MaryJane

Glad to hear that he came through the surgery OK. Are they using amicar for the bleeding? Greyhounds have "funny platelets" and there can be a concern after a surgery like this that causes excessive bleeding as it helps to keep the clots intact - you might want to have the vet check this out.

Hope that all goes OK.

Proteins like chicken and turkey are just fed so many "antibiotics" on the farm and IMO, that might be a contributing factors to issues like IBD. Have you tried fish like Tilapia - someone else on the site had an IBD dog that they used this fish and it seemed to work. They also made dehydrated treats from the fish. I'm sorry that you are going through this - it's tough but hopefully he will stabilize and then start to gain weight.

I would be very concerned because at this point you do not know if it is likely to happen again or if it was likely a one time occurrence only. Ask the vet and get all the details in writing so that you can give it to other vets as necessary.

If the smell was that bad then he might have a nasty bacteria which will likely need some Flagyl to clear it up. Also, you might want to feed hamburger and rice for a few days - that is easy on the digestive tract.

f it was just diarrhea or just vomiting it might be able to wait a day or so but, with both vomiting and diarrhea and especially since the diarrhea has blood this becomes an emergency and the dog needs to get to the vet as soon as possible.

Do you think it is the fish or the fish oil? The reason that I ask is that many pets foods are now adding fish oil to their recipes.

Keep the muzzle on and give it a a week or so and see whether the behavior settles a bit. As already noted, this is probably the first stuffie that she might have ever seen and played with and she just wants to keep her "toy" and is giving a warning to the other dogs that it's hers. You might want to pick up all the stuffies and put them away - you don't want to have any aggression coming out when you are not prepared to deal with it. Take the girl outside, assuming you have a fenced in yard, and throw the stuffie for her and let her play with it and then at the end ... take it away. Note, that you will need to be careful taking it away because she might not want to give it up so you also want to have some treats in your pocket to do a "trade-up.

Someone mentioned a vet place in Mass - I just wanted to mention that I took my angel Onyx to Angel Memorial in Boston for his osteosarcoma amputation and treatment and I was satisfied with the result although I think (not sure) if I had to do it again I might drive out to OSU. Onyx had quite a bit of bruising after and I think with "today's treatment of this disease" at OSU they would have been controlled the bleeding better with the amicar ... although back when my Onyx went through this no one was using amicar yet.

IMO, soak them in warm water with some salts and then put on Bag balm and if the dog will not lie down for about 30 minutes, cover with baby socks otherwise, you can leave uncovered. If you don't see improvement in 1 week, you might need to check for a fungal/bacterial condition.

Hope the spay goes OK.

My dogs are on home-cooked with one having a kidney issue and food allergies for years now and the other a seizure dog. One needs preservative free food while the other one cannot have chicken & noodles and needs low but good protein. Basically, each dog gets fed twice a day and their evening meal is about 2 to 2 1/2 cups white rice with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup veggies like cooked green beans, peas, carrots and between 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cooked hamburger or meat chunks. In the morning they get about 1 to 1 1/4 cup of cooked oatmeal with about 1/2 to 1 cup of rice or potatoes with some milk and a bit of molasses and between 1/4 to 1/2 cup of meat chunks/hamburger. I don't feed chicken and very rarely do I feed pork. For supplements my 85 pound dog gets 4 calcium pills a day (two at each meal) - the oyster shell ones and make sure there is NO added vitamin D. My 68 pound girl gets 3 calcium pills a day. They each get one fish oil and a multivitamin each day. For the morning snack they get some toast and then about 1 teaspoon of peanut butter. Their evening snack is a tablespoon or two of yogurt (whole milk) and a tablespoon of applesauce. You can substitute the rice for something like elbow macaroni which is what my new dog gets.

IMO, if my dog didn't enjoy it I wouldn't take them back. See if you can get a dog walker for a few times a week.

I'm sorry that you have to face this devastating news. As others have said, there are different treatment options available and there are many on the forum that can share their experiences with you.

Just wanted to add that you might want to ask the vet for "rectal Valium" so you would have it in an emergency. Sometimes dogs will have very long seizures and after a certain point, they will need Valium (or something similar) to break it otherwise, you run the risk of brain damage. There is also a chance that your dog could start to cluster -- have multiple seizures over a 24 hour period and again, Valium would be used to break the the occurrences. Chances are you would never need it but, after Lucy's second seizure I got enough Valium for one event and once I got to the neurologist he prescribed enough Valium for about 15 events.

Has he ever been evaluated by a neurologist .. if not, then I would take him. It can take a month or more to find a neurologist and to get an appointment. Dogs can have one seizure and never have another but, if Henry has already had three then he is not in that group. Seizures can be triggered by many things - do you use pinesol in the house or Lysol - sometimes that strong cleaning smell can trigger a seizure. Have you had work done in the house and did any paint get disturbed -- lead poisoning can cause seizures. Sometimes fear/anxiety can act as a trigger. My Lucy started her seizures last March of 2011 and her next one was in August of 2011 and then in September and then in October .. usually seizures start to get closer and closer so, you need to be keeping track of when the seizures are occurring, how long it lasted, and the dog's state before and after the seizure. Lucy started seizure medicine in October of 2011. Each neurologist has their own procedures but, most appear to look at drug therapy once the seizures are occurring around once a month.

Maybe I'm a little off here but, if your dog is not trained enough that you cannot reach down and slowly take away whatever your dog is chewing on then he should not be chewing on it in the first place. It takes time to accomplish this - I have a new boy in my house and he is still not fully trained to "give it up" so, neither him or the other dogs in the house get "high value treats".

This is the link that I have used for consultations - I'm not sure if it is the same web site for in-person visits. https://greyhound.osu.edu/consultationservice/consultation/index.cfm I believe one of the vets that usually looks at the forms is out of the country caring for parents - I'm not sure when she is due back. You might have better luck contacting them directly. Good Luck

I would head to the vet. Three of my greyhounds have had something similar over the years. In two cases they had to have foreign bodies removed and stitches and in one case where there was no evidence of a foreign body, the leg was wrapped to keep the swelling down and he was back at the vets every few days for rechecks and that continued for about 3 weeks. In all three cases, they were on antibiotics for infection ....

Give the green beans but cook them, don't use the canned because they have salt.

First, I'm sorry about your condition. As you stated, both you and your wife are under quite a bit of stress. I also think that your dog should have a vet visit as not eating for 3 days could be a symptom of other things and at his age he should probably be checked out thoroughly. I hope it turns out to just be an upset stomach.

Does he get better or worse the longer he is exposed to the new environment? You mentioned "his brain shuts off" - not sure what that means.... How does he react in a pet store?

Just an update that mixing in some of the Sachla is still working OK for my newest boy Adam but, in additional conversations with the company it looks like they do not do their own processing - they use a processing plant that other dog food companies use and this likely means that there is a potential for cross contamination. I will be asking them about that in my next email to them.

Love the pictures and I'm truly amazed at how bonded they seem already ...

I'm sorry to hear about the issues Harley is having with IBD - it sounds like a constant battle. You might want to try one of the grain free dog foods from this manufacturer http://www.annamaet.com/html/grain_free_petfood.html They have a lamb & venison and a fish that are not "limited ingredient" but, there are not many "strange ingredients in the food. I'm trying the chicken one on my newest dog and it seems to be OK. Natural Balance also has a vegetarian formula in addition to their "limited ingredient" that you might want to consider.