greyhead

Has your dog's thyroid been rechecked at all since starting the medication? It probably should be, and it's standard practice to do so anyway.

I'm so sorry!

Johnny was stunningly gorgeous and so much more, as well. I'm very sorry he couldn't stay longer.

Just because urine doesn't betray bacteria in the vet's office or in urinalysis doesn't mean there aren't any! (I found this out the hard way.) Get a C&S! If nothing shows up, then move to x-rays and/or ultrasound.

"Score, Dad!" I'll bet that's what Guinness is thinking. It's perfect.

I'm so sorry Doc couldn't stay longer in your very loving home. I'm so glad for his time with you, though.

I'm so sorry Lottie had to leave now. She was a beauty from a loving home.

What a beautiful and lucky girl your Polly was! I'm so sorry she couldn't stay longer.

Our sincere sympathy to you and your family on the loss of well-loved Kenny.

Twinlab is good, and I get it at my local, independent pharmacy which also carries a lot of vitamins and holistic stuff. Now Sports is another brand I've gotten, and it seems to be okay. We started with 500 mg/day, and I frankly think Spencer does best on that. But his internist says that's the amount she gives to *cats* and that I should give 1,000. So now we're doing that. If you want it locally, you might let your fingers do the walking to find out who has it. ETA: I Googled "Twinlab L-glutamine" and it showed places both online and in my area who carry it. Seems to be *much* cheaper online. And the more I think on it, the more I think Spencer does better with 500 mg than with 1,000. Maybe this is one of the ways that greyhounds are like cats. In any case, if I were you, I'd start slow with 500 mg and then increase later if you think you want to.

We've used it for our dogs and for my own dentist, always interest free! It's a good thing to have.

That Addiction kangaroo food really disappoints me. By the time you need to resort to kangaroo, do you think all those grains (oats and rice), yeast, apples, and peas are going to help? Maybe they intended it to be food for yuppies' dogs, not IBD dogs!

I'm so sorry it isn't nothing. You'll be in my thoughts and prayers, and I hope you'll have lots of support in figuring things out.

We do pretty well with the Natural Balance venison & sweet potato and also the Ziwi Peak dehydrated venison kibble. The trickiest thing for us is formulas that are simple enough! The other brands have a lot of things like spinach, blueberries, kelp, carrots, etc., etc., etc. all together in one formula! Most IBD dogs can't handle that complexity. So while your dog, like ours, may do well on low fat, that may not be the only consideration. Best luck!

Would it be good for dogs who have been treated for hookworm recently too? I know of a couple of them. I forgot to mention that we have been using L-glutamine for Spencer's IBD, to very good effect.

Glad to hear Kelly is doing better. You're a greyt mom!

Spencer was diagnosed at age 8 via symptoms and ultrasound. He was just coming out of a bad intestinal bacterial infection. Between the two causes, he lost 20 lbs. and was in such poor condition that I couldn't risk a surgical biopsy. (The ultrasound had located the diseased area as where the small intestine meets the large, and a scope wouldn' have reached it.) For the past two and a half years he has taken an immunosuppressant, budesonide; that is similar to prednisone but targets the gut, so has few side effects. He also takes Flagyl and Tylan. We tried to many different foods before we figured it out that he developed an inflammatory response to chicken, beef, buffalo and rabbit. So now he can only have venison. No grains, just sweet potatoes. So that kind of kibble, dressed with gravy made from canned venison, and one-third of his diet is raw venison. We found by trial and error that that diet and only that diet works for him. He regained 10 lbs. and has done well despite occasional flares. But we just ran bloodwork that showed his liver enzymes through the roof. Internist says that could be from a situation with his teeth, but it could also be from the long course of budesonide. We will know in about two weeks. We're near Seattle, so we can't help you with vet recommendations. But hopefully you're already getting good information on that. Were they able to get any samples through the scoping that showed what kind(s) of inflammatory cells are involved? (That may or may not help, but the vets like that info.)

Chiming! Spencer was like this at age 5, and a complete thyroid panel showed him to be hypothyroid. He was later also found to have hookworm. Is there any tummy gurgling, chewing at his sides, jerking his head around as if something has bitten him? Anything else odd?

Beautiful boy, touching photos which I thank you for sharing. I can well imagine that he is dearly missed.

Ouch! So sorry, Jet. Silver lining: now you know where the closest vet is!

Some vets who do expensive procedures offer interest-free financing through Care Credit, often for up to 12 months. You can use it for vet stuff and for human stuff like dental work. Once you're approved and have an account with Care Credit, it's always available to you as long as you remain in good standing. The vet places who offer this usually have the ability to give you the CC application and submit it for you, I think. Hope you can get it worked out!

You were so there for him. I'm so sorry.

:hope