kudzu

Unless you have a hound with respiratory problems there's no problem with it at all. Continuous exposure to ammonia is harmful but not occasional, short-term exposure.

OK, the following is just personal opinion & not trying to convince you to go against your vet. For tail wounds, I have always left them covered, and padded, until fully healed. If the wound is at a stage where the bandage won't still to it then I'd skip the goopy part... maybe. Have found for humans & hounds that keeping the wound moist does not seem to inhibit healing but does change the way it seems to heal. The wounds kept moist didn't scab over but healed with much less scarring. Of course, it leaves you with all those bandage changes. Some wounds & locations do fine without any dressing. Some hounds don't worry sores, giving you more options. What I do usually depends on the hound, type of wound & location. For a tail on any hound, I try to keep it bandaged & padded for the full healing process & is kept moist until at least a point where the bandage doesn't stick to the wound. That's just what works best for us. Edit: Forgot to say that you've done a great job on this wound. It was really nasty. Your dedicated efforts at wound care have been commendable. Well done.

Normally, I'd say crate in the bedroom. However, if he isn't being crated right now & is not having accidents then a crate shouldn't be necessary. Just keep him in the room with you by closing the door. Something to bear in mind is that you don't want to punish him for waking you up to go out to pee. Alerting you that he needs to go out is not a bad thing, even in the middle of the night. You just want to help him understand that it only works when he really needs to pee. You just want to train him to a new potty schedule instead. Mary Jane's transition schedule sounds very good. Completely ignore at the first wake up call. Don't do anything that would cause him to think alerting you is bad. Just make the wake up call ineffectual. Ignore him. Make not a sound. Don't look at him. Don't even move. The idea is for him to get no response at all, like he didn't even wake you up. Take him out the second time when he may actually need to go. Don't wait to get up. Get up immediately when he wakes you up, but don't reward him otherwise. Don't say anything to him. Use no praise, play or added attention when he wakes up. Do it in a polite, kind, but no nonsense sort of way. Just calmly, quietly & without added reward, get up & take him out for a potty break only. Ignore the third wake up. Do that temporarily & then drop the middle of the night potty completely. With that approach what you will usually get is a dog who adjusts to waiting to potty until morning but will also alert you to the rare occasions when he really does need to go potty.

Mine all seem to love laughter so anything that gets a laugh seems to get repeated. Be careful what you laugh at.

Probiotics can help a lot in some cases. Also, kibbles with lower carbs or sometimes just a different source of carbohydrates. My hounds are the gassiest on kibbles that use rice as the primary carb source. ETA: 19% protein is lower than I want for my hounds. Mine are doing well on 24% protein / 20% fat.

Agree with tbhounds, if it has been there for two years, especially remaining approx the same size, it would seem highly likely it was just a hemangioma. Have never heard of hemangiosarcoma appearing & remaining the same size for any length of time. Hemangiomas can hang around for years. They can get larger then smaller again. They can & often do spontaneously bleed. If it was my hound I would not worry, but would get a biopsy as a precaution. One of my hounds is very prone to hemangiomas & I have my own collection of them. It's a real annoyance, and sometimes rather embarrassing, to suddenly spring a leak. On the positive side, it doesn't happen often, doesn't hurt at all & cauterizing usually stops the problem for an extended period of time. If the spot is small enough it can just be frozen off. There really is no way to tell, just by looking at the spot on the dog or person, whether it is hemangioma or hemangiosarcoma. If the spot suddenly starts growing rapidly then it might be time to worry a little. Though I have a spot on my leg that can rapidly grow 4-6 times its normal size, stop growing for a while, then inexplicably shrink to an almost imperceptible dot. My motto with my dog's hemangiomas is, "When in doubt, cut it out." Admittedly, we've only done that once.

Try vitamin E capsules, maybe 400 IU. Use a pin to pierce the capsule & squeeze the contents on his nose. Try to rub it in... before he licks it off. It's worked for a dog of mine whose nose always got dry & rough. It was also what a vet prescribed for my sister's dog who had discoid lupus.

Have they run a tick panel?

Ditto, ditto & ditto. In your position I would try ditching the pig ears, letting his system normal out a bit & then slowly up his calorie intake. Remember that some of the food increase will go to replacing the calories of the pig ears. Pigs ears upset many dogs' systems. That would be even more likely if the dog has a sensitive stomach. Though keeping an eye on the scale is a good thing, more attention should be paid to how your dog looks. All my dogs either lost weight after racing or started to look more filled out without gaining weight. My assumption is they transformed from pro-athlete to weekend warrior physique.

What terrible news. I'm so very sorry. Tibbie was a special one & will be missed. My sincere condolences to you and your family.

Did the vet do a skin scrape of the nail bed? If not, I'd request that. It could be bacterial or fungal or both, with one being a secondary infection. Is she licking her nail beds?

