MaryJane

He might still be settling in and this is causing the "finicky" eating. If you want to stay with the same dog food, maybe try putting a little bit of the yogurt on top to entice him to eat. With one of my greyhounds, I crumbled up crackers ... for another greyhound I sprinkled cheerios on top. As to feeding once or twice a day, this is a "touchy" subject and I'm sure all will have their good opinions but, in my case I feed twice a day because I feel that feeding that amount of food at one sitting is too much and could cause problems but, I also have the luxury of time to do two fedings). Adoption groups will typically feed once a day because it just takes so much time to feed and water and get them outside (you get the picture) that doing this twice a day is prohibitive. In their case, the dogs are pretty sedentary and not likely to be prime candidates for bloat. Eating twice a day also gives the dog something to look forward to. For the skin condition, try adding one fish oil capsule a day and see how well it is tolerated or you could give a sardine each day. With my pup I give one fish oil capsule a day and a sardine. You may also want to use your hands to rub the dog down. You can put a little bit (again a little bit) of hand cream on your hands if they are dry. Rubbing the dog down stimulates the glands in the skin. I do this all the time with fosters to start getting their skin in better condition.

Maybe I missed it in the thread, but how much does your dog weigh and how much are you feeding per day? I totally agree with previous threads of moving your pup to a diet of hamburger and rice for a few days and see if it makes a difference. I like hamburger better because some greyhounds have allergy issues with chicken. I would just try the switch to hamburger and rice first and see if it works. The only other thing I might add is that you might want to use the 85 to 90% fat hamburger at the beginning because some greyhounds do not tolerate the extra fat on a fast switch of diet and switch to the 80% later. For comparison purposes, my greyhound gets his dinner of about 1/2 to 1 cup of hamburger with 2 cups of rice and 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables. He also gets a breakfast of about 1 & 1/2 cups oatmeal with 1/2 to 1 cup meat (or 2 eggs). This is for a dog of about 85 pounds...... He also gets about 4 medium/large dog treats a day. Hmmm, he also gets some toast around noon. I'm also a vegetarian so it's a little strange that my dog gets "real meat". Have you tried giving a big cookie before your grey goes to sleep? It could be that he cannot go 8 hours without something in his stomach ...

My grey also had his leg amputated on an x-ray diagnosis alone. Although I did have a second set of x-rays taken just to be sure (of course it was the same). I discussed the bone biopsy with the vet and they informed me that the procedure is very painful, can cause additional problems, and if the aspirate is not taken from the correct location, may not get the cancer cells and thus, not confirm the diagnosis. As others have noted and also in my grey's case, the pathology report later confirmed that it was osteo.

When my Onyx had his leg amputated the bruising was horrific ... his whole chest, stomach, and leg area were red. He also had some bad moments the morning after the surgery as his temperature went sky-high and we thought we were going to lose him. Is there any chance that Mango's temperature went up? That might possibly explain the dehydration and the kidney values ... As a side note, when I got him home after one of the chemo sessions, his temperature also went sky high and I used cold towels with ice packs to bring his temperature down. I had to do it at home because he would not have made it to the hospital. The vet and I determined later that it could have been a bad reaction to one of the drugs that used to calm him down ..... Needless to say, we were very careful later with any type of tranquilizers used to keep him calm during treatments

I'd be too nervous to give Metamucil to my dogs on a daily basis. From what I remember, the labeling on the containers (powdered form) says that you have to drink about a cup of water with it to ensure that it does not expand in your throat and cause a choking hazard (this is what is used to say ... I honestly don't know if it still does). Since it is the fiber that helps to firm up the stool, what about using oatmeal.

You may want to try feeding cooked oatmeal and hamburg in the mornings for about a week and see if it helps.

