krissn333

Bev, to me (knowing not much about post-amp care) it sounds like she is making remarkable progress! Keep it up Darcy, we're all pulling for you! Hugs to you and Marc and the rest of your furry crew

I take Fritz for chiro treatment every couple of months...he was injured when he was a racer and he gets a little bit stiff sometimes...it really helps!

Oh Cully, I'm just seeing this now Please send Rick and Stacia some hugs from me

I have been thinking of Darcy all day and I'm so glad to hear that she's come out of the surgery with flying colors! Continued prayers for a swift recovery!

Sending prayers for Darcy!

I have lupus too! I originally took Pinky as a foster but after having her here for a while I realized I could never sleep at night if I let her go home with anyone else...I figured as a person with lupus I should be able to understand how she's feeling, but I'm finding it's a little more difficult than I expected simply because of the fact she can't TELL me if she's feeling crummy. She's not the most expressive dog anyway so that makes it all the more difficult. Hoping Mom of Sweet Potatoes will weigh in here on what meds her boy takes for his lupus...

Our vet has a big foam block covered with leather that he will put larger dogs onto if he needs them elevated a little bit, but it only elevates them about a foot and a half off the ground. My dogs happily jump up onto it and lay down. Putting a big dog up on a slippery exam table IMO is not a very good idea. Hope your baby is feeling better soon!

A few weeks ago Pinky lost both of her dew claws and has since lost one more toenail and has another that is pulling away from her foot. Her nails look yellowy and she had a flare up of her nose flakiness. About a week before she lost the dew claws, we had our group's annual reunion and she was outside in the sun for a few hours. We put Chapstick with sunscreen on her nose but that's only SPF 15 so she might have needed something a little more. When she lost the dew claws, her nose got really bad really quickly, despite having been on her meds (tetracycline, niacinamide, vitamin e, and fish oil caplets). I know there are several here with pups that have SLO...what kind of meds do your kids take? Right now Pinky is on a burst and taper dosage of prednisone along with her regular meds...do your kids do the tetracycline protocol too? Do they take prednisone regularly or just for flare-ups? Doc also recommended we use preparation H on her nose and on her paw pads (they grow excessively and get very dry).

Pinky is currently taking 20 mg prednisone daily to treat her lupus. We thought she just had discoid lupus but she's recently started showing signs of SLO...both of her dew claws fell out and bled a couple of weeks ago, she just lost a rear outer toenail, and she's got another rear toenail looking like it's pulling away. She hasn't had any problems with taking the meds...she takes them every morning with the rest of her meds with her peanut butter. I just make sure she's had breakfast before she takes her meds, just in case.

I have often thought about how I will deal with Ace and Fritz as they get older. They're littermates, so they're exactly the same age, and Pinky is 2 years younger. I will likely have three geriatric dogs at once too! I am sure it's not easy, but sounds like you've been doing everything you can for them (with the Glycoflex, etc.) and they seem to still have bright spirits, not letting the fact that their bodies are tired keep them from the things they want to do!

OH I thought it was a fungal thing that babies get because they always are sticking their feet in their mouth...I swear that someone my mom was friends with when my brother was little had a baby that had that...don't exactly remember what it was called tho.

Susan, SLO is the systemic version of lupus (whereas the discoid mainly affects the skin). In people it's called SLE. I have a combo of both which many call panniculitis or cutaneous lupus...Pinkers just has the discoid. Systemic lupus is much harder on the body. During a flare up the patient will often feel extreme fatigue, joint pain, etc. If it's not managed it can affect the liver, kidneys, heart, and brain. Basically the body attacks itself. Systemic lupus patients are also often more prone to infection because their WBCs are too busy attacking the body instead of warding off the bad things entering the body. Kind of like an inept guard at a castle entrance I would guess that being prone to infection is part of the reason you see the icky and sometimes infected toenails when a dog first starts exhibiting signs of SLO. To the OP, I would definitely try to keep her from licking it, for one, it's not going to heal (as your mother probably said to you, "don't pick it or it'll never heal" in this case it's "don't lick it or it'll never heal"), and two, yeah, if it's something icky you don't want her mouth getting infected too. Don't some human babies get that "foot & mouth" disease? Maybe it's something like that? I don't know exactly what Alabama Rot is, but we just had a dog at the kennel that had a similar problem but with the skin on his sides. It was a skin infection of some sort, but if you're down that way, look into the Alabama Rot as well. Good luck! Poor baby - looks painful!

Always a good idea to xray if he's been hit by a car

Just checking for an update!

It probably would make him feel better to have his feet bandaged, bandaging will provide some padding for him to walk on too. I would make sure the wounds are really clean and then bandage with some antibiotic ointment. Ultimately it would probably be best to have him thoroughly checked out by your vet to rule out any other injuries that he might have suffered while being out. Glad to hear your baby is back

I have used it but only when I'm going to be bandaging. I wouldn't leave it on the tail while the tail is unbandaged, you don't want him licking it and you also don't want it getting all over your house as it will turn everything it touches gray. If they are having a problem with him banging his tail on things still, PM me and I'll type up what we did with Ace's tail after hers was amputated. Have they tried EMT gel on his tail? It won't keep him from licking it though. The only thing I can think of to keep from licking is to take a basket turnout muzzle and put a stool cup in it, or use tape over the end of it so he can't lick through it.

IIRC he's pretty new to you guys so maybe he was recently neutered? Yep, it's "batter" As others have said, boys that are un-neutered tend to produce more of it. After about a year you really won't see it much at all. If he's licking himself a lot or you notice your girly checking him out a little more than usual you might want to have him checked out, seems like some boys tend to develop mild UTIs after a neuter as well.

Another vote to go, I bet it will lift Chancy's spirits to be able to wander around on the beach! (As long as the trip to get there won't stress her out). She's a tough cookie!

Mary, I'm so sorry to hear about this! Godspeed sweetheart...

I adopted my first greyhound when I was 22 years old, and shortly thereafter became the youngest board member in Quad Cities Greyhound Adoption history! I am 26 now with 3 retired racers, a rescued IG, and 2 rescued cats (who I adopted at the age of 20)!

I like seeing stuff like that. Made my own eyes itch a little bit though looking at those pics. Your vet sounds awesome! Hopefully Scooter continues to leave his stitches alone, but if he doesn't, I was at Petco yesterday and saw these: ProCollar Looks like a donut pillow for travel sort of. It says it's a good alternative to an E-collar. I am not sure how effective it is though.

There is hope out there! Congratulations!

I'm so sorry. I just got home from work and saw this. I had high hopes for your sweet girl, you did everything you could.

If it were me, I'd have it pulled. The only thing you might notice, since it's an upper canine which kind of acts to hold the lip outward, is that his lower canine might cause his upper lip to bunch up every now and again. It's not a problem and actually looks kind of cute, like Popeye or something I would be leary of having a root canal done because IMO that doesn't guarantee to fix the problem, and eventually later in life he might just have to have it pulled anyway, why not just do it now?

Glad to hear Bodie is home. He'll get the hang of it. If he's draining a lot, sticking a maxi pad to the inside of his t-shirt will soak up the drainage better than the tshirt alone will. Thank you for sharing his journey with us. I pray that I never have to go through this, but with having 4 dogs I realize that the odds that at least one of them could end up with cancer are up there. I bet for a rear leg amp a pair of boxer shorts turned around with the tail through the crotch hole would work. But, the shorts would have to be removed to go out for potty time.