greyhead

I'm so sorry. Run free, sweet girl.

What a gorgeous boy! Congratulations, and glad things are going better! We have an air snapper, who only started it once he was entirely comfortable with us -- about two weeks. He has done it ever since, and he's now 10. He only does it when he's lying down on his side, and it's an invitation for us to play with him. I agree with those who say it shows happiness and excitement. Our second dog actually made contact with my skin at first. He clearly meant no harm, but I let him know that it hurt and wasn't appreciated, and he stopped doing it. (Same for capturing shoes and taking them to his bed. He didn't want to chew them, just to have them! But still.) We crated him at night for about the first week, then when leaving for an extended time for about three weeks. After that it was mostly voluntary. We just left the door open, and he often chose to go in there for a snooze or for the night. (He actually needed another greyhound to come over and show him how to get on a big fluffy Costco bed!) For the last four years, since being in our new house, we've only put up the crate for fosters. In general, I'd advise gradually preparing him to have the run of the house when you're gone as he shows he can handle it. I'm sure you've read about leaving the dog alone for gradually increasing periods to habituate them to it so they won't be anxious. Same principle. ETA: Totally agree with BootsyCollins about crate availability when small tots are involved!

I'm so sorry for your loss. Run free, Dixie. No more pain for you.

Sorry I've missed seeing this until now. Many prayers and good thoughts for precious Jilly!

Turbo was a well-loved and well-traveled hound. I hope you will be consoled by thoughts of the wonderful life you shared with him.

I'm very sorry for your loss. Godspeed Belle.

I'm so sorry, Diane. Godspeed Mizzy.

My sympathy to his family and all who loved Easy Dog.

I was thinking about worms too. And as I always mention, a negative fecal doesn't mean they don't have worms, it just means the worms aren't shedding eggs that the test can detect that day.

I'm so sorry for your great loss. Godspeed, Spy.

How's Ben doing? Our Spencer had/has a situation similar to Stripeyfan's Kelly: history of hookworm, followed a year later by intestinal malabsorption, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, IBD. Hookworms have teeth and really do a number on intestines, which sets the dog up for the other problems. The first important thing I learned -- eight months and three vets later -- was that a negative fecal test doesn't mean the dog doesn't have worms. It just means the worms aren't shedding eggs, which is what the test looks for. If I'd known that at the start, I would have repeated stool samples tested every week for a month before concluding that he was worm-free. Would've saved a lot of trouble. The test for intestinal malabsorption is the cobalamin/folate test. If that's it, B-12 shots for life will take care of the major deficit. You can easily and cheaply give them at home. Maybe nothing I've said is relevant to your situation, but I thought I should mention these things. I'm so hoping you can get a handle on this. Spencer lost 20 lbs. throughout his ordeal, so I know how scared and helpless one feels until the cause is determined and dealt with. Btw, has Ben continued to be interested in ingesting Pomeranians and Poodles?

I'm so sorry his time came. Run free Icarus!

Lots of prayers for you and dear Ziggy.

A lovely tribute to a well-loved girl.

Sounds reasonable to me. But keep an eye on him with the acepromazine. Some dogs don't respond well to it and get more crazy instead of less, from what I've heard. I haven't used it myself.

We have an IBD dog, diagnosed by ultrasound. We declined the surgical biopsy too, because he was too depleted to survive it, I feared, and the results wouldn't have changed the treatment anyway. Ultrasound showed the problem was too far into the intestines for an endoscopy to reach either. Prior to the IBD diagnosis, the cobalamin/folate test indicated intestinal malabsorption, as it apparently did for your dog. The poop eating our dog did was a function of that, along with chewing on wood. The shots made *immediate* improvement, but continued improvement is expectable as you keep giving them. Our dog requires the shots every two weeks on an ongoing basis even after three years, even though the standard treatment would have him down to every four weeks long ago. We have to treat our dogs as individuals, is the name of that tune. At a minimum, the weight loss would be symptomatic of intestinal malabsorption. Putting weight back on these guys is a slow process. We never went with the hypoallergenic diet for various reasons. We feed Natural Balance venison and sweet potato because NB formulas are very simple. We also feed 1/2 of his diet as raw venison (Primal Pet brand), though for most of these years it was only 1/3. (We use venison because he developed an inflammatory response to chicken, beef, buffalo, salmon and rabbit. And he never liked duck. We can still feed whitefish products.) So the key is once you know or suspect it's IBD, give the dog a novel protein and stick to it. I say this because it may be easier to put weight back on this way than with hypoallergenic food. Also, not all dogs do well on hypoallergenic food, for whever reason. We put 12 pounds back on our dog fairly quickly, after he had lost 20. Basically, I think treating it as if it's IBD is a sound approach for now-- unless it proves not to work. Even then, you may just need to add an immunosuppressant. (We use budesonide to good effect. Prednisone tends to cause more weight loss but works for some.) I think you're right to skip the biopsy. We decided it was mostly something to make the vets feel they'd done everything the textbook calls for; but even when it's done, treatment seems to be about trial and error as to what works for your individual dog. And if you don't think you're going to get your dog back from the procedure, what's the point? And I agree that a thyroid panel is a good idea, especially as thyroids tend to slow down with age. As to symptoms, we didn't have vomiting either. It does sound weird that there wouldn't even be any diarrhea, though. And did the ultrasound look hard at the intestines to see if there was any thickening of any of the wall or any swollen lymph structures (lymphangiectasia)? If it is IBD, something should have shown up besides the spleen. But if they got distracted by the spleen and thoughts of lymphoma, they may not have paid enough attention to the intestines. Perhaps you need to ask about that and hope you get a straight answer. In any case, you have all our best wishes for your dog's continued recovery from whatever it is.

