Time4ANap

Mark and LaVida said they can start early if they want to.... Oh wait - it does say Wednesday in the first post. I guess we need to do both days just to clear up any confusion.

I'm so sorry to see this. I think we all go through that second-guessing ourselves phase. You did the right thing and got to be there with him. You kept your ultimate promise to Logan. We will miss his stories here. Run-free, Logan.

I looked for pics of Conner and Val having fries but don't have those pics in my online vault. I will have to dig and see if I have any.

Mark and LaVida are carrying on Rocket's tradition here. They always check to see if I have a McD's bag for them when I walk in the door. We will be celebrating on Wednesday. The man himself - he loved his fries! Petunia Celebrating! Katie Celebrating! Snickers Celebrating! Starz Celebrating! Sadie Rose Celebrating!

She's just making sure that the car is headed to the ice cream place.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Run-free, Laila.

We went through way too much Xanax with Petunia and Kate. Petunia wouldn't have tolerated the hoodie but Kate would have been okay with it. I think we tried everything that we knew to try but I never saw this one before. Glad it's working for him. This and New Year's Eve are the worst nights of the year. For lots of reasons, but especially this one. Hang in there, Doolin! Great job, Willa!

Yup. That's LaVida's butt. They both really like the Orthopedic Slumber Ball that they got from Conner and Val so they are often both using some part of it at the same time.

Ordered this today for LaVida. Mark will probably get this also but trying first with LaVida. Will update in a few weeks.

Gelsey farted and changed the TV to Netflix. Also, the garage door went up. LaVida is a big fan of chocolate muffin wrappers. I often have a chocolate muffin with my coffee. When finish I usually wad up the paper muffin cup into the napkin I'm using. LaVida then stalks my napkin until I'm distracted. When I come back, there is a shredded napkin on the floor and no muffin paper anywhere - ever. Little Miss Innocent...

I gave Rocket Adequan injections which worked well until they didn't make a difference. We did ask the vet about Adequan and are waiting for all of the most recent labs to come back before discussing those options. In the meantime, our previous vet who does house calls will see LaVida next Thursday to decide if cold laser, accupuncture, chiropractic etc may help keep her comfortable. She's only our former vet because she went into holistic practice full time and no longer does primary care, vaccinations etc. So we have a primary vet and then the holistic vet for other therapies. At this point I am not transporting LaVida back to the primary vet unless the appointment is for 8AM or extremely urgent to avoid triggering LP with the intense desert heat here. Going to the E-Vet in the summer heat is how we lost Petunia to LP and I'm not risking that again. Cars do not cool adequately in the summer here no matter how long you run the AC. They get cool but not cold when it's 110 plus. Thanks for this. I will ask about this in the next vet discussion.

After all of the greyhounds we've had here, I would not subject any greyhound or other big dog to a smooth or shiny floor like hardwood, tile or smooth concrete. At some point as they've aged, every one has had a moment where their back legs slipped on a smooth floor. Fortunately no major injuries, but they were often sore for a few days after and reluctant to walk on the same surface again. One of our hounds, Petunia, was petrified of any smooth or shiny floor. This house looked like a rug showroom when she was with us. Even now with two older dogs, we had a custom runner cut that runs about 26 feet long from the back door to the edge of the kitchen, and additional runners on their route to the back yard. If their paw pads get dry they will be even more prone to slipping. From experience, I don't think you can say that you will never need to have rugs/runners in place for the hound. My father-in-law has some mobility issues that are similar to Parkinson's and will even trip over or get caught on his own feet on any surface, so rugs are indded a tripping hazard for anyone with similar conditions. Good luck in whatever decision you make. There are lots of people here who have been through similar circumstances, so it's a good place to check if you have more questions.

I think my email crossed with your post here. EMail has been sent to Peg - awaiting response. (Peg is one of our local vets who makes housecalls for those wondering.)

So, just a little update: LaVida went back to the vet last week for a re-check. I think I previously posted that we discontinued the Gabapentin due to it causing her back legs to go every direction. A day after stopping it she was walking much better. Currently, she is back to walking somewhat crooked with the rear legs making her go sideways at times. The arthritis in her front leg also impacts that a little. She pushes up on her front legs and lets her back legs follow to get up from a bed. She has slowed her daily activity down and mostly stays in one place. She still takes off running first thing in the morning and after dinner when she goes outside, so I'm thinking the vet is right about this being neurologic and her not being in pain. We've sent the vet a video from the weekend showing her current gait and are waiting to hear if there is anything else we should try to replace the gabapentin. She is happy and still coming to us occasionally for a cuddling session. So, that's kind of where we are at the moment.

Happy Gotcha Day, Handsome Doolin! Sweep definitely looked out for you!

Happy Birthday, Face!

I seem to remember a thread years ago where someone had the yard treated with permethrin and either lost or almost lost their greyhound due to a reaction after the dog spent time in the yard. I can't recall who it was. Given the other two monthly meds, I would probably call your vet and make sure there is no interaction between those meds and the product you are looking at.

We used these to attend greyhound events and clipped them under our camping chairs. They did seem to work but I'm not so sure they would work for dogs on the move.

If you think that's a spider, I'm guessing you don't want to move to the dezzert.....

I will second that the Gabapentin may be causing the issue. LaVida has been on Gabapentin for pain and her back legs became so wobbly that she had trouble getting up, and trouble walking without being completely wobbly. We had to discontinue the Gabapentin and just leave her on the Rimadyl. Definitely give your vet a call as your dog will likely still need some pain control to replace the gabapentin.

We've had a number of seniors that made their way here due to deaths of owners, owners going into nursing home etc. We have loved every minute of every senior. Some of them stayed for years, others were only here for as little as 3 weeks before we had to make the decision that none of us want to make. It sounds like you have done everything possible to care for Leo. At some point, you have to consider if he still has an adequate quality of life. We found ourselves constantly asking that question with some of the dogs who obviously had numerous health issues when they arrived. Our first boy, Rocket was my heart dog. Eventually after all of the treatments, injections etc, he lost the use of his back legs about 90% of the time. We made the decision to let him go before he injured himself further because he would try repeatedly to get up, even thoough he could only manage to do so once or twice a day. We are of the belief that a day too soon is better than a day too late when it comes to having to euthanize a dog. Rocket no longer had the quality of life he was used to even though he was otherwise healthy and spoiled rotten. No walks, no car rides, no running outside or sunbathing in the yard, and we knew his time was up. Those were all the things he loved and they were no longer an option. If you are risking injury to yourself, you have to take that into consideration as well. We were both risking serious injury every time we had to lift our 85lb boy. I would have this conversation with your vet and maybe reach out to some other local greyhound owners if you know any and get their perspective and long term prognosis You will know if it's truly time, but often we are so wrapped up in the care of the dog that we don't stop to think if we are doing it for them, or actually doing it for ourself. Only you can decide the right course of action, but be sure to take quality of life into account for both of you. We wish you and Leo the best. Spoil him rotten for all of us here while you can.

Apparently she was resting up to get up at 4AM this morning.....I'm going back to bed.

I showed this to LaVida and Mark. They are packing suitcases.