MaryJane

For at least 7 years now, my dogs get at least 4 weeks between vaccines. Vaccines are intended to instigate an immune reaction and having too many immune reactions going on at the same time is not necessarily a good thing. More vets and people are starting to pay attention over the last decade or so to what vaccines to give and over what period they should be given.

From what I remember with the seizure dogs using the hemp product - they started with Canna Companion but then switched to another product. It seemed that one of the partners left Canna Companion and started another company and this is where they switched to - the partner that left was more of the research person while the other partner (Canna Companion) was more of the sales. From what I remember, the research person was better at working with people to get right doses for their dog. I mentioned the yahoo group earlier - I did get some spreadsheets at one time on how the product was doing and the results were looking good but as I talked to a few people a year later, sometimes the product effectiveness was trending down - this happens with seizure meds so hard to tell whether it was the hemp loosing effectiveness or the seizures pathways adjusting. Someone also created a facebook group. The name of the group is not easy to remember - I looked and couldn't easily find it. Some of the other people that have seizure dogs might remember and chime in .... edited to add -- I mention this because these groups of people have probably developed a great deal of experience with the products and side effects and possibly dosing. They might be a good resource for you.

Protein is found in the urine if there is a kidney issue. What were the kidney blood test results?

I wanted to add that the amount of protein that you are giving is not going to hurt for a few days, I would be personally be more concerned that you are using the 73% hamburger which is pretty fatty which is why I was suggesting cutting your mixture with more rice. Too much fat in a dog's diet can cause problems with pancreatitis.

The problem is that low phosphorous and low protein go hand in hand. Mix the food that you already made up with more rice.

Go back and search on my posts and you should see a few where I specify the amounts - if you cannot find them, I list them again. The meat in my recipes it is less than 1/8 of the total - in yours, it's about 1/3 so way TOO much and that is not including the eggs you are adding in. Ditch the eggs for now and decrease the meat to 1/3 of what you are giving now.

Also get a urinalysis - make sure it is a first morning specimen so it is concentrated. The Specific gravity is what you want to look at - it should be over 1.030. The protein should be negative. edited to add --- if the specific gravity is under 1.030 and above 1.020, then your dog might not be able to concentrate the urine effectively and in this case, lowering the protein in the diet can be helpful. Typically, dogs that fall into this category will drink more water, the more protein they get as the water helps to remove the waste products from the protein breakdown. My dog Larry had this (slightly high creat with lowered specific gravity) in addition to severe allergies to chicken and noodles and he did fine on a reduced protein diet (homemade).

From my perspective - too much protein for a kidney dog. Did you get the recipe from a veterinary nutritionist? One of my dogs that had slight kidney issues had a diet formulated by Dr Remillard when she was at Angel and the proportions were like this for 1 meal (70 to 90 pound dog) -- 1/4 cup meat/chicken (88% or better and no skin on chicken), 1/4 cup veggies, 2 cups (to 2 1/2 cups) rice along with vitamin supplements. My dogs get oatmeal added in for breakfast and they also get treats during the day like yogurt with applesauce, toast with peanut butter..

Also do a tick panel. Could just be the new environment is making him edgy.

There are tons of people with greys in the Boston area. This weekend one of the shelters (Greyhound Friends) had a reunion which would have been a great place for you to meet up with other grey owners. Greyhound Adventures is one walking group that usually meets on Sundays for walks which are at locations slightly west and north of Boston (sometimes at the arboretum in JP). Greyhound adventures web is -- http://greyhoundadventures.org/

It could still be acute pancreatitis although, it is somewhat more common with dogs on certain seizure meds.

Yellow = jaundice = liver disease. I would also bring in a urine to the vet. If there has been vomiting for awhile and if the dog is on seizure meds ... some seizure meds can predispose the dog to pancreatitis and the symptoms are not eating, vomiting and so on. If it is pancreatitis, there are diets that may help resolve the issue. I did a quick search and acute pancreatitis can present with jaundice ....

