GeorgeofNE

Let her be. You know she's safe, and unless she stops eating/drinking/using the dog door, I think she needs to grieve in her own way. An awful lot of changes in a short period of time. I'm so sorry for your losses. What a rotten few months. Good luck with your new guy or gal!

Wow. First of all, shaving it removes all his natural "padding." Not wrap it? I don't even know what to say to that! My dog's tail sprayed blood EVERYWHERE in my old apartment. If they ever used that Luminol stuff on those walls, they would be certain several animal sacrifies had been performed there. I have lived through happy tail on two dogs. The first dog was a 16 week ordeal of blood, sweat and tears. Then he had major surgery for his torn ACL, and while he was under, the vet amputated a couple of inches. But my regular vet wrapped it, and I took him in once a week for a check. She also showed me how to wrap it myself. I can't imagine how your vet thinks your house won't look like a scene from CSI if you leave a bloody tail unwrapped! On my Greyhound, the foster mother had taken him to a vet (not the group's vet, just her own vet) who shaved it. Makes it much more difficult to deal with--the first thing MY vet said was, "Oh, they shouldn't have shaved it." George's wasn't as bad as Kramer's, but when he had his dental, I suggested they go ahead and amputate a little bit. She took a look while he was under, and decided it really didn't need it. Anyway--here is my technique! Remember, light is best. If you put anything bulky or heavy on the end of a long whip like tail, it'll come flying off! Start with a Band-Aide. The knee sized ones. Wrap it around the tail, making sure you stick it to the fur. Then take a smaller Band-Aide, the stretchy kind, and fold it over the tip. On top of your Band-Aide job, use vet wrap. Go up a few inches higher than you think you need to, and make sure you wrap as much hair as possible into the vet wrap. Then at the very top, use a piece of white first aide tape. You'll have to replace as necessary--it may come off, it may not. In any case, change it every couple of days. When you unwrap it, clean it and put on a light layer of antibiotic ointment. Rewrap. Plan on at LEAST two months. I would never suggest you ignore your vet, but...his advice is very different than the advice three separate vets have given me for my two dogs who suffered with happy tail. Good luck!

Someone told my mother it would help my father's Alzheimers...somehow I doubt that! Are you giving the dog antihistmines?

Did they tell you the results would be in that quickly? My vet sends samples to a lab for a full workup.

Tracey, I'd wait before I'd chance that. As the kitten gets a bit older and larger, it will get WAY more obnoxious and sassy. It doesn't matter if you're home. It won't matter if you're five feet away. If either girl decides to grab that kitten, they'll get it! I would alternate having them muzzled, and confining the kitten so they cannot get at it, but they can be unmuzzled. George never showed the slightest interest in my cats--but I still kept him muzzled any time he was out of his crate for the first two weeks. And I mean NO interest, ever! So I felt safe discontinuing. I did keep a kitty escape route for about a month longer. Also, the cats I had at the time were adults who had lived with a dog for about 12 years for one, and his entire life for the other. No fear, no running, no romping, no "lemme see what happens if I swat that tail!" By the time Mister Bigglesworth arrived, I knew George was truly cat safe. Even so, I kept the kitten in a dog crate when I wasn't home for everyone's safety and sanity!

Whenever my vet proposes something like this (for me money IS an issue!), I ask "what difference will the outcome make for the treatment." I find all too often the vet says, "Nothing, we'd just know for sure." My next question is always "What happens if we just assume you're correct, and treat for that?" And often the answer is, "Well, if he responds, then we'll know I was right." So I usually opt to do that! Re: the Baytril-- George had some kind of infection two years ago, and rather than continue testing and testing and finding NOTHING, he went on Baytril for 12 weeks. His inappropriate urination (AKA Unruly Pee!) went away for 2 years. Sadly, he's started up again, and now we're back to testing! I had the vet prescribe Baytril, and after FOUR DAYS he stopped peeing; there have been two accidents in a month, so I'm all for continuing, but my new vet wants to stop. I've agreed to stop so we can test his urine (her staff threw out his urine sample for some bizarre reason before I put him on it!) to look for blood, etc. If the urine shows nothing, and he continues, I'm going to insist on the additional month of Baytril. From what I've read, a kidney infection can be surprisingly hard to detect, and requires at LEAST 4-6 weeks of Baytril.

