MaryJane

My first greyhound was like that and it became a serious issue. We would do meet-n-greets and sometimes be gone all day and he wouldn't drink. The only way that I solved it -- we would get vanilla milkshakes from BurgerKing or McDonalds. He would also do ice cream. Since both of these might be a tad rich, he might have soft poo the next day but it was better than him getting dehydrated.

One other thing - do you use an alarm clock? My dogs and countless fosters learned what time to get up by the alarm clock. Once my alarm went off, the dogs knew it was time to get up and they would get up and wait for me. The fosters would go through a period of starting to get up before the alarm but, I would tell them to go back to sleep. Usually took a week or so but, they seemed to get the picture. Years ago I used to put the fosters in a cage in the dining room and then my dogs and I would go upstairs to the bedroom. Not surprisingly, the fosters would bark all night. I got rid of the crate and took the foster upstairs with the rest of us and he/she would sleep most of the night.

I guess my first question would be - where is he sleeping ... in the bedroom? If not, move his crate into the bedroom. Why is he still crated most of the time? Can you separate him from the cats and give him more free time out of the crate? Maybe put the cats in another room for a bit? Do you have a muzzle for him? How does he act around the cats?

Glad to hear he is doing better ... Is he on liquid valium for clusters? If so, how much? Lucy at about 70 pounds gets 16 ml. The reason that I ask is that regular vets may not understand the "rectal dosage". That happened with me, the regular vet prescribed 5 ml (???), luckily we were in the interim period until we could get to the neurologist and that got corrected once we saw the neurologist. Once you have the papers signed, I suggest getting an appointment with the neurologist just to make sure that you understand how to treat this at home (as much as you can) so you don't end up at the ER with each seizure as that can get very expensive very fast.

Did you use rectal valium and if yes, how much did you give? Lucy who is about 70 lbs, gets about 16 ml after each seizure (up to about 4 a day). The only reason that I ask is that when the regular vet prescribed the rectal valium, the dose was much too low - they prescribed the dose that you would get orally. Luckily when we saw the neurologist, all that got fixed before she started clustering a year later. Is he on seizure meds yet? If not, you need to get an appointment to see the neurologist as soon as possible. Note, if you go to a regular vet they will likely prescribe Pheno and once a dog gets on a seizure medicine, you are not likely going to be able to switch easily to different the meds. Pheno is not bad as a medicine, it is an old standby and the costs are reasonable but it can have side effects at the beginning (acting drunk) until the dose gets regulated and it can damage the liver so blood monitoring is essential. Zonisamide (and also Keppra), are relatively new drugs that are becoming prescribed more as the first drug (more zonisamide then Keppra) as they have relatively no side effects but can be more expensive - but, in some dogs it works for about a year and then the seizures start increasing and there is a need for a second medicine. None of the seizure drugs is perfect and that is why I recommend seeing a neurologist and getting detailed information on all of them so you can make an informed decision. But, if you already moving into clusters, you may not have that option. You might also think about whether he might have gotten into anything the last few days. For example, lead can cause seizures. Good Luck.. edited to add ... I reread your posts and it sounds like he has clustered - he has had more than 1 seizure in 24 hours. Did you use the Valium again this morning? If they did not give you enough valium, I would suggest heading to the ER to get more (and make sure right dose).

Lucy has been having seizures for about 2 1/2 years now. Some recommendations ... 1. Make an appointment with a neurologist. They will be able to describe the different medicines available and the pros and cons of each one. He/She should also show you how to give rectal Valium - this is used as a cluster buster (clusters is when they have more than one seizure in 24 hours). Becoming familiar with how to administer rectal Valium (if needed) can keep you and Coal out of the ER and keep the costs down associated with this disorder. 2. Start a book listing all the seizures including date and time and whether there was anything different that day (like using a new brand of cleaner or air freshener). Also include changes in diet. 3. Consider joining the facebook epilepsy page ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/9991858369/ ) or the mailing list ( http://http://www.canine-epilepsy.com ) - both have great information. 4. Most neurologists will consider starting medicines when the seizures are about 4 weeks apart. 5. You can use your regular vet for the seizures but, they usually do not know the latest medicines and they are not very familiar with rectal valium procedure. As noted by one of the above posters, there are quite a few on this forum with greyhounds that seizures, hopefully they will respond with more suggestions.

