greyhead

All we know is that he had what the blood called "sludgy blood" -- her term, speaking to a layman. (IIRC, you *really* hated that term!) No explanation was offered or treatment sought. Later (two years ago) we found and treated the Babesia, and the sludgy blood stopped being a factor. Now his minor blood work can be run on in-house vet equipment since the viscosity is normal.

We saw it (the blood thickened to the point it was so hard to process on the vet's equipment that it always had to be sent out to the lab) in Shane, until he was treated for Babesia. So what's generally true isn't always true. I'm not saying that this dog has or doesn't have anything in particular, just saying that thickened blood happens and may mean *something*, something which it would be useful to figure out.

Waldenstrom's is a totally different type of condition from the polycythemia mentioned in the original post. The symptom sometimes seen in Waldenstrom's condition is called hyperviscosity -- and you need a specific test for that, not an HCT/PCV. A dog could have it, but it's pretty rare. It, too, involves *reduced* numbers of platelets and red blood cells, not polycythemia (increased number of red blood cells). In tick diseases, you don't normally have gross overproduction of antibodies, just production of antibodies. Just using the first link to support that blood thickening does occur -- for whatever reason. Also didn't mean to imply that there was gross overproduction of antibodies. The mere production of more antibodies, for whatever reason, adds to the population of solids in the blood. Must we argue about everything? It usually seems to me that you don't even *try* to understand what I'm getting at. It's not about me, although it annoys me, of course. It's about discovering what may be true.

Crossing fingers and toes!

Conditions, like TBD's, that involve larger-than-normal numbers of antibodies circulating (and deteriorating) in the bloodstream result in thicker blood. I don't know the technical term for that, but for me it's more important to be aware of the phenomenon than to know its name. Here's the first link I stumbled on regarding "thick blood": http://www.tree.com/...plications.aspx Here's the second one. It's called "hypercoagulation": http://www.digitalnaturopath.com/cond/C546009.html You'll notice it mentions Lyme disease.

All our best thoughts and prayers for you and Duke!

FWIW, one of our greys had very thick blood too,consistently, though not an abnormally high number of RBC's for a greyhound, and he did turn out to have Babesia. After treatment for it, he has never shown that thickness problem since. But you don't mention that your vet sent off for tick titers. Is that being done, or is he just being given something like doxycycline to see what happens?

Thanks for the clarification!

Here is a link to a WebMed page regarding the recall of Novartis products, including Gas-X. Some of you may, as we do, give Gas-X to a dog with gas. The recall also includes other products (Excedrin, Bufferin, and NoDoz). I believe the boxes have expiration dates of December 2013 and sooner. http://www.webmd.com...doz-gasx-recall

Having been through this at our house, I strongly agree with Batmom that the cyclic timing suggests parasites. You also need to be aware that a negative fecal test doesn't prove that an animal doesn't have worms. Those tests only detect eggs; if the worms aren't producing eggs just then, nothing will show up. So if the problem persists, repeat fecals at weekly intervals might be necessary. Or some people just go ahead and treat with Panacur. Personally, I think if a dog has something like hookworm, it's really good to know that because they are SO hard to get rid of.

Godspeed, Rocky, you were well-loved.

What a loving tribute and a very special picture of his footsie. I'm so sorry for your loss. :f_red

I'm so glad Anna was loved and appreciated for herself in your home. And I'm sorry she couldn't stay longer.

Pam, I'm so sorry your Girl couldn't stay longer. I'm glad she found her way to you for a while.

It totally helps Shane. No side effects whatsoever. And he doesn't do as well when he's way overdue for a shot, which has happened more than once, so we've been able to get a good sense of how much better he does with the Adequan and how much worse he does without it.

One of mine was never out of the Midwest but just now tested positive for Lyme! He was previously positive for Babesia, which wasn't such a huge surprise. I'm starting to think all GH's should be tested for TBD's!

Yes to the TBD testing. One of ours was positive for Babesia at age 7 and has had ongoing mild kidney issues, including low specific gravity and frequent urination. Now at age 9 we find he's also positive for Lyme and will test further and treat if indicated. The Lyme is a big surprise, given his geographical history; but, hey, these track dogs do rub elbows with dogs from everywhere. The vets where we live don't deal with TBD's often. But I still feel kinda dumb for not requesting testing sooner.

Our Shane gets Adequan. All his injections, including the one given first in the prescribing rehab vet's office, have been sub-q. Shane does much better with the sub-q injections than he did without Adequan, so we'll continue the practice. Maybe IM would be even more effective, I don't know.

Godspeed, well-loved beauty.

After seeing MSU's interpretation of Dee's (Energy 11) dog Goldie's thyroid hormone numbers, I will never have confidence in MSU's interpretations. Jean Dodds seems more reasonable to me. But it also seems to me that if the tests are done properly, any owner and vet armed with greyhound norms should be able to evaluate the test numbers with the dog's behaviors/symptoms and come to a reasonable decision about whether or not to try thyroid hormones. My family is doing just that currently, as we're having a complete panel run for our oldest dog, who has been on Soloxine for six years but is 11 now and needs to be reevaluated in light of his behavior. If the results are equivocal or confusing, we'll send the numbers to Dr. Dodds for some help. Your last posts have been encouraging to those of us worried by your first one! Best of luck sorting it all out.

Oh my, what a wonderful boy, a beautiful tribute, and a loving mom. Even the kitteh loved him!

Andy was a gorgeous boy and had a wonderful life with you! I'm so sorry he couldn't stay longer.

I'm so very sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and your husband.

I'm so very sorry for your loss. Holly was a stunning girl and will no doubt have plenty of admirers keeping her company at the bridge. :f_pink