MaryJane

I should have been more specific ... when a first morning specimen is requested, the assumptions are that it is approximately 8 or so hours since the last voiding of urine and eating/drinking. So if someone goes to sleep at 10pm and voids at that time and then sleeps to 6am or so (without getting up to void or eat or drink), then that sample would be OK to label as "first morning". The 8 hours is approximate ... If it is a first morning specimen, the specific gravity is checked for its value and specifically, it is important that it does not have a "1.010" result. This is a value that occurs (on a first morning specimen) when there are significant renal issues and the kidney is unable to concentrate significantly. On the other hand, the "1.010" value could be a normal value if it was on a "random urine". My dogs sleep all night (7 hours or so) and do not drink water or go out (at least not usually) during the night. On the other hand, during the day my dogs may nap, but they usually get up every few hours to go out and more importantly, they are able to drink water. In my dog's case, a urine taken during the day would not be the same as a "first-morning" specimen. The first morning specimen because it is more concentrated, is also better for checks on protein, sugar, bacteria, white cells, and so on. If you are going to be paying for a test, it's best to get all the benefit that you can from it. Sometimes people try and they just can't get a "first-morning" specimen and then you make do, just make sure the vet knows. Also, if you do get a "first-morning" specimen, it's important to tell the vet that it is a "first-morning" specimen so they can mark it as such in the records.

They won't be able to tell if the specific gravity is funky... I used to work in a hospital lab and this one test that I did occasionally. If you take an afternoon specimen, tell the vet -- lab wise, you'll probably get charged for the specific gravity even though they won't use it. If you bring another specimen in, you'll likely get charged again.

The urinalysis usually consists of a test called "specific gravity". This test looks at how well the urine gets concentrated after sleeping. This test should only be done on "first catch" urine sample of the day otherwise the results will be misleading.

I agree that the toast goes against all the "wheat-stuff" but if your concern is getting any type food into him to gain weight, then the toast might be something that he could get interested in. I had one hound that was really picky, and he just wouldn't eat his food. I got him at 9 years of age and he had been bounced due to a divorce. I was desperate and I tried everything and he would still barely eat enough to sustain himself and I needed him to gain weight. It was around easter and I had challah bread and I tried that and he couldn't get enough of it. Once he started eating the bread, over the next few weeks he got interested in other food and started to gain weight. Interestingly, this guy did badly on chicken and noodles so there were some allergies but, the challah bread seemed to be OK. Note that the challah bread does have eggs so it likely has more protein than regular bread.

Interestingly, the flagyl decreased appetite symptom seems to last for 7 days after medication is stopped according to some of the websites that I visited .....

I'm sorry that this is so frustrating for you and that there are so many different things that keep on coming up and making it hard to stabilize Beau. I think that you mentioned earlier that Beau had been on the flagyl for 6 or so weeks. I googled for side effects on this medicine, it notes decreased appetite. Could this be an explanation for why he has been eating less since thanksgiving? I think from your last posts that you mention this as the major issue you are dealing with now -- that he is not eating, is this correct?

I agree with Batmom that you need to get it to one protein and a carbo and most importantly, to keep it simple. Beau seemed to be doing OK on the hamburger and rice until he got bored. Can you get him back on that and use another small bit of food to entice him to eat? Maybe toast with butter would get his appetite going... Someone mentioned fish earlier in the thread, you might try salmon (canned) as the protein but, my experience is that my dogs haven't usually done great on that as a sole protein (as an add-in it's great). You could also try beans as the protein. I feed mine pinto beans but not usually more than 1/2 cup day. Batmom mentioned barley which also another great alternative for the grain. At this time, I think that maybe switching him between all these different commercial kibbles that have been recommended to find one that works will likely take a toll on his digestive system. You have some great recommendations for kibble from everyone on the thread, but is this the time to "experiment". You can do that later when he is stable and you have the time to do your research on the ingredients. As I mentioned earlier, it seems like he is on a few "worming" and antibiotic treatments and this would be a concern to me because while these medications cure parasitic and bacteriological infections they can be overused and cause other severe issues. It also seems that there has not been a definitive diagnosis by the vet that Beau has either a bacteriological or parasitic infection and while one treatment without a diagnosis is common (and usually cost-effective), I would question continuing treatment without additional evidence.