It may be too soon but, maybe think about volunteering for one of the greyhound groups in the area. The dogs that are in the cages awaiting adoption would love to have some pats and maybe a walk around the yard. It will not heal the empty spot in your heart - nothing will ever do that but, it will let you take one step forward. Yo could also check on fostering - sometimes older dogs are returned because of changes in situations and the people just can't keep the dog anymore. He/she might be housebroken and just need a place to stay until the adoption group can find a permanent home. While these dogs can go into the kennel, most can get depressed because they are used to being in a home. Both you and Zero are in my thoughts.

Good to hear that it went well for Kili and that she seems to be on the road of correcting the symptoms that you were seeing. As many have stated in their previous posts, their experiences were usually either pretty good or pretty bad.

How far away from your dog were you when the man tried to kick your dog? It sounds like air-snapping that greys do when they have something held over their heads but, the other gent would not know that. If you are in the park with your grey, you need to stay closer to your dog so that you can intervene if situations like this happen.

The only reason that Larry is continuing his treatments is that he is almost 12. If he was younger, I would have stopped the treatments after about 4 to 6 months which is when we saw the improvement. Larry likes the adjustments - he just stands there and listens. After his very first one, he went into a very deep relaxed sleep. Even after his treatments now, he is more relaxed and settles down to sleep afterwards.

My Larry has been getting adjusted on a monthly basis for about 1 1/2 years. His chiropractor is certified as an animal chiroprator which is important (it's an extra week or two of classes). I always make sure to say that I just want gentle adjustments. Having said that, I think it has done a world of good for Larry, He is going to be 12 this fall and still runs in the back and tries to play with my younger greys. He was starting to have problems getting up and down but that seems to have stabilized. His original complaint was that he was loosing muscle mass on one side at the rear and we originally thought that it might have been because of issues with his feet .. corns, fractured toe and a few other things that kept him from exercising for a about 6 months. We went to two neurologists (long story) to confirm that it was not LS and neither neurologist thought it presented that way. I've been to a chiropractor after being rear-ended twice in about 2 months and found that I couldn't turn my head - it helped but it took about 6 months, maybe just time alone would have also helped. I also had two herniated disks and I would not get near a chiropractor at that time because my back was "not stable". I currently do not go to a chiropractor as I have not found the need (or desire) to continue for myself. Larry's chirpractor also comes to my house, he says that adjusting in the office, or anyplace a dog is not familiar, is not as easy because the dogs are so tense.

Did they do a urine culture?

If he is on the 500 regular tid then my understanding is that he should be on the 500 ER bid - you don't increase the dosage to make it 1500mg for the day. Is this a neurologist or the regular vet prescribing it? I thought the same thing when I went from the ER to the regular, I thought it was going to be less money because less pills but it wasn't.

Are you getting a price for the 500 mg KeppraER bid or the 750mg KeppraER? I've found that the prices for the ER and the regular are pretty much the same for a months' supply but it can vary for both of these depending where you go?

Any chance it could be a spider bite ? They can cause swelling at the puncture site with opening up and draining - there are some pictures on the site but, I can't remember which threads. I did a quick look at the web and can't find anything but, as I mentioned, they had some great pictures on this site.

I'm so sorry to hear this news. It's heartbreaking ....

