greyhead

Deepest sympathies. Godspeed, Duke.

Can you carry something sling-ish when you walk him until Tuesday? If his back end goes out on a walk -- which I'm sure will be short ones -- it'll be a lot easier to get him home that way. Good thoughts that everything will be fine until Tuesday -- and beyond!

I'm very, very sorry for your loss. Godspeed, Sunscreen Man

Godspeed, Irish lad. Sympathy to all who loved you.

Oh no, I'm so sorry her time came. Yours is a beautiful tribute to a lovely girl. I too like best the photo of her listening to your sister on the phone, though they're all greyt. She knew she was loved, and you knew you were too.

Adding more prayers & good thoughts for you and Rainey. I'm so sorry you're both going through this.

I'm so sorry for your loss. A grand Irish boy with a superior name! I can't thank you enough for sharing that lovely poem in your first post. Be well, friend, you are in our thoughts.

Sounds like it might not be a bad idea to do the thyroid check someone recommended earlier. Glad she has made progress, though!

is about all I've got for ya, hon. We'll be hoping real hard that things get better fast for Robin and you!

Scritches to beautiful Elsie and hugs to you! BTW, how's Beau doing? I think I saw you post somewhere that he's back on budesonide? How's that going?

Nope, the antibiotic wouldn't be for worms. But hookworm damage leaves the intestines ripe for colonization by bacteria. It took three antibiotics to clear Spencer of his SIBO, after a poop culture identified Clostridium as the bacterium infecting him -- two strains of it also. So if his soft poop persists and is unusually rank-smelling and yellow/orange, I'd ask for a poop culture. What antibiotic is he on, Flagyl perhaps? Meanwhile, Drontal and Panacur are both good, and some cases require both -- serially, not at the same time. Drontal became easier for us by virtue of being a pill. An 80-lb dog requires a LOT of Panacur powder and, if the appetite is off, it may be hard to get them to eat the food with it in it. ETA: Actually, IIRC, dogs with hookworm do get a bit of benefit from taking Flagyl. For that matter, so do IBD dogs, and I can't explain that either!

Could it be a bacterial infection, like a SIBO? Seems too extreme for hookworm. We have experienced both, and you and Dewey have all our sympathies and best wishes!

We went ahead and ordered some already, both the gel and spray. Didn't ask anybody first. They haven't arrived yet but we can let you know what happens! (Guinea pig emoti here.) We've been using dental wipes, round pads that come in a jar. They don't cause him trouble, and he's doing okay with his teeth, but I thought I'd try the other stuff anyhow. At least a time or two per week.

Yup, they (we) sure do! Some of the difference is due to different experiences. Some is due to philosophy of treatment in general and meds in particular. We all mean well. Sometimes I feel as if maybe I discuss my own dogs too much in replying to people; but they are the basis for most of my experience with veterinary medicine. The rest of my experience/philosophy comes from a bit of experience as a patient myself and from studying enough statistics in school to make me skeptical of decisions based solely on statistics. Our professor insisted that we learn to be skeptical about the use of statistical procedures! And he taught us why. (And the short course there is that it's a double-edged sword that can do a lot of good but also a lot of bad in the wrong hands and wielded in the wrong way. And the "wrong way" would be without critical thought, among other things.) But you sound entirely up to the job of critical thought, so I'm not worried for you. Which is really good because, unfortunately, people studying to be MDs and DVMs don't study anywhere near the statistics and research methods that people studying to be PhDs even in social sciences do. Our vet also has a PhD in neurology, lucky us. As to your earlier question on the reference ranges, that confuses me too. There's more than one kind of Erlichia, and maybe they have different threhholds, or maybe the standard has changed, or...I don't know! Hope somebody who does know will jump in.

Nobody should live forever. Except greyhounds. I'm so sorry it was Dapper's time. Thank you for this wonderful tribute.

What a lovely sweetheart! Run free, Minnie Momma.

We remember with you, fondly.

Just quickly, because I have to dash: Prednisone suppresses the immune system, right? And the immune system keeps TBD's and all disease processes in check, to the extent that it can. When it is overwhelmed or inefficient, or lessened in effectiveness by an immuno-suppressing medicine, a disease is more likely to manifest or even take over.** So I was saying that your dog's immune system may have been keeping the TBD more or less in check, or keeping the brakes on it. But prednisone takes the brakes off and causes the TBD to become more evident. If a dog is really known to have a TBD, prednisone is usually not given. The TBD should be cleared first. But in your case it sounds like the prednisone must be continued for neurological health! So I'd go ahead and give doxy for the suspected TBD. As Judy said, it can't hurt and it might help. Just a note, though, to mention that I think the immune system's having to work hard to keep a TBD in check is what makes our dogs function less than optimally. I'm not convinced that the size of the titer necessarily reflects that. (The relationship between symptom severity and magnitude of test result is not always linear in medicine. Another example is TSH in hypothyroidism. The magnitude of the TSH is not strongly correlated with the severity of the symptoms.) **Except, of course, when the disease is itself defined by overactivity of the immune system, and then pred and other drugs of that kind are needed to keep the brakes on the activity of the immune system. As with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which our *other* dog has, where too much inflammation IS the problem! And I'm assuming that's also the deal with your dog's neurological problem. Sorry I have to rush off. Glad I could help at all!

I would treat with doxy, as in fact I am with my 7 y/o Shane. He had a variety of symptoms (e.g., heat sensitivity, lack of stamina for walking even a few blocks, limping) that came and went over three years. Bloodwork was always close to perfect. Finally thought to test him for TBDs, and he was low-positive (1:40) for Babesia and treated with Imizol, which took care of a lot of the symptoms but not all. My vet feels the symptoms remaining are consistent with Erlichia, so we're using doxy, and he continues to improve. (Dr. Holland at Prototek told my vet that there are many more varieties of these TBDs than they test for in a typical panel, and it could take a lot of testing to find the exact variety that he's positive to. So since doxy treats all of them, we decided to just go ahead and treat. And none of us are sorry, least of all Shane!) He has had no stomach difficulty. But we are careful to wrap the pills in canned food and give them with his meals. On a few occasions we've given Pepcid when we weren't sure his tummy was 100%. And I'm sure someone more expert than I will jump in and discuss how prednisone has a way of taking the breaks (oops) brakes off latent TBDs. It has been very gratifying to watch Shane become stronger and more vivacious with this treatment. It had hurt to watch him living a sub-optimal life and not know why. Lots of people advised not to treat a low titer. A few other people said otherwise. We decided it was a disservice not to treat, and in our case I think we were right. I hope you find the best answer for you.

No advice, just hugs and hopes for a quick resolution!

I thought Shane was licking beds too, which he was at one point when he was also licking himself. But it turned out he was increasingly leaking pee. When I checked inside the beds, I found the stains. But I hope Sutra is really just licking the beds.

Exactly! Couldn't possibly have said it better, hug included!

My memory is not my best feature but I thought a vet or two have told us that giving Heartgard to a dog that already has heartworm can be fatal. So they insist on testing for HW first. Is that thinking outdated or am I just mis-remembering?

Lots of hugs and white light for all concerned. Godspeed, Amber.

So very young. I'm so sorry.