MaryJane

Good news about the platelets! As to the protein, there are a few TOTW products that have less protein - switch down to one with less % and retest urine in a few months and see if it made a difference. While occasionally having protein in the urine might not be concerning, it really is better (IMO) to not have any spilling out because as I mentioned earlier, it is damaging the filtration mechanisms as the protein continues to spill out.

As dogs get older, it will be harder for them to eat what they used to eat like kibble - their teeth may not be as good, the gums might hurt. Also, the food is so processed, it's not going to digest easily and they might be having digestive issues and they can't tell you. A solution is to switch to home-made. The food is easy to digest and soft so it is not going to hurt their mouth. It will smell better and probably help their appetite.

It sounds like something happened 3 weeks ago that scared her and she is now in panic mode. Since she is alone while you are at work, maybe something occured that week .. maybe work outside, or contractors at the house. Maybe did someone get into your yard and scare her through the sliding doors - I'm thinking teenage boys? She may have also has some type of accident in the house - maybe slipped on the floor and banged into the wall. Does she have problems walking on the floor? Do you have rugs down? Something could have also fallen and hit her. If you can, talk to your neighbors and get some better information on whether something happened that week. Regardless of whether you ever find out what happened, you will need to regain her trust again and that will take weeks ... maybe months. Sit on the floor near the dining room door with a bunch of cut up chicken or beef and see if she will come to you to get a treat. Don't call her, just toss the treat out a bit from you and let her decide what she wants to do. Eventually, she should get closer and closer. Once she is taking treats next to you, move further from the dining room and see if she will follow for the treat. Do not rush, have patience and let her come to trust you and her environment again. You can also talk to the adoption group and have them come out and get their opinion.

Next time make sure that you watch them draw the blood - if they do not transfer it quickly from the syringe to the tube with the anticoagulant, it could start clumping. As to the urine, do you know what the specific gravity is? Next time bring in a first morning specimen as that gives you a better idea of the ability of the kidneys to concentrate the urine. Protein should not be spilling out into the urine as this continuing could damage the filtration mechanism of the kidneys and result in even more protein spilling out. You may want to redo the test and see if it is still present. If there is an issue, look at the dog food that you are feeding as you might want to decrease the amount of protein (r provide better protein). There are dog foods that have about 19 to 20% protein and you could try that and see if the issue resolves. FYI -- some would consider a small amount of protein OK ... I usually don't consider it normal especially if the bun/creat in the blood is high normal (to slight increase) and if the first morning specimen specific gravity is lower than 1.025. This could be an indication that the kidneys are having a hard time concentrating the urine and at the same time, are letting protein spill out. This is not a critical issue as it is easily controlled, I had a greyhound with some of these issues and he did fine on a low protein diet.

That's unusual .. can you do a picture?

Take a first morning urine specimen to the vet - could be an infection or the start of kidney issue or maybe even sugar (is there more water drinking?). Schedule a vet appointment for blood work and overall workup. Order the male doggie diapers to help control where the accidents occur.

I use CVS brands for the vitamins and calcium. Vitamin is the Spectravite, it has a low phos and works well with dogs that have kidney issues. http://www.cvs.com/shop/vitamins/multivitamins/multivitamins/cvs-spectravite-adult-multivitamin-tablets-value-size-skuid-693430 Calcium is the CVS brand oyster shell that DOES NOT have the vitamin D. Lately, it has been out of stock so I have been buying one at Amazon. Just make sure to check all the ingredients. You can do sweet potatoes but, they are rich so you'll need to watch how your dog does on them. Rice is usually real easy to digest and bland so not usually any digestive issues. You can also do noodles but, they are heavier than rice so do less. My dogs love tomato sauce - so I will occasionally mix a tablespoon into their food. Cabbage can cause upset tummies as well as broccoli - none of my dogs have been able to do cabbage (although some people in this group have used successfully) and my latest dog has a bad reaction to broccoli. Good luck.

My dogs only eat home-made and I also make all their treats - they do not get any commercial food. I might suggest adding more carbohydrates into the mix - maybe oats, potatoes, rice. And yes, you should consider supplements - calcium pills (no Vitamin D added) and a multivitamin. I give about 500 to 1000mg calcium daily to my dogs along with 1 multivitamin a day. They also get 1 fish oil. Be careful about too much oil or hamburger that is too fatty as this can cause digestive upsets. I know other people haven't but, my dogs always seem to get digestive issues with pork - so I never give it. My Lucy is a seizure dog with IBD and she only gets white fish for a protein which she loves so you can use that also - a white fish like tilapia is usually cheaper. Dr Remaillard (formerly from Angel in Boston) created a few different diets for my dogs. She has started her own website (https://www.petdiets.com/about) and has recipes that she provides for a fee.

Try using the sponge brushes until the foster is used to it. The sponge is more gentle than the bristles.

