kudzu

Am assuming this is not a hairball sounding yackup? When was his last bloodwork? If it's been a while I would get some done. How is his appetite? He is not very senior for a cat so I would not fret too much. Would get it checked out though if its been a while since his last checkup. Best wishes from a home with 3 hounds & 2 cats.

Been there. Done that. Worked beautifully. Sending good thoughts for Flash.

What type of PLE? Had always thought of is as a renal issue but was reminded recently that as tbhounds says, it can be a GI issue also. I have a 12 yo male who has some sort of problem with protein. Had testing for liver dysfunction. There was a prob with bile acid test which is being rerun so no answer there. After that, some sort of protein losing problem is next. So we are not yet at the point you are. All I know is he either is not able to digest/absorb/utilize protein properly or he is losing it. He has no vomiting or diarrhea. Sorry I cannot help. Hope very much you get answers & soon.

Is it safe to assume nothing else has changed lately? You have not changed food, not started or stopped a medication, not added another pet or had visitors? A dramatic surge in appetite is definitely strange. Perhaps a change in ingredients in the food you feed that she suddenly finds appealing? Six cups is way too much food IMO. If you have always free fed her you could give it another day to see if it settles down but I certainly wouldn't let her continue to eat that much. My 60 lb female gets 3 cups/day plus training treats totaling about 1100-1200 kcal/day. If your pups ravenous appetite continues I'd see the vet. There are health issues that can cause this.

Hang in there. Each day will get better but it is so hard in the beginning. Poor Monty doesn't know it will get better, just knows he is uncomfortable now. Hoping today is much better.

Mouse is beautiful. Sending positive thoughts for you little girl.

That's an interesting article. I think they used Whippets because some have a mutation in a myostatin gene that can cause double muscling which can increase speed. However, if a pup inherits two copies they can become musclebound, thus bully whippets. Am not aware of Greyhounds having this mutation. Do you know if they do?

Well wishes on the way. Luke just had one at 11.5 yo. Afterward he trotted out of the vet & hopped into the car like nothing had happened. He did looked zonked on the drive home but then woke up & trotted into the house. He just never missed a beat. Hope Tessa does just as well.

Great news! We just went through the same thing & got the same biopsy results yesterday. Such a good feeling, isn't it?!

Don't know but my boy had a dental last week. He had ulcers in the back of his mouth. Turns out his has stomatitis. His ulcers are an immune reaction to plaque. I had feared he would loose multiple teeth because his gums looked so inflamed despite daily brushings & use of a dental gel. Removing all the plaque was the start of the treatment, from here I'll work to keep it from building up again. (He had a lot when I adopted him so it's been a loosing battle.) In addition to those ulcers he also had a small tumor removed along with the adjoining tooth. Just got the call a little while ago. The biopsy from the tumor is back & it was benign. So although he had ulcers plus a tumor, there was no cancer. Hope all turns out well with your pup.

LOL! Actually it does help. The only worms I've seen that stand up & say "Howdy" are tapeworms, plus they are flat. The other dog in the foster home may not have them. Dogs get them from eating an infected flea. Any formerly flea infested foster of any breed that came through our doors has had them. Stop at any pet store or livestock supply place & get some Tradewinds Tape Worm Tabs or other treatment with Praziquantel as the active ingredient. One dose is all you need.

What started first the wobbly legs or the treatment with flagyl?

*bumping just in case someone new has some ideas* For those who have not met her, Bina is a Golden Retriever in a Greyhound suit. Full of energy, loving, friendly, just a wonderful full of life young lady.

I'm so sorry. Kidney problems are the pits & more difficult to treat when I dog has heart probs. However, there are folks who have balanced the two for their dogs. Hopefully you can get those numbers down & then maintain that for a while. Diet will be very important there. Wishing all the best for Sugar.

Go, Mazie!!!!!!! I whole heartedly endorse the "make sure they know you're there" approach you are taking. Wouldn't want to be so good the vet staff forgets about you. And if it gets you home a day early, all the better. You might want to tone it down just a bit when you get home. Wonderful, wonderful that she is doing so well so soon. That is too fantastic for words.

