krissn333

Just catching up on Winslow's adventures...GREAT news on the tests!!! I hope you have a very happy birthday Winslow, we'll all be here partying with you!

How old was she when this happened? Had she ever had her thyroid checked before? Pretty sure I had a full thyroid panel done on Neyla when I adopted her about 4 years ago, but I know thyroid function can be affected by other illnesses, or maybe it can change over time? Another topic for discussion with my vet. It was about 2 years ago...so, she was 4. I had never had her thyroid checked before...when I posted here about her behavior a few people suggested I have her thyroid checked. Also her occiput bone (at the back of the head) on the left side was out of place...chiro said that that alone can cause seizures and a problem with the thyroid! From what I understand these are kind of a "watch and wait" type seizure, meaning I doubt they would put a dog on phenobarb or any other seizure med for random petit mals, but definitely worth it to have the thyroid checked.

It almost sounds like what we went through with Ace a year or so ago. She'd wake us up in the middle of the night, acting like she needed to go outside. Once outside, she'd wander around aimlessly...sniffing everything. She'd go potty but would then continue to wander (not like her to not come in as soon as she was done)...sniffing the whole time, as if she was trying to smell her way back to the deck, like she was lost. Then she walked into the side of the deck thinking it was the stairs and then I knew something was wrong. We think she'd had some petit mal seizures and this behavior was her post ictal state. She was whining because she was confused and probably hungry (I've been told that their blood sugar levels drop drastically after a seizure). Turns out her thyroid was low, she's been on meds and we haven't had any more incidents like that.

Sarah & Travis are in my prayers. Jimmy was a very special boy and he was so lucky to have such a wonderful family. I love that boy so much, this is so sad. Cancer sucks

Cully has already chimed in, but yes, we've taken many dogs to Dr. Turner (orthopedic specialist) at VCA Berwyn in Berwyn, IL. It's right off of I-55 on Harlem Avenue. They have a lot of specialists there so I wouldn't be surprised if they had an oncologist as well. Couldn't say enough good things about Dr. Turner and the staff there. Several of the vet techs and veterinary interns have ended up adopting dogs from us because they've fallen in love with our greyhounds during their stays at VCA Berwyn

Yep, acupuncture first, should help with relaxation and then he'll likely be able to get a better adjustment at the chiro

They don't seem to like to lick pantyhose either...I think it feels weird on their tongues...at least that worked for Fritz when his toe was bandaged. Put the pantyhose on and wrap the top with vetwrap to keep it secured, or, I use the velcro strip computer cord bundlers from Office Max...it's just a strip of the fuzzy velcro with the toothy velcro on the end...works great for keeping socks on dogs feet!

Have done both. Took Fritz in once for a small laceration on the outside of his toe...doc decided to give it a couple of sutures. First he used the lidocaine...which burned like hell and made Fritz SCREAM like the dickens because it had to be injected in several spots to get appropriate numbing, and he was still upset about having his toe sutured. After that healed and then came open again, we opted to skip the lidocaine and just suture. He just laid there on the table for that. I think the lido burned. Ace nipped him once in the neck/shoulder area and I stapled him myself, shaved the area slightly and just did it...it was about 6 staples. He just laid there, didn't even flinch. I think it really depends on where the area is that needs to be stapled/sutured. In the case of Fritz's neck/shoulder, there's a good amount of extra skin there so it wasn't really a pulling feeling for him. If it was in a tighter spot or somewhere on the head I think I'd opt for some numbing, especially if they have to do any shaving &/or debridement first. If Ace is injured you'd better be sedating her because she gets upset real quick. She tore the webbing between her toes and had to be sedated with acepromazine and something else just so they could get a good look at it. Over the summer Fritz tore a HUGE hole in his webbing and let me manipulate his toes, pull them apart, and inspect the wound before deciding to take him in. At the vet I think we numbed him but I don't remember for sure. He just laid there again though and let doc work on him.

OK, so I guess it's not the same for every drug. I got 1000 tetracycline pills through the veterinary pharmacy for $90. I am sure that that many pills bought through my friendly Target pharmacy would not be that cheap. I haven't looked at the bottle but I am sure that the pills I just got for Pinky don't expire for a LONG time!

Hmmm...that's interesting. But odd, I think it should all be the same!

I recently ordered a huge bottle of tetracycline for Pinky for her lupus. I got 1000 capsules and they came in a HUGE bottle, I was really surprised at the size of it. Anyway (I've seen this before too), the bottle says "for veterinary use only." What's the difference between this tetracycline for Pinky and tetracycline that my friend's son gets at the pharmacy for his acne? Is there really a difference, or are they just trying to deter people from buying veterinary drugs (because they're CHEAPER!) for human use? And if there's something in this veterinary tetracycline that's not ok for humans, why am I giving it to my dog? Figured some of the med gurus here might know the answer to this!

Yep, those are blackheads. They get them from laying on the newspaper at the track...the ink gets in their pores. It's good to get rid of them because I've seen a couple dogs where they had so many that they got a big callus (sp?) from them and they got infected. As someone mentioned...warm washcloth, squeeze them as needed, clean with an astringent (like clean and clear facial toner). Eventually they'll all work themselves out, you can help them along by squeezing the ones that come to the surface though. Pinky still has some and I've had her for a year now.

