greyhead

Is Wonder on thyroid meds at all? I get those curled-toe cramps when my dosage is either too high or too low. (Iron and vitamin D also play into my scenario.) I also got them when I had a recently herniated disk with a bonus cartilage chip floating around and occasionally connecting with a nerve. Magnesium comes to mind as possibly helpful too. Don't know if any of this is helpful, buy you probably want to consider everything possible! Hope this gets settled soon. I can imagine how awful it must be for you!

I'm so sorry, Faith. I don't know if it will help to think of this or not, but it helps me to remember that loss and love are intertwined so tightly that we rarely have one without the other. We are so lucky to have the loves we lose.

I'm so sorry.

Haven't had to use it on any animals, but I grew up with Collyrium Eye Wash. Very gentle, absolutely won't burn. Costs about $5.50 and lasts a long time.

I'm so very, very sorry.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

Beautiful post, Judy. And I just have to add a very sincere thank-you for acknowledging Spencer's birthday on Thanksgiving, on a hard date for you.

Can't be of any help, Kyle. But I hope someone happens along who can be. And I hope this gets resolved quickly.

I hate to mention this but... A negative fecal doesn't mean that they don't have worms. (For some reason, vets don't generally tell people this.) Fecals detect eggs; if they're not in the egg-shedding part of their cycle, they won't be detected. This isn't to say that I think your dog probably has worms, but just that it's something you should know.

Oops, posted by mistake. I've deleted it now.

Your analysis seems reasonable, Deb. Wish I had more to offer. One of our dogs had a dropped thigh muscle (gracilis) in his right leg, and soon developed a sprain in his left ankle. I was told that was a common sequence. Now his left hip is actually dropping, making it appear that his right hip is rising; the ileum is higher on the right than the left. His rehab vet thinks that this hip thing is also a long-term result of the original gracilis drop, and it's four years after the fact. So, yes, I'd think Buck could have if not a fx, at least some sort of compensation injury to that foot. Keep us posted, okay? Hope you and Buck get it sorted soon.

Bless your heart, Kari. You're very much on my mind today as the Seattle area is covered in an uncharacteristically large amount of snow and temps that aren't going above 20 today. And we've been through the not-eating thing with Spencer and some back problems with both dogs. When you're past the crisis, I hope that acupuncture is a feasible option for Sparks. It makes a huge difference to both our dogs' pain and stability. I'm so glad to see the support that you have, though I know it's not as good as actually having another person in your house! But for what it's worth, a lot of us seem to be with you in spirit. Hope the vet can offer some help today. Hugs and prayers coming your way.

You blessed each other with your presence. Hugs to you today.

Both our dogs have back issues. Acupuncture/chiropractic treatments every 2 to 6 weeks have kept them going quite well. One has lumbo-sacral stenosis (LS) and has managed really well for two whole years, no meds required. (LS is basically a progressive narrowing of the place where the nerves run in the lumbosacral area, thus pinching the nerve.) The internist recommends treatment with adequan, rather than depo medrol, when it has progressed enough to need that kind of intervention, which it will inevitably. The other dog had a racing injury, a dropped gracilis muscle in his right thigh. Now the left hip is dropping, probably in compensation, four years later! He has had problems all along, but we didn't know what it was until the left hip visibly dropped. Meanwhile, the a/c treatments got him through the past two years. He is starting now to need tramadol and a muscle relaxer (methocarbamol). Acupuncture and/or chiropractic -- we have both done at the same appointment -- are not entirely cheap. But they can keep a dog going years beyond what medicine alone can do. Not telling you what to do , just sharing our experiences for what they're worth. There's a simple test for LS that involves the vet just pressing gently on the back and seeing if the dog's back end sinks in response. (See vet Suzanne Stack's stuff about it on the internet.) Did your vet do that? In any case, best of luck to you and Bill. And, oh yeah, I think "concerned" owners are the best!

I'm so sorry. Godpseed, Lucy.

When we had this issue with Spencer, it was because of an undiagnosed SIBO issue. It is really weird when the top of their head stinks, isn't it?! There was also gas and very smelly poops that got softer, yellower, and more smelly over several months. He was our first grey and we tolerated all this way too long because we thought that "that's how greyhounds are sometimes." If you have these other symptoms too, don't waste time on home remedies and food changes like we did; go to the vet and get him tested! Hopefully, it's not SIBO, it's something much simpler. But I feel obliged to share our experience so that other's dogs have better outcomes than we did. (Our outcome was IBD, which can be worse than you might think, espcially if they have already been exposed to all the main proteins through food changes and then you have to find one they've never had before, like venison or kangaroo.) I mean no disrespect to the suggestion of changing food, though; please just don't keep doing it and doing it if it isn't working.