I didn't see the puncture wound on my dog either when I checked. The vet found the wound and said they wanted to keep him, I'm ashamed to say that I thought they were overdoing it and I thought he just needed some irrigation, cleaning, and bandaging. In my dog's case, since he had the bark in the there, he wouldn't put weight on it because it was painful. If your dog is putting weight on his leg, then there's probably nothing in there. I noticed that you are in Wyoming - are the sidewalks salted? If he had a small cut and he walked on salted roads, it could be very irritating and cause him to lick it.

I might have had something similar a few years ago. One of my boys had been running in my back yard and came back not wanting to put any weight on his front paw and he was picking at his paw. I couldn't see anything and after a day of limping I took him to the vet. They found a small puncture wound and decided to keep him to put him under to clean it out just in case there was something in there, they couldn't feel anything but, they wanted to be sure. Turns out that a piece of bark had slipped under the skin and it was a wise decision to put him under to clean it out. They saved the bark for me and it was pretty big about 1/4 inch x 1/16. I don't remember soaking his foot after they cleaned it, I'm pretty sure it was bandaged and I had antibiotics. Not sure if that helps you ....

To recap my understanding of this ...... Beau had some blood in his stools and a "gurgly" stomachy and you used a rice and hamburger diet which was working up until day 5 when he was starting to get "bored" of this diet and is now only eating once a day. The last post has plans for treating for worms and doing pred and possibly doing a biopsy -- when and how did it get escalated to this point? Excuse my confusion but, I guess my question is -- what is the problem you are trying to solve at this time -- is it the not eating enough or the soft poops or is it something else?

I went out to the web site http://www.agri-med.com/site/255063/page/917334 and it talks about the 1 and 3 year rabies vaccines. It appears that these are two different vaccines because the 3 year can be given to a horse while the 1 year cannot. The canine dosage for the 3 year is two injections a year apart (at 3 months and a year later) and then every three years. This begs the question, are there adverse effects if it is given more? As greyhound owners, many of us do not have the medical records of our pets during their racing years and therefore, no information on what was given for rabies and/or other vaccines. I've sent an email off to Merial (one vendor that makes the vaccine) to see if they will provide more information ....

One other note, if your dog is due for vaccines soon you want to discuss that with the vet. When my boy was going though the chemo (and for months later) the vet and I decided not to vaccinate for rabies.

It's a good idea to let the vet take the patch off. It was just too painful for my boy when I tried to peel it off so I let the vet do it. You may also want to check with the vet on whether you should be worried about the "gassy tummy" or whether it is normal after major surgery with anesthesia. For example, with people coming from major surgery with anesthesia they might be on IVs for a day or two and one of the signs that their system is functioning and ready for food again is that they start to get "gas". Not sure whether it is the same with dogs .....

If Willie is on the pain patch, please be careful of any other medicines that you give him that are not approved by the vet. It sounds and looks like he's doing great so make sure that you take care of yourself so that you'll be ready when the chemo starts.

ThE dental vaccine was news to me when I saw your post and I went out and "googled" the "Dental Vaccine dogs". The link (http://www.dogforums.com/13-dog-health-questions/38810-dental-vaccine-reactions.html) is to a forum that had two dogs with reactions. I personally would not use the vaccine because it has only been out since October of 2006 and that's barely two years. There's probably not much of a track record on it yet although they do mention "laboratory studies and a field safety study" that was done but, I did not see any results posted ....

For your furture reference .... I've used the Tufts emergency clinic in Walpole (as someone previously mentioned) for some semi-emergencies (diarrhea, muscle cramps) and I was satisfied with the professionalism and the outcome of the visit. It's a small place though so, if it's a real emergency (accident/bleeding or so on..) I get into Angel in Boston. They have emergency services and I think they charge 100 extra.

I'm so happy to hear that beau is eating the hamburger and rice ... You did not mention how the poops are - is there still blood or are they normal now?

