Houndmommy03

I'm sorry. Hugs, Kim,Silver, and Holly

I'm thinking that I must have misunderstood my vet about costs to extract or do a root canal. Of course when I asked about cost, I'm pretty sure what he told me didn't include anesthesia, pain meds, etc., etc. so the cost will be more. I will definitely be prepared for a big bill no matter what we have done. I feel really bad that poor Silver may have to go through any of this. Again, thanks for your input. Kim, Silver and Holly

THat's wonderful news!

Unfortunately they couldn't do Silver's xrays this morning because they were having trouble with the machine that gives bloodwork results. So, I picked him up this afternoon and he will go back Friday. I'm glad to have more time to research all of this but feel sorry that he had to go to the vet this morning for nothing - poor baby! Thanks for your replies! Kim, Silver and Holly

So sorry. Hugs, Kim, Silver and Holly

Thanks for your replies and Jordan thanks for the references. I appreciate your posting them. I've read them and have also been searching Greytalk and the internet for info. I don't have a specialist nearby but the practice I go to is large and they have a vet on staff who specializes in dental "stuff" so hopefully he is very experienced. From what I have been reading, it sounds like removing the canines can be a problem and should only be done if other options don't exist. On the other hand it seems other grey owners had their grey's canines removed with no problems. I am confused about what to do. Kim, Silver and Holly

Silver is at the vet this morning getting xrays. He broke off the tip of his upper canine. They will be calling me this morning to discuss options once they see what is going on. A root canal is significantly more expensive (ie. ~$500) than an extraction (~100). Any thoughts on what I should do assuming I get a choice. We have had a lot of vet bills in the last month so the root canal looks prohibitive but I hate for him to lose his tooth. Also, when the vet looked at his teeth he said the other 3 canines were fractured so I could be looking at having to do something with those either now or down the road. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks! Kim, Silver and Holly

Please post if you find out about making a contribution or payment. He looked at some xrays for me last January. I really appreciated that. Thanks! Kim

The steriods will cause him to drink a lot and of course pee a lot if my memory is correct (these days it is wrong a lot ). Glad he is feeling better! Kim, Silver and Holly

Don't wait, get the x-rays. When Lucky started limping for no apparent reason our vet thought it was a disk in her neck and gave us steroids and told us to limit her activity (hard to do with a 5 year old grey). This didn't help and x-rays showed something different (use a specialist or a vet with lots of grey experience - our vet had grey experience and did okay to a point with her diagnosis but ultimately didn't have enough experience and we went in circles for ahwile). Good luck! Kim, Silver and Holly

I'm so sorry. Join Circle of Greys - they were a huge help and comfort to us when we went through that with our grey. Hugs, Kim, Silver and Holly

We brought home a new hound 2 weeks ago. She is a sweet girl named Holly. When we adopted her we noticed yellow stains all over her white coat and we were told they were pee stains and would eventually wash out. Several days after we left the kennel (without Holly as this was during our intial visit) it occured to me that this might be odd - usually dogs don't pee in their crates but I figured there was a logical explanation and just forgot about it. We have had her 2 weeks now and have had 5 accidents in the house (didn't have any with my other greys when they came home) and now 1 in the crate. We have been very good about taking her out often (obviously not so good at watching her when she is out of the crate ) and a couple of her accidents make no sense because she had just been out. When she does pee the urine is very yellow and smells strongly of urine (I'm having trouble getting the smell out of the carpet). Anyway, could she have a UTI? What antibiotic do they use to treat that? SHe has been on Cephalexin for 1 1/2 weeks now because her stitches from her spay weren't looking so good. Thanks! Kim, Silver and Holly

Lucky to be Here (6/4/01 - 3/10/07) - our first greyhound. She will always have a special place in my heart because she was our first. We had a rocky start but we all hung in there and learned a lot from each other. I miss how she would come and stand next to me when she wanted me to pet her. I miss her terribly. Her time with us was way too short. Blaze (Airedale) - my heart dog. We got her as a pup when I was in the 9th grade and we had just moved to another state. She was my best friend during that lonely time. She was the sweetest thing. The first time I saw my dad cry (I was in my 20's) was when she died. Prissy (Miniature Schnauzer sp?) - got her when I was 3 (hence the silly name). She was my first dog. She was so much fun to play with. All the neighbor kids loved her too. I have the best memories of playing in the snow with her. Bri (Lakeland Terrier) - gift from DH. She was our first child. She lived to play ball. I miss her always being under foot with her ball looking for a game of fetch.

