greydad92

Hello All, I have not posted in many years. Mr. Spock is 11 years young and going strong. A couple things though: He has cataracts - what to do? Vet said to take him to pet vision specialist in our area. He also is in need of a dental exam as per my vets recommendation. I’m just worried about the anesthesia. If anyone could chime in on their senior greyhound and the experiences you’ve had with this, it would be super appreciated. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful beautiful boy and cherish every day spent with him. He’s a hero (therapy dog) who brings light into many people’s lives. Hope you are all well and greyt. Sincerely, Mr. Spock’s daddy

I feed him 2 cups 2x per day. Mainting his weight just fine. 75lbs for a med/large boy

Hello All, Wow, it has been a long long time since I have posted. I own Mr. Spock, the now 9 year old greyhound. I adopted him 2013. Spock is a mellow 75lb boy, not super active, very easy going. Diet History: Portions: 2 cups dry kibble with a little warm water mixed in and 1/3rd can wet food if needed Most of the time Ive had him hes been eating Purina Pro Plan kibble and wet food He stopped eating Pro Plan after a couple years, showing no interest, so switched to Purina Savor He stopped eating Savor, turning his nose up at it, not eating, stomach growling loudly. I added 1/2 can sardines to get him to eat, that worked for a couple months, stopped eating that, showing no interest, stomach growling loudly from not eating. It got bad enough (not eating) that I fed him hamburger and white rice for a week just to get him to eat at this point. It was suggested to me to get him on healthier diet, switched to Fromm, I chose 4 Star. Fed him that for a couple months, now again turning his nose up at it. I think you all can see where Im going with this. He has been to vet a few times, checks out ok, temp, weight, disposition. Hes pooping and peeing ok, attitude ok. The vet said if he doesnt improve they could check his pancreas? This morning I gave him a couple scrambled eggs to get him to eat, which he did. What to do? Should I start cooking human meals? Aka, eggs in morning, hamburger and white rice for dinner? Chicken? What about the nutritional factors? I just dont know what to do and dont want to train or reward him to turn his nose up at food. Help......and thanks in advance

Thanks Jen I picked up some Parmesan cheese yesterday, will give that a try.

Hi All, Thank you all so much for your helpful comments. Mr. Spock is spending a couple nights at a friends house with two greyhound friends of his. He enjoys going to that house and spending time with his greyhound buddies. He's been over there many many times. It will be interesting to see how he does there. I thought it was a good idea to to get him to spend quality time with a couple greyhound friends. i.e. pack. FYI, I'm a single guy, no wife, no kids......just me and ol' Spocky-boy. Spock is my best friend and it is hard to see him go through this......he's on my mind often when I'm not home. Around him I'm just acting as if there is nothing wrong....besides at feeding time. After seeing some of your suggestions, perhaps when I feed him next I should just not pay any attention to him and just let him be. If he doesn't eat he doesn't eat. I'm thinking being with him at feeding time and encouraging him perhaps is not contributing to the solution. He's such a good boy.....and a Therapy dog as well. He brings so much happiness into other's lives. Thanks again so much for all your suggestions. Keep 'em coming. If you hear anything new or know of another blog on this topic please share. PS: I was going to get a couple throw rungs today for my kitchen, as he is hesitant to walk on the linoleum.......where his food is.

Not sure, I'll have to check. Thanks for the reply

Hello All, Mr. Spock's daddy here....and for all you Trekys out there my name is not Sarek. For the record, Spock is a seven year old male that I adopted two years ago. I've been feeding him Purina Sensitive Skin & Stomach since his adoption. When I took Spock to my Mom’s house for Christmas (4 & 1/2 hours away) he stopped eating the night of Christmas Eve. He had been to my mother's house once before and ate normally. Christmas morning again he wasn’t eating. I tried putting a little cream of chicken soup mixed in with his food, but he wouldn’t touch it. Christmas was pretty crazy at Mom’s, a lot of people and a very different environment for Spock. Saturday we drove up to NY to visit the rest of the family. Spock was still not eating, just dog biscuits and that’s about it. I found that when I put his food in his bowl he would eat one handful at a time and he would finish it all (about 1 & 1/2 cups). When we got home I took Spock to his vet. She checked him out, temperature, teeth, felt around, etc. She said he looked normal. She suggested buying a small new bag of the same food, that perhaps it might be the bag, where it came from, ingredient change, etc. I bought a new bag and he seemed to eat it, slowly, reluctantly, but he ate it. Then after while we went back to not eating unless I put the food in his bowl one handful at a time. We went back to the vets office. Her theory was let’s rule out any medical issues before we start messing with his food, good point. She did blood work, took x-rays and a urine sample. The blood work and x-ray of his stomach looked normal. She said she had some concern about the x-ray of his heart. She said it looked big for a greyhound and it didn’t look like the right shape. She said she was going to share the x-rays with her colleagues on a discussion group to see if maybe his heart is just on the big side for a normal greyhound heart. That was Tuesday of this week and I still haven’t heard anything. I called yesterday and they said she was off for the next couple days. In the mean time Spock is still not eating normally. I have to sweet talk and coax him to eat about a cup to 1 & 1/2 cups of his food which takes about ten minutes. If I don’t he won’t eat it. He normally eats two cups. He’s very timid around his bowl, looks at me, paces and then eats a little. I thought it might be the kitchen linoleum floor because he is reluctant to come into the kitchen, so I tried putting his raised bowl on my dining room rug, but that made no difference. For the record I brush Spock's teeth daily with no yelping. The vet said his teeth looked ok except for a little redness on his rear molars on one side of his mouth. Spock is otherwise normal. He's bright eyed, loves to play and cuddle. He's drinking plenty of water, though slightly reluctant with that as well. He's pooping and peeing ok. Help

