greyhndz

Bandit.. you will always have a big piece of Mummy's heart. You finally found the love you'd been searching for when you were reunited with your wonderful Ducky Mummy. You got to experience heaven on earth. And now you're at Bridge-heaven with Niña. Fly free, without pain, sweet Bandit.

If you don't mind driving about 45 min north, to Epsom, Fiona Reeve has opened her own practice and is phenomenal. But yeah, Hudson is a lot closer. Suncook River Vet

Autoimmune disease - I have more knowledge than I'd care to admit. But first, I'm so excited to see jjng on GT! I first met Jennifer early in January, 1998, when she brought a very special delivery all the way from home in SC, to Boston. She'd been a freshman at MIT at that time. On one of the coldest nights of the year, I went to Cambridge to meet Jennifer, because she'd brought home my new iggy Lexi. Lex is also servng as the face of a dog who lived with autoimmume disease. Even though I lost Lexi to immune-mediated polyarthritis and renal failure in 2009, and even though I lost touch with Jennifer for many years, she's always been Lexi's godmother. Now, she's been a vet for a number of years and has also been converted to Greyhoundism. Jen, you're a very welcome member of GT, and I know will be a greyt resource! I am living with autoimmune disease myself, and shared Lexi's journey with her own IMPA, by working with a vet from Angell to stabilize her polyarthritis. I can tell you that it's a challenge reaching the correct diagnosis, ruling out any underlying infection, and then playing the steroid game. As in humans, the goal in autoimmune dogs should be remission with a steroid-sparing treatment plan. Steroids often have to be used during the acute stage, and for disease flares, but given he many potential side effects of steroids, getting the dog off steroids,and onto a different type of immunosuppressant/immunomodulator/ These meds include azathiaprine (Imuran), cyclosporine, leflunomide, cytoxan and"biologic"agents,such as Remicade and Enbrel. It's not that these meds don't carry the potential for serious side effects of their own, but they're still superior over steroids. Autoimmune diseases can be challenging to manage. They require frequent bloodwork and follow-up, It can take a while before the right regimen is found. But if you can achieve remission off steroids, that's the optimal goal.

A size XL Storm Defender coat (and also a size M greyhound coat) is being donated by a former Greyhound owner here in NH. The coat sounds like it's in near-new condition. Unless you're local and can pick it up, please help the donor out by paying the postage. If there is a greyhound in need (perhaps a hound awaiting placement, or still in a kennel, or other special circumstances) please PM me. It'll go to the first thunderphobic dog who comes out of the closet long enough to raise his paw. I don't mean to be a smart-*ss, I only wish the SD had been available in the 1990's, when my Kody was jumping over fences and trying to break through windows....

To give you a better idea, this is the dressing - vet wrap, with the mitten under it. I found I didn't need to use tape to hold the bandage on. I used the fabric tape initially, but Elastikon is a better choice -- more secure and easier to remove. Here's the bitty mitten. At Target they were selling 8 for around $3-4.

I found a very simple but effective way of protecting the fragile tip of the tail stump after amputation (Mafi is 2 weeks out from surgery - I'd expect that more protection would be needed immediately post-op). In the baby section at Target, I bought a packet of 8 little cotton mittens (the ones used to protect newborns from scratching themselves). They have an elastic band and are not at all bulky. The mitten easily fits over the tip of the tail, and then I use 2" vet wrap to cover about 4" up from the tip. It's light, not bulky, and just enough to keep her from getting to the healing wound. I'd like to leave it uncovered, but Mafi starts gnawing and licking the wound, and I want to be sure it's completely healed before letting her at it. Still haven't gotten biopsy results. Will have to call my vet this week.

Joslin, check your e-mail. I'm sending you some literature. I'm so sorry you're going through this....

I'm so sorry, Pat. I know how special he was to both of you... Godspeed, sweet boy.

I hope you're feeling many, many arms holding you, as you hold Princess so tightly. I can't imagine a more loving way for her to start her journey.

