MaryJane

He looks great - good news that he is on the mend.

Up his food to about 3 cups a day. While having the last two ribs visible is OK, the spine, hip bones, and the rest of the ribs shouldn't be that visible. My new boy was just about two when I got him and he is also a "lanky" boy who is underweight (I called him my giraffe - all legs that he quite doesn't know what to do with). He gets about 3 cups in the morning and again at night and he still has some more filling out to do.

I'm so sorry that you have had so much grief.

I might suggest that you eat organic chicken - no antibiotics. Beef has more fat than chicken which is why most people think chicken is better. Cows also get antibiotics but it seems better regulated than the antibiotics chickens get. Do a google search "antibiotics in beef" and "antibiotics in chicken"

You can do a diet of hamburger (lean 90%), rice and veggies. DO NOT use chicken - chicken are fed so much antibiotics that some doctors think it causes IBD in people because it removes the "good bacteria" in the system and leaves the harder to kill "bad bacteria". Cattle are fed antibiotics but, less than chickens. The Economist magazine just had a great article about the "bacteria in the gut". For my dogs - they get about 2 cups of rice, between 1/3 to 1/2 cup of cooked hamburger, and 1/4-1/2 cup of cooked veggies for dinner. They get about 1 to 1/2 cup of oatmeal, 1/4 cup of grits, and 1/3-1/2 cup of hamburger for breakfast. They also get some snacks during the day (toast/peanut butter and applesauce/yogurt). You can also give them cheerios (unsweetened). Sometimes I add a touch of molasses to the cereal. For supplements - they each get 1 multivitamin a day - regular one not a man's or women's. the larger boys get 4 calcium pills (500 each) a day - the girl gets 3 calcium a day (NO vitamin D added), and 1 fish oil supplement for each one daily. You want to think about getting a probiotic and maybe giving some yogurt daily. I used Dr. Remaillard to get the basic recipe for home-feeding - she now has her own web site. You can give more hamburger but, you want to do kidney/urine tests to make sure that he can handle it. I've had dogs with kidney issues and because of that, had to keep protein levels low.

Glad to hear that he's home and doing better. Did they do a urine by any chance?

Have you thought about contacting one of the lurcher organizations in the states and see if they will do an adoption out of country?

Hester is a handsome boy! Just curious - is he wearing a raincoat?

Adam, my new boy has something similar, just not as red. He's currently on an eye ointment with a steroid to keep the itchiness down but I notice that he does still has bouts of wanting to scratch it during the day and since he still has his dewclaws, he can really do some damage. It's gotten better, but I do have to watch him all the time so he doesn't scratch. I don't have him on Benedryl - both my vet and I wanted to see how he does with just the eye ointment.

Any diarrhea, vomiting in the past? What type of food is he being fed? This might suggest a few things - one that comes to mind is that there might be some immune issue going on - maybe chronic allergic reaction to something in the food ... a tick borne issue - Lyme would be one of my first thoughts but you have tested for that but, there are others. Was a urine done (first catch)? If you can, post the results.

Make the oatmeal with beef stock and see if she likes it better.

The cake probably has artificial sweeteners - you need to get the ingredient list and if there are "strange sugars" then you are likely going to need to get in touch with a poison call center. You can try your vet but, they are likely not going to know and will refer you to the "poison line". edited to add -- I noticed that you are on Nantucket - you can try calling Angel Animal Hospital in Boston - it has a great ER and they can provide you the poison call center #.

Try giving some oatmeal - It's a heavy food and it might make her feel fuller. You could also try potatoes ... Try some roasted carrots and she if she likes that.

I'm sorry for your loss.

IMHO, if there is some abdominal distress giving a Tramadol without food is going to make it worse. Also, I'm not sure what the "no feeding" is going to accomplish - you would be better off giving a bland diet of hamburger (cooked) and rice so that there is something easy to digest in the stomach. If you think it is IBD, then pick up the ZD and give that with rice. If you are not feeding at all, then chances are you might start having some vomiting occurring (bile) which makes everything worse .... Hope you find out what the issue is ...

I agree with the others that his behavior is more about "wanting" to be the dominant dog rather than being it. By his actions he is getting ready to act without being provoked. I might guess that some owners might not want to hear that though and may decide that they like their dog to be "dominant" rather than "fearful". The key here is to get the dog to be "confident" because in that case, they are comfortable in all situations and as a result of that, they don't need to be dominant. In this case, you can help diffuse the situations by not allowing the behavior to escalate - the minute it starts, get him to focus on you and not the other dog. As others have suggested - do not do head on meetings with other dogs. i would also go one step further and keep any contact with other dogs on the street to a minimum until he can meet them without trying to be dominant. Also, training classes will really help in having the dog develop confidence.

Even though the dog seems fine, you probably should get her to the vet to get examined. As someone mentioned, there might be burns that you are not seeing. Also, the shock can cause problems with the electrical system of the heart and these problems may not be immediately evident after it happens - could take a few days... even a week.

Why did she go on Pheno? seizures? If so, did you go to a neurologist or was it the regular vet that prescribed the pheno? It's tough changing the meds once the dog is on them and as others mentioned, more chance to have more seizures while you are decreasing one and increasing another. Sometimes the pheno makes them more hungry so you might want to up the fiber in the meal so that she feels fuller - maybe add cooked green beans. Also, give something before she goes to bed.

Good to hear that Rogan is healing and he looks great in the video - his little prance to kick off the booties is too much ...

Cooked green beans, carrots, or brocolli for vegetables. Peel sweet potatoes, slice thin, and cook for about 20 minutes at 325 or so and they turn into "chips". Rice, potatoes, cornmeal, and noodles and you can also give oatmeal, grits, or cereal like cheerios (you have to check sugar content on processed cereal though). You can also give applesauce (no sugar added) and some like cucumbers.

I'm sorry for your unexpected loss.

You might try feeding some of the IAMs green bag and see if that helps as that contains the beet pulp.

... hope they find what is wrong and fix it quickly.

Muzzles are a necessity. Don't spend time on introducing them -- instead just start walking them in neutral territory and walk fast, not slow. If you can, walk side by side ... if not, then one ahead of the other. If you have any incidents the first time then keep on trying. Once you can walk them together, let them get closer to one another and sniff and see where it goes from there. edited to add - if you are walking side to side, always keep one person between the dogs.

Chances are they are fine but, you might want to do an anal gland check and maybe a urinalysis on their next vet visit. My dogs seem (could be my imagination though) to get more sniffy when one has anal glad or a UTI both of which has been making the rounds in my house lately .