Hello All, Mr. Spock's daddy here....and for all you Trekys out there my name is not Sarek. For the record, Spock is a seven year old male that I adopted two years ago. I've been feeding him Purina Sensitive Skin & Stomach since his adoption. When I took Spock to my Mom’s house for Christmas (4 & 1/2 hours away) he stopped eating the night of Christmas Eve. He had been to my mother's house once before and ate normally. Christmas morning again he wasn’t eating. I tried putting a little cream of chicken soup mixed in with his food, but he wouldn’t touch it. Christmas was pretty crazy at Mom’s, a lot of people and a very different environment for Spock. Saturday we drove up to NY to visit the rest of the family. Spock was still not eating, just dog biscuits and that’s about it. I found that when I put his food in his bowl he would eat one handful at a time and he would finish it all (about 1 & 1/2 cups). When we got home I took Spock to his vet. She checked him out, temperature, teeth, felt around, etc. She said he looked normal. She suggested buying a small new bag of the same food, that perhaps it might be the bag, where it came from, ingredient change, etc. I bought a new bag and he seemed to eat it, slowly, reluctantly, but he ate it. Then after while we went back to not eating unless I put the food in his bowl one handful at a time. We went back to the vets office. Her theory was let’s rule out any medical issues before we start messing with his food, good point. She did blood work, took x-rays and a urine sample. The blood work and x-ray of his stomach looked normal. She said she had some concern about the x-ray of his heart. She said it looked big for a greyhound and it didn’t look like the right shape. She said she was going to share the x-rays with her colleagues on a discussion group to see if maybe his heart is just on the big side for a normal greyhound heart. That was Tuesday of this week and I still haven’t heard anything. I called yesterday and they said she was off for the next couple days. In the mean time Spock is still not eating normally. I have to sweet talk and coax him to eat about a cup to 1 & 1/2 cups of his food which takes about ten minutes. If I don’t he won’t eat it. He normally eats two cups. He’s very timid around his bowl, looks at me, paces and then eats a little. I thought it might be the kitchen linoleum floor because he is reluctant to come into the kitchen, so I tried putting his raised bowl on my dining room rug, but that made no difference. For the record I brush Spock's teeth daily with no yelping. The vet said his teeth looked ok except for a little redness on his rear molars on one side of his mouth. Spock is otherwise normal. He's bright eyed, loves to play and cuddle. He's drinking plenty of water, though slightly reluctant with that as well. He's pooping and peeing ok. Help

Mr. Spock is still licking, just healing well. Once his leg is completely healed then I'll start working on him w/ no muzzle, fingers (and paws) crossed. Muzzle w/ poop guard is the only thing that worked for me. You can try "Leg Protectors" from In the Company of Dogs. That's where I got them. Just look them up on Google and once on their website type "leg protectors" into their search. The large are $40 though. The only problem Spock has is he licked bottom up so that the legging rolled up and he could get at his would. I decided to keep it, because it worked for him at night. Best of luck.