He's only 5 lbs over so not very critical ... more critical is to start the pills and watch to make sure no issues for at least 3 days. If there is a hint of excessive bleeding, up the dosage. Also, find out if there was excessive bleeding during the dental, if yes, then start at the higher dose. My interpretation of Amicar is that it is not a drug that "needs to build up to a level", if someone knows differently, hopefully they will correct. Also, make sure that you are not giving any fish oil pills as they act like aspirin and discourage clot formation. Supplements like this should be stopped 5 to 10 days before surgery. Just saw this -- hope Joey is OK.

There should not be a need to start the pills before the dental - just start the day of the dental. Start with the regular dose of 1 pill and if there is any excessive bleeding, increase to the 1 1/2 pill.

OK, if there is a foreign object there is no way to know whether all of it is out -- consider x-rays. If something is still left, it could cause a blockage.

What a beautiful boy and such a great picture! Throwing up bile before breakfast is usually indicative of an upset tummy from empty stomach - try giving some treat/cookies before he goes to sleep and see if it improves. Some new dogs might get worked up right before their breakfast because they get excited that's it's "almost time" to eat. If the cookie at night doesn't help, try giving a cookie first thing in the morning, right when he gets up. You could also add some cooked rice to the food with cooked hamburger but, that could get him too used to "good stuff" and make him a picky eater later on. If the vomiting continues, then he needs to go back to the vet or if diarrhea starts also go back to vet. If there is blood in the diarrhea or vomit, then back to vet ASAP.

Try the cranberry tablets. They actually make one that is especially for dogs that I used for Lucy when she had an active infection - problem is that the canine one is about $60.00 for 1 month. Before her infection and now after, I'm back to using the brand from CVS. You might also want to check what they are eating - can't remember off the top of my head but, some foods will produce more alkaline urine. I would also check with the vet and see where they stored the urine before it was tested. They may not have put it in the frig and just left it on the counter until they were going to test it - no sure if they will tell you the truth either or if they will even remember. I wouldn't be too worried but, I would try and track down what is going on. As you mentioned, alkaline urine can lead to crystals. Maybe take another sample in and see if you can stay while they test it -- or better still -- check your local pharmacy and see if they have the PH dipsticks - this would let you test it yourself. They are easy to read. As long as they don't have kidneys issues, maybe you want to increase their intake of meat - give a few more tablespoons of cooked hamburger and see if that decreases the PH.

Larry has corns and Lucy recently developed them. Larry's used to be kept in check by our old vet pretty good but, not as well with the new vet. I've been a little lax putting creams on (bag balm and kerasol) lately and the dremeling just doesn't seem to be helpful. I am going to try something new though, I picked up a pumice stone at the store and have used it the last three nights. You wet their paw and the stone and then just gently rub over the surface. It seems to have already helped Lucy as her corn is on the flat of the pad and it seems to have been taken enough down that she is walking better already. Larry's is going to take longer because it near the edge and it's harder to smooth it out.

I might suggest not giving any chicken at all and instead use beef chunks or hamburger (cooked) with rice and some pulverzed veggies. Today, chickens have too much antibiotics given to them which can play havoc with digestive systems (both human and canine). I might also suggest giving oatmeal (5 minute type) in one of the meals. It has fiber which helps to firm up the poop. All 3 of mine get between 1/2 to 1 cup of oatmeal in the morning along with hamburger although, you would probably want to start with just adding about 1/4 cup in to start.

Lucy also came up with similar results with the Total T4 <0.5 and everything else relatively normal. In her case, her seizures were escalating and since low thyroid could be the cause, we started thyroid meds. We started on a higher dose of thyroid meds then I would have liked but, she is going to get checked in about a week or so and we'll reconfirm the dose. Also, we had thyroid tests from before on her and she was in the normal range back then, so this set of blood work was different. You mentioned aggression and two scary incidents - can you explain a bit more. As some people have noted on the forum, low thyroid can cause aggressive tendencies - I haven't seen anything different in Lucy but, she's always been a .... diva ... and does not hesitate to put me or the boys in place so she does have her triggers ....

Did she by chance get into any standing water outside?