The reason I asked about the meds is that the Prilosec and the Carafate sorta look like "antacid" type medications while the Flagyl and the Tylan are described as antibiotics (Flagyl for infections and Tylan for diarrhea type infections). I googled "Flagyl" and one adverse symptom that might show up is bloody stool while the google on Tylan notes that the powder has a foul taste (might explain no appetite). When I worked in a bacteriology lab eons ago, it was not normal in the hospital I worked in to have two antibiotics prescribed at the same time ... maybe times have changed and they do this today but, you might want to nicely discuss this with the vet and see if you can have a culture done and isolate the bacteria (if there is one) and then get the antibiotic sensitivity for that bacteria. Have others on the thread had both of these antibiotics prescribed at the same time?

As to why Beau may have symptoms and the others not, maybe his "gut" was having some trouble anyway and this just escalated the issue beyond the line (sorta of like if someone has an ulcer and someone else doesn't, the one with the ulcer would get more affected by a toxin). Your plan for feeding sounds good (especially sticking with the beef) but, I might point out that there are 4 meds listed - were they all prescribed by the vet? Is there a chance that some might be interacting in a bad way with each other?

I am so sorry that you are going thru this .... I vaguely remember that Beau was getting chicken jerky in the evening a few weeks ago --- am I mistaken about that??? If that is the case, the FDA has an alert on the chicken jerky (http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/jerky122408.html). The symptoms include possible bloody diarrhea and decreased appetite along with others .... this sounds like what beau has Everyone had some great suggestions for what to feed but my opinion would be to favor the simpler suggestions. One person mentioned rice krispies (or you could try cherrios) with some yogurt - that's easy and would be easy on the gut. Rice and hamburger is an old stand-by because it works in many cases. Someone also mentioned macaroni and cheese (you might go easy on the cheese because of the constipation factor, or you could change it to macaroni and butter). I hesitate to mention that if the gut has been "stressed" giving harsh medicines like worming treatments may make the situation worse if this is truly being caused by toxins (or whatever it was) in the "chicken jerky".

You can keep the shedding down considerably by bathing the greyhound every 2 months, that will remove the loose hairs. You can also brush weekly to keep the coat in better condition and keep the shedding down. Is your wife allergic to the fur or the dander? My understanding is that most people are allergic to the dander. If this is the case, most greyhounds have less dander than other breeds. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned fostering ... I agree this is the way to go. Consider bathing the dog first to remove loose hairs and to "clean up the skin". Good luck...

Another suggestion for moving your dog -- call your town's Animal Control Officer, they will sometimes come out and help you move your dog (or even take it to the vet). You can also try calling the police and ask if they have any recommendations (maybe they will offer to help). If you are totally out of other options, you might be able to call a moving company and see what they say ....

I've got some suggestions on how to move your dog but, they are really out there so please take them with a grain of salt. 1. use a few blankets with pieces of plywood (watch for splinters) and you can wrap the dog in blankets and either pull the blankets along the plywood or pull the plywood with the dog wrapped in blankets on it. You can use this going up and down stairs and into and out of a car. 2. use a large suitcase with wheels or a duffle bag with wheels and plywood and you can put blankets in the suitcase and the dog can nestle inside (of course you are NOT going to shut the suitcase) and you can roll it on the plywood. 3. If you have a dolly that can convert to a flatbed, you can put a dogbed on it and roll it. 4. If you have a big enough garbage barrel that has wheels (please wash first), wrap dog in blankets and slip inside. You would need to be real careful with this one and probably not angle the barrel more than 30% because you do not want to dog to get more nervous than he already would be. Again, these suggestions are really out there and you have to use extra care and diligence with any of them. Pros and cons from others are appreciated. I have used the first one myself years ago when the VET released my German Shephard (100 pounds+) too early after anesthesia and he couldn't walk (or stand up). I never had much luck with the slings ....

Have you told the vet about the recall in "chicken jerky"? The FDA article cites liver problems and glucose in urine .. have these been checked for recently?

How long have you been giving the dried chicken tenders? When I think of dried food, I think of fruit which is pretty concentrated when it gets dried out. Is it the same with the chicken? Maybe you could give something bland instead like "salt free saltines".