rascalsmom

Right--and it comes back in the SAME SPOT all the time.

It doesn't look like a histeocytoma. Buddy had one of them, and this isn't like that. This really just looks like a black scab that keeps on growing, till it breaks off.

Sorry for all the technical terms in the title. For a long time now, Rascal has had what looks like a wart, or something, on her face. It's about an inch below her left eye. It doesn't seem to bother her, but it seems to have a strange cycle. First it starts to grow, and to me it looks like a scab which is growing from the skin outward. It's not round and smooth, but black and..well, like a scab that's growing. It gets to be about a 1/4" long, and then it comes off, and the open "wound" area bleeds. Usually it doesn't bleed too much, but last night, I discovered that it had come off and the side of her face was all bloody! Not "crime-scene" bloody, but like it had bled more than usual. I cleaned her face off and put some Bacitracin ointment on it. I put some more ointment on it this morning, and a little while ago (this is mid-late afternoon) noticed that it was bleeding again! It has repeated this cycle for, I'd guess, close to a year now. Scab...grow...come off....bleed....scab....grow....etc.etc. I did ask the vet about it last time she was there, but at that point it had recently broken off and didn't have the large scabby-type thing yet. The vet really had no idea what it was. So any ideas?

Yes, it must be and English term.

What, exactly, are pilchards?

I'm glad to hear that the big D isn't a common side effect of these meds....now to pray that he eats the panacur-laced food willingly!

Great news!

I, too, get the same type of eye problem. The conjuctiva gets all swollen, usually from itching. I get it when I pet the cat, and then touch my eye. I agree it's probably an allergic reaction.

Jack is four years old. They told me at the vet that they are seeing coccidia in almost ALL of the greyhounds lately (this is the vet who does all the work for our adoption group). I know Rascal had it, too, when we first got her (eight years ago); however, she was just a little over two years old at the time. I'll be sure to have lots of canned food on hand--need to get some anyway. I wonder if tuna would help to mask the panacur?

Thanks, Heather....any tips on getting it into him if he's less than willing? The powder is what they gave me to use....

Our foster dog, Jack, has giardia and coccidia. Tomorrow I am supposed to give him 1 1/2 tablets of Drontal Plus. On Thursday I am to start him on six days of Albon, and six days of Panacur C. The Panacur is a powder form to be mixed with food. The Albon and Panacur will be given concurrently. My question is this: should I expect him to have diarrhea from these meds? And are most dogs willing to eat the food with the Panacur mixed in? Just trying to prepare myself....

You may recall Rascal's issues from May: Rascal's surgery and biopsy Well, this morning, it looks like the "water balloon" near her armpit is forming again. It just keeps on coming....2009 can't end soon enough for me.

You are so fortunate to have a vet who will come to your home. I've had several cats put down, and one dog so far. I really wish Buddy could have left us here at home, instead of at the vet's. He really got stressed out at the vet. Fortunately, the vet we go to now actually lives in my town (although her office isn't in our town)...so maybe she'd be willing to come to the house when it's time for one of my girls.... I, like so many others, felt it was something I owed Buddy, to be with him at the end. He gave me far more than I ever gave him, and it was the least I could do. It was hard, but had to be done, and I never would've sent him off alone.

When Buddy was diagnosed with pannus, it was just in the one eye. He had previously injured it two times (corneal ulcer) and that's why the pannus developed. I don't think you need to put it in the other eye. I can't answer the question about the milkiness....

NO CANCER!!

As you may recall, last month Ruby went to the vet, for general "not-being-herself". Ruby's vet visit Well, tomorrow at 9:00 she goes in for the follow-up x-ray. Please, keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I am trying to "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst", especially since the "worst" part is what I seem to get this year. Thanks.

I have heard that there is a vaccination dogs can get to help control/prevent gingivits and periodontal disease. It is called the Canine Porphyromonas Vaccine. Has anyone's dog had this? If so, do you think it's helped? Ruby has gum disease, and right now her teeth aren't so great, in spite of the dental she had six months ago. In one week, she goes back to the vet for another x-ray of her front leg---to see if it might indeed be bone cancer --and if it ISN'T the dreaded osteo, she will need a dental SOON. I would like to discuss this vaccine with them, because if it can help, I will go for it. I realize it does not reduce the need for brushing, and we'll still brush of course; but every little bit might help. Any experience with this?

It looks similar to something Rascal had in her "armpit" area. It turned out to be hemangiopericytoma.

I never really completely QUIT brushing their teeth, just have slacked off dramatically from how well I was doing for awhile there....I know I have to get back into the twice daily habit. It's just that sometimes I feel like completely giving up. On everything. I won't, but I feel like it at times.

Enough is enough. Really. This year has been absolutely the worst for me, and it may get even worse..... Of course the most terrible thing, without a doubt, was that my daughter died in April. In addition, Buddy was sick, and then diagnosed with lymphoma in March, so we had to say goodbye to him. A month after Elizabeth died, Rascal had surgery for hemangiopericytoma. While she is doing well, we know there is a very good chance it will come back. Now, Ruby. I took her to the vet yesterday, as she just wasn't 'right' lately. Not herself, didn't seem to be able to settle, etc. She did fall down the stairs about a month ago (tripped on the cord of the Shop Vac which the DH left in front of the stairs ), but she didn't seem to really be hurt at that time. She was holding her left front paw up briefly, but she seemed OK. By the time we got to the vet, the technician noticed she was limping. The longer we were there, the more pronounced it became. The vet noticed it right away, and said her shoulder area (upper leg) was a little swollen, and it was tender. So she needed to get an x-ray of the area. She said the x-ray showed nothing extremely remarkable....just an area that isn't quite the same color as the rest of the area, but perhaps Ruby got a hairline fracture when she fell, and that is what's causing the problem. She also said that the BAD news is that bone cancer usually has a delay of about a month from the time the dog presents with pain. The x-rays might not show it initially, but would in a month. SOOOO, my dear little Ruby may have osteo. As though we haven't been through enough already.....Ruby is now on Deramaxx, and also on antibiotics because her gingivitis is bad. I had been doing so well on the tooth-brushing....Ruby had a dental in March, a week after Buddy died, and after that I was brushing her teeth twice a day. Then Elizabeth died and I got out of the habit. At that point brushing the dogs' teeth was pretty low on my list of priorities. So now I think if I would've kept it up, maybe her gums wouldn't be so bad now.....my poor little girl. I have to take her back in a month to get the x-rays done again.

I'm so sorry, Audrey.

Maybe we could get together....I have to cleanse Rascal's vulva every day. It would be like a party. A really BAD party. I never imagined I would be doing this for a dog.

Great news, Karen! Now, is that the same thing as hemangiopericytoma? That's what Rascal's got....they also said it was one of the "better" ones to get.

Karen, this sounds so much like Rascal's recent experience...I pray that it is the same type of cancer (hemangiopericytoma), from what I understand if you've got to get cancer, this is one of the not-so-bad ones.

Well it all sounds pretty good so far....keep us posted!