greyhead

Yeah, one of my CRF cats had such high numbers at one point that vet said he wasn't expected to live. And that happened a couple times. he was one of those, like Luna, who managed to feel and do better than his numbers said he should. But I had nothing to do but take care of him at that point. And when I moved him, it was a simple (though long) move in a car, nothing as complicated as what you're going to have to do. So I guess I'm saying maybe it could be done if your situation were totally different than it is, but it's good you're okay with sending her to the bridge.

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No advice, Holli, but I'm very sorry to hear this. I've managed two cats with chronic renal failure (CRF), but I think they're easier to manage than dogs because it's easier for them to absorb sub-q fluids. Some recent-ish threads in H&M discussed it, but I don't remember whose. They said that the volume of fluids needed for a dog's size tends to slosh around and settle in the legs and uncomfortable places. It's just easier for smaller animals to deal with that. How are you planning to transport the dogs to Texas?

She was a very pretty girl with a big personality. I'm glad she got to spend a long time in a greyt home. And I'm sorry she had to leave you now.

Please accept my deepest sympathy. Take good care of yourself. :

We've had great results with chiropuncture, as we call it. You might also get a bottle of B-12 from your vet and give injections every 2-4 weeks. (Maybe 2X/week to start, though.) It does wonders for lots of things that bother older dogs, including back-end trouble. Come on, Onxy, you can do it with a little help from your friends!

In response to your question, we had Shane for four years before finding Babesia at age 7. We hadn't suspected it because he hadn't raced in any areas big on TBD's, nor are they rampant in our state. However, we found that he'd been born and raised in Oklahoma! (But really, track dogs cross paths with lots of other dogs who've been lots of other places and brought a tick or two with them. So we shouldn't relax if our dogs only raced in KS or WV!) He DID have symptoms but we didn't recognize them as such. There were years of just-not-rightness, where he just seemed sub-optimal. He overheated easily, panted at those times, and sometimes took two hours to return to normal. Once an episode of acute pain of undetermined origin caused his heart rate to go to 180. His ears were always very warm. He sometimes fatigued quickly. His kidney and liver values were mildly elevated. None of these things caused any of our vets to suggest testing for TBD's or anything else. But he was getting worse. Finally, for lack of any better idea -- and because we learned that he was raised in OK -- we had him TBD tested. He was low-positive for Babesia. With treatment most of the problems disappeared. The symptoms that remained seemed to my vet to suggest Erlichia, which the TBD panel had not included. We treated that with doxy, and the rest of the symptoms went away. He's a much happier hound, and it was money and effort well-spent. The problem with saying someone has "no symptoms" -- no matter what ailment is being discussed -- is that the classic symptoms are often the things that happen when the disease/disorder is *very advanced*! (Go ahead and Google the symptoms of canine Babesia, for instance, and you'll see what I mean.) Further, not all symptoms present typically; in hypothyroidism, for instance, you can have low weight or weight loss rather than overweight. For your doctor to assume that treating it would cause further weight loss is not necessarily correct. The throat clearing is very suggestive, as well, though not usually mentioned or looked for as a symptom of hypothyroidism in animals; most doctors don't even seem to realize its significance in humans! Also, as the metabolism slows with age, the blood circulates more slowly and kidney function therefore becomes less efficient. Sometimes animals with some degree of kidney disease develop higher BP, which is the body's attempt to circulate the blood faster and help the kidneys out. Then a BP med like Enalapril is eventually needed to bring the BP back down. If Ranger's BP isn't significantly elevated, there is no reason to use Enalapril. It doesn't treat kidney problems per se! Oh, and I wanted to add that hypothyroidism can involve heart palpitations and irregularities. IIRC that was another of Ranger's symptoms. So I'm suggesting you might go ahead and do a thyroid panel and a check for TBD's. They are relatively inexpensive and non-invasive. And I would emphasize that symptoms can vary widely, and we may not recognize them for what they are, nor may our vets/doctors recognize any but the most common symptoms. But I wouldn't treat a 12-year-old with thyroid medicine without running a complete panel first, because that might do him harm if thyroid isn't the problem. Sorry if I've gone on and on, but I just want to help with such hard-earned info as I have. Really hope you and Ranger can get this sorted out. Surely you're both feeling a bit lost in all this. Been there, done that, so you have my every good wish.

Deirdre, my heart sank when I saw his name under new topics, and I so hoped it was something else. But you gave a lovely tribute -- on his birthday, no less. So I mourn his loss with you and celebrate his birth and good fortune at being your dog, loved long and well.