*Bump*

Best of luck with the surgery. May it all go well & be 100% successful. May Mazie sonn be bouncing around & making mischief with reckless abandon again in the upcoming months. (Cause I don't want to wish that too soon in the recover process.) Remember that if it restores neurological function but only gets rid of 50% the pain it can still be considered a success. Sometimes pain can be treated & well tolerated for quite a while without significantly effecting quality of life. It's when it reaches a certain threshold that QOL really declines. That is when others start to notice what is happening. I know of what I speak.

As someone who went through some pretty bizarre GI probs with a prior dog & then colitis with one of my Greys I totally understand how upsetting this is. I've been on the phone in tears about it before since I was watching a dog waste away. Thinking back to all the testing & research I did a few years ago your description had me thinking of a few different possibilities beside the more obvious ones of parasites, IBD or tick diseases: 1. EPI-exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (that may be why your vet suggested the enzymes) 2. SIBO-small intestinal bacterial overgrowth--another poster mentioned TLI, folate & cobalamin. That testing is used to help diagnose SIBO. Would think in all the testing you've already checked for that & Tylan plus B12 injections should have helped. BTW, Tylan can be given for extended periods if needed. But if things got worse again even while on Tylan I guess that's not a logical thing to try. 3. Addison's--Atypical Addison's can show normal electrolytes on a blood chem. That idea may sound like it's out in left field but you'd be astounded the wide range of initial symptom Addison's dogs present with. Hope very much the enzymes work. Think I'd go that route first, then try a raw that involves well ground meat or a prepackaged freeze dried raw not the more common whole chicken wings or backs. Consider an ACTH stimulation test for Addison's/Cushing's then finally try scoping. In the mean time, maybe the interceptor will rid him of some more worms & the problem will miraculously go away. Not likely, but I'm always the optimist.

That's great news. Colitis, in mild or severe forms, acute or chronic, is miserable for all parties. We've gone through it & it ain't no fun for sure. In our case it has blessedly been absent for 9 mos. (Yes, I am counting.) We switched to no grains & that seemed to do the trick for my girl. It would be lovely if you could find such a simple solution for Spencer. Sending well, non-inflammatory wishes for Spencer.

Thankfully we've not had that problem. Sorry your boy does but very glad it seems to be under control again. Hope he is with you for a long time to come. So does your online order of his meds come in a plain brown wrapper?

It is pricey but I really like it. We do not have a flea problem at our place so I prefer to give their feet, legs & "undercarriage" a quick spray when we are headed somewhere there may be fleas or ticks. It seems to work quite well. Got a tiny bottle but it is lasting us OK.

Are they talking about a fusion for her? I have malformed lumbar vertabrae for which I had a fusion when I was 11 yo. It was very painful & something I would never, ever want to go through again. However, I will probably do just that sometime in the next few years because I now have vertabrae slipping sideways off the ones below. In essence I've got a milder version of what Mazie has. In retrospect, my fusion had relatively little disruption on my life as a whole. The major pain was gone in weeks. Minor intermittent aching lasted for a while longer but was easily handled by aspirin. It isn't something I would put a very senior dog through. However, a younger dog already in pain or with impairment you could hope to improve is a very different thing. For humans in my situation, conservative management is the normal route. For now that is working for me. Few would even know I have a problem. What would send me to surgery? Well, a ruptured disc or cauda equina would make it imperative. Escalating pain or evidence of nerve damage would have me talking to a surgeon also. Sending good thoughts for Mazie, whatever you decide.

Excellent! So glad.

Makes me think of lumbosacral problems. If so, pressure in that area may hurt. Also, he may be reacting to anticipated pain. I hope that is not it.

Had a foster who developed "hemorrhagic colitis". Perhaps that's the same as HGE but she only needed a round of metronidazole to put her right. It stopped hours after the first dose. For this girl, no fluids or hospitalization was necessary. No specific cause was found but an infection was presumed.