greyhead

You've been through a lot, haven't you. I'm very sorry about all of it. :grouphug

Bless your generous broken heart! I'm so sorry. But I'm so glad he spent his last six weeks in your loving home!

What an adorable, precious little girl! I'm so very sorry for your loss and that her time here was so brief.

I'm so sorry it turned out this way, and for everything B and Chance went through at the end. Please give her my heartful condolences.

A beautiful tribute to a beautiful dog. I'm so sorry for your loss.

We put our Flagyl in gel caps, size 00, before hiding them in food. Or the gel caps are easy enough to push to the back of the throat for swallowing.

Exactly. You're in our thoughts and prayers, for the healing of your hearts.

Are you confident in the thyroid results? Do you know which tests they ran and what the numbers were? Sometimes test results are "normal" but close to the end of the range, in which case they're not reliable because of the standard error involved in any test. I mention this because I've had a lot of experience with measurement problems, in greyhounds and in people. When our Spencer got aggressive, it was because of thyroid, but the screening test was technically normal. (His T4 was 1 on a scale of 1 to 4.) Knowing what I knew, I requested the full thyroid panel, and it turned out he wasn't normal after all. The "aggression" was really a reaction to feeling vulnerable and it stopped as soon as the medicine was begun. You'll be lucky if it's that simple, of course, but it's far from rare. In any case, you have my sympathetic concern and support. It's a situation that's scary and confusing!

:grouphug

Just adding that we had great results from methocarbamol, as a prior poster mentioned. Our Shane was panting and his heart rate was up to 180. He was too messed up to even pace, just stood. Icing for 15 minutes helped the first night and allowed him to lie down and his heart rate to decrease. Next day we got the medicine, he stayed on it for five days, bed rest, and that did the trick. Maybe a muscle relaxer like this is better than a straight pain reliever. In any case, we're looking for a good update from you! Best of luck. It's hard to watch them in pain and not be able to help much, I know!

I'm so very sorry for your loss and the sudden shock of it. Dessi had a wonderful last day and didn't suffer. That and her time with you were great blessings.

Great update! I love her name too.

Thanks for the helpful info! I was completely clueless.

I'm so sorry.

Thanks, Claudia. How many times a day do you use the gel when there's a problem? Or does it just depend? (The directions say 2-3 times/day for people.) Has anyone used the pills?

Shane is 7 and has for years had trouble with sprains, a dropped gracilis muscle, and some arthritis in his paws. We've never x-rayed his spine, but that is probably next. We've tried Vetprofen (like Rimadyl), but it hasn't had much effect. He is often very slow on morning walks, and we have to keep them short. Yesterday I found Traumeel at my pharmacy -- pills and the gel. Since it's hard to know what's bothering him at any given time (unless he's limping), I'm thinking of trying the pills. But I know nothing about Traumeel aside from other greyhound owners use it for pain. Can anyone educate me about when to give it and how much? Many thanks, Mary

Our thoughts and prayers are with you! Please update when you can.

My thoughts and prayers are with you. Hope it is gall bladder because, as others have said, you can deal with it. I'm sure you'll still give her the liver support things since she's yellow, right?

When I saw the title "Simon," I hoped it was some other Simon. I'm so sorry, Elizabeth, but glad he went peacefully. He had a really wonderful life with you. Vanilla is my favorite flavor! And he made a handsome, noble King.

I hope the ear medicine gets her entirely back to normal. I think dogs feel vulnerable, and some more than others, when they're not up to par. It makes them more avoidant. Looking for physical problems is always a good idea when there's a behavior change.

What a special hound and wonderful people. I'm sorry for their loss.

How is this diagnosis of degenerative myopathy made? We (and two vets) believe Spencer has LS, and treatment with acupuncture/chiropractic seems to work. Didn't seem to need an MRI to prove it. He does also make hacking noises with his throat from time to time, though, which has me wondering. Thanks so much for the info in this thread!

We started Spencer on Soloxine 5 years ago. Eight months later we went to a new vet, one who had the right equipment to detect Spencer's hookworm. He carried a generic, so we switched to that. Then we moved and see a third vet, she carries thyroxine. Our second dog was diagnosed hypothyroid last year. Now both dogs take thyroxine and do fine on it. When I've asked GTers about it, the only concrete advantage of Soloxine I recall being offered is superior hair regrowth. I don't know if it's true, but that's what I've read. Spencer's hair took a long time to fill back in, and he actually did better on the other meds; but that might just be because of the passage of time.

It shouldn't... Never did for our two.

Congratulations! She is such a beautiful girl and sounds wonderful!