greyhead

Prayers for lovely Aquitane and for the boy, as well.

Similar but, happily for you, not identical dogs. Ours started with hookworm that went undiagnosed for the first 9 months we had him. We treated with Panacur and some other things, but it was too advanced to ever be knocked out for good by then. A couple years later he developed SIBO after post-dental antibiotics, which also went undiagnosed for way too long. And then he developed IBD, also permanent. So what we found was that along with a regimen that addresses hookworm and IBD, Tylan was the final piece of the treatment that firmed up the stool. When he has an IBD flare, we put him back on metronidazole and even budesonide if it's a bad one. Sometimes, we've found, what we thought was a pure IBD flare was actually a hookworm-induced problem, because using Drontal-Plus or even his monthly wormer at that point has fixed it, without the need for additional meds. But our experience with this dog has been that if we don't keep him on Tylan, we get soft-serve. In the best times, he gets 1/8 tsp. once a day. But most of the time it's twice a day. On the hookworm issue I should add that his internist said to administer his "monthly" Interceptor every three weeks instead of four. We found that it worked better at that rate (because it matches the hookworm life cycle better) and does no harm. We just switched to Trifexis since we can't get Interceptor, and I have yet to ask whether that also can be given more frequently than the label recommends. You can probably surmise that I highly recommend doing everything that can be safely done to stay on top of hooks! And I wish you and Bus the very best! Sometimes we don't know exactly how meds work their magic, not even aspirin. Hooks are beyond irritating, they dig channels in the intestinal lining. Tylan may soothe that in some way and discourage bacteria from over-colonizing the area. But I think if Tylan seems to help Bus, you should let your vet know this and request that he continue to get it as needed. It's a relatively mild antibiotic that does much good nontheless. ETA: I should mention that our IBD dog is almost 12 years old. With a younger dog like yours, you may want to give more serious consideration to whether some degree of soft-serve is worse than the purported risk of some germies developing resistance to Tylan now and then being unable to use it somewhere down the road in the future. (My vet mentioned that to me, but it's the least important variable in our particular situation.)

Oh dear, I'm so sorry. All good thoughts to you and your family.

We've been on Tylan for years, using Drontal-Plus 2-3 times a year, and have noticed no issue with using both at the same time. (We also have a permanent case of hookworm in this dog.)

Oh gosh, what a dreadful time for you and your family. I'm so very sorry for your loss of Butter and your dads. Godspeed, Butter. You were well-loved.

Godspeed, Bella. Thank you for being such a special girl and for letting me know what soap Spencer might prefer I use on his face!

All fingers and paws crossed here for sweet Ivon -- I meant Spud! We'll be looking for your update. {{Hugs}} to you both. Edited for idiocy.

I'd be checking for lumbosacral stenosis and for herniated disks.

Good grief! Just seeing this, Judy, and am so glad he's doing better.

I'm so sorry she had to leave.

Irene and Len, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this. Way too young, too sudden, and too cruel. I'm so very sorry. Godspeed, American Idol.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your dear father and then Rachel. She was a lovely girl.

I'm so sorry you're having this trouble. You clearly care a lot and are trying hard to get your puppy over his SA! It may come down to doing what Susan suggests. But you deserve to have your efforts acknowledged and appreciated. Can you handle the idea of asking your adoption rep to take the puppy back and find you an older, lower-maintenance greyhound? The adoption group should be able to appreciate that your health creates some legitimate limitations on how much you can work with this situation. Wishing you all the best, Mary

I'm so very sorry, hon. Of course you feel awful, but you did all you could. He did have all those great years with you, and he is not suffering at all.

I'm so sorry Powder had to leave. Thank you for loving him for the time he could spend with you.

I'm sorry your handsome boy had to go.

Spencer has had IBD for almost 4 years now, though he wasn't diagnosed right away. He was on metronidazole of varying dosages for most of that time. Over the past year we have been able to mostly discontinue it, only going back to it when he has a flare. For him, tylosin was also necessary, and he has stayed on that the whole time. It has been mostly fine, but the neurological effects do add up over time, especially when combined with those from the other main med he was taking, budesonide. He does show cognitive improvement whenever those meds are discontinued.

Kyle, you are the best! Hooray for Vid eating and drinking! Agree that something needs to happen to get the surgeon responding, and that something may have to come from you if the vet isn't getting it done. Sending lots of sympathy and gentle virtual hugs from someone who has been through a long-haul thing or two with a greyhound.

