MaryJane

I think that you should consider calling the pet sitter and asking how much your dog drank. After 3 days of not having water - a person would be in a bad way .. for food, it is about 14 days. It gets serious very fast.

If a dog (or person) is very dehydrated, once they start putting fluids into the blood, the solid part of the blood (RBC) will be less of a percentage to the whole. So what might have been an HCT of 55% drops depending on the amount of fluid put in. Talk to the pet sitter and find out exactly how much the dog ate and drank. The vets should also check the platelet count.

There could be a chance that if the dog was starving itself and not drinking that it would be reflected in the albumin and the electrolytes. edited to add a link --- this is a long article about albumin in people http://www.nursingcenter.com/lnc/static?pageid=720126

I'm so sorry that this has happened to you ... I would think that he might have gotten into something at the other house. How long was he not eating before you picked him up? I would probably continue the care until at least I found out what the issue was but, a factor in this is going to be the cost. Is there a teaching hospital or a large practice near you that might have more experience with cases like this - if yes, I would recommend going there and getting their opinion. Did they take x-rays at all to see if he has an obstruction?

Someone already mentioned Amicar - that's important as not all vets carry it and may need to be ordered beforehand. Also, stop any fish oil supplements at least 1 week before surgery. Fish oil has aspirin type tendencies and could prolong bleeding.

You might want to increase the fiber in the food. I do this for my dogs by giving them a few tablespoons of cooked oatmeal (5-minute cooking) every morning.

I think these actions are long overdue but, the FDA not making a stand has probably not helped them either - if the FDA made a strong statement, these retailers would have acted earlier. There is still the problem that Petco will have product on the shelf until the end of this year and Petsmart until spring of 2015.

This came across one of my other feeds and I thought this might be of interest here also particularly for people living in the Southwestern part of the states -- http://www.petmd.com/blogs/thedailyvet/dr-coates/2014/may/chagas-disease-watch-dogs-31672?roi=echo3-20602665167-19955165-01922857577b798a6a8e7e90cb899804&utm_source=BlogSubscribers&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=52314blog&utm_campaign=Blog

It's about time --- Both Petco and Petsmart are going to stop selling treats from China but, it will time to get new products to replace. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/petsmart-stop-selling-pet-treats-made-china-23808928

Did they do a urinalysis to check for bacteria? If not, you might want to speak to them about the possibility of a UTI. The Lymphs are a bit on the high side and the Neutrophils a bit on the low side in the differential and that could be suggestive of an infection but, the values are not really too far out of range. Still drinking? Still eating? What activities was she doing the few days before Saturday? Was she running around, could she have gotten a cut that is now infected/inflamed.

Sometimes dandruff is caused by nervousness, not always but, sometimes. I would take foster dogs to meet-n-greets and within about 20 minutes of getting there - they were flaking pretty bad. Not all greyhounds will do this. The greyhounds did not look nervous so it would not be possible to tell this was the cause. Since your dog is new, I suspect there is some nervousness and that could be one of the issues. The shedding - this is the time of year they shed - all dogs. You will need to brush with a rubber groomer or a glove as the regular bushes with bristles might be too much for your dog to handle and as a result. could be irritating the skin. The itching could be the result of many things, maybe using a regular brush if you are doing that, could be fleas, could be an allergy to the food you are feeding, to the pollen, or to the laundry detergent/softener you are using. Also, when was the last time that she was bathed? You might want to use an oatmeal shampoo.

This sounds like anal glands .... they might need to be emptied or there might be an infection. Needs a vet check.

If the seizure was traumatic, he could have pulled muscles or just some bruises from getting banged around. You do need to find out what they gave at the ER and whether that will interact with the pain meds you are giving. After a seizure there may be a period of "not being able to settle" and just some wandering, maybe being a bit confused. In most cases this will resolve over a few days. My Lucy who is a seizure dog would sometimes forget that she was supposed to pee outside and would just wander around for awhile (few days) but eventually, she came around. If this was a cluster seizure then it is important that the dog is put on seizure meds - contact a neurologist as they will discuss the pros and cons of all the different meds that are available. If you dog clustered (more than 1 seizure in 24 hours). it's pretty important to get a "cluster-buster" - this could something like rectal valium (Lucy has this). This acts to keep subsequent seizures far enough after the preceding seizure that the dog will not go into "status" which is a seizure that does not stop and is a serious event requiring immediate intervention from the ER vet. If your dog has a severe seizure, the contractions can also lower the sugar in the blood and while the body can replenish it can take some time. I usually give my Lucy about a tablespoon or so if "real ice cream" like HaagenDas (no preservatives) and it serves to get some sugar quickly into her without overloading her. A seizure also heats up the body and the ice cream can also cool her down a bit. The ice cream can dramatically shorten the amount of recovery time after a seizure for some dogs. There is a great yahoo group and there are a few facebook groups for "epi-dogs".

