marion

Although Ivy and Soldi loved to sleep together, there were moments where each dog preferred an individual place to rest so I had plenty of beds and baskets in the house and they were allowed to use the sofas and my bed too,it's good for the hounds to be able to choose their sleeping place depending on their mood...

I second some of your photos when you can. Please? Dear Nancy, I tried to post a pic but with the new display I just don't arrive to post pictures. My photoalbum disappeared too. Maybe in a few days I'll have another try. Of course I will visit GT from time to time...hugs to you Nancy!

My adorable litte Soldi has joined her beloved 'Ivy-Blue' at the bridge this afternoon. I'm heartbroken. Run free, sweet little girl with your brother Ivy-Blue, I will remember you in former times when you played at the beach with your ball and the plastic bottle, when you bathed in the sea, when you walked with Ivy and me in the countryside, always alert for rabbits, when you enjoyed your special meals, when you went sunbathing with Ivy in the garden, when you accompanied DH when jogging at the beach, when you stole Ivy's chwewing bone, when you teased me at the beach eating forbidden things and then running circles around me when I got upset, 'laughing' at me, when you played with your stuffies, you loved stuffies etc, etc, etc,....... You have taken a part of my heart with you...have luck! I thank all the wonderful people of Greytalk who have helped and understood me and my hounds during the years. Greytalk is the only Forum that I have visited for many years and where people stay and have formed a stable and amazingly helpful community. I wish the best for all of you and for all you adorable Greyhounds..please hug them especially today! Marion

My adorable little Soldi is gone... The analysis showed clear evidence of cancer and the vet supposed mieloma in the marrow bone. As today she felt even worse than yesterday and the vet didn't give us any hope, I took finally the worst decision. My heart is totally broken. I have lost my two beloved Greyhounds within 8 months...I cannot write anymore. I'll put a thread in Remembrance later... Good Bye my princess

Thanks again for your many kind replies! IRSKASMOM: Awww Marion , it is breaking my Heart. Poor Soldie . Sending you lots of gentle Hugs and Prayers for you and your Pup. I hope the Bloodtest will give you some Answers as of what is going on with Soldie How old is Soldie ???? Soldi is exactly 10 and a half years old. Her 11th birthday would be on 16th of September. AHICKS51: You know, the whole "face muscles" thing rings a bell with me, I don't know why- there was someone who asked about it on the greyhound list a year or two ago, and I forget what the reply was. But are the muscles of the head atrophying? If that's the case, it's some specific disorder, the name of which eludes me. I think it's serious, but treatable. Maybe Batmom or someone else will remember what I'm referring to. It was me who posted a topic about Soldi's prominent cheekbones last year. I know there'e a condition called Masticatory Miositis that is treated with highest amounts of Prednisone. As Soldi's functins of eating, yawning, chewing etc. stayed just fine, I just accepted her boney face as 'old age face'... I will let you know the results of the analysis. Now it's 8.00h o'clock in the morning here. It seems that she thinks a bit more about drinking and is the same like yesterday. I give her small amounts of honey with water with a syringe...no way to get any other thing into her body. It seems that she hates even the smell of broth (which I made from chicken).

Thanks for your kind replies, so far. There's NO WAY to get any food into her since Sunday. Tomorrow I hope to know some more info when the blood panel comes back. She has no fever and doesn't loose any fluids except those vomits. But about 3 days ago I saw dry blood on her blanket which I suppose she vomited at night. But that was only once. What worries me is her impressingly fast decline. Sunday, we still walked about half an hour, Monday morning I took her for a short 20 minute walk but she didn't want to jump into the car and fell aside (never happened before)and today she hardly maintaines her body on her feet, so weak is she...I'm so terribly sad and can't eat and find sleep either...

I don't know what happens with her but I've the impression that her life is coming to its end. Last 27th of July her so beloved half-brother 'Ivy' crossed the bridge and she got a serious depression and got very skinny. She recovered strength after some weeks but her face remained very skull-like. Nevertheless, despite her face muscles having partly disappeared, she managed perfectly to eat, drink and chew stuff and play sometimes with empty plastic bottles or balls at the beach where I took her about 3 times per week. But her happiness was gone. She didn't like the walks without Ivy and always trotted behind me. Her face is always sad and serious. She became a very picky eater and often she refused kibble but loved home made food and I started cooking on a daily basis. In the last weeks on some days she refused even the home-cooked but on the next day she ate again. Her activity level seemed to decrease a little but still she was O.K. Last Sunday she refused to eat any food. Well I thought, she might need a day or two to get her digestive system in order. Monday she didn't eat either. I cooked all her preferred meals, sardines, chicken, hamburgers...nothing. On Tuesday she kept refusing to eat, so I called the vet who came today and checked her all over and took some blood for an analysis. I hope to get the results tomorrow in the evening. Soldi has lost a lot of weight in these few days and is very weak. The last two mornings she vomited superyellow foam. She can't hardly walk and only goes slowly into the garden to pee every now and then. She drinks sufficient water. The vet recommended some electrolyt stuff, that she vomited directly after giving a tiny bit to her. She looks so sad and it breaks my heart to see her like that. I suppose that she has some kind of cancer. Her gums look good, however. Anybody had some kind of this happen?

Marion, I know what you mean, & I wouldn't put her under if it wasn't for her gums, they get so sore that she can't eat & whenever she raises her lip to take a cookie from me or yawns, she yips. sad.gif If she wasn't in pain, I wouldn't have them cleaned, but I hate to see her in pain. Mindy's teeth are not white, but her mouth doesn't get sore, she's only had her teeth cleaned once in the 10 years that I've had her. Oh, I see...of course, if she's in pain and her gums swell or hurt, she must get alleviated, that's for sure. I wish you all the best for her...she's so cute and one of the 'old guard' of GT...

Very good thoughts coming Abby's way from Spain...I wonder if it's not too often to put the hound under. Imagine, neither my beloved Ivy (at the bridge since July) nor sweet Soldi have never, ever got their teeth cleaned by a vet. I gave them a raw beef joint bone from time to time and that was it. Ivy never had wonderful brilliant teeth, but they were healthy and O.K. Soldi has brilliant teeth without doing anything. I think putting a greyhound so often under only for brilliant teeth is quite risky. Please don't understand my post as criticism...I only tell you my opinion, but I admit, that these things scare me. Good luck for sweet Abby...I wish that everything goes well...

That's perfect for him...but the hound should get the possibility of off-leash free run in a fenced in area about twice per week. A 2 or 3 years old Greyhound is still full of energy. My Soldi is in her 11th year of life and she gets walked still 1-1,30 hours daily and does perfectly. 3 times per week we go to the beach where she's off-leash and enjoys free run.

Obviously something has gone wrong. After the immobilisiation period it's necessary to rehab the hound and accustom him bit by bit to regular walking and exercise. If this isn't done properly, the tendon cannot recover strength, so too much inactivity after the immobilisation time can be bad too...the hound has to recover the use of the tendon...poor hound, he must have a hard time. Best wishes for recovery!

Normally tendon injuries do heal extremely slowly. After the healing of the tendon, the hound has to start bit by bit the normal walking in order to reinforce the recently healed tendon. If that is done properly the tendon will be strong enough to resist normal exercise. A tendon injury requires at least 1 month of immobilisation and after that time another 3 weeks with a bandage and limited walking. I wonder if in the case of your hound the healing periods were respected properly...