greyhead

Our Spencer has always had bad teeth, while Shane's have been exceptionally good. Spencer has dentals annually, but then I'm not the greatest tooth-brusher. At one point his teeth had gotten especially bad because he had compromised health and the vet didn't want to do a dental, so she recommended one turkey neck per day for two weeks. (Or maybe it was every other day.) At the end of that time his teeth looked like those of a leading man in Hollywood!

Because I'd never heard of this, I Googled "pemphigus". Lots of links turned up, but I started with this one: http://autoimmunedis...anine_pemphigus It mentions that there are several types of the disorder and that successful treatment depends on id-ing the sub-type. It also said that treatment is probably life-long and that changing food, especially to a raw diet, may be helpful. You can get lots of help on feeding raw from our own Food & Dietary section here on GT. (We feed a combo of raw and commercial kibble/canned to one of our dogs who has severe intestinal problems.) Edited to add: Welcome to GT! Besides discussing troubles, we also have fun here, as I hope you will too.

Oh dear! Lots of good thoughts here for Princess Derby. Hoping to hear she's beyond danger soon.

What a young, beautiful boy! I'm so very sorry for your loss.

Ooof, like being punched. You gave him more, Holly, than anyone ever had. I'm so very sorry.

Definitely check for worms, although if the fecal turns out negative, it won't mean that there aren't worms. Not all dogs can handle white rice. We have one that can't and another that can't handle grains at all. So we get kibbles that feature potatoes as the carb component. Let us know how the vet visit goes. And good luck!

THANK you! I at least know that a TIA is a Transient Ischemic Attack! Keeping y'all in our thoughts.

Well, I too am glad it's not worse than it is, but I'm sorry both of you are going through it. Good thoughts for good rest and a quick complete recovery. I feel like we're both members of the It's Always Something Club!

I can't remember what FCE stands for, but I'm glad Isis is doing well now!

Poor baby. Sleep tight, both of you!

Just not fair. God may have plans, but we don't have to like them. I'm very, very sorry.

I vote for a vet trip or phone consult at the earliest practical opportunity. But I don't think that "resting" (oops) sleeping all day is necessarily a good sign, and I'm sure continued "water" isn't.

I'm guessing you're getting to the neuro right about now. Lots of prayers and good thoughts coming from here that you get a great neuro, good diagnosis, and a positive prognosis.

Oh no! What an awful shock. You did well by him, Dana, and he knew he was loved.

Even if there is SA involved, that's not spite. It's anxiety. Completely different. Not something he can help. Hope you get it figured out. I know it's hard.

Sometimes symptoms point to more than one possibility. It took nine months of these symptoms before we finally got a positive hookworm fecal for Spencer. Being newbie adopters, we told the vets and some greyhound people about the symptoms; but until a positive fecal occurred, they didn't know what to make of the symptoms. (I can get pretty grumpy about medical practitioners being test-dependent!) Until then, they attributed everything to either emotional distress, sensitive greyhound stomach, too many treats, or possible IBD. Once we got the diagnosis, I did my own research and learned what these symptoms meant. In particular, the coughing comes from worms that have migrated to the lungs, which are then coughed up and swallowed back to the stomach. To the uninitiated, it might seem like the "backward sneeze." And since hookworms aren't native to WA state, our vets didn't pay that much attention to them in school, so they didn't realize the significance when I reported the biting at the sides either, or the fact that he would suddenly jump for no apparent reason. That last thing was framed to me as a behavioral issue, but I later realized he jumped because he'd been bitten by the worms. So I second the opinion that when we're dealing with vets who aren't grey savvy in parts of the world where greys aren't numerous, we have to learn stuff on our own and then go tell the vets about it. And sometimes we have to be pretty insistent. It's good that you recognize that fixation on the murmur; you can insist that they not neglect the other issues.

Yes. Well, not fleas. But you can go after fleas separately. Hookworms also hang out in various body tissues, in cysts, and hatch from time to time. Nothing kills them while they are encysted. Therefore, hookworm is very, very hard to eradicate permanently. We've found we need to give Drontal or Panacur twice a year in addition to the monthly Interceptor. We give the Drontal or Panacur when we see symptoms that we recognize as hookworm (i.e., coughing and swallowing, biting at sides, loss of appetite for breakfast). Good luck.

What she said.

Given that he arrived in poor health, plus that he seems to want to get rid of something that's inside him, I'm wondering about worms. The gulping is suspicious too from that point of view. A negative fecal won't mean that he doesn't have worms. But it's worth testing anyway. Shoot, after what we've been through with worms, I'd say go ahead and worm him anyway.

What a defensive jerk that vet on the phone was! I'm so sorry! Glad you had a good, sane vet to talk to afterward. Both our dogs get acupuncture and chiropractic. But I don't think all practitioners are equally skilled, and perhaps chiropractic isn't good for every dog. I'd be skittish too if I were you. And I doubt I'd ever go back to that practice! Holding good thoughts for and Apollo tonight.

Lots of good thoughts for you and Chase, Karen. I hope you can get some good rest tonight and that you get good news tomorrow.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Run free, Mick.

What a beautiful Princess she was and how lucky to have found you! I'm so very sorry you couldn't have had more time.

I'm so sorry, Trudy and Jeff. Run free, Ryan. You had a greyt home!

Update? Holding a good thought here!