PatricksMom

Henry pooped! The vet would still like to do the xray, in case there's something trapped in the small intestine, but this is a good sign. Also a reminder I know way more about my dogs' bathroom habits than mine.

Thanks, I must have lost ours in the move, but I'll pick some up when I'm at the pharmacy today. Thanks. I'm also firmly convinced sometimes our furry family members are waiting until we spend that magic amount on them to suddenly recover.

Henry slept like a rock through the night (on top of me so I know he wasn't waking up), this morning isn't straining, just has zero interest in pooping. Marking, yes. I just got back from our vet. The good news from the xrays/rectal exam: an empty stomach (not surprising since he didn't eat breakfast), a little excess gas in the small intestine but nothing unusual, normal looking stool in the large intestine, with nothing to suggest any blockage. The bad news: he still won't poop and is on the agitated side and his stomach/intestinal region is sensitive to palpatation. I went ahead and had her give him barium, he goes back for x-rays this afternoon and tomorrow morning, to rule out the possibility he ate string or a sock or something that isn't showing up on the standard xrays. He's otherwise seems fine, vitals are all normal, but something feels wrong to me. Of course its Henry, he gets finicky about stuff, and he could just be being weird. Will keep you posted.

A mile walk later, Henry is happily walking and peeing on everything in sight. No straining or attempting to poop. He pooped normally in this morning, he just seems a bit off and DH woke me up to say he had been straining in the yard. He's done this before, just not in the middle of the night, of course.

Henry's a bit off this evening--he tends to have periodic stomach problems but he won't settle down and he's straining when outside without actually pooping this evening. He's climbing on furniture and whatnot so while uncomfortable I don't think he's in actual pain. His stomach is a bit sensitive to the touch but not at all rigid and he has some gas sounds that are present but not as loud as Leo's (they both ate at the same time, but Henry ate a bit less). Thoughts? The evet is about 45 minutes away--I'll take him if he needs to go of course or if he gets worse, but otherwise I hate to put an uncomfortable dog in the car for that long. I'm going to take him for a little bit of a walk, sometimes that settles his system down, and check back in.

My old vet's practice was 24/7, I think I paid about $600ish w/complete senior blood panel, all the works, but no extractions.

Good advice, also your vet should do a very careful physical exam, probing gently but throughly for any pain she may be masking and keeping a close eye out for small signs of pain.

Sending good thoughts for Greta and calm thoughts for you and DH.

Honestly, I've about given up. If you look enough, almost every food it seems have gotten caught up in one or more recalls. If your dogs are healthy I would stick with what you're feeding them. Or there's raw feeding or home cooking, although it's not like the human food supply is all that immune to contamination issues either lately so I suppose that's risky too.

I would schedule the visit and get him back on his meds asap. You probably just need a test, not a complete vet check and I would worry about waiting.

It's so personal, to you, to your dog, to their long term prognosis and short-term symptoms. But this is really good advice, both the three things part and the idea of a smaller but still good life. I would add, better a day to soon than a day to late.

It's just a thought, but I had to wait about 4 months between being told my wisdom teeth had to come out and getting them out. In the intervening period, I took an antibiotic which helped with the swelling and pain. It might be something to ask your vet about.

It depends. Patrick coexisted with our rabbits--okay, he was scared of them, left them completely alone. Leo, I don't think will ever be safe around small critters. It's best to be very upfront with your adoption group about your family and what you're looking for in a hound.

Is there something happening at the time of day that could be upsetting him either in your home or maybe something happening outside that he can see or hear? Leo is fine if we leave during the day but he developed a lot of anxiety from everyone else walking their dogs past our apartment if we leave after work so we're still working on the peeing if we leave that time of day. He's doing a lot better now but we're still working on it.

I'm not sure what happened in the past but I do understand worrying because I had a dog with anesthesia problems. My understanding is the issues tend to be going under and coming out of anesthesia. Unless my vet advised against it or there were medical issues to suggest against it, I would rather have my dog under once for longer than risk having to put then under twice.

In my opinion, antibiotic creams in general aren't all that useful compared with other options. What issue are you hoping to resolve by using it?

Also, even if you you only have clean clothes in your closet, to George it probably still smells like you and he may find that comforting.

Before you pay to get his eyes checked, have you tried turning on all possible lights in narrow spaces? Leo and Henry's eyes are fine, but the only way we could get them to go up the stairs in the new house at first was with every possible light on.

Glad to hear he was able to relax.

Congratulations on your new family member! It's hard to say--My Patrick lived 11 years as an only dog and liked it that way. We had to return one potential dog because he was absolutely miserable and terrified without another greyhound. Those are probably the extremes, so stay open to what your dog seems to need and follow the alone training other people have suggested and go from there.

Particularly with a puncture, I'd have it looked at, your vet may want to prescribe an antibiotic.

I would not use it for that purpose--it can mask their anxiety, so they're feeling anxious but can't express it. Xanax, Valium, that whole class of drugs is a possibility that I would discuss with your vet instead. Leo takes Ativan (not my top choice, but the vet was being stubborn), I would have gone with something with a longer half life.

Chiming in with a somewhat hopeful report. Leo spent 3 days at the dog sitter, she didn't need to use any of his anxiety medication, and he showed no signs of aggressiveness toward her small dog!!!! I think that the comfort of being part of a larger greyhound pack and the fact that he interacted with the small dog only off leash made a big difference. He's a little nervous about the move (house is a mess, he did stairs really well in the apartment but is somewhat flummoxed by hardwood stairs), but we left him last night to go out for an hour, and no howling, no barking, no peeing. We took him for a walk four days after moving in (huge yard, wanted time for all those stress hormones to calm down from being in the apartment) and he looked a little nervous when he saw two dogs, but was verbally redirected fairly easily. So I'm really hoping that this move, which should be permanent, has put him in a place physically and mentally where he isn't constantly stressed and we'll be able to make more progress with his issues and help him be happier. He may never be a farmer's market dog like Henry, where he would have to be on leash around a lot of non-greyhounds, but I think he can be less anxious and more happy in his life overall. Thanks again to Neylasmom who pointed out we were dealing with fear aggression and that his situation in the apartment meant he had stress hormones in his system pretty much 24/7. You've helped out so much.

Looks fine to me. I think the fawns look skinnier at the same weight as other colored greyhounds. Plus, she probably had no idea what she was talking about.

Pepper's been on my mind lately--any updates?