Mafi is one week out from tail amputation. The wound is healing very well. I've kept it wrapped for the past week, but thought it could probably go uncovered at this point. However, the second I removed the bandage, she was licking at it as if it were a Tootsie Pop. I immediately re-wrapped it, but since I'd like Mafi to have a bare tail again, I'm looking for a less bulky way of keeping the wound covered, and also suggestions for keeping her mouth off it. I was actually thinking of a finger cot (a small latex finger covering), but don't want to risk her ingesting latex if she decimates the finger cot. Any tried-and-true ideas?

Any news on Mr. Fuzz? Hope it turns out to be something simple and curable. Keep us posted when you have a minute!

Ducky, tbhounds has great advice and the experience to back it up. Oldsters are all very different -- I've had 12-13 year olds who acted like seniors, and others who had excellent quality-of-life, and appeared far younger than their true age. I've approached medical care differently for each one. I've had dentals done on super-seniors if I thought they had dental disease or pain that affected their quality of life, and they could tolerate light anesthesia. (Here's where the need for complete confidence in your vet comes into play. Being able to give good., hound-safe anesthesia with quick recovery is essential.) Is your vet doing the CXR only to r/o lung mets - he wasn't planning on doing the CXR as part of routine pre-op screening, was he? Speaking only for myself, this is what I'd consider: 1. Have a good sit-down with your vet before to find out what he has in mind, and why. Does he think Bandit really needs a dental because of dental disease or pain? If Bandit isn't able to eat comfortably or has dental infections, and my goal is to keep him comfortable above all else, I would probably agree to go ahead with it unless there were other risks that outweighed the benefits.. 2. Ask your vet why he feels it's necessary to sedate Bandit for the CXR. Ask him to at least attempt to do the film without sedation. Of course if you're definitely planning on doing the dental regardless of what the CXR shows, it probably makes sense to let him go ahead and sedate him, then immediately do the dental afterwards. Even if you know you would only do palliative care should he turn out to have osteo, if the vet feels that the dental will improve Bandit's quality of life and his comfort, it might be worth doing. D*mn -- sending positive, healing thoughts to both of you.

Oops! Sorry 'bout that. The Galga Queen is doing fine. The TP tube is gone, and I'm just putting a bandage over what's left of her tail. She's not wagging, but because of her long, skinny, sweeping tail, her wags have been slow and long -- more like a swipe. Hopefully she'll figure out a new wag style. She's already maul...er, hugged me several times. She's been good about letting me handle her tail-ette to rebandage it. The wound looks good. The biopsy report should be in later this week.

Keeping you both in my thoughts, and in my heart.

:lol The funniest part of the TP roll is that my vet's new practice is paper-free. It's all electronic records, digital xray, wi-fi, and lots of medical technology. So the TP role creally cracked me up! But it's doing the job, it's light and unobtrusive and it's kinda cute! Ducky, indeed the magic PJs are surrounding her with love and healing. She was so happy when she saw me coming to put them on. Her guardian angel Nina is keeping Mafi warm and safe.

I'm so relieved to hear that Princess is in great hands, and that there will be answers very soon. Anxious waiting and hoping......

Mafi is home and doing fine. The surgery went well and she's comfortable tonight after eating a good supper. My vet and her tech remarked on how depressed she was this morning, and how improved she was after she woke up.I also hear tell that she was flirting with a handsome greyhound boy in the cage next to hers! Leave it to Mafi... She probably got his cell # and will be texting him behind my back. It looks as if she's got around 8" of tail left - hard to tell with the toilet paper roll wrapped around it. She's much more comfortable, and I don't think she needs pain meds right now. Just having that awful tail off must feel great. Thanks again for your support. Now, it's just waiting for biopsy results next week.

Oh, no.. I'm so sorry to hear that. Your first GH always touched your heart as no other ever will. I hope you have time to spoil and adore her, and remind her why she will always be your most special girl...

