Houndmommy03

My girl was 5 years old when she got it, We were floored since she was so young.

Try leaving a TV or radio on to mask the sounds. Also, I had a hound that LOVED his crate - stayed in it when we were gone, slept in it,etc. Never had a problem in those 2 or 3 years. We moved and when we put him in it the first time he went crazy and tried to break out. At that point we left him out when we left and all was well. Fortunately he wasn't destructive when left alone, just didn't want to be alone in the crate. He never slept in the crate again either. Very weird - the move really freaked him out. Currently we have a hound that is terrified of the sound of children (turns out it isn't just children but also women with higher pitched voices). We used to live in a neighborhood with privacy fences and when we would take walks she would completely freak out when she could hear kids playing behind those fences. We recently moved and our new vets office is all women, with high voices. She is a mess when we go there. I will probably have to find a new vet. Good luck!

I second the Three Toed Greyhound Facebook group. They were a big help to us when our girl faced a possible toe amputation. The vet told me all kinds of scary stuff but the FB group put my fears to rest.

When we didn't have a stool guard, we used duct tape on the muzzle.

I agree about not keeping him the laundry room. Can he sleep in your bedroom with the door closed so you would hear him when he got up? When we moved to our new house, we found our hound, who sleeps in her own bed in our room, had left the room and peed in another room. She never did this in our previous house. If she had to go to the bathroom in the night, she would wake us up. So, now we keep our bedroom door closed, with her in our room. This has forced her to bark if she need to go to the bathroom at night. Good luck!

One of my girls would sneak in our bed to sleep when we were gone. Came home to finding she peed in our bed. I was baffled because we hadn't had any peeing issues with her to that point. Took her to vet and she did have a UTI. She didn't pee in the bed on purpose. I suspect she was sleeping there, heard us come home, got excited and due to the UTI, peed by accident, in the bed. So, get your pup checked.

I can't remember details unfortunately, but a number of years ago I came home to 3 very large areas of diarrhea (my pup had been fine when I left the house). I was totally freaked out and sure my baby had something dreadful. The vet put him on a course of meds and he was fine and lived years after that with no similar issues. I'm thinking it was some kind of bacterial infection and so was given antibiotics. Good luck and hope your pup feels better soon!

We thought our girl broke her toe back in March - I had a lot of questions concerning fixing it vs. amputation and people on the Greytalk FB page recommended I join the Three-Toed Greyhound FB page (who knew there would be such a group!). I explained our options and they were able to answer my questions and concerns. I recommend you check them out. Turns out my girl had only severely dislocated her toe (looked broken on xray). I did the splint thing for 7 weeks - it was insanely expensive and not fun for my girl. She was practically on bed rest the whole time. I regretted my decision the entire 6 weeks, wishing we had amputated. That said, she healed well and is fine now. If we never have any more problems, I will be happy with my decision. If she dislocates it again, I will go back to regretting what we did. Anyway, check out that group. They are a wealth of info on toe amputation. Good luck!

Vet has officially dx'd him with IMHA. She has now increased his prednisone and put him on cyclosporine. Now we wait and see if his counts go up so he can come home. He is very jaundiced now as well. I've been visiting him twice a day and it is just so sad to see him this way. He was fine in Monday and then Tuesday afternoon he was taken into the vets office on a stretcher. Good grief.

He is still at the vet. Still waiting on 2 blood tests but right now they think it is IMHA. So far, they can't find a cause. His neurological issues have improved. The vet thinks he may have had a clot due to the agluttination. His blood count continues to fall which is why they wont let him come home. They have him on a low dose if prednisone and an antibiotic. Hopefully he will start showing some improvement. Also hoping we get the blood test back soon so they can determine if it is being caused by TBD. Now that I'm doing some reading, I'm not sure why they didn't do a Coombs test, although I remember them saying his presentation wasn't what they expected with IMHA when he first came in. Unfortunately I think the second vet that saw him threw us off the path my vet had us on and that the current specialist is now on.

