PrairieProf

I am so sorry for the sad and sudden loss of your beloved girl.

You can order a muzzle stool guard here (scroll to bottom): http://gemgreyhounds.org/gem_store/muzzles.htm They are fast and great! In the mean time, duct tape over the end of the muzzle will work. Otherwise he can get his tongue through the holes. The wounds WILL NOT heal if he keeps licking them; he constantly licks off any scab or granulation tissue that might start to form. He isn't "keeping them clean," he's fussing with them. Whether you use the muzzle or some kind of collar, he MUST be stopped from licking. And you must use whatever you use ALL the time, 24/7, except when he's eating or on leash or immediately under your supervision, no matter how pitiful he looks. I've learned all this the hard way!

FWIW I got a soft travel crate thinking it would be easier but it did not work at all for Beth as a crate -- when I tried it out at home she rolled it just turning around I think, and one errant claw and the mesh was history on one side. Now it's kept open as sort of a "canopy bed" for her in my bedroom. And I lug around the 48" folding metal crate -- if I was sensible I'd have bought one to keep at my parents' house since we're there twice a year. Re the crate/x-pen issue: what will you do if the family decides to go out to dinner or otherwise leave the house together? You probably don't want to leave him loose with other dogs who won't be muzzled, nor do you probably want to shut him into a room with a closed door. "Leaving the dog" is for me by far the biggest issue when I travel. If you feel you can't bring a crate, can you bring a baby gate (that you know he won't knock over or try to jump?).

FWIW Beth just had a whole middle toe removed earlier this summer (see my long thread on the subject) and I recall my vet (whom I think is great, but I wouldn't call him a greyhound vet) saying toe removal was a very straightforward surgery, one he'd feel comfortable with even a vet student doing. The complications Beth had came with fragile greyhound skin and irritation from wrapping. It seems odd to me that only the last segment of the toe would be dislocated or a source of pain, so I too would get a second opinion.

I agree, he'll settle down and be fine. Beth tends to stand up and look around if we're going through neighborhoods, but she lies down and relaxes when we're on the highway. It may take him a little while at first, but he'll get there. We stop every couple of hours, partly because I need to stop anyway. I took Beth from Iowa to New York and back for the holidays a few months after I got her -- two day trip, 1,100 miles each way. She's my first dog too, and I love traveling with her! (We do that trip twice a year.) I bet this will be a real bonding experience for you and Indy. Make sure you keep the A/C cranked up pretty well -- it gets hot in the car in back with the sun coming in the windows, and greys don't do heat well. You have to keep any potty/supply stops for yourself super-short in this summer weather. Also, have you thought through what Indy will need to be secure and comfortable at your family's house? This may need planning/prep more than the ride. For example, I always travel with Beth's giant crate (oof, just love getting that up on my roof racks!), since at home she's crated when I go out and is secure and calm being left new places when she is in the crate.

Huh, interesting ... I don't think this is the same thing, though, since we're talking about scar tissue from deep wounds in the hairless areas, not hair loss on basically intact skin. This has been the best Fourth of July weekend I can remember, because I'm so thrilled about having Beth mostly "back". We are now taking up to 25-minute walks (and I'm sure she could do more, but I don't want to overdo it increasing length too fast); Saturday we went to a M&G and Sunday we went to a friend's backyard barbecue where there were other dogs she knows. I've missed this sort of thing so much! She did fine and seemed very happy!

Congrats on your handsome guy! Beth did not pee or poop for over 24 hours after I brought her home! Definitely nix on the pet store bones. I'd also suggest you keep his feeding/treats really simple for now -- maybe one kind of simple treat only. Hounds often have loose poop or other GI disturbance after you bring them home and it's helpful not to have too many variables that might be factors, and also you can then see more clearly what treats agree or don't agree with your hound. (I was eager to try all sorts of different treats when I first got Beth, but in retrospect that wasn't a great idea.)

Yeah, my vet had this corrugated foam backed with felt and velcro tape which he cut to fit for a custom Bite-Not collar. However, you have to be really careful with the fitting -- my girl had surgery on her lower back and it turned out that with the first collar we did she could still get her head around to lick -- she didn't do it when I saw her for several days. But she managed to give herself an ugly hairless scar area there from licking the scab off the sutures repeatedly and widening the incision line before we cut another one that fit more closely (sort of tapered to fit her neck, with a throat notch cut so it didn't choke her). If you don't have a stool guard, you can put duct tape over the end of the muzzle to prevent the dog licking through it. When my dog was wearing it all the time, the vet cut ribbons of gauze and tied the muzzle on her neck (from the head strap under her throat with a bow) so she couldn't rub it or scratch it off.

