moofie

I don't know what a 'cup' equates to as it's not a measurement Brits use. On current kibble they get the following: Hattie 26kg 320grams per day Throp 29kg 360g Pru 27kg 360g Can be more or less depending on quality of the kibble, a cheap brand we were given at adoption we fed about 500g but was all unknown cereals & meat derivatives so not surprising really.

The greyhound groups tend to advise feeding <20% protein for retired greys. I personally feel its a bit simplistic and doesn't take into account the quality of the protein source or quantity fed. I occasionally feed a wet food which is labelled as 12% protein but if you remove the moisture content to compare properly with kibble its actually much higher.

http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/ Is useful to compare and gives info on ingredients. I personally wouldn't feed the supadog one but know lots do and are happy with it. In that price range is Autarky salmon (chicken isn't as good) and Skinner's field & trial duck or salmon & rice which are better ingredients wise and are VAT free . I order online with free delivery so that increases options on whats stocked locally My greyhounds have done well on both, but it can be trial & error as to what suit's I've one grey that gets toxic farts & sloppy poops on any chicken kibble.

I vaccinate my dogs, at the moment its feel its best and is also required as blood donors. They go annually but our vets use the nobivac 3yr one so inbetween they get lepto & I think influenza as they only last a year. We don't go abroad to need rabies and I don't bother with the kennel cough one.

welcome to GT! Do you live near the Nottinghamshire border?

Hattie doesn't really chew the antlers at all, Throp likes them and has a short chew few times a day but has barely made a dent in it and Pru the bull lurcher wears it down much quicker than Throp . I got mine from Antler dog chews which also sell halved antlers as an easy chew option so plan to order one of those to try with Hattie.

I feed mine on Skinners Field & Trial Salmon & Rice, its a good budget hypoallergenic food and as classed as working dog food saves 20% on VAT straight off, it seems to have gone down well with 4 dogs i've fed on it. If there's not a local stockist its easy to order online which saves a journey and is often cheaper. Also like Fish4dogs (can make savings not buying direct from F4D), which 2 of my dogs are on at the moment as i bought bulk when on offer, it became too expensive but didn't notice much change going onto the skinners. The skinners duck version is similar to Burns,but is about £22 rather than £50 per 15kg Skinners- Whole rice (40%), duck meat meal (20%), naked oats, peas, whole linseed, sunflower oil, beet pulp, vitamins and minerals. Crude Protein 22%, Crude Oils & Fats 11%, Crude Fibre 3.5%, Crude Ash 5%, Burns Brown Rice (63%), Duck Meal (22%), Oats, Peas, Duck Fat, Sunflower Oil, Seaweed, Vitamins & Minerals. Crude Protein 18.5%, Crude Oils & Fats 8%, Crude Fibre 2%, Crude Ash 6.5%,

Its sad that there isn't a standard set yet. I don't expect great things from our car harnesses in a crash, but they do prevent the dogs leaping out the car which could equally be fatal. We couldn't fit 2 crates in our current car, going to look into the more heavy duty car ones for future car as that seems the safest option available, though they seem pricey.

Been to see the same vet at his referral practice today (i think its also his home), he gave Hattie a check over and feels that as she's responded so quickly to the medication (behaving pretty much as normal now) that just crate rest for a month and then 3x5min walks per day building up by 2 minutes per day will hopefully do the trick & prevent further damage. He showed us scans of other dogs disc issues to explain the 3 common things that could happen, bulging, moving into spinal chord and pinching it and a piece of disc exploding into the chord causing damage along the way. We found that interesting, one scan was a Dachshunds. Vet also mentioned she had some tension in her right elbow/shoulder, which i think would be the inside leg on the track so could be old. Hattie was very well behaved and made the vet laugh as she was like a statue being checked over, but not relaxed enough for his reflex reaction tests. Its been hard to keep Hattie from trying to jump up on the sofa, us and the fence to look for cats just in the short time she gets out of the crate. Thankfully, is not too much of a hardship for a greyhound on crate rest though and she has the best spot next to the radiator in this cold weather as our house can be drafty.

Thanks for the replies, glad to hear Doc & Sam are feeling better now. I'll look into a doggie chiropractor, i've used an osteopath myself in the past which was helpful. I need to check the insurance policy too as not sure what the coverage is for complimentary care which i think chiro and hydrotherapy etc will fall into. Its a shame as i wanted to switch Hattie & Throp to a higher cover policy but DH didn't get round to sorting it out so now were stuck with them, sods law! Hattie seems to be feeling better now with the meds and is getting about ok, she even trotted off to the kitchen on hearing the biscuit tin last night. She does have a slight limp (it is the disc near pin bones) and is on crate rest as she will try to clamber on the sofa and it avoids other dogs knocking her, luckily for a greyhound its not much hardship. We've only just bought the crate for Pru as she jumps the dog gate when left, so not sure what i'm going to do with her as don't think we've room for a 2nd. We've an appointment at the referral practice Friday morning with the same vet i think, so expect we'll know more then.