I'll have to give Frontline a try. It isn't so bad checking my white dog but my black one is another story! DH and I have had fun waving and speaking to people here when we are out walking or driving through the neighborhood. We have gotten some strange looks. (We just moved from SC to PA). We sure miss that Southern Hospitality! Kim, Silver and Holly

Yes, we learned this lesson! My DH didn't want an older grey because of losing them too soon but we adopted Lucky at 2 years old and only had her for a little over 3 years as she died at 5 1/2. It was quite a shock. Having gone through that I wouldn't hesitate to adopt an older grey.

We lost our first greyhound, Lucky, to bone cancer on March 10 of this year. She was only 5 1/2 years old and in otherwise great health. It was quite a shock to us when she was diagnosed (in late fall 2006). She was soooo young! We still miss her a lot. Kim, Silver and Holly (Lucky to be Here 6/4/01 - 3/10/07)

Our Lucky had great teeth. She had a dental before we adopted her but in the 3 1/2 years we had her before she passed away she didn't have one or need one. Meanwhile our other grey Silver has awful teeth so he gets them. We just adopted Holly so I guess we'll see. She seems to have nice teeth. Kim, Silver and Holly

I'm so jealous! We just moved to PA from SC (and we are sooooo homesick!). Anyway, we didn't have any bug issues with our greys (actually in the 4 months I've lived here I have found more ticks on my dogs than I ever found when we were in the south). I'm also not aware that my dogs were ever bitten by fire ants ( and I certainly got bit a few times). Hopefully you won't find any problems with the bugs either! Good luck! Kim, Silver and Holly

Thanks for the input everyone. Silver's blood work came back normal . When we took him in this morning to have the spot removed, it appeared to be clearing up so the vet felt it would be okay to just watch it for awhile. We are very relieved! Cynthia, it was good to hear from you. My DS still talks about Princess - he met her at a playgroup and fell in love with her. Hope she is doing well! Kim and Silver

DH and I noticed a dime sized red spot on Silver's belly this morning with a thick small black dot in the center - I thought it was an imbedded deer tick. DH took him to the vet and as she was looking at it (ie. pulling it I guess) blood spurted out of it (and into her face ). She found another small red area on his leg (no black center and has an inrregular shape. This made her wonder about his platelet count so she drew blood. Meanwhile he will go in on Monday to have the "black thing" removed assuming the blood work comes back okay. I'm not sure what to think about all of this. We lost our other grey to OS in March and I can't stand to think somethimg serious might be wrong with Silver. Any thoughts? Thanks, Kim and Silver

My Silver has nasty teeth so when the vet recommended the vaccine I said yes without researching it. Meanwhile I checked here (like you have) and read that most people are not in favor of it. So...Silver has had it with no problems but I doubt I would do it again. Kim

So Sorry! She was cute.

Thanks for your input. It is helpful! Kim and Silver

Silver had his dental yesterday (everything went well ) and they recommended the Porphyromonas vaccine. I don't know anything about it. What do you all know about it? They also put a sealant on his teeth which I will need to reapply avery few weeks. Has anyone ever done this? Our old vet didn't do/recommend all of this. Thanks, Kim and Silver

Thanks Lori! We'll be arriving in PA this weekend. Once I get settled, I'll post and maybe Silver and I can join ya'll for a walk! Looking forward to meeting you and your pup! Kim and Silver