I'm so sorry that your experience was not as hoped. To follow up on some of the previous posts concerning the costs .... At home euthanasia is costly where I am (near Boston). The fee for the vet to come out was based on an hourly charge plus extra for "out-of-service" area. It did not include the cremation or transport but, they do help to load into your car (if the animal is not too big). Price would come out to be about 600 - 800 with just basic no-frills box. The high price could be that there are not many vets that provide this service in my area and you would think this would be a great area. Both the vets that provide the service (that I know), would have to travel a good distance to get here - just the travel time would be close to 2 hours.

Do a culture and see if anything grows. They should also do the sensitivity which will tell you the antibiotic to use. I had a few draws done on Lucy but, they managed to contaminate the sample the last time (I'm furious about that) and since then, I do a first morning clean catch. The last urine that I did, I cleaned her for twice a day for 3 days prior to collecting. Note, drop the urine off on Monday/Tuesday because you want the exams all done by Friday and the reason for this is that the bacteriologists (who read the plates) may not work the weekend at diagnostic labs. The longer the plates sit, the more the bacteria (if any) will grow which can alter the interpretation.

Muzzle and take it real slow. A small percentage of greyhounds have a "foot thing". They don't want to have their feet handled and in very small amount of real tough cases, nail clips require tranquilizers/sedation. Luckily, most (IMO) of the greys that have the "foot thing" will let you handle their feet but, you need to be real easy, gentle, take it slow, and watch carefully because when they have had enough you can see their mouths start to move into a snarl - you want to stop before this happens. My Lucy is like that, she will only tolerate a certain amount of foot work before she will lash out.

This is a very personal decision ..... I had a similar situation with my older dog. His rear end was loosing the ability to balance and to control defecation (little presents in the morning). He had trouble getting up and standing for more than a few minutes and after a minute, he would start sinking. I handled it by getting more rugs around the house so that he wouldn't slip, and even though I have a ramp in the back, I set up a ramp at my front door because it was only a few feet to the grass and it was easier for him. I also put him on the bed mats so that cleaning up would be easier after he had an accident. I had to steady him as he walked around and help him up. He still had that look in his eye and he loved his food. He would follow me from room to room or he if couldn't get up to follow me - would bark so I could come help him up so he would follow me. To me, he still had a good life even though it was difficult. The pain and the difficulties he had was not enough for me to end his life. In the end (after many, many months), he had an incident (possible med issue), looked like a bleed and he was dying. I made it to the vet barely in time. And, I don't regret any of my decisions with him because he was happy right up to the incident. As long as he wanted to fight - I was in his corner. It's up to you what you can and want to handle.

My dog didn't need a sedation for the echo test. As I remember, the cardiologist had him lie on his side on the table. The test was very simple and didn't seem to cause any anxiety in my dog. As I remember, it took maybe 20 minutes or so.

I've had similar happen to my dogs twice -- Years ago I lost my German Shepard and after my doberman realized that he was not coming back (about 4 weeks later), he started to guard me whenever I was standing. He would sit right at the back of my legs and whenever I moved, he would get up follow me and then once I positioned again, he would sit at the back of my legs. I don't know what he was thinking but, simply looking at the behavior, it looks like he was afraid for me. He would settle down next to me when I sat so, needless to say - I stopped most standing for a few weeks. He was back to normal after about 6 weeks although, it was evident that he felt like he lost his protector and friend. Recently, I lost my older boy at 14 and my younger (6) was heartsick - it got worse as time went on and after 2 months, I ended up taking him to the vets. He was crying when he would get up and cry after walking around the house. He would also just cry in bed as he was looking at me. He was having intermittent limping on his legs (no corns or soreness that the vet saw). He only started getting back to normal recently but, that's because there have been other "losses" he has dealt with. Dogs handle grief differently and while 2 months seems like too much time has elapsed to start having symptoms, this might be the first time that there was a "scary" situation and the other dog was not around and it triggered a fear. I let my dogs work it out over time and they both came back to what I would consider normal but, it took time with some really strange behaviors. If you are not able to do that, you can try something like "rescue remedy" for dogs (Whole Foods has). It's supposed to have a calming effect. You can also try the Adaptil collar as that also has an easing effect (Amazon has).

Get a 2nd opinion with a vet that sees many greyhounds. I've had one greyhound that had a murmur and I did the echo (12 years ago) and I'm not sure how necessary it was - he never had any problems that would be heart-related and he had a dental with no problems. Other vets that he saw later were not conclusive on the murmur. From what I have been told, greyhound hearts sound a bit different and sometimes, it may resemble a murmur. You can call Greyhound Friends in Hopkinton (I see you are in Natick) and see which vet they use and get his opinion.

