vjgrey

I'm so sorry, Robin. I'm glad, at least, that they seem to have caught it early. I'll be thinking lots of good thoughts for your family and your sweet girl.

Me, too. She's beautiful! I actually really like the name Shiner, but her eye also makes me think of Star Trek's "Six of Nine."

My vet has also told me that greyhounds have larger hearts than other dogs - something that, I know, wouldn't surprise anyone here.

Thinking lots of good thoughts for you both.

I'm so sorry.

I'm so, so sorry. As a preadopting 'mom' myself, this is my worst fear.

Ack! I get "The Fear" if Greytalk is down for a few hours!

I have two wire 48 x 30 crates in my bedroom. I only use them when I'm gone, but I leave the doors open while I'm home, and Diamond chooses to sleep/hang out in them sometimes.

No rawhide here, ever, and no treats except frozen kongs when we're not home. Thanks for the reminder.

Diamond's bruises started looking VERY nasty, so I went ahead and took her to the vet today. He confirmed that she's fine -just really banged up. So now I have some peace of mind AND he didn't charge me anything. Really, really love our vet. He gave Diamond some chicken jerky, which she wouldn't eat until we were safely in the car. She doesn't love vets in general.

Lots of good thoughts for Miss Polli. I hope it's nothing.

I woke up this morning to find her roaching on my bed. She has a few bruises and is still a little sore, I think, but apparently nothing was wrong with her that rest, a heating pad and ice cream couldn't fix. She's almost back to her perky, spitfire self. Thank you all for the advice, good thoughts, prayers, etc... I know I worry too much sometimes, but who can help it?

Our vet has all of his calls transferred to the emergency clinic when he's not in, so it's not possible to leave a message. I am going to call first thing Tuesday and see if get her in that day, though. I agree, it'll be well worth the cost of an office visit to make sure she's really okay.

I've heard that the foamy part of a hot roller can be used to protect a "happy tail" but I've never tried it. Gabe's healed up pretty quickly. I HIGHLY recommend Magic Erasers for cleaning up the crime scene. They worked amazingly well on our walls.

Just ran to the CVS and bought Ascriptin (I'll give one with her dinner), a heating/cooling gel pack and some vanilla ice cream. Hopefully, I'll have her all fixed up soon. When I got home and let Gabe out of his crate (I left her out on the bed, since she was comfy) she tried to chase him around the house and play bitey-face (something she ALWAYS does when I let them out of the crates). I've never been so happy to say "Diamond, stop biting your brother's head!" (Then I made her stop chasing). I really think she's fine, just sore - possibly some strained muscles. I think I've just been extra-worried, due to the nature of what happened. As Mary said - a greyhound running FAST, hitting something stationary, or even the ground, could've been very, very bad.

Thanks for the advice. For now, I'm just keeping an eye on her. She's been on my bed all morning, but she's gotten up and changed positions three times, with no cries of pain. A good sign, I think. There doesn't seem to be any swelling - just a tender spot, and I know soreness is to be expected. I'm going to take her outside here in a minute and once she's back in and settled, I'll run to the pharmacy for Ascriptin and one of those hot/cool gel packs. It's amazing how little and fragile such a big dog can seem. I just want my baby to feel better.

No, I don't have any pain meds on hand. Is there anything I can give her that I could buy over the counter? There's a pharmacy just down the street.

Last night, Diamond was running on my parents' fenced-in acre. She was doing big laps around the yard. She'd done about three when she ran between an above-ground pool and my parents' boat (about a 20-foot space between the two). I heard a thud and the GSOD, and my heart dropped to the ground. I'm still not sure what happened - whether the thud I heard was her hitting the boat or the pool or just falling. When I ran over to her, she was still whimpering, shaking a lot, and she was favoring her back right leg. That's the hock she broke at the track, so I was terrified she'd re-injured it, but as soon as she saw me, she walked over to me, so I saw she could put some weight on it. I looked her over - no cuts, no bleeding. I ran my hand all over her and didn't get any pain reactions. After she'd calmed down, she trotted back across the yard and into my parents' house on her own, so I thought s he was probably shaken up but okay. She ate all of her dinner last night and jumped into the back of my car without hesitating. For the most part, she slept through the night last night, although she did wake up several times, panting. This morning, she was walking on it fine, if a little slowly, although she does seem to have a hard time standing up. It took her a few tries. The painful spot for her seems to be right at her hip, where her leg joins her torso. If I run my hand over it gently, it...twitches, is I guess the best way to describe it. Like the muscles are jerking under the skin. I massaged it very, very gently with some traumel gel which did seem to help. She ate all of her breakfast this morning, peed and pooped normally. Does this sound like an evet situation, or should I try to keep her still and just keep an eye on it until Tuesday? Argh - I hate that it's Labor Day weekend! If the vet were open tomorrow, I think I'd just wait, but I hate seeing her in pain, and I don't want to make the injury worse by waiting. I called my vet's 24-hour hotline, and they said it's probably not broken bones, since she'll put weight on it but that it sounds like something is going on. The woman I spoke to was "concerned about the twitching" but of course she wouldn't tell me one way or the other when I asked if I should bring her in. I tried to camp out on the floor with her, but she insisted on jumping up on my bed. So that's where she is now, sleeping. She's definitely not her happy, perky self. I hate, hate, hate seeing my baby in pain.

I will miss the Dee stories. I am so very sorry for your loss.

My heart sank when I saw the subject line. I'm so very sorry.

Gabe's vet has tentatively diagnosed him with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder, which is thought to be similar to the same disorder in people - he sometimes becomes very aggressive in his sleep (though in a way completely different from normal sleep aggression). I say tentatively because we haven't been willing to spend the $2,000-$3,000 for the brain scans it would take to confirm the diagnosis, especially since it can't really be treated with medication. Fortunately, it's fairly easy to manage environmentally - he sleeps muzzled or in his crate and isn't allowed to nap near people or dogs. Problem solved. It's more than we bargained for when we adopted him, but, as special needs go, we're pretty lucky, I think.

Gabe has had the big D since yesterday afternoon. I THINK it's the result of a moo tube he had on Thursday. The moo tube was a little oily, and Gabe has a pretty sensitive stomach. We were outside almost every hour on the hour last night until about 6am (one of the times I HATE living in an apartment), then again around 9am. He's been sleeping since (as have I, thank goodness). He does NOT like this fasting stuff, though. He gave me the saddest looks when I gave Diamond breakfast, and he kept following me around and sitting in front of me, as if to say "Please feed me - I'm a good boy." Broke my heart. If I don't see any improvement by Monday, it's off to the vet.

Congratulations! She's adorable. I was the one in my marriage who had to be convinced to "turn to the greyside" (funnily enough, I also wanted Danes). I've never, for a second, regretted our decision, and I don't think we'll ever have anything but greyhounds now.

Gabe had a toe injury before I brought him home (though I THINK it was a torn ligament, rather than a broken bone). It didn't heal right, and his toes on that foot still don't "fall" right when he walks. The toes on that foot are flat, rather than arched up, like normal greyhound feet. Glad your girl is feeling better, anyway.

I'm so, so sorry.