Good to hear the chiropractor has worked well for Lou, will keep that in mind for future. I've a dodgy back myself so can sympathise.

Do you feel they would have given better care then? Not that OSU is an option to us and will see what this vet advises next, he seemed good at least. Just hoping won't be a massive bill & they except direct payment from the insurance company.

Been to the vets with Hattie tonight as she was acting oddly when we got home, standing looking distant with head down and occasionally looking at flanks or bowing to stretch The few times she did try to lay down, she yelped when getting up. Vet checked her over and she's hurt the L7 disc so has had an injection tonight and some Predniscare & Tramadol for the next few days and told to rest up for a month (no sofa/stairs or walks). Hattie does seem a bit better now and has finally gone to sleep but was up & down earlier and panting a lot, felt terrible seeing her so uncomfortable. Luckily the vet that came in to see us was the orthopaedic specialist, he runs the sister referral practice and suggested we book a follow up appointment there to have it properly looked into. Not sure if anyone can offer advise with it still rather vague, but any support is welcome. Preparing to sleep downstairs tonight, time to test the new sofa bed. Thankfully Throps toe lump seems to have just about healed and were done with the paw baths, but will be fun trying to manage him & Pru (heffalump) so they don't bump Hattie.

We've an Aldi locally, though i prefer the similar Lidl. We occasionally go and most food is fine, some things are more expensive than our usual supermarket and the choice is less so i don't do a full shop there. I hate the checkouts where they sling everything through so fast, even if your the only person there. Do they have the random special offer items over there like gardening, cycling, DIY stuff?

Hi Andy That's a lovely picture of you and Billy. Misty looks very regal enjoying the sunshine, pretty girl

Won't it absorb the bleach mix? The company we bought our antler chews from suggested soaking them overnight in a fridge to make them more appealing

Ace is a cute stalker Hattie sometimes stares at me and if i catch her gaze for too long she'll come over to me, usually she wants some fuss. Throp only tends to stare at me if he's hoping for some food (his true love).

That's the third grey in this post whose sire is Premier Fantasy. Even though he's black and white, he must be the carrier of that dun color. Though I'm just guessing, here, since I know zilch about genetics. Yes he does carry the dun gene, Premier County also threw some duns. Premier Fantasy is Throp's daddy.

GGG info -its the biggest greyhound event, with many RGT branches attending. There's lots of shopping opportunities and is a fun day even if you don't enter the showing (i don't have the patience). Perry Barr's show is also good. Beau is very cute with his grey silver accents, whoever takes Hall Greens photo's does a wonderful job.

I love checking out available hounds online even though i'm not looking to add . Ace is a good name and he doesn't really seem a Geoffrey. I'm glad the adoption went well and Its good to know what experiences people have with different groups. Are you going to the Great Greyhound Gathering next month? Hahaha! I know someone who'd think that a distinct advantage, as long as they were rich, single men who loved greyhounds. that wouldn't be my luck!

Welcome to GT! Ace is gorgeous and looks such a chilled out chap . Is he from Hall Green RGT saw a similar spotty hound on their site recently?

Is this what your looking for? http://www.greythealth.com/blood.html

I use a head collar and harness on Hattie with a double ended lead linking them as she's reactive to cats/squirrels i was finding it hard to control her during her spins/lunges as she's so strong. I'd tried martingale, WWW Harness and a combination of both before getting the head collar. I tend to hold lead with the tension to the harness and slack to the head collar to avoid her lunging into it if she spots something before me and i just bring her in close when she does react. It has made it much easier for me to walk Hattie past the critters and her reactions seem to have improved also, though were still a long way off her ignoring them. You may find a harness works well enough, the wiggles, wags one worked great for my other dog that initially pulled and does make Hattie more manageable than just the martingale alone.

Thanks I'm glad to see its worked well for most dogs at least. I'll perhaps stick with the enzyme toothpaste i've got for Hattie for the time being and just use it on Throp as looks like it will be too costly for both even at maintenance level. Shame its so much more expensive in UK, i'll have to look into shipping costs from US to see if that's an option but would probably be my luck to get stung by customs!

I'm glad your happy with the results It seems like its sold on Amazon through the same UK company so is same price unfortunately, though possibly some saving on the deliver charge. So do you think you need to use less than the suggested initial dose of 1tsp per day for large dogs for greys? As don't think the 4oz bottle would last a month that dosage, unless i've calculated it wrongly which is possible .