Omega fatty acid supplements are recommended by my vet for any kind of inflammatory process, including allergies. George really enjoys the fish oil, specifically the Grizzly Salmon oil!! Aside from that, I never found anything to help my darling Kramer when he suffered so, except for short courses of steroids when they got totally out of control.

If he already had allergic symptoms before you got him, it's likely NOT the bed. He could have an allergy to one or more types of pollen. I know my last dog did. The got worse and worse until the ONLY time he wasn't miserable was winter.

I'm so sorry. I know how hard it is to say goodbye.

I respectfully disagree with this suggesiton. Speaking to a dog in a soothing voice when he's doing something you don't want him to do will send him the wrong message. I'd work on teaching him "quite" instead, and I wouldn't be saying it in a soothing tone! George used to wake me up at EXACTLY 4:30 AM every day. Once I figured out it wasn't an emergency need to go out, I got firm with him. I start with one "Quiet!" and if that doesn't work, the voice of God comes out, and it's "KNOCK IT OFF!" Suppose it's not 4:30 in the morning; suppose it's during the day and he's trying to communicate with you. Would you still start with "Quiet!," and if he didn't obey, then unleash the voice of God on him? Suppose he whines when he has to go out? Suppose he whines when he's uncomfortable? Suppose he whines when he's injured, or has a tooth ache, or is sick? Same treatment? Just curious whether the rules apply in all contexts. Granted, if he's a PITA at 4:30 a.m. every morning for no good reason, I can't blame you for being stern with him. I was responding to the question asked--clearly the OP has a dog whining every day at the same time. If you would take a moment to read what I wrote, that's the question I am responding too.

Well, I'll just answer your question: Don't use "stop" as your command. Stop is something you probably say more often than you realize. Try "halt." You need to work this, first of all, without distraction and ON LEASH. Never give a command you cannot enforce; you cannot enforce "halt" unless the dog is leashed. I would start training this from the "heel" position. Walk the dog at heel, and every 25 yards or so say "halt" and top walking simultaneously. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Then once you think she's got the meaning of "halt," walk her some more, but let her go out in front of you to sniff or whatever. Have your leash reeled in to the point that it is NEARLY taught. Use the command "halt," and stop dead in your tracks. If she doesn't, then she hits the end of the leash, and is compelled to stop. Repeat, repeat, repeat. This is one of those things that takes a lot of work, and frankly, I don't see sighthound at a public place, off lead, being very reliable with this--but that's how I taught my last dog. Training is best done in short sessions, say 15 minutes. I did them morning and evening. For a looooooooooooong time! I also used a whistle once he knew the verbal commands, as well as hand signals. Mind you, this was NOT a greyhound.

Pulled out my first tick when I was about 8 I think--Dad showed me how. Just grasp it as close to the skin as possible and pull it out.

Sure you can put vegetables in the food! You don't have to puree them! It's a dog, not an infant! Dogs generally love veggies!

Trust me--she CAN get under it if she's gotten that far. When I tried this the first time, I got home and found George on the OTHER side of the gate, and scratches in the carpet under the gate. That darned dog army crawled under it!!! And it wasn't very high off the ground! The cats only really need about 5 inches--also, you can use TWO cats if you think she'll jump it. Bear in mind she CAN jump it if she gets it into her head to do so. However, if she's that intent on getting the cats--you may have a problem, so let's hope she's not!

I respectfully disagree with this suggesiton. Speaking to a dog in a soothing voice when he's doing something you don't want him to do will send him the wrong message. I'd work on teaching him "quite" instead, and I wouldn't be saying it in a soothing tone! George used to wake me up at EXACTLY 4:30 AM every day. Once I figured out it wasn't an emergency need to go out, I got firm with him. I start with one "Quiet!" and if that doesn't work, the voice of God comes out, and it's "KNOCK IT OFF!" You might consider letting him back into the bedroom, but teaching him he can't climb into the bed with you unless invited.

