PrairieProf

Thanks everybody. Morning update: No more vomiting during the night, she mostly slept quietly on my bed. At one point in the early morning she started panting and I was worried, but I think she may have just been hot -- I'd turned up the heat a little while before because I was chilly, and our bodies were pressed together. At any rate, when I turned the heat down and opened a door to a draftier room, she stopped panting and didn't start again. She was doing some lip-licking with the panting, though, so it may have been tummy stuff. This morning she seems quite "low" and had a small amount (all that's in her, I'm sure) of liquid diarrhea when we went outside. I guess that's not surprising if it's either a bug or the meat, huh? I have a call in to my regular vet to find out if I should just take her in this afternoon or leave her there this morning (I have to go teach).

Well I'm home ... so far it seems to be just the $300+ upset stomach. Pancreatitis test was negative, CBC greyhound-normal, her abdomen wasn't tender. She pooped after we got home, too. But they (husband-wife vet team, and they were grey-savvy!) gave her a shot of Cerenia, so that should stop the vomiting. They told me to fast her until about midday tomorrow, then start introducing small amounts of food. I'll update tomorrow.... she drank some water I offered to her and is resting on my bed. My sweet Beth, even feeling lousy and at a strange vet in the middle of the night, she was very interested in being petted by the new people....

She just vomited copiously again. There is still some food in it, but a lot of liquid. I am taking her to the e-vet.....

She doesn't drink that much generally, but I'm putting broth in water and she will drink that (just did a little so far). I don't have a dog thermometer ... just checked and she doesn't feel especially hot to me.

Hi folks, could use some advice/reassurance to get me through the night. Beth is evidently sick somehow. She seemed pretty normal in the early morning, pooped, and she ate her breakfast, maybe not so enthusiastically (she is an eager eater normally), and seemed a little subdued during the morning (more than greyhound-usual). This evening, she had a small poop on our walk, less than usual, and didn't seem to want her dinner, though I eventually coaxed her to eat it. But about half an hour later she regurgitated a portion of it, and just now, several hours later, vomited up more. Until she got up to vomit she was resting quietly, as she'd usually do in the evening. I also noticed that she must have vomited or regurgitated last night or earlier today and eaten it (I saw a stain on the bedcovers). We walked some more about two hours ago and she was interested in her surroundings and behaved normally but still didn't poop any more. I don't see the signs of bloat . . . nor do I think she's eaten any non-digestible objects (she's crated when I'm out). I did feed her raw last night, which I do a couple of times a week and she usually does fine with (loose poop if any problem, never vomiting). I did give her some steak that, though I'd just thawed it, smelled a little bit iffy to me. I called my vet's emergency coverage -- unfortunately not my regular vet this week but another clinic. They just said to withhold food, give her a little water, and take her in in the morning if she doesn't seem fully recovered. That was before this most recent vomiting. I'm definitely going to take her in, but does it sound like it's OK to wait until morning?

Besides the obvious food issue, when Beth has gas and it's not related to something she ate it typically means she has another poop in her. You say they've done their evening business -- are you sure they're 100% done? Might be worth trying a short mid-evening walk to see if anything else comes out.

Just be ready, too, that if it's an average sized turkey neck they are likely to swallow a big honkin' piece of it whole at the end. Don't freak, they'll be fine -- I remember Beth's first turkey neck and my anxious GT post! They only chew it to get it small enough to slide down the gullet. Their digestive system will break it all down just fine -- it won't be coming out in a big piece and it won't give them a blockage. DON'T cut it up small if you want them to actually chew on it. You'll be surprised how fast they're going to work their way through it, especially if it's fully thawed.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. No experience .... yet, but I have steps to get out and live alone and can imagine what it might be like someday for us.

Have you worked on teaching him the "leave it" command?

I have a small yard but my dog much prefers to pee walking on a leash, and only poops on leash (or in a dog park) -- she really needs to move around to poop, and generally wants to find her spot. So we walk, four times a day. That's what works for her, so that's what works for me, even at 40-below wind chill. We'd take long walks or trips to the park twice a day anyway, so it's only a couple of extra times. Sometimes we use the yard when the footing outside is really bad (deep snow/ice). What works for my dog is more important to me than my convenience.

Welcome from Iowa! We'd love to hear all about Jacob (and see pictures of course!).

