Brooker914

Greyhounds have a lower WBC count than other breeds. Their typical range is 3.5-6.5, so Ciria's count is only a little lower than normal. Does her vet have a reference for greyhound bloodwork? Here is a link to one that you can print out if they don't. http://www.greyhound-data.com/dir/393/Greyhound_Bloodwork.pdf I hope Ciria starts feeling better soon!

Avocado can cause GI upset but it is actually not poisonous. It is often on toxin lists because it is extremely toxic to birds but in dogs the main issue is upset stomachs or ingesting the pit which could cause an obstruction. Hope your pup feels better soon!

I'm interested to see how Pudge does with her new food, and if Dr. Dodds test is reliable. True food allergy is IgE mediated which is unlikely to show up in saliva. Her website says it is measuring IgA and IgM, but not IgE. Hopefully some scientific data or studies will come out to give some information on her test. Please keep us updated on Pudge!

Cephalexin has a pretty strong odor and taste. I wonder if it has anything to do with that? Nevermind, I just saw that it wasn't until 2 hours after, so I guess it's not that!

While Pet Armor is advertised as being the same product as Frontline, only the active ingredients (Fipronil and S-Methoprene) are the same. The rest is not, as Frontline is still patent protected. My concern is that the carrier (what disperses the product into the sebaceous glands and hair follicles and keeps it active for a month) is different than the carrier that is in Frontline. So its effectiveness isn't completely known as this protect hasn't been on the market very long. It may turn out to be a great product, but I think the commercials are very misleading when they display a box that looks almost identical to Frontline's box, and people are thinking it's 100% the same product. I just think that everyone should have the full information and make a decision from there.

You might have already figured this out, but I saw in an earlier post that you were having trouble contacting Dr. Couto. Go to https://greyhound.osu.edu/consultationservice/ then on the left side of the page click on Greyhound Consultation Form. Just fill that out and send--there is no fee for this service. Hope this helps, and good luck with everything.

If a piece of ovarian tissue was left in when she was spayed, it can cause a dog to go into heat. Xrays would not show if she had been spayed, unless her uterus was really enlarged (something like a pyometra could be seen on xrays). Especially if she's attracting males, I'd wonder if she either wasn't spayed at all or if some tissue was left behind. Are there no records saying that she was previously spayed? If not, the only way to know for sure would likely be an exploratory surgery, but I'd discuss your concerns and options with your vet. Good luck!

It's called a cystocentesis

This is a very common thing to do, as many tumors metastasize to the lungs. I don't think mast cell tumors commonly do, but better safe than sorry. I assume that is what she wants to check. Good luck with everything!

There are seveal types of stones that will not show up on radiographs. An ultrasound is the only way to see them. Was his urine cultured to rule out UTI?

If you're in Illinois, DEFINATELY ask your vet about Blastomycosis- I'm in Illinois and we always say it's Blasto unless proven otherwise!

Sinus arrythmia is common is large dogs, it comes from a high vagal tone. Speeds up on inspiration, slows on expiration. No problem, as long as there is nothing else abnormal going on with the beats. Mine has it too. ETA: there shouldn't be an extra swish like someone mentioned. A swish to me sounds like it could be a murmur, that's kind of what they sound like.

There is always a "real" vet overseeing all cases. No vet student has a case on their own. Like luckydog said, a student works up the case and goes over everything with the "real" vet.

Yes, some bacteria produce gas, but if your vet isn't concerned, I guess I wouldn't worry since your dog is on antibiotics already. Does the vet know that it has been getting bigger? Maybe give your vet a call just to make sure he/she doesn't want to do anything else. Good luck! ETA: I just remembered that you can get gas gangrene as well...but it seems that there would be a lot of other symptoms if this was the case, and you said the dog is acting fine and the wound looks ok?

Well today Delta had some lovely colored stools! I could see pieces of the dyed fur, and some of the cardboard bits, so it looks like most if not all of the mice has passed through. Thanks everyone for the advice and reassurance! I'll keep watching out for any odd behavior just in case, but looks like all will be ok!

