PrairieProf

I am so very sorry for your loss.

Such a beautiful girl. I have often thought of you missing her. Beth was sleeping in the banana position just the other day -- I'm glad to see it's normal.

I just received the awful news that a greyhound from our group, Finn (Cartagena), pulled loose from his mom's grip while trying to chase a rabbit yesterday, was hit by a car, and died. He was a beautiful and much-loved brindle boy, given lots of exercise and attention, and he was a frequent participant in QCGA's Iowa City-area M&Gs. My heart is breaking for his mom and all who knew him. http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?i=1187623 :f_white

I'd second the Sam's Yams sweet potato chews as something to possibly try -- Beth really likes them, and they don't bother her sensitive stomach either. We started with the tiny ones (Bichon Fries) but will move up to the Veggie Rawhide size. The fact that they have no fat is important for us since Beth's recent close brush with pancreatitis. There's sweet potato in TOTW so you wouldn't be feeding your hounds an ingredient they're not getting as is. FWIW Beth gets very loose poo from the big hard Snooks dried sweet potatoes which I've also seen recommended here. I think they're just too much/too hard for her to digest well.

I am so very sorry for the loss of your truly lovely girl.

Things definitely seem improved this morning ... when I took her sock off the cut looked basically closed up and dry. I put some liquid bandage stuff on it to help keep it from reopening when she got up. There was a small amount of oozing when we got in from our short walk, but much less than yesterday. And the limping is about 70% less this morning, even when Beth trots! She isn't bothering the cut, but is back in her Disney Princess sock.

I could definitely use the tutorial! Maybe what I got are baby socks -- it didn't really say, and kid feet is something I know nothing about. It said "2-4" and "size 4-7" though. But again, I think they're meant to be very low. I got waterproof bandaging tape, and I think that will work oK.

Thanks everyone. It's still oozy and worries me a lot. And of course as Batmom suggests it does seem to bleed some again every time she stands up and walks (though not enough that she's leaving real blood spots around). OK, so clarification question -- what size toddler socks is one looking for? I just got some that were at Walgreens on sale (Disney motifs!) because I didn't want to drive all the way to Target or someplace tonight. But these seem like toddler anklets and don't come high enough to tape very securely. Hmm, I guess I need the cuffed kind? Well, I'll look tomorrow though it would be late afternoon before I could get them home.

I think I'm going to try Bactine and the sock -- just went out and got those. The taping scares me that I won't do it right without guidance. And of course it's just started to rain (and is supposed to rain a lot the next few days). I assume I could put a rubber Pawz boot on to keep the area dry -- soggy socks don't sound like a good idea.

My vet said it wasn't a problem if she licked it and didn't tell me to wrap it -- I think he wanted it to have air to help clot? I'm feeling really confused. How do you wrap -- down covering all the toes? She licked it some earlier today, but doesn't seem to be obsessing about it now.

Here's a photo of the foot injury. It gets bloodier when she walks, but doesn't seem to be bleeding onto the ground -- so, seeping I guess. She is still limping a lot, especially when she breaks into a trot! Again, though it doesn't show well, the actual injury is a clean slice.

It was a TLI she had both times. We did it initially along with the test for SIBO as we were trying to figure out what was wrong with her GI system, and it was high -- we hadn't been looking for pancreatitis specifically. Apparently under 5 on the TLI = EPI, over 35 can be malnutrition, renal failure, or acute pancreatitis, and we know she doesn't have either of the first two conditions. So she was sort of at a "code orange" pancreatic level, and apparently the TLI is what the vet wants to keep retesting to monitor her. She had a Spec cPL test once before when I took her to an e-vet for acute vomiting, but it was negative then. Can't take any credit for her name, but I'm glad you like it!

I got some very good news on Beth today, who was found in bloodwork about a month ago for persistent digestive issues to have a very high TLI, putting her near the border of pancreatitis -- after a month of Flagyl and eating Hill's I/D, we retested her and her new results came back -- her TLI is now right in the middle of the normal range (normal is 5-35 with over 35 being acute pancreatitis -- a month ago she was at 33.8 and now she's down to 14.9). So I'm very happy about that. We're tapering down the Flagyl slowly, and she's going to stay on I/D for a while yet since she's doing very well on it and we don't want to mess with her system until we're 100% sure she stays stable once she's off Flagyl entirely. What a relief to know she's out of the danger zone, though. BUTTT I got this report from the vet in person because I unexpectedly took her in this morning -- somehow she got a cut on her right front inner toe, right above the pad. I assume she probably got it running at the park or as we left the park, but it only seemed to open up when I took her out for a pee mid-morning -- she started limping and then I looked down and saw fresh blood. It was bleeding a good bit so I rushed her to the vet to check, and at first he thought it needed a couple of stitches -- it's apparently about a 1 cm. slice, not an abrasion. But then he decided that if I kept her mostly on crate rest for a day it would probably close up on its own if I didn't mess with it. So we're trying that, but meanwhile I had to take her out midday and she's limping so badly, I'm terribly upset -- I've never really seen her in pain before and it just unhinges me. Wondered if it could be anything else than the cut causing it, but there's little reason to believe that's the case. I can imagine it might be several days before we can do more than the briefest walks needed for her to do her business.....

