RobinM

thank you every one. I don't post too often about her. I like to keep her memories selfishly for myself. I have to say that looking back, I am STILL so touched and amazed at just how many lives this firecracker of a sweetheart touched. I miss her so much - it just hurts so much sometimes. At best, it hurts but I can talk and smile- but no matter what, the tears come. She opened the door permanently for broodies. I could never ever be without one. She saw to it that in as much as I could never replace her nor would I attempt to, I wouldn't want to have a home without a mommy. Everyone needs a mommy.

Bohemian Ocean AKA Polli January 1, 1999 - March 8, 2009 One year later.... I still don't really understand how this whole thing went down. It wasn't supposed to be like this. We had planned to have you around for a long time... and God laughed. We have survived our first year without Polli- and at the time she left us, I didn't believe I would. Intellectually, I knew I had to, but emotionally, I was so done. As a care taker to Polli for so long, I was lost after her death. I didn't know what to do with myself. During this time, we were also dealing with keeping Beau (her son) alive, as he was suffering terribly from IBD. It was amazing time and one that I don't remember too well. We just did what we had to do. Put one foot in front of the other. The days turned into weeks, months and now, a year. A lot has happened in the year that Polli has been gone. We now have Elsie, who we adopted 6 weeks after we lost Polli. Elsie is just what the doctor ordered and I am so happy to have this nut case senior girl young at heart, spirit and soul in my life! It was in Polli's honor that I felt I had to bring her home. I took one look at that Kansas website and i HAD to have her. Ollie joined us this past fall of course, our original GreyPack of Long Island,. Beau, Chloe and Teddy, but nothing is the same without my precious Polli. It's good, it's greyt, but it's not the same. I've had a tough week emotionally. I look at the calendar and my eyes well up, my heart is heavy and I hurt all over again. It just wasn't supposed to be like this. I miss her. I always will.

What a wonderful tribute to an obviously loved dog. God Speed Benny. I am so sorry.

They were bad when we got him, then they got a bit better and now really bad again.

Ollie who has been with us for almost 4 months has been having a tough time with food/allergies. I orginally started him on Pro Plan Senstive Stomach as that is what Chloe and Teddy eat. His poops were unbelievably stinky and the poops were a huge mound. He was scratching the inside of his ears raw and his coat was dull. We treated for worms, did a course of flagyl and then did a slow transition to TOTW Pacific stream. Gas was a little bit better, poops were about the same, the itching was less but since there was no real improvement in the whole thing we started transitioning him back to Pro plan and were going to start over. I also rewormed him and gave another course of flagyl. Instead, yesterday we gave him 1/4 of Wildnerness (what Elsie eats) and TOTW- This brought on almost full blown big D so we decided to forget the whole thing and just go with 5 days of rice and boiled chicken. I called the vet- we discussed it - she agreed and then said to try Natural Balance Limited Ingredients. We have a plan. The problem is that his ears are so ripped up inside from the intense scratching- I don't know what to do for him. I feel terrible. I have an ointment called animax cream which isn't doing a whole lot. I did the rinse for his ears as well. As far as treats goes, just to be on the safe side, I am only going to give Beau's hypoallergenic treats and chicken strips since he is eating chicken and rice. I just hope he does not have a reaction to the rice, but I guess we'll figure that out as we go along. Any ideas of what to give him for his ears? Cordisone shot?

I'd get to the vet ASAP. Listnessness alone would concern me, big time. Bring a sample if you can.

I am so sorry for your loss.

All or no one. He will not be able to defend himself should anyone start up. And he should be not be permitted to run with a 20lb dog no matter how polite he is. Once they get going, prey drive could kick in and that 20 pound dog won't stand a chance. Not only that, but Skeet could wind up being deemed a vicious dog with a death sentence over his head. And the poor thing did nothing wrong but follow his instincts. So, if you absoulutely have to bring him to a dog park (which I think is a terrible idea to being with!) please only do it with other large dogs.

Was thinking about bumping this too, Lindsey. Lots of newbies on the board and of course, a good reminder for all of us.

So pretty. So Sorry. She does look a lot like Ned!

OMG. How sad. I am so sorry.

