fsugrad

No, I didn't. I didn't know what the 'blood blisters' were that Comet got until my vet told me what they were. Now I am tempted to go google! Again, hoping it is nothing.

I am so sorry to learn of Emmy's diagnosis. I will continue to keep you guys and her in my prayers. Emmy sure is lucky to have a fantastic mom and dad like you and Mike! I' know that she will adapt quickly; she sure will have a lot of guides to help her out!! I'm also sure she could not be in a better home situation to help her learn...

That sounds like a great book! I will have to pick up a copy. Thx for the recommendation. Amazon.com's Best of 2001 Like a hospice worker, author Rita M. Reynolds cares for sick and dying animals, helping them comfortably cross the threshold into death. At times, Blessing the Bridge reads like a kindly vet's instruction book, teaching basic skills in respectfully handling a dying animal, whether it's a newborn bird that's fallen from its nest or a beloved dog that's terminally ill. Readers learn ways to make an animal comfortable, such as laying wild animals to rest in beds of flowers or letting domestic animals die in a human's arms. What separates Reynolds from other authors that write about caring for sick and dying animals is her willingness to take the process into a more intuitive and spiritual realm. Reynolds offers suggestions for how to dialogue with dying animals to find out their preferences--whether they wish to die on their own or die through the mercy of euthanasia. She also believes in divine and angelic influences when it comes to helping animals cross over: "Much like the physician or midwife who helps the mother and infant through the birthing process, the angelic ones stand ready to assist those who are dying, but from the other side to speak, waiting on the spirit side of the bridge called death." There is no question in Reynolds's mind that animals possess unique souls or that they move onto an afterlife. She even tells of seeing the spirits of dead animals visiting her. Many of her lessons are conveyed through real-life stories, where we witness how she simultaneously releases and embraces dying animals. Like The Tibetan Book of the Dead, this book has functional appeal and spiritual longevity. Reynolds shows us how to ritualize and soothe animals' deaths, while also offering us abiding wisdom about life on earth. --Gail Hudson

Exposure to the sun has been shown to cause a higher incidence of hemangioma. Light-colored dogs with thin haircoats that spend time in the sun have a higher risk of developing hemangioma. These are common in light colored sun-worshipping whippets and gh's because their coats are so thin. I'm not saying that Frosty has that, as I'm not a vet or animal expert by any means, but it's definitely worth checking out, so you are smart to have made an appt with the vet. I am hoping that it is nothing!

That's exactly what i thought it was too...but dh tells me it isn't, and it doesn't really look like one, but I ran across it again a couple weeks ago because we just left the woods and we were doing a tick check....I think I will bring her in just to ease my mind. Thanks guys! Hopefully it is nothing. Don't "google image" this word unless you are prepared to see some pictures that can be disturbing. I did. Sorry if the pictures that you googled were gross or scary. I didn't mean to scare you. My white whippet has gotten these for the last couple of years. They look like a little blood blister that doesn't go away for a long time. Then it pops, shrivels up, and goes away. They are pretty common in light colored, sun-worshipping hounds.

Greetings from Gainesville, Florida! How exciting for you!! You're going to love having a greyhound; they are just awesome. We adopted our first GH in December and it's one of the best things we've ever done. You've come to the right place for any questions or concerns or just to share funny pictures and stories!!

Me too. I will keep your sweet girl in my prayers.

Is it a hemangioma? Did it kind of look like a blood blister for a while? They are very common in greyhounds and whippets, especially light colored gh's and whippets. Our whippet gets those...

I updated post #1. We are glad we went to see the vet, and feel good about our course of action at this point. Bumping to keep everyone posted.

I am so sorry for the loss of your beautiful Jade.

Lacy is related to my Toby! Kiowa Sweet Trey is Toby's dad, too!! Boy, does KST make some beautiful babies...(spoken like a true proud GH mom! )

I am so sorry for the loss of your beautiful Jaycie.

so far so good. she is having some issues pottying on a lead, so we are working on that, because there is a guy interested in her who lives in an apt, so she will definitely need to know how. she hasnt had any accidents, but she held it almost 12 hours before going pee this morning. tux adores her, another young pup to play with, tails really seems to careless, lol. I bet she'll learn the pottying on a leash thing pretty quickly. Glad things are going smoothly between her and your boys. She is so beautiful!!

Greetings from Gainesville, Florida! Would love to see a picture of Frankie!!

Lacy is beautiful!! What do Tux and Tails think about her? Has it been a smooth homecoming for her?

