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MaryJane

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  1. When I asked about having it aspirated, this vet just said "well I could cut a piece off", which sort of horrifed me that she was not only irritated by my every question, but not being kind to Rose, which is what really mattered. I really had it then to switch her vets (and no she said even if I had it done with her dental it would have been more harmful to keep her under longer. 'better to do two separate procedures') I had an appointment for her that my mother made, with a nice veterinarian recommended by one of her patients (she's an R.N.) who rescues dogs (Greys too)

    But I'm feeling now that I should move it up ASAP........ :ohno

     

    It doesn't make sense to me that the vet would say it would harmful to keep her under longer to do both a teeth cleaning and remove the growth. The only way that this makes sense is if she thinks that it would take a long time to remove the growth but, from the picture that does not seem likely but, I'm not a vet ....

     

    Whenever I have a dog put under anesthesia for a procedure, I always think of what else (small things) might need to be done so that they only have to be put under once. For example, my previous greyhound was going to have his teeth cleaned and he also had a small cyst (1/4 inch) on his side which we decided to take off at the same time.

     

    The price also seems pretty high to me although, if it was an emergency surgery then I would expect it to be about that amount but in this case it does not appear to be an "emergency". I'm comparing this to prices that I have been charged at Angel Memorial in Boston - their prices tend to be on the high side but for emergency/specialty services they are invaluable.

     

     

  2. My rule of thumb is:

     

    - if just diarrhea, give bland diet of meat and rice (just as long as they are drinking water) and give about 2 days to clear up. If it doesn't, schedule visit to see vet with two days.

     

    - if diarrhea and vomiting together (or diarrhea and not eating), it becomes more serious and I usually schedule a visit to see vet within 2 days. This type of situation can turn worse quickly so it may turn into an e-vet visit.

     

    - If diarrhea and vomiting and one or both have blood (or diarrhea and vomiting and not drinking water), then I do the e-vet immediately.

     

     

     

     

  3. This is just my experience but...

     

    The girls tend to be more independent, bossy, determined...."spicy" is a good way to put it. The boys tend to be more laid back and easy going...more velcroy-dependent on their humans than the girls. If you were to ask a male greyhound and female greyhound if they wanted to go to lunch, a male would respond: Oh yes, please yes. It would make my day to spend time with you. Whatever you'd prefer. A girl would respond: Have your people call my people. They'll have to check my calendar.

     

    I wouldn't let age affect my decision one iota. I've not seen a correlation between size and arthritis. Our tiny 50 lb girl Annie had it pretty bad, but our big ol' 70 lb guy Elvis never really did.

     

    I've seen more "aggression" from female greyhounds. The slur form of the word bitch came about for a reason. ;) It sounds like I've been hard on the girls, but really girl greyhounds can be just as easy as the males and there are individuals along the entire personality spectrum in both sexes. I tend to prefer the females b/c I tend to prefer a dog that keeps me on my toes.

     

    What KennelMom said is so true that I don't need to add anything else.....

     

    My personnel preference is for the big gentle males.

  4. Adding a cup of rice to kibble is not likely to make any difference so I might suggest that you put your pup on a bland diet for a few days (without any kibble). Give about 1/2 to 1 cup of cooked hamburg or meat chunks and about 1 1/2 cups of white rice twice a day. This is easy to digest and should help your pup settle his stomach but, it may not firm up the poop. To do that, switch the rice with cooked oatmeal for the morning meal. The oatmeal has fiber and will help to get the consistency of the stool more solid but, don't switch in the oatmeal until your pup has been on the hamburg and rice for at least two meals.

     

     

  5. If you have a urinary tract infection with two different types of bugs, it is very difficult to get rid of because each one usually reacts better to a different antibiotic. So usually, the treatment ends up being an antibiotic that both are "sorta" sensitive to. It can take a long time on antibiotics to clear something like this up.

     

    I might suggest having another culture done to make sure that it is still the same two bugs and the sensitivity to antibiotics have stayed the same. Sometimes a bacteria can develop resistance to an antibiotic and in a case like that, the vet would need to maybe look at other antibiotics.

     

    I would also talk to the vet and see what he thinks about having a blood culture done.

  6. Have you tried oatmeal instead of pumpkin to get the poop firmer? Oatmeal seems to be easier on the GI tract and it adds fiber. It also helps if there are any underlying allergies in making the pups less itchy overall. I usually find that if it is gong to work - it takes about 24 hours. Since the oatmeal is cooked with water (and I also add milk), it tends to increase the overall daily water consumption and with that, the urine may be slightly less concentrated.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  7. Can you try the bland diet for a few more days and maybe add some oatmeal (fiber) after a day or so to help firm up the stool? You can also add some yogurt to get some "better" bacteria in the gut.