Hi All, Thanks so much for your suggestions. Most of the Greytalk community has been a great help to me and my greyhounds. As an update, wound is still healing. Muzzling Mr. Spock daily w/ poop guard (while I'm not home) and keeping a close eye on him (no muzzle) when I am home. At night he's sleeping with no muzzle and no licking as far as I far tell. His bed is right next to mine and my ears are pretty tuned into that licking sound at this point. I also check his leg occasionally during the night to see if it's wet, which it's not. Good boy Mr. Spock is an awesome doggie. We'll get through this. Thanks again all. I'll keep you up to date. Sincerely, Mr. Spock's Daddy

Hi All, I own Mr. Spock, an almost 6 year old male greyhound. Almost three months ago I had his teeth cleaned. The vet had to sedate him, so she had to shave part of his front arm to give him intravenous. She did a great job and now Spock has nice white teeth, however where they shaved.......he will not leave it alone. It used to be a pin prick, but eventually turned into a wound licked down to the muscle. He only goes at it when he's home alone and I'm at work. When I first adopted him in November 2013 he had some separation issues, not destroying anything, just pacing around, whining, etc. He got over it and now for the past eight months or so has been doing fine at home alone while I'm at work.....until now. I've tried: Sock over it: tore that apart Sock over it with no chew tape: tore that apart Bandage w/ no chew tape and Bitter Apple sprayed on: tore that off Leg Protectors or "Leggings": w/i 15 minutes he had sleeve rolled up and was licking wound Have not tried a cone: I've heard that doesn't work well with greyhounds and honestly I would like to avoid that if at all possible. The only thing that works is muzzling him with a muzzle guard during the day and leggings at night, no muzzle. I've been doing that for the past few weeks and it's been healing very well. Spock does well with the muzzle, thank God. It's been healing so well, a few days ago I thought I'd test him, left him alone for 2 hours or so with nothing on the area, came home and his leg was wet where he had been licking it. Today I went to the grocery store, left him in the car (yes, windows down slightly for fresh air). I was in the store for about 15 minutes, came out and found he'd been licking his leg again and it started to scar again. Help. I'm sure others have had this problem. Spock is such a smart well balanced dog. Before the teeth cleaning he's proven that he can be home alone with his beds, soft music, water, Kongs and be comfortable.....now this. As always positive feedback is appreciated. I have no time for negative responses. I've always had such good luck and gotten great advice from the Greytalk community. I could really use your help and advise. I don't want to have to keep muzzling Mr. Spock. I just don't know when this will ever end. Thanks, Mr. Spock's Daddy

Well, Mr. Spock just had a dental procedure. He did fine, no extractions. He now has nice white teeth and I plan on keeping them that way. However, his gas (farts) are worse than ever. Last night I had to spray Lysol several times because his farts are ammonia strong, very stinky. I had him checked for giardia, came back negative. As far as food change, my vet recommended Science Diet or Purina One. As I said before he's currently on Purina Sensitive Skin & Stomach. Does anyone have experience with either Science Diet or Purina One? Are they good foods? I've got to resolve this farting or else I'll just have to go out and buy a gas mask for myself, yuck. Thanks for listening.

Thanks everyone for your input. I also have a call into Mr. Spock's vet who is very greyhound friendly. He's in my bedroom with me now and gas just as bad as ever....shseesh.....I love him though

So the Sensitive Skin and Stomach is salmon-based. Don't know what the protein content is.

Hi All, I've read a bunch of forums on this, but wanted to start a discussion about my greyhound Mr. Spock. He has HORRIBLE, room clearing gas and on a regular basis. I adopted him last November and the gas has just been getting worse. When I first got him, he was diagnosed with giardia which he was treated for and "cured". I took him to his vet this past week. She took another stool sample to test again. I've not heard anything in a few days which means it probably came back negative. I will call today to verify. She put him on a probiotic and 10mg Pepsid, 1 / day. I'm feeing him Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach kibble and canned food. 2 cups kibble in the morning with a little water mixed in and two cups early evening with 1 tbs canned and a little water mixed in. I give him a couple small pieces of apple in the morning. He's 5 & 1/2 years old, 78 lbs, vet says he looks healthy, temperature normal, etc. I just don't know what to do. I have a can of Lysol next to my bed which I occasionally have to spray during the night because the gas is so bad. It's almost constant....almost. So.....suggestions? Comments? Help? I think changing his food would be the next step.....I know, very slow transition. Has anyone else run into gas issues with Purina Sensitive Skin & Stomach? Suggestions on new food? His stools: first one is firm and then the second one is soft serve consistency. Help. As always positive responses are welcomed. I have no time for negativity. Thanks for listening / reading.

Mr. Spock was just diagnosed with Giardia. Same as you, I took his poop in for his annual exam and got a call back a few days later. He showed showed no signs, no loose or slimy stools, but he did have very smelly gas. I have him on Panacur for 6 days. then he gets checked again I hope it goes away. Washing his beds covers now, keeping his bum clean and poop bags well away from the house. FYI he turned 5 years old last November. I'll keep y'all up to date on his progress. Best of luck Truman

Wow, thanks for the advise. I totally know what you're talking about. I hear ya about relaxing. When I'm tense it makes the whole process longer. Thanks for the nice words.