My dog had the amputation of a rear limb followed by chemo. It took about 2 weeks after the amputation for him to be used to his "new self" and then we started chemo. The chemo was tough and I would be up all night letting him out. From the time of amputation to his finishing chemo was about 2.5 months. During that time we had really good days and really bad days and on the really bad days I would keep my spirits up by thinking that the chemo will soon be over and I would fuss over him to try and make him feel better. Many days his personality would be overshadowed by what he was going through but, on the good days -- he was all there. Eating was a problem especially during the chemo and one thing that I could usually count on that he loved was yogurt with cheerios. I could usually get him to eat a small bowl. The animal hospital here also had some canned venison (it's prescription) that he would also nibble on. At 8 months after surgery they found the osteo had spread to his lungs and spine. If someone asked me if I would do the same thing again -- my answer would be YES, without hesitation.

Kidney problems can cause an ammonia smell to the breath. Has blood work been done?

The symptoms might also be caused by Strychnine poisoning. Could Hatter have gotten into something in the house? Have you visited anyone that might be having problems with rodents and put down poison? Also, this time of year landscaping companies are putting out fertilizer on lawns and some of the ingredients can adversely affect greyhounds even the ones that are "labeled safe for animals". Another thought is anti-freeze .... this time of year people may be refilling their radiator and may spill some on the ground.

When my dog was undergoing chemo the only thing he would eat was was yogurt with cheerios and an occasional vanilla milkshake

Is your dog more "stressed" than normal? For example is the breathing normal or more like panting. Also, any signs of restlessness or not able to sleep at night? Is the leg being held up in the air with very little weight being put on it and is it getting worse? Sometimes when we are with our dogs every day we don't recognize the "stress" which can be an indication of pain. If your dog does appear "stressed", you may want to consider redoing the x-rays to include the whole leg and having them sent to a osteosarcoma specialist.

Before you make any quick decisions, please go to google and search on sevin and dogs. You may also want to check with a animal hospital or poison center.

You may want to consider getting a "cool-down" coat for your pup. It's usually made of terry cloth and you can soak it in cold water before you take walks. It helps to keep the dog cool and comfortable. You also need to take a container of water with ice and regularly wet down the coat so it stays cool. You can't let it dry out, if it does, it would make the dog even hotter. I used this all the time with my "black dog" in the summer and it helped but, I also made sure NOT to walk at the hottest parts of the day.

I'm so sorry to hear about your pup's diagnosis ... I faced this in August of 2005 when my 8 yr old was diagnosed with osteo in his rear leg. I decided to go ahead and have amputation with chemo. My decision was simply based on the fact that my "Onyx" was not ready to go -- he was too full of life or as I like to say "full of piss and vinegar". He was also a very confident boy and I felt would be able to handle the countless hospital stays and many of the other difficulties with less trauma than other greyhounds would. Going this route is not for everyone though. I do not regret my decision and would follow the same course again for "Onyx". I do have two other greyhounds now and would likely deal with it differently if they are ever diagnosed with this because they are more fragile and less able to deal with "new" situations. My "Onyx" lasted almost 8 months. After the leg was amputated he was pain free and quite happy. He was able to get around and even ran around the yard. But, osteo usually spreads and this is what happened to my "Onyx". Most doctors are very clear that the prognosis is not good with this cancer. He didn't start having pain again until very close to the end and it was not as bad as the pain from the osteo. The osteo did spread to his chest and spine and that was making it difficult for him to breathe, walk, and keep himself steady. Before I even went down this path, I thought about the choices I would face in the future. I came up with about 6 things that would help me identify the degree to which his quality of life might be diminishing and thus, allow me to determine when it was time for the next step. I will share these with you with the understanding that every person is likely to have a different perspective of the "degree of ability" that is acceptable. 1. Does he get excited about taking a walk 2. Does he still enjoy eating his food 3. Does he still come over to me and sit next to me and wait to be petted 4. Can he still go out and relieve himself 5. Does he get up and greet me when I come home and most important . 6. What do I see when I look in his eyes .......

Maybe I'm an alarmist, but if my dogs had bad diarrhea and then also started vomiting I would bring them into a vet immediately. They may have gotten into something bad ..... also, they may need fluids to rehydrate them