Yeah, they will not heal well if he keeps licking. Likely to form scars/prevent hair regrowth. Try a Bite-Not collar (be absolutely sure he can't reach the sores even with it on -- my girl is a big licker and I learned this the hard way) or a muzzle with stool guard (she fusses with the muzzle a lot outside, but quickly tolerated it quietly indoors -- she was wearing it almost constantly for a couple of weeks recently). Or an e-collar, though I've managed to avoid that so far -- I think the muzzle is easier for a greyhound. I don't think there's anything I could put on her skin externally that would prevent her licking a spot if she wanted to.

Thank you! Yes, the taking it easy part will be tricky ... it was 98 degrees out this evening and she tried to jump and twirl on the grass to celebrate the joy of pooping. I'd say she has some pent-up energy....

I think this will be my final update on this thread, though I suspect I'll have some other toe-amp questions down the road... We went to the vet this morning since he wasn't in the office when I came back from vacation and he hadn't seen Beth in close to a week. He said her foot is completely healed now. And to my surprise she is now free from all walking restrictions (the instructions I'd been following after I got back were 10-15 minutes mostly on grass)!! We can go back to our normal walks on pavement or wherever, I just have to rebuild her exercise tolerance. The foot has not come out cosmetically perfect, sigh. There is a hard, rounded lump of tissue right above the amputation site that will probably never go away -- it doesn't really show when she's standing on the foot but it deforms the shape of it otherwise. The vet doesn't think it's a sign or will be a cause of problems for her; I guess time will tell. And the areas that had to granulate in to heal almost certainly won't regrow hair, and this unfortunately includes the knuckle of her remaining middle toe that got so abraded by the wrap. Hopefully as the rest of her hair fully regrows it will cover it a little more, and the skin will get a bit less red than it is now so freshly closed up. There is no one more unfortunately obsessed with cosmetic details on my hound than I, so this is hard for me, but I know I'll notice this stuff less over time. I know the important thing is that Beth is happy, pain-free and doing all her normal behaviors, though I've been trying to keep her from getting too nuts jumping around. I'm really scared of the prospect of letting her run again later in the summer (for fear of her damaging the remaining toes on that foot), but one thing at a time....

That's right, we had that checked too when we did the initial pancreatic function test.

Yes -- tell the vet you want to check for a low-grade pancreatic issue. I'm a bit confused about the exact test, because the usual test for pancreatitis is a cPL, but my vet did a TLI test (which tests for pancreatic insufficiency as well as high levels of enzymes, which are indicative of pancreatitis) both initially (when we were just trying to figure out what might be going on with a persistent case of D) and to monitor Beth on re-tests. The cPL is a quick, in-office test, the TLI has to be sent out to a lab, and is $$ -- but I have a great vet and I'm sure there was a reason that the TLI was better for our purposes -- I think I asked him at one point but I don't recall or didn't quite grasp the answer. But it will surely be one of these. The cure for Beth was the I/D and a month of Flagyl (followed by another few weeks of slowly tapering down the dose). My understanding is that the Flagyl is used for its antiinflammatory qualities, not its antibacterial ones. Beth's TLI came down from 33.8 (35 is indicative of acute pancreatitis!), to 14 after a month of treatment, to 9 several weeks after we discontinued the Flagyl.

Just seeing this too -- sending good thoughts!

Lisa, I'd really check pancreatic function before I fed fat balls. This is just something I've gotten very spooked about after my experience with Beth -- if a grey has a low-grade pancreatitis fat balls are are just the thing to push them over the edge into an acute incident.

Ugh, sounds frustrating. I've never had problems with Beth eating except for one stretch last winter, which I now believe was related to the issue below though I can't prove it. I'll throw out two suggestions though: --Have her pancreatic enzymes checked. Beth's sensitive stomach was, I think, related to a sub-acute pancreatic issue that we finally diagnosed. And a friend's grey and galgo were recently found to have "sky-high" pancreatic enzymes too. Beth is vastly better now that she's on a low-fat, moderate protein diet. Purina is pretty high in fat, FWIW (isn't it around 17%?). Beth never had gas or throwing up issues, though. --I was skeptical and the ingredients don't sound great, but Beth is now on Hill's Prescription I/D and has consistently perfect (or near-perfect) poop. Not a single loose poop incident since she got stabilized on this. She really likes it too (I feed mostly dry with a little canned mixed in), though she likes pretty much everything she's ever been offered. I was totally surprised, since I thought she too needed limited ingredients etc. It seems like low fat, low residue is what works best for her. If Sage's belly hurts, you just might find this or a similar prescription food does the trick.

