. The two main dewormers - panacur and drontal plus - work on different tapes.

I agree on all counts. Doesn't seem like food is likely to be the culprit if this came out of nowhere at age 10. Sounds like worms or another parasite/bacteria to me. The change in foods could be exacerbating the problem - sometimes when you have persistant diarrhea, the intestines get inflamed and they need some time to calm down even after you've eliminated the source. I would feed something she will find easy to digest until she's had a couple of weeks to recover.

If you're talking about extractions, she may have already progressed to periodontal disease, which can't be addressed even by feeding raw bones. I would second Ola's suggest to start with something a bit easier and see how she handles them, but given what the vet is recommending, I might do the dental and then start giving RMBs to help with the issue in the future. I hope that's not the case, and if it isn't (she just has gingivitis) then the RMBs will reverse the damage. FYI, feeding frozen is fine, but I wouldn't in her case, again because her gums may be sore. No reason not to give raw meaty bones to a dog with kidney disease either. I believe others have said phosphorous is the true culprit with kidney disease but if you're concerned about protein levels, most raw meaty bones hover at or just below 20%.

Allergies. I freaked out and ran to my vet thinking Neyla had it and it was just allergies. It's the season. Deep breaths and schedule an appt with your vet to be safe.

Bad breath is a symptom of gingivitis, which is a precursor to periodontal disease. Gingivitis can be reversed with proper teeth care, periodontal disease cannot. Additionally, in the last decade or so periodontal disease has been linked to a multitude of other serious health problems, including heart disease, kidney failure, diabetes, preeclampsia, etc. in both humans and companion animals. Here are some links I was able to dredge up in a quick search online and of IVIS. I'm only posting the first few I found. Lonsdale's book Raw Meaty Bones (you can read the entire book online) also gives excellent info on the subject. Heart disease Preeclampsia General article In companion animals More companion animals It makes me really sad to see someone making fun of owners who brush their dogs teeth daily. Even if for some reason you choose not to believe that periodontal disease will lead to other health problems, the cost to you and the stress on your dogs of annual teeth cleaning under anesthesia and eventually extractions, etc. and painful disease should be enough to encourage people to do anything they can to keep their dog's teeth in good shape. Anyway, I voted no bad breath, as a result of a raw diet. Neyla came off the track at 4 1/2 with horrible teeth. The vet recommended we do a dental when she was next anesthetized. I put her on a raw diet and at our next annual exam he raved about her teeth and the cleaning was canceled. She's now 8 and has never had a dental. Zuri just came to us in August with beautiful teeth and I plan to keep them that way. By the way, we've never brushed, but I do applaud those who need to and do. Jen

Rachael - I hope Sully is okay. It's good that you're trusting your instincts though - we do "know" things when they happen generally. Give some extra hugs and kisses to Sully for me and keep us posted - Thursday seems so far away!

Panacur also removed giardia cysts, which Drontal plus doesn't, but if you know your dog has giardia you're probably going to treat with metronidazole anyway. So which one you use depends on a number of factors. As Meredith said, we deworm with drontal plus, but our vets all LOVE panacur. I have to explain to each of them when they want to prescribe panacur why it's perfectly reasonable for us to just use our stock of Drontal plus instead. I cannot tell you how many don't even realize that drontal plus exists. They're only aware of drontal, which does not cover everything panacur does. For us, it's easier to get the drontal plus at a reasonable price (though still quite expensive for us) and we deworm all of our dogs when they come and 21 days later since so many come in with worms anyway.

Thanks, really useful to know this. I would have never thought about it although I don't recall where our vaccinations have been given - it's been a while. :>) And Hubcitypam, I've never heard of microchips being implanted anywhere else. I might be wrong though.

Get the TBD panel. Swelling in multiple legs, including swelling/limping that comes and goes IS a symptom of TBDs. You can start treatment with doxy in the meantime, but if it's Babesia you'll need to treat with Imidocarb. It might not be, but why not rule it out? I second (or third or fourth...) finding a vet you're more comfortable with, particularly one who knows the symptoms of TBDs (or recognizes that TBDs are common in greys and don't always present as you might expect).

Actually, get both at the same time. It may mean you end up spending more money, but if it is cancer you want to know as soon as possible. Really hoping that's not it. Babesia or other TBD also popped into my head. Please keep us posted. Jen

It's still used although chlomicalm does seem to be the "go-to" SA drug of choice. I had my dog on it for a while for SA and it was the drug a friend used to get her dog over SA. Have you tried searching through this section and the behavioral section? I posted when I considered putting Zuri on it. It has another name too - Elavil I think - so I'd search for both. Zuri was on it for a total of about a month or so. No side effects, may have mellowed him out a tiny bit. It helped with his SA, but not enough. When we reached the max dosage and it still wasn't totally addressing it, we stopped it. If you have more specific questions, that might help us give you the info you're looking for. Jen

I voted twice a year. Once for yearly exams, bloodwork, etc. and then once a year b/c I'm a crazy mom who suddenly decides her dog has pannus b/c she has slightly goopy eyes. Mostly though we don't need to go (knock on wood) - I attribute that to them being raw fed and therefore having a lot less health problems (ie. goopy eyes that went away as soon as they were put on raw).

It doesn't say anything about ticks, which is really the only reason I use Frontline Plus. I'm also not a big fan of using anything new, especially on greyhounds, and would caution others from it as well until there's time to see if people report problems. That's just me though. I appreciate the suggestion.

I've order Frontline Plus from Petshed before and just came across a post mentioning deadfleaz, which is even cheaper. Has anyone used either to purchase heartworm preventative? I know that a Rx is not required in Australia, but obviously is here so my question is will they just ship to the US or do they do the same thing as online sites here and require your vet's info. Or do they not ship these meds to the US at all. Also, has anyone had any bad experiences with either company? My petshed experience was great, but I sort of forgot about them and started ordering from EntirelyPets since that's where I get Neyla's joint supplement. Now that I have a second dog, it's time to switch back!

I think Kennelmom's Erin has become the poster dog for what can happen. I hope others will at least learn from your experience Heather. I've been fostering for about 4 years (50 dogs plus others that I've dogsat) so I think I know a good bit about these guys, but then someone surprises me. Like when Neyla, in a split second, picked up a feral cat from the bushes and started to try to kill it (thankfully it scratched her well enough that she let it go). I honestly was shocked at how fast she moved, from totally still to cat in mouth. Point being, until you see each individual behavior you probably don't realize the potential for what can happen, even if you know greyhounds. Also, someone mentioend that these guys aren't more viscious than other breeds, which I agree with. But they do get competitive when they run around (or in their minds, race). And a nip at higher speeds can easily turn into something much worse. It does tend to be worse when the weather is cooler and as it gets darker. I never really thought about why (anyone know?), but I've definitely observed it to be true.