PrairieProf

I would not accept that wait! I would make a scene about the urgency of a diagnosis until they got me in or referred me to someone else who could do the xrays or whatever. I feel really lucky, I hear about these ridiculous delays I've NEVER not gotten in to see my vet within 24 hours, almost always the same day -- maybe it's being in Iowa.

Sending good thoughts to Beth's pretty half-sister.....

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear this bad news. Poor Dorie, poor you and everyone.

I am so so sorry. I can't imagine your stress, and on a weekend too. Fingers crossed.

Sending good thoughts to Dorie and to you.....

Beth had that and the ligament was completely torn on one side ... let's just say she is now one toe less. If it were me, I would definitely go to the vet.

I am so terribly sorry for the loss of your beautiful girl.

Oh so sorry a good report was followed by a not so good one. What a stressful night and a mess to clean too.

Oh yeah, Tripett is great. I used to give it to Beth a lot before she developed a pancreas issue. I don't think it smells particularly worse than canned cat food. Good poop = formed and you can pick it up without leaving traces on the grass. It can be a real journey to get there (to find a food that works that well). Here's your pretty girl: http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?z=ceeJcv&d=ale+flashy&sex=&color=&birthyear=&birthland=

Congratulations! Bhombolina () sounds great. She is pretty and the white feet are so cute -- like she's wearing ladies' gloves! What is her racing name? Love how in the video she already gives you that tiny wag when you talk to her (and then flops over in typical sleepy-greyhound fashion). 48 hours in a crate (except for potty breaks I assume)? NEVER heard that. You may well find she's more food-motivated after she settles in ... they're not interested in treats when everything is new and overwhelming. From experience I would say, watch out for overdoing it with the Kong stuffing, especially high-fat stuff -- could lead to D or worse. FYI you can also put yogurt in there--plain is just fine--and freeze it for a less rich treat (I use Greek yogurt since it's easier to smear in with a knife). Same with toys -- though lots of greys are never all that into toys.

My girl Beth does it like crazy too. Always for pooping, sometimes even for peeing (when she's out in the park). She's also a big marker, FWIW!

Just catching up on this -- so sorry the news isn't better so far. I'm hoping hoping with the right treatment she turns around and surprises everyone. Poor girl and poor you.

Oh dear! I don't have any experience but I'm sure others do. I'm glad you have a diagnosis and can begin moving forward with treatment. Sending gentle hugs to Dorie. (Boy, I sure hope there's a good point or two about your regular vet, because that is sure not an arrangement that would work for me!)

Aw shoot, I'm sorry. But at least this time you know just what it is and can begin appropriate treatment right away!

Wow. Wonder if they make muzzles with poop guards for ducks?? Beth has Doberman friends who have gotten in trouble eating a lot of nasty stuff -- they'll scarf down whatever inedible objects they can find at the park. Really stresses their mom out. Makes me VERY glad the worst thing Beth likes to eat is frozen poop.

Thanks so much, everyone. She was a wonderful kitty, and I'm missing her a lot, though calm -- I think I went through so much anticipatory grieving since August and feel grateful for the extra four weeks with her. (I'm also missing my Quinn more sharply than usual, since I got him and Carey together and my memories of them are so linked -- Quinn was there for twelve of the fifteen years of Carey's life.) I feel like I've been so lucky the past three years to have had the most loving, social kitty and the most confident, social hound -- it wasn't lost on me that Carey and Beth had/have pretty similar personalities. Both of them would see heaven as a circle of new people who wanted to pet them, and they could just go around from lap to lap and get love endlessly. I am going to meet a new kitty I'm interested in and others at a small rural rescue Friday evening ... he's a real hard-luck story, a young adult found scared and very thin and covered in oil at a TNR feeding station, but healthy now and apparently extremely people-oriented.

I am sorry for your loss. I just had to make that decision for my cat Carey yesterday, so my feelings as well as my thoughts are with you.

I'm not an expert like some here, but I like to keep Beth more or less on a schedule (though the midday break may vary by an hour or so). I have to do it on leash, so I want to be the one deciding when to go out, and I don't want to skip it and then get interrupted at 3 p.m. or something by her finally deciding she needs to pee when we'd normally be going out again around 5:00. Or often I am going to be out for the afternoon and she has to have an outing before I leave. And generally to get her up I have to bribe her with yogurt or treats. It is amazing how fast that dog wakes up from a dead sleep when she hears the yogurt spoon clank on her metal bowl, or the rattle of dog biscuits in a bag. She is very lazy in the house most of the time (she tends to ramp up around 5:00), but often pretty rambunctious once she's on the walk and she runs hard most times we go to the dog park. I heard him rustling upstairs so I clicked his leash to see if he would come down to go out. Yep, he needed to pee. But where is he now? Back upstairs on his bedtime bed! I don't have a yard either (well a tiny, rocky one -- Beth will dash around when the ground is covered by snow but not otherwise) and I do personally believe greyhounds need to run for their fullest physical and emotional health -- though I'll confess Beth was fine on restriction almost all summer as she recovered after a toe amputation caused by an unfortunate running injury. We go the park about 3x a week early in the mornings when there's a small compatible group -- I wouldn't go with a large number of random dogs. Or you can often find other unofficial fenced areas if you look. Or arrange a greyhound playdate with others in the area. I think people will tell you their walking needs vary. And what they can take varies with the weather, too -- in hot weather Beth would be exhausted after twenty minutes. But when it's cool she can do 45 mins. or an hour easily. In non-hot weather conditions we do at LEAST half an hour twice a day, not counting shorter potty walks. But she's in shape, not overweight, etc.

