silverfish

OK - here's the good report! Sid's surgeon is really, really pleased with him and Sid has been discharged - with the instruction that if we have any problems with his foot, whether it's this week or in two months time, we can always ring or email and talk to someone. They are really very nice down at Cambridge vet school. The stitches came out with no problem and he's all healed up beautifully. He's walking so much straighter and easier, and actually using that foot to swivel on (which he has always done up till the corn grew) and we have the go-ahead to start building up his muscle tone and hardening his pads again with daily short walks, beginning on grass with NO BOOTS! That will make Sid truly happy, bless him. If he's on hard surfaces for any length of time, he's to wear something to cushion that foot, but they really want him to walk properly on the foot without protection when he can. He also has the go-ahead to jump into and out of our car - it's very low, only about 15 inches off the ground at the back - which will please all of us, because he's no lightweight! He's finished his antibiotics, and now just takes one Onsior daily (NSAID), so he's not spaced out now (he's off the Tramadol - and Gabapentin). And as a side note, Jeffie, who has been accompanying us down to Cambridge for Sid's consultations and began by shaking like a leaf while we were in the hospital, did not tremble at all this trip, so he's learned to be a bit more laid back about the vets, too! Oh, and they also took video of Sid walking today. They have a copy of the video DH took to show them how bad his mobility was before the op, and they wanted an 'after' version to help with teaching students, so Sid is famous. Jon (the surgeon) has also promised to find us a copy of the photo they took of the corn, but one of the junior vets took it on their phone and he has to track them down. If we get a copy, I'll post it for you all to see. Thanks for all the support and encouragement. The whole process was much easier than it might have been, but still a bit worrying in the early days.

Looks like chattering to me, too! Susan was loud, like that. Others have been quieter - some so quiet that you could only see a kind of shivering and not hear anything at all. Sid really DOES grind his teeth while he chatters, sometimes, so that they squeak. I keep telling him he'll wear them down to stumps! It's a happy thing. I suppose if your girl does it at inappropriate times it would be worth investigating for a neurological problem, but it looked like the 'happy chatter' in the video!

Kathy - thank you for the link! I've been talking with Dune's Mom via PM and she told me she'd done this, but not the detailed instructions, so that's useful! I'm going to try that, and now I'm kicking myself, because I threw out some gel soles just recently and that would have been such a good idea! I do know someone who has a ruined wetsuit though, so maybe I'll beg a bit of neoprene and try that. We're off soon to go down to Cambridge. I'll let you all know how he does after the stitches are out! Thanks everyone!

Thanks, Sue! His stitches come out tomorrow. Hopefully, he should be even more comfortable then.

Those are interesting boots! They don't look padded at all, though, and that's what Sid needs. I might have a go at making some using that shape as a guide. Thanks for the link!

That's GREAT news. I'm so pleased to hear it! Thanks for popping back with the update!

Thank you so much for the sympathy. It took me a long, long time to get past that. It happened early in 2009 and it still makes me so, so sad. I'm so sorry about your boy. White coat syndrome is no joke - I know this because I have it, and even though I can talk about it, and people can talk me through things, It still affects me badly and had me on more BP meds than I really needed at one time (till I convinced them!) because my BP just shoots up the minute I step in the surgery. The only thing I can suggest is that you get the vet to come to you, without any fuss, and in ordinary clothes and be very slow and gentle about the exams. If you can't get an x-ray, well, since the outcome probably can't be changed it's not the end of the world and perhaps he'll be willing to treat your boy symptomatically and give drugs on a 'suck it and see' basis. Or maybe the vet could give you some sedatives to give him and really knock him out so that when he gets examined he won't care? I hope you find a way to help him, poor boy - but it seems as if you are managing him nicely. My only experience with this was with Jack. In his case there was very little warning that anything was wrong. I think it might be one of those diseases with a 'tipping point' where the dog manages perfectly well until it's progressed to a certain stage and then it shows itself. If your new boy is shy/spooky, that could be the complete explanation. Excessive panting certainly can put the temperature up, without anything else being wrong. If you are worried, ask for a chest x-ray. The damage is pretty clear, on that.