From a human medicine perspective, alk phos that elevated, and grossly dilated common bile duct are suggestive of obstruction distal to the the CBD -- whether it's pancreatic duct, small bowel -- this is a surgical problem. At the very least, I'd push for a surgical evaluation ASAP.If the GB is already distended w/bile, I'd be very concerned about possible impending GB rupture -- and that's catastrophic. The antibiotics, vitamins, Sam-E are all great if you're dealing with hepatitis or liver dysfunction, but in this case, I think the problem goes far beyond that. I don't want to be an alarmist, but in human medicine, at the very least, she'd being either undergoing MRCP (MRI exam of the biliary tree down to the bowel) or going straight to the OR. I can only recommended (very strongly) that you ask your vet to have her seen by a surgeon immediately. I'll keep you both in my heart...

Whew - just got the word that surgery's done and she's awake. Most of her tail had to be removed because of the location of the lesion. And we agreed that the tail needs to be sent for biopsy, to be sure we're not dealing with the "O" word. She's seen it in the tail of one greyhound but it didn't present with a draining sore like Mafi did. I'll be bringing my little galga/Dobie home later this afternoon and update when she's home. I'm so grateful this has been taken care of quickly, but ohhhhhhhhh, that beautiful, skinny, long tail! Thanks so much for your good thoughts! ETA:: thanks, Tatum! I actually had to have a tail amp done on one of my first hounds, Robbie, back in 1992. She had constant happy-tail, and with all the blood-baths and the risk of the tail becoming necrotic, it was amputated down to about 6". She loved it! She could wag twice as face -- I called it her wagette.

GRAPHIC PHOTO BELOW Mafi, the Queen of all Galgas, has to have an emergency tail amputation tomorrow. She'd developed an ulceration over the course of about a week. My vet saw her Monday, did an xray (I didn't see any bony abnormalities but Fiona thought she saw something subtle), started her on Baytril (I'd already had her on keflex) and dressing changes. Came home from work and she was clearly unhappy and painful, and was guarding her tail. This was a vast change from before I left for work in the morning. This is what I found. GROSS & DISGUSTING PHOTO ON THE WAY.... The dressing was intact, so this wasn't from licking at it. The original wound was only about 1 cm, but now the entire area is painful, red, swollen, and probably necrotic. Luckily, my vet was still in, and after talking on the phone (and sending her e-photos -- hey, telemedicine!!) she's going in first thing in the morning to have her tail amputated above this area. This was one fast-moving infection, so I'm glad she can have the surgery tomorrow. So Mafi is spaced out on tramadol to keep her comfortable, and very sadly, that long, beautiful, skinny rat's tail will be gone tomorrow. Please keep my sweet, loving Mafi McMuffin in your thoughts!

Kelly, the vet can do a very simple test as screening for DI: a water deprivation test, which is exactly as it sounds. All fluids are restricted for a set number of hours (usually done overnight), and then a urine sample is obtained before allowing the dog to drink. Without getting into the whole vasopressin, ADH, ACTH yada yada, the bottom line is that a dog should be able to concentrate their urine, and first morning urine (especially after deprivation) should be concentrated (SG 1.025 +). A DI dog will usually have a SG of 1.010 or lower, and the urine will usually be clear. If she concentrates her urine, that should rule out DI.

Be sure to keep us posted, Nancy. Robin is such a great resource, having been through this with Mandy Momma. I can grab some vet literature for you, if you'd like. Definitely do some reading (and the OSU consult if possible) prior to deciding about surgery. Just found one excellent article: WSAVA 2009 and here j

Coming in late, but my Dandi has had regular acupuncture treatments for > a year. I see a big difference in his back pain and mobility. If there's more than 2 weeks between sessions, he gets unhappy. Each session takes about 1/2 hr or less. She keeps the needles in for 12 minutes. She varies the needle placement according to her exam that day. Dandi absolutely adores his acupuncture vet, and once the needles are in, he relaxes and lies down. I think it's a great alternative to traditional medicine, many of which Dandi can't take because of GI issues.