I'm not an expert like some here, but I like to keep Beth more or less on a schedule (though the midday break may vary by an hour or so). I have to do it on leash, so I want to be the one deciding when to go out, and I don't want to skip it and then get interrupted at 3 p.m. or something by her finally deciding she needs to pee when we'd normally be going out again around 5:00. Or often I am going to be out for the afternoon and she has to have an outing before I leave. And generally to get her up I have to bribe her with yogurt or treats. It is amazing how fast that dog wakes up from a dead sleep when she hears the yogurt spoon clank on her metal bowl, or the rattle of dog biscuits in a bag. She is very lazy in the house most of the time (she tends to ramp up around 5:00), but often pretty rambunctious once she's on the walk and she runs hard most times we go to the dog park.

I had to send my darling Carey on her journey today. She was 15 and a couple of months ago was chugging along just fine -- I so thought she had a lot more time. But she started going downhill sometime during July and while we never got a precise diagnosis, it was almost certainly lymphoma or another form of intestinal cancer. My comfort such as it is is that I think I got the day to do it as close to perfectly right as you can get these things -- I almost put her to sleep a little over a month ago but she rallied on prednisone and we had four weeks of good time, with her only going downhill again starting Friday. Her passing was as peaceful as you could ask for. I still so vividly remember being in the in-home shelter run by two sisters in NJ where I lived at the time -- little Carey, five months old, came toddling down the stairs and was so adorable. I picked her up, she batted at my earring, and I was toast. But she totally dominated all the young male kittens there and seemed so much fuller of personality -- I ended up getting my Quinn, who was ten months old, a strong personality too, and could hold his own. Her feisty nature made the name I wanted to use really suit her -- she was named for M. Carey Thomas, famous feminist president of Bryn Mawr, my alma mater. I remember too when I took her to the vet for the first time, and he said "she's just a little peanut!" -- the Dancing Peanut became one of her many nicknames, along with Care-Bear, Cariboo, the Little Blueberry as my friend dubbed her, and countless others. Carey was the most loving and social kitty, always snuggly and adaptable to new situations. Quinn turned out to be pretty rough on her, but she'd scramble out from under his attacks and give him a look like "I wasn't scared of that!" With Quinn and without, she traveled between Iowa and New York many times and was always ready for petting and food as soon as she got out of the carrier. Quinn was more temperamental and high-stress, but when he went three years ago, I felt Carey would be able to adapt to living with a dog, and she did, though it took a little while for her to settle down about it. Even after three years I was seeing new signs of what looked like grudging affection on her part toward Beth -- the final, miraculous development just a couple of nights ago. I will be getting another cat or cats as soon as possible -- I can't bear the emptiness of the house without one and much as I love Beth a dog is different. But I can't imagine life without my babycita, and as I told her today I will never ever forget her or stop loving her for a moment the rest of my life. When I first got her: A few years ago: Helping me grade papers: A couple of weeks ago: The final miracle -- the very last time she lay on my bed a few nights ago (Beth slept through it!):

Absolutely! My vet's scale is right out in the waiting area. It is very important to me to keep Beth's weight where it should be and I like knowing for sure. She got admired at our reunion picnic Saturday for her elegant build -- but although she is a beautiful hound, I think what they were really noticing is that, in contrast to most of the dogs, I have not let her put on those extra pounds. Where I always see a difference is how narrow or wide they are across the top of the hips.

Good luck to that sweet girl from me and Beth (who had five anesthesias in the past year and was just fine).

Basically, get ready for your hound to have a good bit more energy in the cooler weather than he did when it was hot out! It will level off eventually, but on the first cool invigorating days he is likely to be pretty much nuts with energy and desire to run and be a goof.

If the weather just turned colder where you are as it has where I am, I think it's much more likely to be that. Fall crazies have begun here for sure.... Tons of people here use Frontline (myself included) without problems.

Awww, I used to take my cat to Hyde Park Animal Clinic on 53rd. Pretty sure it was Dr. Wake, and I remember I liked him, but it's been so many years now. Glad they're still there and glad your adoption process is coming along!