Hi All, Update - Spock still continues to go to the bathroom in my bedroom where he is baby gated. The most recent incidents were he peed on my sweat shirt and sweat pants that were on the carpet next to his bed on two separate occasions. For the past week or so he's been doing well. I only found poop once. Pee is harder to find, though I look for it, believe me. On a wall to wall shag carpet no doubt. Our routine is: 5am: we wake up, I take him out for a quick walk to poop and pee. Sometimes he just poops, sometimes he just pees, sometimes he does both. 5:30am: breakfast, 2 cups kibble 7:30am: our "longer" walk which can vary from 3/4 mile to almost 2 miles depending on my schedule, weather, etc. He's home for 9 - 10 hours after that, baby gated in my bedroom, NRP on the radio and he has two Kongs. I've found no destruction in my bedroom 6pmish: evening walk 6:30pm pr 7pm dinner: 2 & 1/2 cups kibble 10pm: quick walk, though sometimes he doesn't want to go out and stays on his bed despite me calling him to go out. The thing is, most of the time Spock takes a long time to go to the bathroom outside. It's like he walks around and waits for all the stars to be in alignment before he finally goes. He goes into that prancing mode where he looks for a place to go, but could do that for 1/4 mile or more. I'm not sure if I'm communicating my point well enough here. Growing up as a kid we've always had dogs and Spock is my third dog personally. I've never seen or known of a dog who's acted like this. Like at the end of our walk yesterday, after peeing, he was kind of doing that pee prance again, but then stopped and was looking around, sniffing here and there like he didn't have to "go". And of course I came home to pee on my carpet. It gets to the point where I have to leave for work and I don't have any more time to see if he's going to pee or poop a second time, so in we go and I leave for work. I guess the answer is, go for longer walks every morning. As I've said, sometimes we go for almost 2 miles, but usually on those walks he poops and pees w/i the fist 1/2 - 1 mile and that's it. The rest of the walk he just walks and looks around. On those days I've not found poop and pee in my house. Bottom line, I just need him to stop peeing on my bedroom carpet. As I've said, he doesn't do well in a crate, nor do I want to crate him alone for 9 - 10 hours. Plus, he's peeing right next to his bed, doesn't get any closer than that. Does anyone else out there have a greyhound that does this? I mean takes forever to go to the bathroom outside? I praise him a lot when he finally goes. Spock is 5 years old and I've only had him 3 months which is still a short time. I've heard sometimes greyhounds can take up to 1 year to get used to a house. I understand, be patient and work with him. This blog is all part of that. I'm just "looking for a little help from my friends". Again, positive feedback please. Thanks for listening.

thanks all, I'll keep you updated

Just got home from work and found another poop in the bedroom

Ah, I knew someone would mention that. When I got him in November he was on the thin side, rear leg shoulder bones showing (don't know the technical term). I was feeding him 1 & 1/2 to 2 cups of kibble per feeding, but upped it to 2 & 1/2 - 3 cups. He seems to have gained the weight, so perhaps I should back off quanity. I thought it was a lot of food to be giving him. Will leave out the fish oil as well.....I thought that too. I honestly don't know how much he weighs. Zero was 71 lbs and Spock is bigger than Zero. I would guess 78 lbs. Thanks for the suggestions

wow, thanks for all the info.

Hello hmm, expen is a good suggestion. Food: kibble - Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach Breakfast: 5:30am - 2 & 1/2 - 3 cups of kibble, 1 teaspoon of fish oil & a handful of organic green beans, cooked & mashed. Dinner: Usually around 6:30 - 7pm. 2 & 1/2 - 3 cups of kibble, 1 heaping tablespoon wet food (Purina Pro Plan Sensative Skin & Stomach), 1 teaspoon of fish oil & a handful of organic green beans, cooked & mashed. Thank you for your suggestions and positive reinforcement. Longer walk definitely. This morning we went for 2 miles. What does UTI stand for?

I completely understand they are not robots. I had two dogs before Spock and they did fine with being left alone for that amount of time with no peeing or pooping in the house. If you read my original post correctly I said that worked him up to 9 hours. The first week I adopted I took the week off to do alone training with him leaving him alone one hour the first day, two hours the second day, three hours the third day, etc. The next week I came home at lunch time everyday to get him used to the second week. So I didn't start him off leaving him alone 9 hours a day.