She's gorgeous!!!

OMG! He is beyond adorable! :heart He's so cute, I'm sure it's hard to stay mad at him for TOO long! Oops--I got so carried away with the puppy, that I forgot to say hello from Gainesville, FL!

Greetings from Gainesville, Florida! Looks like your mom could have a career as a professional dog bed maker, if she so chose!! Enza is beautiful! Congrats!

Greetings from Gainesville, Florida! We just adopted our first GH 6 months ago and it's one of the best things we ever did. Our boy has been absolutely awesome!! One thing I would recommend is that if you do adopt a boy, see if you can get your hands on a couple of belly wraps to help him learn not to mark in the house. Our GH came to us straight from the kennel at the race track. By wearing the belly wraps, he learned the whole housebreaking thing and stopped marking in the house in only 2 days. If your boy has been in a foster home already, the marking thing may or may not be an issue. Please keep us informed and don't forget, we LOVE pics around here!!

Thank you, everyone. I'm going to watch and see how he does over the next week or so. Again, today, he is having a pretty good day. He is sitting with Toby in the family room, and they're each enjoying new bully sticks I just bought for them. I already know this is going to be a dreaded, difficult decision. I'll take him to the vet to be sure, if he has another bad day like the last one. I too would feel better if my vet told me that if it were her dog, that's what she'd do, since she also owns greyhounds and whippets. We adore this dog and he means so very much to us and to our boys, who have had him in their lives since they were 1 and 3. They're 12 and 14 now.

I could really use some advice and input on this. As some of you know, we have an 11 year old whippet who is in poor health. He suffered a spinal cord injury 5 yrs ago and has always walked with a limp since then. As he has aged, the limp is getting more pronounced. He's now walking in kind of a curled in c-shape. Hard to describe. His hind legs are having a harder time supporting him. Some days/times it's more pronounced than others. He also has a diaphragmatic hernia, a grade 4 heart murmur, and hemangiomas (he is almost all white and we live in the blazing FL sun). He is not eating his dog food well, so now I'm giving him ham, chicken, ground beef, whatever to get calories into him. He has lost a bit of weight recently; based on his bones being more pronounced. He is no longer able to go on our regular walks, as about 2/3 of the way into the walk, we need to carry him because he runs out of energy. Last Saturday night, he was very very clingy to me; pressing himself up against me everywhere I'd go. he would pant off and on (even though our house was cool inside and he hadn't exerted himself) and his heart was beating pretty fast, as if he'd been running. He would not lie down and rest all night no matter where we tried to put him and make him comfortable. We all managed to fall asleep around 4:00 a.m. or so. The next morning I looked around the house, fully expecting to find that he had passed away. He had somehow gotten himself up the stairs (our master BR is downstairs) and was sleeping on top of our youngest son, who was sound asleep. Yesterday he was back to his semi- regular self, tottering along as best he could, no more panting, no more heart racing, etc. And he slept well last night. Question: We know his time left with us is limited. But how do we know when "it is time", if we need to assist him to The Bridge? I don't want to be selfish and prolong things if he is in pain. But I don't want to cut his time short either. He is not letting out yelps of pain, but you can see by the way that he walks that it is getting harder for him to get around. I've only had to have 1 pet put down and that was a cat suffering from feline leukemia, with no other treatment options. Our IG died peacefully as we were en route to have her put down as she had a massive seizure and never regained consciousness. Can anybody give me advice on what I should do, or signs I should look for? **** UPDATE: We took Comet to the vet on Saturday. He has lost 3 pounds since he was last there in November. After a thorough exam and talking it over with our vet, we concluded that it is not yet Comet's time to leave us; although our vet said that it looks like it would be in the not too distant future. I went to the store and bought him a food he's never had before--Caesar--he scarfed every bit of it down. At dinnertime, I gave him another Caesar and mixed some rice, veggies, and some of his kibble into it; again he scarfed it down. His hind legs are still on the weak side but at least he is enjoying eating again. Our vet assured us that he is presently not in any pain and so long as he doesn't have another episode like he had last weekend, we feel comfortable having him in a sort of 'hospice mode' and just keeping him comfortable and happy for as long as we may still have him.

What a beautiful angel she is!

from Gainesville, Florida! I am still shaking in my shoes from Kool Aid's intimidating "give me the cookies" look in Cute and Funny!

from Gainesville, FL! Your pups are all beautiful, but Cash blows me away! She's gorgeous!!