One of my dogs is a seizure dog so, she gets frequent meds that are outside the normal feeding times so, they get a few snacks during the day (have to do all the dogs) which I have listed below -- - slice of cheese - 2 tablespoons of yogurt with 1 tablespoon of applesauce (they get this around 9pm at night) - slice of toast with butter (their favorite is challah bread) - few potato chips (no salt) - tablespoon of peanut butter

My Lucy was on Zonisamide for about 1 year before we had to add another drug. She is on 3 now - Zonisamide, Keppra, and Sodium Bromide. She also takes rectal valium after a seizure because she has had clusters (more than 1 seizure in 24 hours). It takes about 4 to 12 weeks for the medicine to get settled into the system and for side effects to get minimized (at least that has been the case with Lucy). She has been seizure free for more than 1+ years. As a side note, Zonisamide as well as Keppra, can have a honeymoon period - they work for about 1 or so years and then they loose their effectiveness. This is what happened to Lucy. I debated about the MRI and spinal but, it turns out that the results do not typically change the treatment which is putting the dog on drugs. We decided to use Dr. Sisson at Angel after checking out all the other major centers because he seemed to be the only one that would prescribe the rectal valium which allows for the at-home treatment for the seizures (serious cases, you would bring in). It helps the seizure post period to give a tablespoon or so of vanilla ice cream (real stuff, no funny sugars). The convulsions from a sugar will cause a drop in blood sugar and this will usually be balanced out by the body eventually but, it can take some time for the sugar stores to be released. There is an yahoo group for seizure dogs that is great. Stay away from the facebook groups - too many dogs have died on those groups from listening to the members and not using medical solutions.

Have the vet check for a cracked tooth as that could cause an infection which in turn will cause swelling.

They are not young and in this case, maybe it is better if they are not doing the stairs. While you might be able to teach them, they are not going to be as spry as if they were learning when they are 2 or even 8 years old. You didn't mention if they are young for their age or getting a bit arthritic as that would also make a difference.

I used Dr Remallard when she was at the Angel in Boston to set up regular diets for all my dogs and she also created kidney and cancer diets for my dogs. If you google, she has a website for dog nutrition (https://petdiets.com/) and will set up a custom diet for a small charge. Angel Memorial used to have free diets on their site but, it looks like they redesigned their site and removed that information. If you check some of my older posts - I provide what I give for my dogs and I give their weights - you could adjust for your dog.

No to cause undue alarm but, he may have a broken neck or fractures in his back so ... should have x-rays. Hope that he is OK.

Give her something at night before she goes to sleep - maybe a few tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce mixed with a bit of yogurt. It could be that her empty stomach is giving her some distress in the morning. Also, try removing the kibble entirely from her food. Give her rice, cooked mashed up veggies, and a few tablespoons of some chicken or beef cut up in small pieces. Add almond milk (or regular milk) to make it more soupy. It could be that she is having trouble digesting the kibble as she has gotten older. She might also have some trouble with her teeth/chewing and that is preventing her from eating large amounts at one time.

If the breath changed that quickly maybe it was not the teeth .... did the vet do bloodwork to check the kidneys. If not, I suggest that you do that before the dental. Also, arrange to get Amiar just in case there is a chance that teeth are going to be pulled.

She's beautiful. Hope she starts to feel better and her medical needs are easy to take care of. Thank you for taking her in and getting her the care she needs (good Karma).

Greyhound platelets will clump together and are hard to count accurately with the automated methods. Ask your vet to have the lab do a manual count which should give a more accurate result.

My dogs get blood tests (CBC & Chem) with the thyroid panel every year in addition to a urinalysis. Make sure the urine is the first specimen so you get a valid specific gravity.

The chicken could be the cause - switch to fried hamburger (about 90%) and be careful of too much fat. You might also want to add a bit more fiber to the diet - add a few tablespoons of cooked oatmeal to the food. I would not overcook the rice - cook according to package directions. After a few days, you might want to cook up some elbow macaroni (cook 15 minutes to get tender) and try a few tablespoons of that in the food. If he can take yogurt - try that, just make sure it not "no fat" or "low fat".

Look at the Limited Ingredient dog foods -- like Natural Balance. They used to have a Venison and Sweet potato which used to work wonders with my foster dogs. And you are right, about 95% of the dog foods out there have chicken or chicken based oils in them. The green poop is not something that I would want to see - could be they are getting into something. As to the soft poop - try adding a few tablespoons of cooked oatmeal to their food - it has fiber which helps keep them regular. edited to add - Acana is also a brand that has some "chicken free" foods.

It sounds like it was a seizure and it was probably caused by the Bravecto. Flea & tick meds are known to trigger seizures.

I always bring in a first morning urine specimen for a specific gravity and protein along with the "other stuff" they do.

Rice is a main ingredient in my dogs' diet. They don't get dog food at all and get between 1 to 2 1/2 cups of rice each (depending on weight of dog) for dinner and a smaller amount for breakfast. They also get veggies, oatmeal, apples, and meat/fish (also yogurt, toast, and peanut butter for snacks). Depending on how much rice you give, you might have to supplement with vitamins/calcium. My dogs get the low end of protein requirement each day and do fine .. and they are checked yearly to make sure their levels are OK. In fact, one of my dogs with slight kidney issues would start having problems when he got too much protein with too much & too often peeing.