He'll be fine! It's basically paper. I've seen much worse things come out fine in the end...

Good! Let me just say first, three days is WAY TOO SOON to be OVERLY concerned that it won't work. Your cats are no doubt freaked out. The dog is behaving really well, but is probably on system overload. What you need is a fool proof cat "escape route." What I mean is that you need some way to split them apart so that if you fail to be vigilant and some how they end up in the same space, and the houndie gives chase, the cats can escape. I used a baby gate in the hallway between my main living area and my bedroom, where their litter boxes used to be (I've since moved). I mounted the gate about 8 inches off the floor so they could get under it quickly, and he could not follow them. Groups typically say "cat trainable" or similar verbiage vs. "cat safe." The testing that is done is not always very real world--I'm not sure how your group does it, but if the group had, let's say, a big old "bomb proof" cat who has been around dogs its whole life, it's not going to be afraid, it's not going to run, and what is there for the dog to react to? Skittish cats darting under furniture are a lot more interesting than one sauntering lazily across the room! Don't give up hope! For now, if they were my cats, I would let them be. Don't force the issue. Don't leave the dog unmuzzled if she's not closed away from the cats (see suggestion on baby gate). If she gets too interested, use a command like "leave it" or "no kitty." If that doesn't draw her attention, then many folks have good success with a squirt bottle of water. Be prepared for many, many changes in her behavior and demeanor over the next few months. And please--don't let down your guard with the children either.

Hey! Me too! Well, not for disc disease! It ALSO has anti-anxiety properties. It does make George a little bit mellow, but because I take it regularly, doesn't have that effect on me. Sure does help with the pain though!

When you get the dog, it's important to visit the vet right away, if for no other reason than to get a baseline on the dog's health. At that time, they'll weigh the dog (it's a walk on scale; any dog who raced or even trained is very familiar with it!). Then you can just use your eyeballs! As others have said, the vet will allow you to weigh the dog for free--in most clinics, the scale is in the waiting room.

We had four English Setters when I was a kid, and two dog doors, side by side (too many head on collisions with four dogs and one door!). We taught them to use it by SHOWING them how to use it. This may not be an option, but I thought I'd put it out there for your consideration!

Weather does effect arthritis--I thought that was a myth until I asked my rheumatologist about it. It has to do with the barometric pressure, apparently! I don't see why it couldn't make your dog's condition worse. I know that this has been a very hard summer for my joints, with all the strange weather.

Please don't put oil in your dogs ears. My father used to put assorted things down our Lab's ears, and no matter how many times the vet said "Don't do that!" he somehow felt that putting things in a dog's ear that have no business in a dog's ear was helpful. I would never put ANYTHING in my dog's ear that the vet didn't tell me to put down there. I suffered for ears along with my last dog whose ears were terrible because of seasonal allergies.

A money market fund, right now, is bearing virtually NO interest--but if you can put the money in any bank account, and have it, that's great! VPI would not insure George because his creatinine level was outside of their "normal" range. I had a policy from ASPCA, and cancelled it just because their payout were SO much less than my actual costs. It's a little bit scary knowing that I'd have to go out of pocket for a big thing, but when I looked at what was covered, there was NOTHING they would pay for the whole bill anyway.

My parents have a dog with IBD, and if he eats ANYTHING other than his prescription diet, he gets sick--but I cannot believe your vet gave it to you for a case of simple diarrhea!

It's very easy to "fall" for a kitten. Maybe give yourself a week to think it over, bearing in mind the cute kitten stage is over very quickly, followed by up to 20 years of cat! If you're not able to make the drive to pick it up, then perhaps you were reacting to a cute fluffy kitten but not so much THAT cute fluffy kitten? I'm sure there are plenty of them in a local shelter near you, or as Robin said, adults. I have one hound and two cats. They do fine. The cats were kittens when I bought them, but older kittens since they were both shipped to me and most breeders hold their kittens a bit longer than your typical "free to good home" kittens. I think my hound was actually much MORE tolerant of them when they were little than he is now. He seemed to sense they were just silly babies.