Obviously he doesn't know the effects of thyroid meds. I totally agree. (But I'd use Jean Dodds instead of Michigan State.) ETA: You can learn a lot by searching "hypothyroid* " in the H&M archives. A lot has been said on the subject recently. It led me to start a thread myself, which I labeled "hypothyroidism". We have no ticks where I am and he doesn't really go anywhere anymore. The only thing is, TBD's can be dormant a long time and then suddenly emerge to cause problems. But I'm still interested Ranger's thyroid.

Run free, Precious. I'm so sorry for your loss.

Best of luck to you and Ranger. I know just having a 10-year-old makes me nervous! Hopefully, he'll be fine. If nothing obvious turns up, I'd be looking closely at thyroid, even if a screening T4 is at the low end of the normal range. And is there any chance he could have picked up hookworm? Hoping you get it sorted out quickly.

Jersey was a well-loved dog and a credit to you. I'm so sorry for his sudden loss.

I'm sorry for the empty space where Bucky used to be. But the love is still there.

I can't begin to express how very sorry I am. No, this was not your fault! These things happen, unfortunately, and it could have happened to any of us. I'm just very sorry that it happend to you this time.

Lots of prayers and good thoughts for precious Precious.

Larry sounds like quite a guy, a treasure. I'm so sorry for your loss.

It must be awfully hard to lose your first and one who has had such a greyt long time in your home and heart. I'm so very sorry.

What a lot you are going through. I'm so sorry for your loss of Trip period, and so soon after Larry also. Take extra good care of yourself, okay? Godspeed Trip.

HersheysMom might be able to use it... How's Brandi doing these days?

So glad you got where you needed to go, Chris, but sorry for all the trouble! Hugs to you both!

How did you do the filtering, with a built-in unit? a PuR pitcher? (Hm, do I want to give up real estate in the fridge or under the sink?) Is there something about tap water that encourages these infections to persist, do you think?

Yes, you can get a false negative if you reculture too soon. We've been having a similar problem with a male, though leakage these days rather than full bladder incontinence. He is on his fourth round of antibiotic. He keeps relapsing because he was infected a long time before a culture diagnosed him. As has been said, a long long course of antibiotics is required. Well, I also think that the usual 10-day course of a/b's is not sufficient for an infection of this duration, but the vet has been conservative and following usual practices. He relapsed two days after stopping the first round of a/b. We did a second round and he was good for two weeks after that, as far as I could tell, but then relapsed again. He leaked all the way through the third round, so I requested a fourth. We observed our dog licking his back end a lot and are speculating that he was transferring E. coli from there to his penis. But we'll see what happens next. We're almost at the end of this fourth round, and we still have leakage. So I'll be asking the vet to either extend the treatment or switch to another a/b. One vet said to reculture in 3-4 days after end of a/b's. Another vet said, no, that's too soon to catch a recurrence. We retested after two weeks and found the E. coli again. (Proteus I don't know about specifically, but if my dog had it, I'd Google it and see what the story was. Might be especially hard to get rid of.) But I think being conservative with a/b's in a situation like this is the wrong approach. I think not giving *enough* a/b is what causes bacteria to develop resistance, because there are some still *alive* who have had a taste of the a/b but not been killed. So I think we should just *nuke* them with a lot of a/b until the symptoms disappear and then for some time longer just to be sure!

Just seeing this! Hope Tony will be okay. They better check real well tonight, is all I can say.

Maybe what the vet meant is common in greyhounds is to not have a lot of "classic" symptoms when they're hypothyroid, not that hypothyroidism is more common in greys than other breeds. Our first hypothyroid grey, Spencer, had thin fur, dry skin and low energy as classic symptoms, but those can be hard to assess as actually being symptoms, especially in a recently-retired dog. His appetite and weight were normal. But he became defensively aggressive and had what looked like mild seizures. Being hypothyroid myself and having studied it for that reason, I can tell you that being hypothyroid can affect any of the body's systems and can do so with symptoms that don't show and that dogs can't tell us about. These include acid reflux and aching joints, for example. To make things even weirder, the critter can present with symptoms that look more like hyper than hypo, such as being underweight and having thick hair/fur. So that's why I tend recommend treatment if the numbers are very wonky even if lots of symptoms aren't observed.

Sherry, I'm so sorry. Words just aren't enough for this. :grouphug Many people were pulling for Harlley and for you, and you did everything possible for him. We are all in mourning today. But Harley was a well-loved boy, and I hope the memories of the good times will give you comfort in the days ahead. Go run like the wind again, Harley.