Welcome from Iowa! A university-themed litter, how cool! (I'm a professor, so I think it is -- I had to look Harvey up since a friend has a "Primco" hound too). Harvey is adorable and I'm sure with your god-dog experience you'll be a greyt greyhound mom!

I am so very sorry.

I picked Beth up this morning after returning from being on vacation for a week. There's been good progress in my absence -- all of the areas on her foot that needed to close up have done so, although the skin is still delicate and needs to regrow hair (although I'm skeptical about how much will regrow where there were deep granulation areas). She hasn't been using a bootie or been muzzled or needed to be on any more pain meds since early last week!! The vet wasn't in today, but his instructions via the techs are to walk Beth for 10-15 minutes max to start with, mostly on grass, then slowly build up. I'll bring her in for an appointment Friday so I can get some more detail. Meanwhile I let her come up the seven carpeted stairs to my office room for the first time since her injury a little bit ago -- she is happily sacked out on her big dog bed here. This room is one of her favorite spots, and now I can finally be on the computer again without being separated from her. She apparently did really well staying at the vet's all week, but she seems really zonked today -- I guess it's normal, I feel that way too after my trip!

I'm in California now, but I got such wonderful updates on Beth yesterday from the tech who's taking care of her. The vet said her foot looked great and as of yesterday: she doesn't need to wear the muzzle, she doesn't need the bootie on to go outside, and she doesn't need to be on Tramadol! I was actually sort of shocked about so many quick transitions at once, but I'm sure the vet wouldn't rush them if he didn't really think she was ready, as she's been doing fine with all of them. It makes me wish I was there to see her walking! (Sort of -- it's great to be on vacation with a friend after all the stress of the past six weeks or so.) Jess has been sending me lots of cute pics too (too much work to get most of them online on someone else's computer), but Beth is clearly not missing me in the least. I think she thinks she's become an official staff member at the hospital....

A lot of people have had amazing results supplementing melatonin for hair growth -- you can search and find lots of threads. It's a normal greyhound thing and isn't related to track/kennel life, at any rate.

I would also highly recommend Pawz boots (semi-disposable rubber booties). I can't imagine having gotten through this without them (use size large). They are waterproof and stay on perfectly. I used them anyway for winter salt, but they're just what you need to protect a wrapped foot. http://pawzdogboots.com/

I suspect it's a lot easier on them when it isn't a complete removal like Beth's -- basically you're only healing the end of the toe then, right, vs. Beth who has the whole area on her foot where the toe was removed, that gets sort of pulled when she walks. But I guess they'll still have to remove the webbing adjoining the toe? A lot of the incision/stitching area comes from that. The most sensitive part of Beth's incision area seemed to be around where the webbing was detached nearest to the pads.

Beth is just recovering from a middle-toe amputation (complete amputation to the foot) 3.5 weeks ago. That is harder on them than the inner or outer edge toe supposedly. But it's not that bad -- your dog should be able to walk when she leaves the vet, and will be on painkillers. The foot will be wrapped for a couple of weeks, and the stitches will come out after 10-14 days. I see the point about all the bandage changes, but the bandage was rubbing Beth's toes completely raw and it would have been terrible if we hadn't caught that sooner rather than later. Make sure the bandage is well padded -- Beth's was just basically vetwrap at first, and I think that was a problem. Also with only one middle toe left, the remaining knuckle on that toe was really vulnerable. I think I was probably walking too much -- still very short walks to my mind, but more than we should have, because it wasn't made clear enough to me. Beth had complications with the wrap abrading her toes and the fill-in vet had me take it off after six days, but by the time we got home Beth's skin had ripped away from the sutures -- she got some subcuticular sutures put in but a significant area had to heal by granulation and it's been a longish stressful process with a lot of crate rest (foot unwrapped in the crate/wrapped to go out, a huge pain), but most other hounds here haven't gone through anything like that. And she was able to walk just fine through all of this, and not in any distress. I get what you mean about the 4th of July -- Beth's was done the week before Memorial Day and I think that contributed to our problems. If I were you I'd do it ASAP and NOT right before the holiday weekend. Once you're a week out you're less likely to have complications. Here's my thread with all the gory details: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/272208-deep-ulcer-between-beths-toes/

Beth is so in love with everybody at the vet where she's been day-boarding as she recovers from her toe amp that she's started jumping up like crazy (especially on her favorite tech and our vet). She usually just did it occasionally, generally outside. I live alone and don't have many visitors so it's hard to work on. I do need to address it, though -- it's been hard to focus on behavioral stuff when I'm worried about her healing. And obviously crate/babygate is not feasible in a situation like this, and she's already on leash. Fortunately the jumpees here are obviously used to dogs and they love her.... It's kind of embarrassing though as we've done lots of training classes.