greyhead

Oh, your poor heart. I'm so sorry she had to leave so soon.

I'm so sorry Jimmy couldn't stay and be loved longer. At least he had the good fortune to be folded into your pack before he left.

I'm so very, very sorry for your loss.

Skylar was precious! I'm so sorry she left.

I was wondering that too, and it sure would be good if that was it!

What a handsome boy with a gorgeous collar in that picture! I know you'll miss him as you loved him -- dearly. Sincere sympathy to you and the daddyman. Godspeed, Bacchus. Keep looking 'til you find the best couch at the bridge, just like you did here.

An e-vet glued Shane's webbing a couple years ago but it didn't hold. Regular vet had to stitch him the next day. Hope you have better luck!

A sweet tribute to a lovely girl. I'm so sorry for your loss.

I'm so very sorry. Godspeed EZ.

1) Not really, IMHO. That said, second and third poops are usually of lesser quality than the first. And as you know, greyhounds are sensitive creatures and many things can upset their digestion and lead to poorer poop quality. But if it's just from a stressful incident, it should resolve quickly, in no more than a few days, and should not return and keep cycling that way. 2) No, you shouldn't wait that long to become concerned. Poop quality may be the least of your worries with hookworm (speaking from experience). 3) Some share Branigan's opinion, some don't. Knowing the damage worms can do -- especially hookworm -- and that a proper dewormer doesn't hurt them, I disagree with Branigan. You might search hookworm* in the H&M archives and learn a lot. I hate to rehash it all here. Suffice to say, though, that we over a 9-month period we had two negative fecals before getting the positive one. Interestingly, the poop we took in for that third sample was of relatively good quality, which makes me wonder if bad poop happens when the worms are making mischief in the intestines while good poop happens when they're shedding eggs. I'm sure you know that it's only the eggs that fecals detect. Anyhow, that was a long enough period for our dog to get a permanent case of hookworm. So if it took a long time to discover your dog's hookworm, I'd say it wouldn't be unreasonable for you to suppose that you'll be using a monthly "preventive" like Interceptor and periodically administering Panacur or Drontal. Hope this helps. Edited to amend answer to #1.

I ordered two boxes yesterday from Drs. Foster and Smith, no problem and reasonably priced. The source my vet usually uses, however, would only sell by the pill; and it was $12 a pill!

Lots of love and good thoughts for you, Cari, and DH. We'll be waiting for the good report that you'll be giving us!

Yeah, I wouldn't trust myself to apply that test either, even having seen it done several times, unless I had to for some reason. Spencer's LS was diagnosed by his regular vet, using the Stack test in my presence, after I brought him in and described his symptoms. His observable symptoms were his tending to fall over when lifting a leg at a bush, his inability to pivot to either side from his back legs without falling over, and his difficulty rising from the dog beds. As I'm using the term, "tending to" fall over means he'd start to tip and then prevent it by aborting the maneuver. (You could tell he was surprised at this new development, too.) With the pivot he might, for instance, have his front legs already higher than the back ones, like with his front feet atop a low wall; so to turn back to the sidewalk, he'd raise the front of his body and legs up farther, transfer his weight to the back legs, and try to use them to pivot to the side. Then he actually would fall. It only took a couple of those instances before I took him to the vet. Part of the problem is that they lose track of what their feet are actually doing, because the nerve sensitivity lessens in the LS condition. As I thought back on it, though, there had been times going back a couple years earlier when he'd become less apt to get off his bed unless he had compelling reason, as for meals or if he was called by name. Prior to that, he'd jump up off the bed just to come see us for the heck of it, you know? And I can think of a couple of instances where he may have injured himself, like when he fell hard while running with a playgroup pack in some serious Seattle mud. Don't know if any of this rings bells for you, but that's our story. After diagnosing it as LS, the regular vet referred us to the rehab vet for acupuncture/chiropractic. That second vet didn't repeat the Stack test, just took the first one's word for it. We asked whether an MRI would be appropriate for Spencer. The vets said that the only reason to do one would be if we wanted to go for some kind of surgical intervention. Then you'd want and need that kind of precision. But they trusted the Stack test, and we trusted them on that (verified by our inquiries on GT and other sources) and turned our attention to the outcome. Since he started doing so much better so very fast -- as in the day after the first treatment -- we decided that the vets knew what they were doing. If it hadn't worked, then we would have sought further diagnostics. Hope this helps some. It sounds like you have lots of possible vets from which to choose, which sort of makes it harder than it was for us.

Both our dogs see a rehab/acupuncture/chiro vet, Spencer for LS, Shane for arthritis, hip & kidney issues. When she did the Stack test on Shane, he did not sink. So there's one result for your data set. ETA: From what I've seen when watching these tests done a few times, the proper degree of pressure is pretty mild to moderate. It should not be the case that any dog would sink in response to it, as far as I can see. If the degree of pressure applied is strong enough to sink any dog, then I'd suspect it's too much pressure.

Vegas will be in my thoughts, for sure, as will you. I'll hope they give him every possible advantage. For whatever it's worth: The vet knew I was very concerned about Spencer, going into his last dental. One thing they did differently this time, I learned later, was have his favorite tech stay and hang with him from the time I brought him in until it was time for the procedure. (I think they may have started the hydration a little earlier beforehand too.) For whatever combination of reasons, he came out of it, despite some big extractions, better than he ever did before. Bounced into the car under his own steam two hours later! No whining or difficulty at home this time either. A kiss for luck, Vegas!

It sounds like it could be LS. Can't tell you who best to see, but Spencer was diagnosed by his regular vet, via the Stack test. We go to a rehab vet for treatment with acupuncture/chiropractic, and it has worked for 4 years without any medication. His regular vet recently retested, at my request, and applied the pressure three times -- because it took that many to get much of a reaction. However, his function deteriorated immediately after. So 1) this type of treatment can bring improvement, and 2) don't pressure test them more than once or twice. (The rehab vet was appalled when she found out.) Spencer was Zuri's age when we started on this road. At the time my researches and vets indicated that you get 2 years, at the very most, of benefit with the steroid shots, and then there would be decline. I decided to try the non-steroid approach first and save the shots for later. In Spencer's case, at age 11 now, I think "later" may be now. So I'll be very interested in staying tuned to hear what you discover and decide, wishing you and Zuri the best.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Looked up Primor, and I gather staying hydrated is an issue. It says she should be encouraged to drink water. Benedryl can have a drying effect also, so that compounds it. The licking you see may be indicative of a dry mouth. I've noticed mine sometimes, weirdly, don't drink when I'd expect them to. It can help to actually take the water bowl to them and offer it. If nothing else, they'll usually take a lap or two just to be polite. But, hey, some is better than none. And sometimes it's like, Oh yeah, this is a good idea! And they'll drink a lot. I'm so sorry you and Silver are going through all this. I can imagine how stressed you are, given everything. It's great that you can take her to work with you to observe. Thinking nothing but good thoughts for you two!

What beautiful relationships you describe, among the people and the hounds. You and Billy had a unique bond, and the universe allowed it to be honored. I'm so glad for you, and so very sorry.

Yes!!! That's fantastic! Thanks for sharing the good news and cute picture.

Good thoughts for you and Gia, from here to Tuesday and beyond.

Tears here. A very touching tribute. I can imagine how hard it was for you to write. The other dogs' reaction to Silver that morning was so loving and sweet. I hope they and time will conspire to assuage your pain.

She was an adorable girl and had a great life with you. I'm sorry her time came.