Welcome from NY!! First, I would buy 2 books and read them. Greyhound for Dummies by Lee Livinggood and Care of the Retired Racer, Cynthia Branigan. Excellent references. Considering they spend their lives in a crate, a small apartment is fine. My girlfriend who is on this board has a very small house. I mean really small. Square footage is prob close to the same size of my master bedroom and she has 4 greyhounds. We often go over to her house for play dates. We get 9 greyhounds and 3 humans. It's not roomy and it's wall to wall dog beds, but it works. Many of us (me included) have cats and greyhounds. Most cats do rule the house! One of mine hid for 3 days, one things she is a greyhound, and the other hasn't figured out the dogs are here yet. She is awfully cute, but not really bright! I live in a large split. 3 levels of steps my dogs (even the one with the broken hock) have adjusted just fine! If you really want a grey, have the time to give it, the love in your heart, I'd say you are ready once you get rid of the 2nd job! Good luck.

Beau gets unflavored Heart Guard because of his IBD and the other 4 get Interceptor. We do from April- Oct.

How lucky you both were to have each other. God Speed Sobe.

I am so sorry.

That's a pretty high dose... but what do I know. Every situation/dog is different. YOu can email Dr. Jean Dodds and get some really fast and precise answers from a vet who really knows their thryoid stuff. If you need the contact info- just ask. My Chloe exhibited symtoms such as not leaving her crate (whereas on meds she is a craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy BIOTCH). She was so flat, she was a bounce. She was just... flat- not interested in anything. Her thyroid tested .02 which is low even for a GH. Within a week after on the meds which is .5 mg 2x a day she is a happy, silly crazy girl.

God Speed Sweet girl. I am really sorry for your loss.

I too can't feed the raw. I got the explaination that I was looking for, from my vet which is pretty much what I thought. I needed to be reminded. Here was the reminder I got! "Under normal circumstances, I have no problem with raw provided the food is obtained from a reliable source. However, all raw food, despite how fresh, has some bacterial contamination. Most normal dogs can handle this just fine, however an immunosuppressed dog is another story. Beau could get sick from even trace amounts of contaminants. If he can eventually be weaned from imuran, it can be considered again in the future, however If he's doing ok I wouldn't play around with his food just yet.

I could NEVER give Beau cooked chicken or any cooked protein except Tilapia. If I did, he would flare and he almost died last year until we got this under control. My boy was down to 52.4 pounds. It was a nightmare. The ONLY kibble he can eat is the hypoallergenic z/d and wet of the same. I am thinking, just thinking about changing him to raw. I think I need to speak to the board certified nutrionalist at UPENN for some guidance first.

Are there any IBD dogs who were diagnosed via open exploratory surgery or scope eating a RAW diet? IF so, what does the diet consist of? What meds is your dog on? What meds were your dog on? for how long? I would love to do the switch however while some people do feed raw diets successfully, becasue IBD dogs are not "normal" dogs with their gi tracts and some IBD dogs may not be able to tolerate the low levels of bacteria etc that may be present in some raw foods. Particularly if a dog has SIBO or a more generalized gi bacterial infection (or a past history of such infections), a number of specialists recommend that raw feeding be avoided. It may also be harder for some IBD dogs to digest cartilage and bones.

Yes, z/d although a hypo allergenic food can cause loose stools. There is also HP by Purina and HP by Royalo, the most palatable of them all. BUT Z/D is the only one with wet food too.

WOW Richard. I can't believe it's 2 years... in some ways it feels like forever and some ways, just yesterday. Hugs to you.

I would not give immodium. Gurgly stomach= pepcid. My Beau used to have a gurgly stomach to the point it would wake us up and we could hear his stomach when he was a room a way. No kidding. But, he wound up having severe issues. Hoping in your case, it passes quickly.

I meant to ask but forgot in the above post. How exactly was your dog diagnosed with IBD?

SHORT VERSION: My Beau was diagnosed with IBD via open exploratory surgery 1/09 after thousands of dollars of every test out there- repeated- x-rays of abdomen, worming, flagyl, tylon power, probiotics this food, that food - we tried every single food out there. He poops were gross and he stopped eating. He was down to 52.4 pounds and I was so afraid of losing him. The only thing that got his IBD under control was: 50 mg of pred and 50 mg of imuran to start. We had to let him out EVERY 3 hours and feed him EVERY 3 hours ( he was so hungry and he needed to gain) We had someone come into the house to let him out and feed him while we were at work. When he started to gain, we lowered the pred. He ate ONLY Z/D as it is a hypoallergenic food. It comes in wet and dry. He did well on it. We got the pred down to 7.5 mg but every time we get down to under 10mg, he stasts to not eat and feel crappy again. So... we just changed him to 3mg of budesonide. He seems to be doing OK on that. But, I feel you need to get your pup under control before the switch to budesonide. Hope this helps. Any questions, please feel free to email me at rlm410@optonline.net