Hopefully the rest of your vacation goes well. The Agriculture department in MA has dealt with this before and it had resulted in very strict laws (quarantine) of animals coming into this state for adoption. It looks like it is contained so far to the one kennel.

Update ... http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/05/12/mass-officials-report-cluster-of-dog-flu-cases-in-essex-county/ Note, the last story was incorrect in stating that Mass never had the canine flu in this state - it was here in 2005 (could be wrong about year) but, contained at one of the racetracks.

I get it at Whole Foods.

Heard today that the dog flu is in Mass at one facility near the Ipswich area. http://www.boston.com/health/2014/05/14/dog-flu-detected-mass-for-first-time/bkxL06dVENDemkS3kPAdmL/story.html

IMO, 18% fat on a kibble is going to be too much fat for a dog coming from pancreatic issues. You also need to be careful about any salmon oil that you give (sardines and such) - you can probably still give but, cut down. Just a note that I read the initial post a few days ago and at first glance, it looked like just not eating was the problem -- when I read it today, I noticed the vomiting and it looked like it was happening for 3 days in a row which to me is a clear warning sign. From reading the other posts, it also looked like many others also missed the vomiting .. at least from what it seems to me. I'm sorry, I feel that I should have responded early and mentioned that a trip to the vet immediately was warranted. The rules I typically follow are: When a dog presents with vomiting over 3 days - trip to vet. If vomiting and no eating over 2 days - trip to vet. If vomiting and diarrhea over 1 day - trip to ER. If any blood in vomiting/diarrhea - trip to ER vet asap. I have found (in my life) that it is too easy to let an issue slip a day and then another day. If I ever have a question whether I should go or not, we go. I think because of that, I end up at the vet more than most (but, maybe not). Hope your boy gets better.

As already suggested, I would have your vet do a consult with a veterinary school in the area to get some more suggestions (different meds, biopsy). Also, on the slim chance that it might be an allergy, I would also rewash all the dog linens with an "natural detergent" and not use any fabric softener.

Get the amount of blood that was present - you want this for your records and will let you determine whether the condition it is getting better or worse. The value might be 1+, 2+ and so on, the higher the number, the more blood. I would go with the ultrasound first and see what that shows. Hard to recommend questions at this point. You might want to consider getting a culture done as sometimes (rare but, does happen), bacteria will grow even though nothing was seen on the urinalysis. Also, even though they don't see stones, sometimes areas will be obscured, he could still have stones ... probably not what you wanted to hear ....

So sorry for your loss - she was a special girl. Tori will be in my thoughts today.

Is protein showing up in the urine? If so, then you probably need to adjust the amount of protein down even more. When one of my dogs had an acute kidney issue, I got the protein dipsticks and checked his first AM urine and if it had protein, I would lower the intake that day. You could try one of the vegetarian dog foods and supplement the protein yourself with cottage cheese, eggs, or a good cut of meat - but, you might be surprised at how little protein you'll be able to give.

Hmmm -- was the person by any chance rubbing her ear a little too hard or patting the head a bit vigorously? The reason that I ask this is that when I was doing meet-n-greets with greyhounds I would constantly have to tell people to pet my boys more gently. If someone was pulling at her ear too hard or rubbing her back a bit too much, it could cause a snap.

My suggestion would be to exercise him where there are no other dogs at all - so no stressors. You'll need to do this for about 4 to 6 months before seeing any noticeable improvement although you might see tiny steps along the way. If he is on any anxiety medicine, that could be causing a problem too. You might want to start reading the literature on side effects on the meds he is on --- and it doesn't matter how long he was on it with no problems, sometimes these problems come up after being on meds for awhile. That is really good of you to go to FBM to volunteer - you have a kind & generous heart to do this. Are you bringing dogs back?

The issues that Truman seems to be facing may not be that different from what galgos have faced or even greyhounds years ago when they were more severely traumatized (like the galgos now in Spain). I very much respect specialists but, in some cases, I think they may add more stress as in cases like this - they change routines, add drugs and get the dog confused. Sometimes it doesn't matter what is causing something .. you just treat the symptoms - I've learned that with my Lucy who has seizures. In this case, maybe treating the symptoms is what might help and in that case, taking away the stressors.