Yesterday morning my 7 year old male hound refused to eat and generally was acting odd (didn't want to eat or go for a walk - Marlow lives for both and will drive you crazy until he gets fed and walked). Anyway, when he finally came in from outside, he was walking oddly (I thought he 'd had a stroke or couldn't see), then later his gait was normal and then later got wierd again. I took him to the vet and when we got out of the car he was all wierd again - strange eye movements (now I think he is having seizures). The vet dx'd Vestibular Disease, which made sense based on videos I looked at. She also ran some bloodwork to just make sure nothing was off. She ran it twice because it was way off. For one, his blood samples looked weird (hemolysis of rbc's - she showed me normal sample and his. Didn't need a vet degree to see something was wrong). Mnay values were also way off. She thinks he could have Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. It is critical enough that she transfers me to a specialist/E-Vet immediately. They re ran the tests and say it isn't IMHA and want to do a brain scan but he would need to be stabilized and transferred again. So, they kept him overnight and I am waiting for a call. Meanwhile, I have been researching on my own and called my regular vet back. She called the E-vet and now they are saying yes, it could be IMHA but isn't presenting as a clear case. They are consulting with a specialist in this area. Like most folks, I have limited funds and so have to make sure we are careful with tests and not just running in different directions, which has already happened and his overnight stay has already racked up quite a bill. Thoughts? Recommendations? Personally I believe the underlying cause of whatever is happening is the result of the hemolysis of the RBC's. Although, I guess it is possible the vestibular event brought on the RBC issues. Sigh.

Any recommendations for greyhound sitters or boarding kennels in Tallahassee area?

I'm in Katy and use Kingsland Vet Clinic.

She told me the specific gravity but I didn't get it written down (and can't remember). It was not a first morning specimen. When we check in a month I will be sure to do that. He's 6 years old and I just want to make sure we do as much as possible to keep serious kidney issues away as long as possible. Good to hear youve been able to manage it for a long time.

When I took Marlow for his yearly check up I mentioned to the vet that he drinks excessive amounts of water. He drinks more water than any other greyhound we've had. Initially I thought it might be a nervous habit, the fact that we live in Houston and its HOT or even due to not always having access to water in previous life (he was a bounce). Anyway, its gotten worse, not better. Keeping the water bowels full is a full time job. His Creatine levels in April 2014 were 1.6. At his appointment this past April they increased to 1.9 and we checked them today and they jumped to 2.3. We also checked his urine and he's not concentrating as well as he should, but its not terrible. She wants to put him on a special food and check him in a month. THis is all new to me - does it sound reasonable? Anything I can read to get up to speed on kidney issues? Thanks!

Thanks! ETA: Seems like I've seen that there is some place that folks here recommend thyroid tests be sent to. Can someone give me that info?

Marlow had his annual physical yesterday and they ran a blood panel because he needs a dental and also because I have some concern about his water consumption. He drinks a lot of water. I have 2 bowls and I fill them multiple times a day (I only filled them twice a day when I had my other 2 greyhounds and they were rarely empty). He has always been a big drinker but it seems like it has gotten worse. I feel like his water drinking could be an anxiety habit. The other thing I've noticed in the last 6 -8 months is that he seems to more anxious. Not really separation anxiety but there is an anxiousness about him - if he were human he'd be one of those people that worries a lot and walks the floor, wringing their hands. Sometimes I feel really bad for him. He has lots of energy, demanding lots of walks (despite having access to a fenced yard). It's as though he can"t relax. I tell people he has doggy ADHD. No matter how many walks he gets, it's never enough. So, back to the blood work, I haven't picked up the results from the vet but she called and said his T4 was .03 (need to clarify that it's really .03 and not .3) and it was .8 last year. She wants to put him on meds. Should I get a full thyroid panel done first or does his behavior and the drop from last year seem like enough reason to go on meds. As for kidney function, his Creatinine was 1.9 and last year it was 1.6. She is recommending we check it again in a couple of months as well as do a couple of other tests at that time. Thoughts? Thanks!

Rumor sleeps uncrated in our bedroom but we crate her when we leave the house. Works fine. Good luck!

I'm so sorry for your loss. Hugs.

So sorry foryour loss.

Others will chime in with suggestions but until then, give him some bread. Mine has gotten bones on several occassions (I live in an area with lots of construction and the workers just dump their garbage in the street) and that is what I have done. I also watch poops for awhile to make sure I don't see blood.

I'm sorry. Hugs to you both.

So sorry for your loss.

Sorry for your loss.

I want to second the head lamp (DH has a ballcap with the lights built in and also a clip on lihjt that fits on the ball cap. More comfy, if you like ball caps, than the light that fits around your head. Also, we had two baby back packs. A small one we used for quick outings and around the house and a big hiking one we used for longer outings. My son loved them. We used to wear the small one in the house to vacuum and do the dishes. That might make it easier for dog walks - of course you would need strong legs to squat down and pick up poop.