My bet is that the cause of increase appetite is a combo of items. If she had elevate serum BUN &/or phosphorous levels then decreasing those can indeed perk up their appetite. How many calories per day was she eating before starting the kidney diet? How many cal/day after switching to kidney diet? Could a reduction in calories be part of it? My experience with kidney diets is likely outdated, like 7-8 years ago, but my memory jives with what your info. Excess phosphorus can damage kidneys. Protein doesn't necessarily damage kidneys but the byproducts of protein metabolization (probably not wording that quite right) can build up in their system & make them feel like crud. So the key is to make sure the protein you give is of the best quality possible in an effort to provide necessary protein while producing the absolute minimal of harmful byproducts. You also want to feed the minimum amount protein needed but not so little as to deprive the body. It's hard to balance as the body's need for protein isn't reduced with kidney disease & I think older dogs actually need more protein than younger. As kidney function declines it may be necessary to reduce protein in an effort to minimize the metabolites. (Again, may not be wording that correctly.) So, as you say, in mid stage kidney disease you usually feed a reduced protein diet as opposed to the low protein. Each dog & situation is different, of course. So be mindful of the numbers, in relation to both diet & bloodwork, but pay even more attention to your dog. She appears to feel better so you're doing something right, but she's acting hungry & looking leaner so your switch to more calories via more feedings sounds like a good idea. Is the added protein good or not? Only you, your dog & your vet can determine that. Though I say your dog's vote counts twice. PS It doesn't help that most protein comes with so much phosphorus attached. Grrr... wish my dog had liked egg whites but he apparently took after me.

BTT??

Hi, Morrie! You sound wonderful & I can't wait to meet you this weekend.

Absolutely OK to flip out early & beat the rush. BF claims I will take a dog to the vet if he's yawning too much. I maintain that is a perfectly valid reason. More good thoughts for your boy.

Oh no. Sending good thoughts.

Same here. Actually, when my goal is to catch the dog, a sit can make it harder by putting their head a bit too far away. When they are standing I find it easier to get a hand on their collar.

You've already got him running to you. That's fantastic. Now you just need to refine it to make sure he understands that a recall isn't just coming to you but also allowing you to catch him. As already suggested, it will help to go back to basics again and do so in a way that helps him understand he must stop & let you put your hands on him. One way to do that is to not reward him until you have your hand on his collar. When you do reward him, make sure you have lots of super, super, super good treats & feed him many of them, one at a time. Do this multiple times a day. For now, don't recall him unless you have rewards for him. And don't recall him unless you already have control of the situation to prevent him from overrunning you. Sometimes it helps to start by just standing 1" in front of him, recalling him, immediately putting your hand on collar and then rewarding like heck. Then move a little farther away & then a little farther. He already knows to come, just not to stick around so he will probably catch on quickly that the parameters have changed. Some dogs may need things to proceed more slowly. Whatever is the case, just try to set things up so he can succeed every time. If he misses a couple times in a row then you may need to back track. Don't take things to a wide open area until you really think he has it. It takes hundreds, sometimes thousands, of repetitions until the dog really gets it to the point it is an automatic reaction. You want coming to you, standing still & letting you take his collar to be the default response. Remember to reward that, not just running to you. Hand on collar before rewarding.

My insurance premiums for two hounds with a $50 annual deductible (not per incident) is about $110/mo for two dogs. One has not met her deductible in the 2.5 years she's been insured. One had enough claims paid out last year to cover his premiums for several years. He didn't meet his deductible in years before or yet this year. Yet... This has been my experience.

Mine have been no more expensive than the retrievers and mutts that came before. In fact, the two most expensive dogs I've had were both mutts.

I believe fenbendazole (Panacur) is effective against a species of tapeworm, Taenia, which some wild rabbits may carry. That's a different species from the tapeworms dogs are much more likely to contract from eating a flea. There are other things a dog can get from wild rabbits but I don't think it's common. Personally I wouldn't take my dog to the vet just from eating a kill. Though we deal just with cotton tails, no jack rabbits or hares. Doesn't hurt to call and ask if there are any likely risks in your area. It might not be a bad idea to record the date it happened just in case something came up later. Hope all is well.

Yes, I think the problem is likely the heat not the distance. Though few Greys need that amount of exercise, a couple of mine would not only be fine with a 10k walk but would thoroughly enjoy it if there were good sights & smells. Remember that Greyhounds have a much larger muscle mass than many other breeds. Muscle use generates a lot of heat. So when Greyhounds exercise they are capable of using more energy, thus generating more heat. Large muscle mass also takes a while to cool down which predisposes them further to overheating. In addition, Greyhounds have minimal subcutaneous fat and a very thin hair coat. Thus they have little insulation from heat and cold. That can only complicate things when temps are high and the sun is shining on them. Then consider that the panting dogs do to cool off also requires a good deal of effort and that effort generates more heat. At a certain point, the effort to cool off can actually make things worse. When it gets warmer you can still get out for exercise if you find shady areas to walk, go at a moderate pace, take frequent breaks to evaluate your dog's condition, and usually reduce the distance accordingly. Let your dog's response to exercise be your guide. Do you know how to take your dog's temperature? It may help to check his temp if you think it's possible he is suffering from heat stress or worse. You already know the info in this article but I will include the link below as it contains important information that can really help: Heat Stroke and Heat Stress in Greyhounds

Were you able to get in today? Hope he is feeling better. The persistent diarrhea only is cause for a very visit but the lethargy would worry me even more. Good widgets for improvement.

Scary! Poor pup. Hope it's something comparatively minor. Good thoughts. You could try applying ice packs if she will let you. That can help with swelling and sometimes Parton as well.

Oh no, I'm more sorry than I can express. It's truly crushing. Please know we share your sorrow and most of us have felt that horrible loss. You fought hard and did your best to make the right decisions. You did all the right things, keeping what was best for Phoenix as the top concern. If you'd not tried you would always have wondered if you gave up too soon. You were with him when to say goodbye. Phoenix was deeply loved and he knew it. Hold on to that. It will help in the days to come. It is hard, so very hard. Things will get better. It just takes time. Run free, Phoenix the eternal puppy, and watch over your family.