Another vote for the down-the-throat method here. With Shane I stand in front of him, gently lift his face from below until his head is well up. Then I place my left hand atop his muzzle and lift while pressing down on his lower front teeth with my right index finger, while the pill is contained in my otherwise closed right palm. Once I have the mouth open enough, I quickly place the pill far back in the center of his mouth and push it far enough down the throat that he'll swallow it the rest of the way instead of spitting it out. "Far enough" is when you feel that narrowing at the top of the throat. Lots of good thoughts for you and your stressed dog!

More good thoughts for sweet Merlin!

Thanks everyone! I was improved by yesterday afternoon, Shane took a little longer. Fasted him for 22 hours, then gave him 3/5 of his usual food. Had given him two Pepto tablets an hour beforehand, just to mollify the tummy and insult any lingering germies that might be susceptible to bismuth. I slept downstairs, and he was a little restless at first, but he never needed to go outside. This morning he got an almost normal-sized meal. So far, so good, and I think we're past it. If things get weird again today, we'll be talking to a vet, but I don't think that's going to happen. Thanks much for your input on Pepto. I know there's disagreement about its use, I just couldn't remember the details. I did buy some liquid yesterday, and I'm glad to have it on hand for faster response. But by last night it felt like we could go the slower, pill route and avoid freaking Shane out with icky, runny pink stuff. I do think I'm finally going to get some slippery elm bark to have on hand too. Putting it in yogurt would totally work for Shane.

Given the cyclic nature of the problem, I'd suspect worms. Been there, done that.

I seem to be able to at least nibble, so if Shane says he wants to nibble, I'll let him and see how it goes. Do you happen to know if the recommendation is half the adult dose of Pepto or the whole adult dose? Or whether liquid is better than pills? (I have both since I went to the store.) Also bought a new digital thermometer (and probe covers) that says it works in 9 seconds! Many thanks for your help.

Shane seems to have an intestinal bug, and I seem to have it too. We're both fasting. While I feel confident in taking anti-D pills, and they help, I'm not sure what I should do for Shane. Eating causes pain for me, so I'm guessing it won't do him any favors either, even though his stomach is growling with emptiness. But what are the arguments for or against giving him Pepto Bismol? Doesn't the bismuth in it help dispatch little buggy things? Thanks for any and all ideas. Sunday update: Well, I thought he was better and fed him. (See Post 10.) But he had a small amount of dark diarrhea again. Some of that darkness is probably from the Pepto. I'm wondering if I should keep giving him Pepto -- he has only had one dose -- or if I should try some of the Flagyl we have on hand for Spencer. And if I do give Flagyl, it should be with food right? But maybe I should start fasting him again? All ideas welcome! Btw, I called the e-vet for advice, but they're slammed with real emergencies and I couldn't get past an assistant (not even a tech), who wasn't helpful. ("We can't say anything without seeing the dog. But if you give him Flagyl, he could have seizures from the wrong dose.") Sigh. Just need to get to tomorrow and his regularl vet. I'm sure this doesn't require an actual e-vet visit.

T is a very lucky boy to have such hugely competent parents, willing and able to express enough venom to help him out! I did some research, and it's coral snake antivenom that our drug companies stopped producing a couple years ago because there isn't enough demand to make it worth their trouble. With rattlesnakes, there just don't seem to be enough people who want to milk them for venom anymore. Near as I can tell, we'd best just not get bitten by a rattler!

I'm so sorry about T! Glad it's not getting worse. I seem to remember hearing that whoever was making antivenom quit making it. Yet another thing that's no longer made in America. :-(

Poor Lucky! Sending all good wishes for an uneventful repair and quick healing!