I had an elderly greyhound - Jack - who's breathing began to get distressed while exercising. I took him to the vet thinking he might have laryngeal paralysis, because it was a raspy, laboured type of breathing - very noisy. There would be an episode now and then, which didn't last too long, and the rest of the time he'd be OK, breathing with closed mouth while resting, but panting (normally) while exercising a bit more than most. The vet was convinced it was his heart, even though he could detect no particular problem. I kept telling him that it seemed to be to be lung/throat but he wouldn't listen. I wish to heaven I had insisted on a referral because yes, this was a misdiagnosis. One day, he had a bad episode and I thought I was going to lose him in a field. I rang home and told DH to get us an emergency appointment and my vets were useless. They did see him that day, but the raspy, bug-eyed breathing had settled and his tongue was no longer blue. This time at least he was x-rayed and that was the diagnosis - he called it 'Chronic Airway Disease' but I believe it's the same thing. He gave him no treatment. A few days later, Jack had another, worse episode at 1am. He'd asked to go outside and literally collapsed, gasping for breath on the way in, getting disoriented and falling about. I got him in, somehow, and he defecated all over the place. Rang the vet for an emergency call-out .. and they didn't come. The vet on duty lived about 13 miles away and there was snow on the ground. He said by the time he got there, it would probably be too late and we should try to get a vet out from another, nearer practice. I was shocked. Why have a vet on duty so far away that they couldn't actually HELP in an emergency? Anyway, to cut a long story short, after being refused by three or four practices on the grounds that we were not their clients (!), we finally found one who would see us and heaved poor Jack into the car and got him into town. They were incredibly kind and good with him and are now our vets. But they couldn't save him. They said that he had begun to throw clots. They tried for three days and then we were advised to let him go. My one consolation is that he was 13 1/2 and he'd been totally knocked sideways after losing his housemate five months earlier - he seemed to have given up living. But I wish I'd asked for a specialist consult - and I think that's what I would advise you to do. I have a friend with COPD. I know there is a lot they can do for people, and I would imagine there are also treatments for animals.

Thanks for thinking of us, Mel! Sid is doing OK! He is due to get the sutures out on Monday, down at Cambridge so they can assess his healing properly. They say that once they are out, Sid will be more comfortable, which is good news for him, but in fact he's back to running up and down the garden when he goes out to pee. He is getting used to wearing a boot, though I'm still not sure we have the best fit for him. He is wearing one, though, which is good because we really don't want this corn to come back if we can help it. I'm a tad concerned about his fitness level now that he's been on virtually no exercise for over a month since his op (longer, really, since he wasn't able to stand on the foot for more than a few paces before the op). He tires so easily these days, but hopefully we can work up to longer walks once he gets the go-ahead to do so, and work on regaining his muscles and stamina. I hope so! I'm also hoping that they will say he can resume hydrotherapy, because that should help him, too. It's been tough on him not being able to do more than go up the garden and back. His foot looks good to me. No more infection, and the incision has healed really nicely as far as I can see. But he is walking on knots. Thanks for asking! Nice to know people are thinking of my lovely boy!

I am so very sorry to hear that. Rest in peace, Dylan. I can say that I know a little of what you feel right now. I lost my beautiful Renie in a traumatic and sudden way early in 2008 and sweet Jack followed her only five months later in an equally traumatic way. I found the twin loss so very hard to get past, so my thoughts are very much with you. It's why I haven't ever changed my signature, I suppose.

Oh no! Poor Dylan - and poor you. : It's no good second guessing yourself. You did what you thought was right, having taken the best advice you could. You wanted to improve his quality of life and we all know laryngeal paralysis is no picnic. Don't beat yourself up. I so hope that he will come around and they can fix him up so he can come home again to you. Sending a ton of good thoughts for him.

I had one with a heart murmur which gradually increased and became congestive heart failure, from which he died (at 13.5 years, peacefully in his own bed, so not so bad). I now have Jeffie who has a murmur, they said about a grade 3. He had a continuous, telephone line-relayed ECG (I don't know if that's what they were talking about in the study) direct to a cardiologist's office. He then called back to say 'nothing abnormal or of any clinical significance'. My vet would still like to x-ray his chest to make sure there's nothing to see, but he does know greyhounds, so I will trust his judgement.

She will no doubt come back on this one, but I think what Susan (GeorgeofNE) meant by 'there is more to this story' is that people do, often unintentionally, leave out parts of a back story which may seem unimportant to them, but might be of great significance to a trainer or to someone who knows this breed inside out. And as Sambuca says, just because there is a breed 'temperament type', this doesn't guarantee that all greyhounds will conform to it. Sometimes, after a more or less lengthy discussion, it turns out that a dog IS one who deviates from the norm, whether we are talking about 'normal dog' or 'normal for the breed'. And sometimes it turns out that someone has done something to provoke an incident, or allowed someone else (maybe a child) to do so. This may be through ignorance, lack of good care, or (more commonly) with the best of intentions, just thoroughly misunderstanding the dogs' signals or needs at the time. I can't speak for everyone here, of course, but I am not judging you. How can I, when all I know of you is what you've written here? I'm glad to hear you're getting a vet to take a look at him, and also a behaviourist/trainer to take a look personally and in your own home. A forum, however good, is no substitute for that. I would only advise that you get a trainer who knows sighthounds well, and who doesn't use negative training methods.