I can't help but wonder if something scary happened while he was in the crate while you were out. After a year, "getting tired of the crate" doesn't seem that likely an explanation to me. I still crate my hound I've had for 2.5 years when I go out -- she seems more secure there and doesn't get into trouble (chewing things!) as she sometimes does when antsy or bored and uncrated. So I understand if you want to keep using it -- I'm not saying you need to, but I thought you should hear from someone who's pro-crate and whose dog really likes her crate (goes in of her own accord when she sees me getting ready to leave, generally doesn't come out for quite a while after I get home and open the door). I also travel with her a fair bit and the crate makes it much easier to leave her feeling secure in a new place. I haven't had this problem so I don't have any experience to offer, but my thought would be to start from the beginning as if you were getting a brand new dog used to a crate -- luring him in with high value treats for just a minute with the door open, closing it for a very short time with a great treat and then opening it again, etc. In other words, seeing if you can lay down a new positive association to the crate to replace whatever has produced a negative one.

Yes, it absolutely produces a reduced amount of poop! It's a highly digestible, low-residue food and I've been really struck by how much less poop it produces compared to the TOTW Beth was on before -- it certainly has changed my thoughts about what kind of stuff goes through dogs how. That said, Dustin will probably go a bit more once his digestion is back on track -- he doesn't have much in the pipeline yet. Beth still goes 3-4 times a day (her usual; we leash walk usually so she's sort of programmed to go) but the volume is less. Not super firm in texture, though quite well-formed and pick-up-able -- I think being slightly softer is an expected feature of the food as well. Beth has seemed to need a bit more I/D to get/keep her weight up vs. the TOTW, though I'm not sure exactly because she's finally back to her perfect maintenance weight (58 pounds) after having lost weight as I was switching her over and not feeding quite enough, so I was wanting her to gain. (There are also confounding caloric factors, like the fact that she's getting nonfat yogurt rather than peanut butter in her Kong now, since hers is a pancreatic issue.) Right now she gets a bit more than 3 cups of dry plus 2/3 can of canned I/D per day. It's quite possible she might start to gain on that, especially when it gets hot out and she gets less active. FWIW, I was worried Beth was going to lose her nice coat on the I/D but I swear it's even softer now! She's also been running around like a nutjob at the park, so she certainly has plenty of energy.

I thought it was weird too, and I did think it was a little confusing and possibly irresponsible that they published the results as if they were serious data, with no commentary about methodology, sample size, how to interpret the results, etc.

Sounds like a good plan, Kerry. The I/D has extra vitamins and potassium to help replenish nutrients a dog loses through D or vomiting, and of course it's complete and balanced, so I do think it has advantages over homemade bland food. I would not rush back into kibble either so rapidly after such a severe episode.

I am so sorry. Rest in peace, Spencer kitty, you should have been here many more years.

Glad that was helpful. It makes total sense to start with very small amounts to make sure he's OK and can tolerate food, but he IS going to be hungry. Hopefully you can feed small amounts frequently and gradually bump the amount up by tomorrow, or even tonight. They also loooove the I/D it seems! He will pee more than usual on the canned food once he's getting a significant amount (because there's a high moisture percentage in it vs. kibble) but will poop significantly less than you're used to seeing. I/D poop isn't super-firm, but with Beth it's been small and usually quite well-formed. ETA: it's 369 calories per can.

I'd agree. Among many other things it could be pancreatitis, which needs immediate intervention.

My impression is that "diet at the track" thing is a big myth, but others will chime in. They eat raw beef, not chicken, anyway. Kerry, don't worry if Merlin takes a while to poop; in addition to having been totally cleaned out, the canned I/D produces a very small volume of poo, so it's going to take a while for enough to build up for him to have to go. (Remember too that while a can of I/D looks pretty big, calorie-wise it's only equivalent to one cup of average kibble -- took me a while to wrap my head around this!)

Glad Merlin is home, sending good thoughts for a quiet night!

My vet is currently offering a deal in April of buy 6 get 2 free on Advantage Multi -- I'm pretty sure that's the company's current promotion through vets, so you should check into it and what that would make the price per tube. (I get mine from my vet though I'm sure it's pricier, but since it's prescription it seems easiest.)

Oh no! I didn't come on last night and am just seeing all this. So worried about the wizard, but at least he's in good hands now, and I know you have Amber to lean on who has so much experience with this. I'll be checking in frequently! Just to add for anyone who might find it reassuring information, Beth is now on all I/D like Soul, at least for the time being (not due to HGE, but what has probably been a chronic low-grade pancreatitis we finally -- fortunately! -- diagnosed a month ago). Despite my reservations, I have to say she is doing wonderfully on it -- loves it, has plenty of energy, has good (much smaller!) poop, and it's made her coat unbelievably silky. So don't be afraid if your vet wants him to go on it when the acute phase of this passes.

Why do you need to give food at all? Just open the dog's mouth and stick the pill way as far back down by the throat as you can, then if necessary close their mouth to make sure they swallow. Those greyhound "crocodile jaws" make it super easy to get your fingers in to stick the pill way back. I've never had the slightest problem pilling Beth that way -- much easier than pilling a cat, which I do twice a day as is. I do it right before I feed her (the food already ready to go in the bowl) so she swallows it down and then quickly turns her attention to the food. Then I go wash the houndie saliva off my fingers.