greyhead

We use butter containers that have been through the dishwasher, sometimes on the antibiotic anti-bacterial cycle, sometimes not. My vet was impressed that one sample we brought in such a container grew NOTHING when cultured. The vets said the ones at their office are not sterile...just very clean, like my washed butter containers.

I'm so sorry, Ducky. Thanks for loving her so well.

We've gotten good, strong ortho beds, some with bolsters too, through Costco. Much more affordable than most others, like $45 give or take. (Haven't bought one in a while.) Our guys have been big (80-ish pounds), and we found that the memory foam gets a sunken-in spot that won't recover itself. Our dogs seem to prefer the plain ortho instead. We also found that putting one bed atop another gives them a height advantage in getting up. They can put their front paws over the edge and get more leverage to raise their back ends.

I'm so very sorry for this sudden loss of your beloved Obie. My heart goes out to you.

What a fabulous man, a treasure! I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

It does not seem like a year has passed. But we all miss the one and only Jilly Bean.

Agnes was a lucky girl, to join you after losing Carla and to be so well-loved. I'm very sorry for your loss.

We get it, and you're not alone.

Just wow.

RMarie, Spencer got B-12 shots for intestinal malabsorption (indicated by normal folate, low cobalamin). We gave the shots at home, after the first one at the vet's office, since they're just sub-q and easy to give. IIRC he got 2 per week the first week or two, then once a week for a month, then twice a month for two months, then monthly. A bottle of B-12 is really inexpensive, he got 1cc per shot, and you just need to be sure you have a skinny needle -- we used 25gauge -- because the network of nerves that you need to miss across the back and shoulders is actually much more intricate than that of a cat! (By comparison, we used a larger 20g needle to give sub-q fluids to our CRF cat.) Maybe with the folate also being low in your case, giving B-complex shots would be better than just B-12 for the longer term. Sorry, it has been several years since we dealt with this, and I frankly can't remember all the issues clearly.

EZ has been around as long as I can remember, and we'll miss him. I'm so very sorry, Robin and Gerritt.

I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry. He was a sweet, well-loved boy.

Oh dear, I'm so so sorry. You did everything possible. She knew she was loved.

Just seeing this and feeling so sorry you and Venus are going through this. Holding her in my prayers and close to my heart.

MaryJane, could you please contact me? Our Shane has the same issues as Larry, and I'd like to compare notes. (You're apparently not receiving GT messages, and I don't want to start a thread about it right now.) I'm on Facebook as Maryellen Sailors. Thanks!

All I can share is what happened to Spencer, plus whatever I've picked up from other GTers who have had this problem. Spencer's blood work didn't reveal SIBO, although on the TLI test the cobalamin being low and the folate normal meant he had malabsorption, which is a possible indication of SIBO. (The vet treated briefly with a very low dose of Tylan and, when he didn't improve, wrongly concluded that it wasn't a case of SIBO.) I had to push, push, push for a poop culture and even tell them what three bacteria I wanted them to test for! They rolled their eyes, but they did it. Came back WAY positive for the bacterium I most suspected. And knowing the bacterium involved allows the lab to test which meds will best kill it. If I were you and the sulfasalazine doesn't work, I'd have an ultrasound of his GI tract done, stomach and intestines and nearby organs. If there is inflammation and thickening of the intestinal walls, for instance, the US should show that and pinpoint the location(s) where the problems are. If the dog has lost a lot of weight and isn't really young, I'd resist biopsy, especially because the information gleaned doesn't really change the treatment. If the US indicated IBD, I'd treat for IBD. That's what we did. (Where we live, an ultrasound runs around $300, plus or minus $100 depending on where it's done.)

You've had a tough time. I'm very sorry Kowalla had to leave, along with Freeman. I hope in time the memories bring you happiness.

I'm so sorry. There's nothing like a smart, gentleman hound.

No, that's a good decision, not a bad one! After the same test you had showed malabsorption, we elected to look at the gut by ultrasound. My vet and a radiologist did it together and agreed that the findings, which were described to me in detail, strongly suggested moderate to severe IBD. A biopsy was not going to change the treatment at all, and it would have put him at great risk as sick as he already was. So in consult with our vet we declined to do a biopsy and treated him successfully for IBD for four more years. The official, textbook, internists' stance is that you don't have a diagnosis of IBD unless you have a biopsy. But you don't really need an internist to treat it anyhow, just a vet who's willing to do some research. Let me jump in now and suggest that if and when your team decides it's appropriate to treat for IBD, please, in the name of all the greyhound angels and saints, try budesonide instead of prednisone. You can get more info on that from tbhounds, Burpdog, and myself. But one mustn't treat with either of those unless and until any bacterial infection has been knocked out! Because those steroids are intended to get the immune system to back off, which would be bad during an infection.

Yes, but in combination with everything else that's troubling, I'd be looking for the reason too.