MaryJane

IMO, do the extra tests as you will not likely be able to do them after the series of antibiotics and get the same results. Tick borne diseases can be hard to get rid of and that's why I suggest doing the extra tests as I assume that they are going to do a titer and it's something that you might need later to check against to see if he is getting better (level going down). I would also wait (if there are not symptoms) on any extra thyroid tests (or supplements) until you have the tick borne disease taken care of -- that way you are dealing and fixing one medical issue before moving to the next.

Thanks for the heads up about the shot. Hope that Kai is feeling better

Thank you for sharing photos of your beautiful girl and condolences on your loss.

I may have misunderstood - were you looking for a home-made kibble recipe or just regular home made food?

IMO, it's from the blood draw. Most vets and techs now seem to want to take it from the jugular but, I'm always worried about something going wrong when they take it from the throat (like the excessive bruising and even bleeding that yours is experiencing) so I tell them that they are ONLY to take it from the leg. They will usually tell me that that it's harder to get it from the leg but, they haven't had a problem so far on any of my big dogs.

Welcome back!

Keep a tight lead until your dog learns not to pull. Also, if the leash is too loose and they spot something and take off, they can pull you down if they have enough slack in the leash. With some of my fosters that were tall enough, I would hold them by the D-ring on their martingales and keep them right by my side. I would walk about 10 minutes and then pick a spot where I can let them sniff a bit and then tighten the lead back up and walk another 10 or so minutes - all business and very little fun on the walk. You should be able to walk the dog after a few days without having your arm pulled out of it's socket. Note, if the dog is really pulling bad and there is a chance he might get loose - use a halter also and clip the leash onto the halter and then tie it on the martingale's d-ring - I used to do this with most of my fosters the first few times I took them for a walk. On the walk, sometimes it helps if you walk faster but, in one case that I had I found that walking very slow did the trick. You also want to do figure-8's in the road - pick a very quiet street to do this. Just walk a figure-8 (quickly) with the dog on the left side and as you go through the curves you are either pulling him or pushing him into the curves and it really helps to teach the dog to stay with you - again, you need a short leash until he learns. Don't do too many in a day because I find this really tires them out quickly.

I just wanted to mention that this was a very thoughtful and thorough answer. I haven't heard about the neospora in raw meat before so thank you for providing that information. I might add that feeding raw in homes where there are children or immune compromised individuals can be a questionable practice especially when raw chicken is being fed because of bacteria like e.coli or salmonella and in some cases shigella all of which tend to be present on chicken because of the way that they are eviscerated at the slaughterhouse.

I think everyone has already covered the current situation so I won't go there. What I'd like to mention is whether you think that your BF will be comfortable staying with the dog for 4 nights while you are away. It sounds like your situation is easily manageable but, it really doesn't depend on my opinion - it is your BF's that counts. And it sounds like he is willing to go to obedience classes so that is really good. You might want to discuss with him what he will be comfortable with and whether you need to make any alternate plans for your trip .. just in case. It might just be talking to the adoption agency and seeing if there is a greyhound savy person available to talk to if he runs into any issues (or even making sure that he knows about this site so he can post any question if he can't get in touch with you Good luck

I didn't read through all the entries and I do apologize if this has already been covered but, are you going outside with her to make sure that she goes pee or is she just being let out by herself.

It might be a good idea to check to see how all the other dogs that were on the same road trip are doing. Also, were other dogs picked up along the way and were any non-greyhounds. On second thought, have they checked for meningitis or septicemia - that would cause the fevers and stiffness and would not be readily apparent in generic tests. Although, the symptoms you describe really do seem to present more as a tick borne disease especially something like Lyme ... Another possibility might be a spider/snake/insect bite - it would be more common in the south then in the New England area and could be missed on an initial exam.

This one looked nice as it had two handles and you could either help at the front or the rear. Would it still work on a dog that had either a front or rear leg amputation?

that picture is just too cute! hope he feels better

I tried years ago and I gave up because all the recipes were just too complex and it took too long. Currently, I just give home-made food like rice, meat, and vegetables but, it would be great to have a food that I can travel with easily.

I would also suggest x-rays especially since his happened more than 1 week ago and your last post indicates that he is still recovering. IMO, you might also want to hold up on the injections until after x-rays.

Welcome from Mass - looking forward to seeing pictures

Welcome from Mass - nice pictures!

My condolences - I'm so sorry.

At this point you might want to consider doing home-cooked food. If you are on home-cooked, you can also do an elimination diet and find out what foods are the trigger points. If home-cooked is too pricey, you can also do a 50/50 home-cooked and kibble just as long as you can find a kibble they can tolerate.

What about just taking her to the car and getting her in and then taking her out immediately without going anyplace. Then take a little walk around the block and do the same thing again. If it turns out the problem is more getting her to the car then start by getting as close as you can to the car and then turn in another direction and walk down the street and then on the way back try getting close again to the car. As someone mentioned - it will take patience but, you should be able to work it through given enough time.

You may want to check how he is sleeping on his couch before this happens - is he sleeping on a particular side, is his throat really stretched out, is he curled up, is his nose against the pillows, is his head buried in the pillows .... I'm sorta maybe thinking something like a sleep apnea ... maybe he is sleeping in a way that is briefly obstructing his airway and then he wakes abruptly and is panting to get more air.

You may want to check with your vet about putting her on cranberry pills. I have one of my greyhounds that had a UTI on these pills.

I had one that I used for meet-n-greets - I would put the dog in it so he/she could get some rest especially if it was a "new one" that was not used to the activity. I loved mine, I could set it up in less than 5 minutes and take it down in the same amount of time - it was also incredibly light and easy to carry (it even had shoulder straps). BUT, my dog figured out how to open the zipper and eventually he broke it. I would never leave a dog in it without someone right there as a dog could eventually get out of it so they would really need to be watched.

Since one of the symptoms of Lyme disease is kidney issues, you might want to pick up the urine dipstixs for protein and just check your dog urine (first catch) once a week for any trace levels of protein in the urine.

It's hard to do but, maybe it's better just not to let him eat any plants - move them all so they are away from his reach. You might also try giving him some of the crunchy part of a romaine lettuce - that seems to satisfy my dogs and keeps them away from the plants.