MaryJane

If you are going to catch urine try and get the first morning specimen because you will get more accurate results for the specific gravity part of the test. If they check for a UTI, they will not just be doing a "test strip" - they will have to do a culture and sensitivity. Before you collect the urine, you might want to try and "clean her" so the sample will not be contaminated. I suggest that you go to the vet beforehand and get a sterile container to use for the collection. My girl squats pretty low but I was able to get it under her OK - what caused a problem is that she just didn't like me following her around the yard. Note, it's best to get the "middle part" of the urine stream.

My Lucy had been doing the same thing and it turned out to be mostly caused by a UTI which was treated with antibiotics and since then I have her on daily cranberry pills. She has had one or two accidents since then and I make sure that she goes out at least every 4 hours to empty herself. She's also a marker - so sometimes even though she has just gone, she didn't empty completely which sometimes gives me a "false sense of security in that she just went so she doesn't have to go again.

If my dogs have growths that are getting bigger I will usually have them removed and biopsied as a matter of course. If they need to go under anesthesia, I will try and have it done at the same time as another procedure (like a dental).

This happened twice to my Larry's one front foot and we never discovered what the problem was. But, he did get put on antibiotics just in case it was infection related and his foot was also wrapped up (to act like a compression stocking). It did go away in a few weeks.

As noted in this post, higher liver enzymes can be indicative of an exposure to a toxic substance which the "liver is clearing out". That substance could have been in the backyard (mushrooms come to mind) or medicines that the dog is on, maybe even something "dead" they picked up on a walk. Could also be something sprayed on a neighbor's lawn which managed to get on the borders of your yard. As suggested, repeat the tests in a few weeks and see if they drop. If they are still high you might want to consider additional tests such as x-rays, ultrasound and as mentioned above "bile acids" (I'm not familiar with this test myself).

This is the second year for both of mine, Larry & Lucy, getting the Lyme vaccine and while I was very hesitant about doing it - neither of them have had a problem or reactions.

I almost exclusively use beef chunks and occasionally hamburg for their dinner. I get London Broil, chuck roasts, sirloins, whatever is on sale for the week and it get quickly fried up. Their dinner also includes veggies and rice. I might occasionally mix in a small amount of pork. For breakfast they either get eggs or meat chunks with cooked oatmeal and grits. During the day they also get toast, applesauce/apples, and yogurt. They also get supplements of Calcium, vitamins, and fish oil. I stay away from chicken and turkey because Larry is very sensitive to chicken and gets extremely bad diarrhea when he gets any (this was also an issue with my "angel Jake"). I also stay away from noodles because Larry is also sensitive to that. Larry has some slight kidney issues (lower than normal specific gravity and slightly high creatinne) and as a result is on a slightly lowered protein (and phosphorous) diet.

Is it hair loss or hair thinning on the body? Are there large bare spots or is it uniformly thin? This could still be sensitivity/allergy to some food or maybe pollen. If I was in your shoes the simplest thing would be to try a bland diet with meat (not chicken unless you get diarrhea on the meat and then you would switch to the chicken), rice, and veggies for a few weeks and see if it improves. I would also add 1 fish oil capsule daily. A second thought, what does your greyhound lie on? Any chance that the material of the dog bed or the detergent that was used to clean it may be causing some irritation? As others suggested, check the thyroid also.

Welcome from Mass ... Your "Buffy" is such as sweet looking pup!

Have you thought about a home-made diet. It's a bit of work and more expensive but, it will accomplish what you want. Also, dog food manufacturers are able to change the dog food ingredients at any time and if you find something that works now, they may change the ingredients without any notice and it might not work in a few months. I feed my dogs rice, meat chunks, and veggies with additions like toast (which would not work in your house), yogurt, and applesauce. You can also make dog treats out of sliced roasted sweet potatoes.

Why does it have to be gluten free? They might do better on a food WITH gluten. I was going to say this exact same thing! Grain-free seems to be the "in diet" and I'm not sure that it helps unless there is a documented sensitivity to a particular grain or gluten.

You may want to run this past Dr Couto's team at Ohio State University. Platelets seem to be an issue with greyhounds .. not sure if they just run low or they tend to clump making them seem lower than they are. I also seem to remember that with greyhound surgery the vet should keep some special medicine around ... I think it's called amicar to control bleeding but hopefully someone else on the thread will confirm the name of it.

I might suggest rubbing some "bag balm" on the pads that have the corns. I do this regularly on my greyhound and along with "dremeling" seems to keep the corns somewhat under control.

Great information - thanks for posting! IMO, I would still do free catches with my dogs, at least at the beginning, because I have found (in my experience) that the "needle" has a great chance of introducing bacteria.

One thought that I had after my post is that a severe and overwhelming infection could also cause extreme shaking (like chills) and maybe this is what happened and not a seizure. You might want to check with the vet if this is a possibility. Hope that there is still improvement

You might want to consider having a urinalysis and a culture done to rule out a urinary tract infection which could cause the symptoms that you are describing.

If he is swallowing a ton of air that can be a precursor to bloat. Also, dogs that have bloat will do the "swallowing"

It sounds like you have a definitive diagnosis and with an "infection" getting them on the right antibiotic is key. Hoping that you will start to see improvement.

In your case I would ask myself whether the diarrhea will clear up once the chemo stops, in other words, is the diarrhea a short term issue. Also, as was already mentioned, can the diarrhea be helped with medicine/diet changes. In the interim, can you get diapers so that the entire bed is not soiled? Granted, you are dealing with the cancer which is long term.

Nothing to add except that I'm sorry that you're going through this.

This is a very good point. There are good "wags" and there are bad "wags". If it is a stiff wag with short distance span and if the tail is pretty high up - it's excitement with dominance and the dogs are checking each other out and haven't decided whether they like each other yet. If it is a bad wag going even "badder", the dog might almost draw himself up to be higher. Sometimes if you look really closely, you might see a little bit of the ruff on the neck. A good wag is usually low, relaxed and seems to have a wider side span. A good check is to see their posture when they greet you after an absence - usually that will be the "good wag".

I'm glad that you are seeing improvement and hope that it continues. The white blood cell count of 90,000 is really high and IMO might indicate a pretty severe and fast acting infection taking place. You might want to check to see if the vet checked her temperature.

The first thing I would be worried about is Lyme disease and I just googled "lyme in dogs" and losing hair at the site does not appear as a symptom although, you probably want to watch for Lyme symptoms over the next few weeks.

Larry has had corns for years and I use a dremel on them. I also use "bag balm" to moisten his pads and that helps soften them up. I would suggest that you use the "bag balm" for a few weeks (twice a day or so) and see if that helps. Just rub the ointment into all his paws - try and do at when he will be lying down for awhile. Good luck

I agree with the last few posts, it's not time to take her back to the dog park .. in fact she may never want to go back there or feel comfortable there. Right now she just needs to feel safe so I would suggest doing short walks but ones that she has never been on before and, don't go near the park. Try a few minutes a day and see if you can work up to going on 45 minutes walks a day. I would also limit activity with other dogs, especially groups of dogs even if they are greyhounds (at least at first) until she starts to feel more comfortable in her own space. Let her just "exist" with just her and your other dog.