So pleased you got a consult with Dr C. I would have been very worried about the appearance of that bone and would have wanted a referral for sure. I'm also very pleased that he does NOT think it's osteosarcoma. Clearly something is bothering her, but hopefully, it's something you can manage or improve for her.

I agree too. Anders clearly has not been comfortable - which may be his nervousness/low tolerance to stimuli, and/or partly medical, it doesn't matter - so you will need to learn to read and understand him better, and make sure your friends and houseguests do not push his buttons. Read a good book on dog body language and social signals so that you can interpret the 'weird looks', because yes, some greyhounds are very unhappy about their space being invaded, or being petted on the floor or on their beds. What you describe could have been either pain/discomfort or warning you that he was being pushed too far and was not comfortable with what you were doing. I would also recommend a vet visit to see if anything is bothering him. Full blood panel, thyroid would be useful, full physical exam with special attention to his back and neck, etc. Assuming he can't have got into any foods or drugs he shouldn't (daft as it seems, some people think it funny to let dogs drink alcohol till they are wobbly and confused, and some are careless with their own prescribed medication), but is Anders on any medication at the moment? Some drugs make a huge difference to a dogs' tolerance levels and some actually have aggression as a side-effect.

Sounds as if it could be an infected 'spot' of some kind. See what it looks like later and if it's flat and empty, I'd just watch it for a day or two.

Did you do any preparation work with him before you went back to work? Like, stay out an extra quarter hour after work for a few days then when he was OK with that, an extra half hour for a few days, then an extra hour etc? Medication may help, and since he's an SA hound anyway, he may need extra time and extra work to adjust to your new hours. Is there any possibility that you can arrange for someone to come and be with him each day to run through the schedule as mentioned above, if you didn't go through it before you went to work? Of course, that would only work if he's getting agitated at your normal homecoming time. If he's gone back to square one, then you will need to do so, too.

Could be that, too - they can come up really quickly, and disappear just as quickly!

It actually looks a lot like some of the sebaceous cysts that Jeffie gets. They are like big blackheads, except the stuff inside is kind of yellowish waxy gunk. Eventually they pop and I empty them for him. He usually finds them quite itchy. It looks as if there could be a scab on top of that one. My guess would be that it is either a little skin cyst or a small abscess filled with pus. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to resist just seeing if that top part would lift off and see what was underneath! Jim - our first greyhound - had a basal cell carcinoma on one of his toes. It looked nothing like that. The skin on it was not inflamed and it was dark, almost black. However, there are many types of skin tumour so the safest thing to do would be to show it to your vet.

Kathleeen Gilley's article 'No Fear, No Pain' is justly famous on Greytalk, but it's always worth posting again from time to time, because there are always new people on the forums who may not have seen it yet. It is a wonderful explanation of how easily things can go wrong between new dog and new owner leaving both bewildered. It gives new owners a real insight into what the poor dog may be feeling and is well worth reading by any new adopter, especially those in the US and Canada. In England things are done differently in the racing business (they are not routinely crated alone, and they do not live at the track, for instance) but it is still worth reading. I would encourage anyone who hasn't yet read it to follow the link and do so. Even if you've had your hound for a while and all is going well.

I have recently discovered the hard way that in some cases all, or almost all, of the corn can be invisible - completely inside the pad. The one they took from Sid's foot three weeks ago was between half a centimetre and one centimetre deep and went nearly all the way to the toe bone. On the surface? Well, after he'd been swimming and the pad had been soaked, we could see a faint, completely flat, vaguely shiny circle, of only 2-3mm wide. I would suggest that anyone who has a dog whose corn is affecting their mobility to a greater extent that you'd expect by looking at it, might be wise to look at surgery. I know that they come back. I know that recovery isn't easy. However, putting cream or duct tape on the surface of such a deeply entrenched and barely visible corn probably isn't going to do much.

Bless him, he looks like a real sweetheart, and so happy and alert! Sorry about the weight loss. Have you tried pasta or rice?

Happy Gotcha Day, Freddie!!! I'm so pleased to hear that you are all healed.

Here in England it is the norm for vets to charge a prescription fee if you want to buy elsewhere. It's not as high as that, though. Wow, that's an expensive dental!

Could she possibly be cutting them too short? Because of the shape of some dogs' feet, it might be necessary to leave the nails a little longer so this doesn't happen. I have had two dogs like this. Once I began leaving the nails a tad longer, it stopped happening. I know it's considered 'the thing to do' (particularly in America) to cut the dogs' nails as short as possible at all times, but there are some cases when it's not actually a good thing. This might perhaps be one of them.