Batmom

Oh my word. I'm so sorry for your friend's loss, as well as her accident. Patch was a good boy, doing what dogs do. Godspeed, sweet boy.

So glad your news is better than first feared. Best thoughts going forward!

Oh my word. I'm so sorry for your awful news. Best thoughts for both your pups.

Interesting! Thanks for posting.

cleptogrey, you are an inspiration. How old is the perma-foster? Just curious. I adopted a dog with kidney disease that turned out to be acute rather than chronic. Over a period of @ 2 years (from initial onset) she recovered to near-normal.

I'm so sorry for your loss. He was so lucky to have you looking out for him. Godspeed, sweet boy.

Hugs. It is so hard .

There is an excellent FAQ about the issue here. (The site name include "taurine" but it isn't just about taurine deficiency.) They include some pointers for safer food choices: https://taurinedcm.org/taurine-dcm-faq/

There is an excellent FAQ about the issue here. (The site name says "taurine" but it isn't just about taurine deficiency.) https://taurinedcm.org/taurine-dcm-faq/

Oh my word. My heart goes out to you. You might want to start a new topic -- more folks will see it. Best thoughts for your pup.

PS One of the more prevalent hypotheses is that it isn't the absence of grains that's an issue, but rather the presence of the other stuff (beans, peas, potatoes). It's thought that those less usual things may inhibit the dog's use of taurine or other nutrients. Some dogs have recovered completely once their diet has been changed.

I hope Penny does well! Might be worth asking her cardiologist about diet?

Glad she is a little perkier. Hope she continues to improve!

Yikes. Despite living in the frozen north, we give protection 12 months a year.

There is a sizable facebook group dedicated to the problem. Not sure it's appropriate to reference other groups here? but you could send me a PM if need be. The scientists and vets recommend choosing a food from a company that adheres to WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) guidelines -- basically, a company that employs board-certified veterinary nutritionists, conducts research, and conducts feeding trials. There aren't many of those. Currently, only Purina, Royal Canin, Hills, Eukanuba, IAMS appear to meet those criteria. All the fancy foods we've heralded as breakthroughs, "better quality," etc.? Nope. And that may turn out to be where the problem comes from. Some food ingredients such as peas, lentils, sweet potatoes, aren't inherently bad but need to be processed in a special way to avoid interfering with other ingredients and to be available to the dog's system. A company that researches and trials knows that and knows what to do about it. A company that doesn't might not know.

Boutique, exotic (such as kangaroo), and grain-free dog foods are increasingly implicated in a type of heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Boutique diets are those from smaller companies and even some larger ones who do not employ a board-certified veterinary nutritionist and do not conduct feeding trials or perform other research. In other words, many of our favorite food companies. Diets that include a high volume of legumes (lentils, peas, chickpeas, alfalfa), potatoes, and sweet potatoes seem to be of particular concern. Home prepared diets, even those including a high volume of meat, are also of concern. DCM is a miserable, insidious disease that often has few or no symptoms until it's too late to treat effectively. It's affecting all breeds of dogs, all sizes, all ages. Several greyhounds have been affected. It's affecting even dogs whose taurine level tests in the normal range -- adding taurine to the food or adding a supplement doesn't prevent or fix it. Until it's severe, you and your vet might not notice anything. You need an echocardiogram from a board-certified veterinary cardiologist to diagnose it. A physical exam, x-ray, or EKG won't tell you if the dog has it or not. Please review what you are feeding your dog. You may want to consider changing foods and/or scheduling an echocardiogram. If you are feeding or considering a home prepared diet, please also consider consulting a board-certified veterinary nutritionist to ensure the formulation provides adequate nutrients. The following article provides a good overview of what is known so far: http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2018/11/dcm-update/

Yes, please read it! If you are continuing to feed a grain-free, exotic protein diet -- or one from a manufacturer that does not employ board-certified veterinary nutritionists or conduct feeding trials -- you may want to get an echocardiogram every 6 months. Diet-related dilated cardiomyopathy has affected more than one greyhound; our breed is not immune.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Godspeed, special girl.

Godspeed, good boy. Hugs to your mom and dad who loved you so very much.

Thinking of you now and tomorrow.

I'm so sorry for your loss. He had a good long run with you, and I know that is no consolation at all. Godspeed, Summit.

LynnM used to recommend XL condoms as foot-bandage covers for greyhounds. Never tried them but bet they work great. And easier to find than Pawz. PS: I throw on sweatpants and yard shoes on my way out of bed and keep jacket, hat, gloves by each door I let the girls out. That way I'm ready for anything.

Baby socks work well for a quick out. Pawz rubber booties if you can get to a Petsmart/Petco type store -- even though they're thin, they keep the snow from balling up and freezing in the paw pads. Shovel to a firm path if that's not been done -- again, helps keep the snow from getting in amid their pads. I didn't need to use Time4ANap's straw suggestion but I thought about it; would likely work very nicely. Could also use mulch (wood chips) or even a thick layer of sand if it's a smaller area.

First, hugs. Lots of hugs. Second. We let our osteo dogs go very shortly after diagnosis. They were in pain that the medications couldn't eliminate. And in both cases, the disease moved quickly. In just 7-10 days, the area of bone involvement had greatly expanded. Not all osteo moves that fast, but ours did. Apart from the pain, I was not willing to risk a break. So I let them go. It was hard. It was miserable. For me. For them, it was drifting off to sleep among friends, just as the dish of ice cream was finished.

I'm so sorry. What a miserable sucker punch for you. My heart goes out to you and Mary and Joey and all his friends and your kind neighbor as well. May you have some comfortable days yet to cherish your good boy.