     

    If I'm doing a bland diet for a foster, I usually don't fast a dog for 24 hours - usually fasting is required if you're doing kibble which can be harsh on the GI tract.

  8. If you haven't already, start him on a bland diet of hamburger and rice. If his tummy is upset, this should help settle it down. You might also want to give him a cookie before he goes to sleep because sometimes having an empty stomach will cause the "gurgling".

  9. If he has a chicken sensitivity, then switching him to beef or lamb might help. Does he have any diarrhea? Also, what are you currently feeding him? You mentioned that it started a month ago - did you change his food a month ago? It could also be that he is getting into something in the yard (a Doberman of mine got into bird seed once).

  10. I don't know... sounds like the poor dog's digestive tract has been put through the ringer in only a few short months. If it were my dog, I'd fast him for 24 hours (you could give him 2 Metamucil wafers to clean him out), and then start him on a bland diet. Boiled chicken and rice. If you don't start to see some improvement on that, I might suspect a food allergy (to chicken, not terribly uncommon) and switch to boiled hamburger and rice. If that doesn't help, it's probably time to return to the vet. Is there a chance you could get in touch with the adoption group and ask for grey savvy vet recommendations? Greys are very different than other breeds, and they are notorious for sensitive digestive tracts.

     

    Good luck.

     

    I agree with the statement that with both the worming and the flagyl maybe too much has been done over the last 2 or 3 months and at this point is making the problem worse. I would switch him to white rice and cut up a roast for chunks of meat and feed him this for dinner for a few days. You can use hamburger but I found that there was usually too much fat drippings. For breakfast I would feed him the chunks of meat with cooked oatmeal (the 5- minute type) and after a few days, add 1/2 apple pureed (no core but leave the skin) to breakfast. I wouldn't feed any treats until you get the stools firmed up

     

    The rice with help soothe the stomach and the oatmeal with the apple firms things up by adding fiber.

     

    With the dogs that I have had, I usually don't fast for 24 hours because the rice and meat is easy for them to digest. I also find that "newer dogs" get really anxious if you withhold food for 24 hours and that in itself can cause some diarrhea.

     

    If the stool firms up then, you can start adding a kibble in. If the stool doesn't firm up, switch the protein to chicken and see if that helps after a few days. If that doesn't help, then you need to switch out the rice/oatmeal to vegetables because there may be a grain sensitivity.

     

     

  11. I would check further with your vet about any side effects ...

     

    My doberman get Flagyl after eating bird seed because of the risk of clostridium and he ended up developing something similar to vertigo. This happened a few weeks after he had stopped the flagyl. He couldn't even walk because he was so dizzy and it almost looked like a seizure. This was years ago but, the vet told me back then that it was a side effect of the flagyl.

  12. I may be off base here but, do you think he might progress from bullying to biting Araley? Have you considered muzzling them both when you are gone or babygating them away from each other? Try using a belly band or diaper for the pottying and see is that helps. Or you can try putting down one of those pee mats and see if that makes any difference in his behavior.

     

    You didn't mention whether or not your dog is ever happy (tail wagging and doing antics)? Does he wag his tail when you get home or when you go for a walk? Can you get his attention when you clap (noises) or wave your arms in the air (sight).

     

    As to training, I might recommend to try and do it by just using praise and no treats. It's harder to do but some dogs, especially smart ones, can respond very well to it. But you have to be very effervescent with your praise !

  13. Sorry but I am real dense here. What is HCT? Yes, doctor knows about this entire sheet. He did several other tests too and none of the 6 vets we have seen can figure out anything.

     

    Thank you everyone.

     

    HCT is an abbreviation for hematocrit - it is the percentage of red blood cells to plasma (the liquid) in the blood. You might want to see if the vets at Ohio State will do a phone consult.

     

    Also, the EOS (this is a type of white cell) is a tad on the high side but still within what probably is an OK range. Sometimes this is elevated when there is an allergic reaction to something.

     

    What about the rest of the blood work - like the chemistries and the urine?

  14. Have you talked to the vet about this? 72% for the HCT is on the high side from what I have read.

     

     

     

    I'm not a vet but with an HCT of 72 I would be on the phone with my vet asking what is causing this and what are we going to do about it. It could be dehydration but it could also be a host of other things ....

  15. If you are going to have the blood work done, then it's better if it is fasting. In this case, nothing to eat after dinner the night previous to the tests. Fasting would be better for tests like glucose and cholesterol.

     

    On the urine, get a sample of the first catch of the day (try and get the middle part rather than the beginning or end). This helps for tests like the protein, glucose, specific gravity as this is the most concentrated urine of the day. Make sure that your pet does not drink water from midnight on (they shouldn't urinate after that time either). They can drink after you get the urine sample in the morning.

     

    Make sure that you tell the vet how you got the sample and how long they fasted because this can impact how they interpret the results.

     

     

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