You might want to see if the greyhound group has a foster home that could take him for a few days (maybe a week) with minimal interactions with him so as to keep the fear reactions as low as possible. This would provide a second opinion on his behavior and whether what you are seeing in your house is also happening at the foster's house. Realistically, I'm not sure how training will help a 13 year old and what the goals of the training would be. It would be different if he was younger and if the fear was not as pronounced as you are stating. Bringing a trainer in would just be another person for him to be afraid of and to have to work out the fear before even getting to the issues you are seeing. While the fear to the trainer might be the same as the fear reaction to the strange people in the house, it may not be. It sounds like the child is now 5 years old and children that age would need constant supervision around any dog and that would not matter which dog it was - each dog can have a bite reaction. I might be reading this incorrectly but, It sounds like your dog has gotten worse as the child has grown and the dog now showing fear/anger reactions to all strange people. It sounds like the household has too much activity now for an aging dog that is not as quick as he used to be and not able to "get out of the way. You might be able to find someone to take the dog for the rest of his life but, there are not many people that will take a 13 year old dog - but there are some people like that out there. You could consider offering to pay the dog's monthly expenses and the vet bills for his "last trip to the vet". The only reason that I mention this is that you need to do a realistic assessment of what you and the dog can accomplish given the situation as it is.

Have the children sit quietly on a sofa reading a book or some other quiet activity (ignore the dog) and see if the dog at least attempts to step a few feet closer to the children. If the dog starts to get curious, lay a few treats a few feet from the children in a path leading back to the children and see if the dog follows and gets closer to the children. Do not have the children call or try and pat the dog until the dog is not fearful getting close to the children. You'll have to continue this for a few weeks before the dog gets used to being close to the children. Patience is the key ... I would not have the children approach the dog or throw anything at the dog.

As to diarrhea and IBD -- usually diarrhea is a symptom of IBD but with Lucy, it wasn't. Her poops were good just that she wasn't get the nutrients from the food. She was on Potassium Bromide for her seizures and that can cause irritation/inflammation of the gut. As to the creat - yes it is a bit high but it will depend on what the first morning specimen specific gravity is along with whether there is protein spilling into the urine. Was the 1.026 specific gravity from a first morning specimen? If yes, then this is what Larry had with a high creat and low specific gravity and I put him on a low protein diet and he did great on it. Larry also had food allergies and couldn't have chicken or macaroni.

Could be IBD and if so, start on probiotics, get B12 shots and start a home-made with only white fish as the protein (white rice and veggies). Could be that the blood in the tube had clots so the clotting tests turned out abnormal - repeat those. That is a big drop in weight but, is it possible the dog was overweight and the weight should be about 70-75 or so - can you get a picture from the top and side. Stop giving aspirin and fish oil until the clotting studies come back normal. Isn't Purina Healthy weight a weight-loss dog food? ---- edited to add - get the dog off the Purina Healthy weight -- it is a low calorie dog food.

Did they check the inside of her mouth? Did they check for a fracture ... sometimes they can see that without x-rays. Lucy had 2 incidents, once she swelled up to twice the size on one side of her mouth but, I knew that she had a fracture and we had been waiting for another mouth for her dental/removal - she ended up going in ASAP to have the tooth removed. It had gotten infected and that's why it swelled - the antibiotics helped. The 2nd incident was where she started going against the side of her face with her foot, swiping the side of her face and her eye. Checked her mouth - nothing and she calmed down. After a few hours, it seemed like that side was swelling a bit and she started going at it again and then she was having trouble eating. Checked her mouth better and found a sliver of plastic from a squeakie between her bottom teeth - really jammed in there. Hope all is OK

Try steak and also challah bread toasted with a bit of butter. Cut the bread into small squares. Also try whole fat yogurt sweetened with a bit of honey and cheese slices. Did they do a urinalysis? edited to add - my Lucy went from about 70 pounds down to about 60 in a few months. Turns out one of her seizure meds caused IBD and she is now on a fish diet. You might also want to try fish like Tilapia (not tuna or salmon).