My cats got two furry toy mice for Christmas, and Delta just ate the two toys. Each toy is maybe 1.5 inches long and 1 inch wide with a little tail, covered in this soft fur and stuffed with a cardboard type material. Do you think this is going to be a problem? Or should she pass these ok? I tried hydrogen peroxide, and she spit it out, gagged a few times, then nothing. Thanks for the help!

Just had this happen about 3 weeks ago. I thought the tail looked ok, not really bleeding, looked like a scrape, so I cleaned it and wrapped it up. Looked again in the morning and decided to take her to the vet-She needed 5 stitches! She has been really bad about licking it, but it's finally starting to look almost healed. Just take a look at it and see what you think, might not need stiches, just keep it clean!

Delta doesn't get to run much as I don't have a fenced in yard. She gets to run in my friend's fenced yard about twice a week usually. Almost everytime, something ends up bleeding. Her tail, webbing between toes, tops of nailbeds, etc. My friend's yard is well kept, maybe some sticks and stuff, but otherwise a great place to run. Delta is a healthy girl, no other problems. Does happen to anyone else? Is it because she isn't getting to run much, so when she does she overdoes it, or is she just ridiculously fragile? Anything I can do to help this? I don't want to stop letting her run, she loves it so much, I just don't want to bring a bleeding dog home, even if they are just little scratches!

A lot of vets are skeptical about online meds...it's a bit different here in the US, but the online pharmacies sell meds that aren't manufactured in the US...some are probably fine, but some get their meds from Mexico and such-not as tightly regulated. The vet I worked for WOULD NOT give a prescription for online meds, he'd seen some animals getting medication labeled as something and it actually wasn't. As for the vaccine spot, many vaccines are given in the "hip" area or a bit higher up, especially if it is a subcutaneous injection. The ones actually in the leg are probably an intramuscular injection. Most vets here recommend heartworm prevention year round, again I'm not sure about Canada. If it really was a 3 yr rabies, no reason to vaccinate again, but if you weren't sure, maybe that's why he did it? Some states in the US require yearly rabies. Hope some of that helps, but overall if you aren't happy with the vet, try a different one. It's important for you to find one that you trust.

I believe Dr Feeman recently posted about the "early spays causing bone cancer" not being true, but now I can't find the post. My cat was spayed at 8 weeks, right before I adopted her from the shelter. 6 months is usually the norm, but they are doing them younger and younger, and in my opionion, that's better. They also seem to recover faster when they are younger, at least to me.

It is very rare these days to be able to stay for procedures or hold your animal during them. It's all about liability. These days people sue for everything. Even if your own dog bites you in a vet clinic, the vet can be liable. Dogs act differently in vet clinic, especially if they are in pain. Also, I don't know how many times I have heard "oh he/she would never bite anyone" right before I got bit. (I've come to find that if an owner says that, it's usually that dog that bites, not because they are mean, they are just in pain or in an unfamiliar place and thrown off.) If you don't trust your vet that's a completely different issue, but please trust that people who work in vet clinics, whether they be techs or vets, love animals and are concerned for their well being. Often, animals are more calm and behave better when their owner is not present, another reason they may be taken into another room for procedures. It's usually much less stressful for pet.

The way the ears are done with all the stitches are in hopes of getting scar tissue to fill in. If there is scar tissue there is much less chance of the ear getting another hematoma from head shaking/etc. Without the scar tissue, you basically just have a pocket there ready and waiting for more blood to fill it if the dog starts shaking or itching again.

Actually my girl still has her internal sutures...several months after her spay. My friend's got is 10 and you can still feel her's too. For some reason some dogs just don't dissolve them. It's not necessarily the vet's fault. Mine got a teeny abcess but I was able to feel the suture that was causing the problem. It worked right out, still in a knot, and now her belly looks great. Here's hoping this surgery goes great, and your baby is back to normal soon after!

Dawn and other dishwashing soaps are commonly used on dogs and cats as a way to get regular flea preventatives off. If an animal has a reaction to a product like Frontline, normal soap and water usually won't get that oily product off. So if you use Dawn, it cuts through it and removes the whole product. I don't think it would do anything to prevent fleas at all though.

I've always been told no baths two days before or after application.