I'm very sorry for your loss. Go find Bazooka, sweetie.

Hope you're able to catch a nice, refreshing nap while he's at the vet. Love to you both.

Liking Burpdog's idea, and sending lots of good thoughts to you and Bijou.

I'm sure Lindsay will pop back in with useful info. Meanwhile, let me ask, what kind of regular wormer do you use? Is it something from the vet, and does it address tapeworms? Do you see her stools soon after she deposits them? That's the easiest way to diagnose tapeworms, in my experience, as then they are bright white segments; in less than an hour, they dry up into dull beige segments that look like grains of rice and are harder to see. And one negative fecal test does not mean the dog has no worms. It took three fecal exams to find the hookworms our first greyhound came with. A fecal "culture" is a different thing from a fecal exam for worms. And a culture & sensitivity procedure on poop is like what they do with urine: the culture sees what specific germ(s) grow(s) in the petri dishes, and the sensitivity then finds which antibiotic(s) will kill them. It's important for you to know which tests are done, a "fecal" or a "culture and sensitivity." The term "fecal test" is ambiguous in that regard. I know there have been explanations in other threads about which meds are used to treat which worms -- the generic chemical names, because the brands may be different where you are. I'll see if I can find a link and post it here for you. If so, I'll post it as an edit to this post. ETA: Here it is, entitled Worms, Worms, Worms: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/282746-worms-worms-worms/page__hl__+worm%20+treatment?do=findComment&comment=5158324 Post #17 there is by JJNg, a vet, and lists which chemicals work for which worms.

I suggest you get a bottle of B-12 from your vet (or wherever) right away, some syringes with 25-gauge needles, and give 1cc subcutaneously. I'll look back and see what Spencer's dose was -- or maybe JJNG will pop in and enlighten us, because it's standard -- but it's something like two or three shots the first week or two, then once a week for a month, then every other week for another month, and then monthly thereafter. As I say, that's approximately what we did with Spencer. He also had trouble getting up and was becoming mentally confused. Lack of B-12 does those things. IBD can involve Intestinal Malabsorption, and when it does the B-12 is low. You can test for it, but that takes time. Since B-12 is water-soluble and doesn't do any harm, it won't hurt to go ahead and just try it. Several of us have had near-miraculous results with it. It has to be an injection and not a pill, if IM is the cause, because there's something called Intrinsic Factor that's missing in the gut and that's required to process it in the gut. The injection bypasses the gut, of course, and it's very very easy to give. A vet tech can show you how if you've never done it before. Sometimes in looking for the big things, like cancer, we and our vets overlook the small things like B-12 deficiency. But addressing this "little thing" gives a really big bang for the buck. Not addressing it is a very bad idea, as it results in a very weak dog who can't remember why he should even want to get up anyhow. We're pulling for you and Pjay! You can do this!

That's a question best put to a vet who has experience with both meds. Our Spencer responded to budesonide but not to prednisone. However, when he was given pred, he had an undiagnosed case of SIBO, and it's not surprising he did badly on pred at that time. He was only on it briefly, like a week, before an internist we were consulting pulled him off of it; he hadn't yet been diagnosed with IBD either, just GI distress of unknown origins. You don't want to give an immunosuppressant to a dog with a GI infection, or it will just get worse! We didn't start budesonide until after we'd done a poop culture & sensitivity, found the exact bacterial strains, and cured them. That being said, there have been greyhounds with IBD who did poorly on pred but well on budesonide. It's also worth noting, though, that Spencer didn't recover on budesonide alone. His ultrasound-based IBD diagnosis was deemed "moderate to severe," for what it's worth. He needed both metronidazole and tylosin along with the budesonide treatment in order to stop stomach gurgling/gas, digest well and gain weight, and have reasonable poop consistency. And the food component was critical too. In the end, we feed 1/3 raw venison (commercially prepared) to 2/3 venison kibble and canned -- because that's what works best for him, not for any theoretical reason. He also does poorly on probiotics, nor can he have any fish oil pills or anything of that nature. He also can't handle vitamin pills. However, he does require B-12 injections for intestinal malabsorption, as a lot of these IBD dogs do. They are easy to give at home subcutaneously and cheap too. I think you're instincts about avoiding supplements until you get the basic treatment plan in place are good. The general rule with these dogs is: simple is best. (Of course, "simple" is a relative term.)