Right, but once again read the ingredients in the tomato sauce. If it has soybean oil, I'd consider avoiding it. Heck you could give some tomato sauce separately if you really wanted.

NOT in oil, unless you can find them packed in sardine oil (rare and expensive). Most sardines in oil are packed in soybean oil, which is terrible (for humans too!), very high in Omega 6 which they, and we, get way too much of as it is. I used to get the tomato sauce until I noticed that that has soybean oil in it too. I guess you could get sardines in olive oil -- that's what I eat myself for taste, but they're quite expensive. (I'm eating them with balsamic vinegar over salad greens, Beth isn't!) Now I mostly use jack mackerel, which I bought a case of on Amazon as I couldn't find it locally. Seems like more bang for your buck and also very very high in Omega 3, and canned in water.

Wow, a greyhound in Fiji! I bet there aren't any others, huh? You'll have to do an article for Celebrating Greyhounds Magazine eventually!

Welcome! Enjoyed the very cute pics!

I use turkey dogs or low fat beef hot dogs. But also, for training all you need are really, really tiny pieces . . . I slice the hot dog thinly, then cut each round in half (well actually, I cut the hot dog in half the long way and then slice it up), and if I'm in an intensive training session with lots and lots of rewards sometimes even into quarters.

Since you don't have a greyhound yet, you should know that all you'd be doing at this point is choosing the first food you're going to try . . . not all greyhounds (or all dogs of any kind) do well on all foods, so what a "good food" for your dog is will depend entirely on your dog. It's trial and error unless you're really lucky the first time out, or have a very cast-iron-gut sort of hound. (Many newly adopted greyhounds tend to have loose stool problems.) At this point you might do best learning about what makes a food good or poor quality in a general way. You can also learn a ton reading the archives of this section of the forum. Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream (fish based) has worked well for me and lots of others here.

Beth also does this -- especially when she has a coat on. She does it when she's happy/excited -- I think it's a slightly rude dog play-eliciting gesture (I've seen her side-bump her dog buddies at the park as well).

Welcome from Iowa! Kiwa is beautiful (Granny's Hooch -- that's pretty funny!). What is the origin/meaning of her name?

Shouldn't your vet be the one to have an opinion about whether anesthesia is safe for him or not? I mean, all greys seem to pant after running, so I don't know how much you can conclude from that, without examination, bloodwork, etc. Sometimes things can also be done with a local and laser surgery. But in any event it sounds like a vet should be checking him -- accurately diagnosing growths or bumps is impossible online.

The phrase "a dog returns to its vomit" is in the Bible I believe, so there's nothing new or uncommon about that phenomenon. [Proverbs 26:11 -- I'm a geek, so I Googled.] Be aware that there's a difference between regurgitation (within an hour or so after eating, the food as it comes up is still recognizable) and true vomiting, which isn't tied to eating and produces looks like, well, vomit. The former isn't too serious, the latter might indicate a problem. Or on a very empty stomach, some dogs will throw up bile, but I doubt they'd want to eat that.

I am so very sorry for your loss -- for your losses. So heartbreaking to have them both so close together.

Wow, dogs get that too? Huh. I myself have childhood-tetracycline teeth and hate it. But it's just staining, doesn't cause any problems. My teeth do tend to get a lot of plaque buildup but I don't think that's related in any way.

I second this! Good way to 'try out' dog ownership without making the lifetime commitment yet. Plus you get to play a really cool role in a greyhound's life teaching him or her about living in a home! It doesn't seem to me that someone who can't be home much with a dog is the best person to foster, at least from the perspective of the dog... This is a bit off-topic, but I never quite understand the advice to people brand new to dogs to foster. I mean, I understand the principle behind the advice, but it seems to me that someone who takes a dog straight from the kennel should either be fully committed to that dog and working through whatever bumps in the road there may be with its adjustment to a home, or else an experienced, involved greyhound person who is used to helping dogs adjust. Not someone with no experience and uncertain about the whole business. Besides, it seems like in other threads, people are telling newbies to get a dog who has already been fostered or is a bounce, etc. As someone whose group does not foster and whose kennel dogs do just fine with their adopters I tend to think that's really not so important, but still.

Beth just gets a tablespoon or two of yogurt before her "last call" walk (mostly to coax her to get up off the bed!). Then we brush her teeth when we come in, no food after that. But she eats around 6:30 p.m. and has never had issues during the night.