Oh my goodness he is so handsome It seems Dr. Couto is a hero to many

I still wonder how much Ace's tail amp would have cost if we'd gone to our regular vet. But it was a Saturday night so we went to the E-vet and it cost us $696 They did a wonderful job of taking care of my baby girl so every penny was worth it though

Ace was on Rimadyl I think. She did just fine. The key is to keep the tip covered with something hard (like a syringe tube) initially so that if he beats it on something the tail won't take the beating.

Trish, I just now found some time to check H&M for the first time today to check and see how Peatie was feeling today. My heart sank to find your thread locked, because I know what that usually means I am so sorry, I'm not very good with words either, and though I've never met you, or Beebers, or Flippy, or Peatie, I feel like I know you all, and this is so heartbreaking. Peatie did so much for you, and you did so much for him, it's just awful for you to lose each other this way. Please take care of yourself, Peatie wouldn't want you getting sick now. I swear that once I finish school and start making more money, all of my donations will be made to the cancer research that Dr. Couto does so that someday there won't be so many...I HATE CANCER!!!!!

As far as the foot goes I would just bandage and watch it. I took Ace in once for torn webbing and they stitched it, it healed, and then she tore it again. We opted not to stitch that time and it healed on it's own. I'd say just watch Zippy's too but it was good that you took Spinner in.

I suspect this is Peatie saying, "momma, I feel like crud!" I would also guess that if he hadn't shown the swollen lymph nodes, up until tonight you probably wouldn't have even known anything was even wrong with him. Don't know what I'm trying to say with that, I guess just that it's probably just now catching up with him physically and he's realized he needs to rest. We'll be thinking of you here

If you're both having dogs with problems, could it be something environmental? This new owie on Mazie seems (from the pics anyway) a little bit different. Allergies maybe? Has she been messing with it? Hope everyone feels better soon!

My heart leapt to see Darcy up and about and to know that she got up all by herself In one of those pictures it looks like she is smiling a little bit, showing some teeth I am thrilled she is doing so well!

Hope Alan is feeling better. Could be the change in the weather that's causing him to lay low, especially if it's getting chilly where you are. We have had beautiful weather here so my heathens are running amok but when it gets chilly, all they want to do is SNUGGLE IN! It does sound a little bit like he is gassy but if it continues I'd have him looked at.

the "butt powder" made me giggle. Sounds like a good powder though (hopefully she won't lick it), and the tetracaine in it should help relieve the itchies and ouchiness of it all. Hope she heals quickly - when I was younger our poodle had one that ruptured. I was too young to remember now what the treatment was but I do remember warm compresses...try holding a warm washcloth to a poodle's butt!

They all seem to bruise so easily don't they? I just noticed a couple of bruises on Pinky's chest last night from romping with Skimmie (he must have put his feet on her as she was laying on her side, playing with him). I think Darcy's incision site looks great (from what I can see in the pictures). Did the vet tell you to ice the area or anything to prevent swelling? If so and she'll tolerate it, I'd try it. Might help the bruising go down too. In no time she'll be up and doing things you don't think she should be doing yet - you just wait!

Just out of curiosity, what is the main ingredient in all of the foods you have tried? I think I recall Canidae being lamb based, what kind of Solid Gold have you been feeding (if it is the Hund-n-flocken, I believe that's lamb too)? I don't know about Wellness but if it is lamb too you might try switching to a beef based food...Nutro makes a Beef based food, Avoderm does also. We have fed ProPlan Beef and Rice here with good results as well. My dogs DON'T do lamb, not a single one of them. We have INSTANT diarrhea, and I do mean instant...it takes about 5 minutes after they eat something with lamb for them to start squirting (sorry to be gross). I never recommend lamb based food to our adopters, I have just never seen any of the dogs do well with it. My male greyhound can't have poultry based foods either, so we have to stick to beef or salmon foods. At present everyone here eats ProPlan sensitive skin and stomach formula (salmon based). They all have soft beautiful coats and nice, formed poos, and even my little guy, who had the opposite problem in that his poo was too large and hard on all of the other foods I tried for him, now has good poops! As far as the Pred goes, as someone with lupus I have been on several courses of pred over my lifetime. I know that I take it in the morning (especially when I'm at a higher dosage) because it makes me feel like I'm on speed sometimes...I am chatty and I work quickly, I am extra super thirsty which means I have to use the bathroom extra. I know if I ever took pred and tried to sleep there's no way I could. I would assume it's probably the same logic for dogs regarding the potty breaks and the hyperness, although, Pinky has been on pred for about a week now for her lupus (yes, lupus girl adopted lupus dog )and I haven't noticed any extra activity from her. She has been drinking more but doesn't seem to need to pee more. She also hasn't had upset tummy from it either though, so I guess it affects dogs differently just like it affects people differently.

I just want to scream at this news. It's just not fair. Only 4? I have two here that are 6 and feel awful that they are just fine There have just been too many lately. I hope Dr. Couto can help somehow