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OMG. The saga never ends. Most of you know about Frappuccino who was diagnosed with meningitis. Welll she went through a period of anorexia where she didn't eat anything. The poor thing looked cachetic: ribs sticking out, all fur and bones. In an attempt to boost her appetite, we started doing boiled chicken and rice or potatoes. Nico, our other greyhound ( 11 years old) started turning up his nose at his kibble because he "wanted what she's having". So I started butting maybe a 1/4 cup of the chicken/rice I not his kibble,(plus a spoonful of wet, mixed with water) just to appease him. Well, we are now about 3 weeks in, and now he has watery diarrhea. Oops. Too rich? What should I do? He did not touch his food this morning. Help!

OMG. The saga never ends. Most of you know about Frappuccino who was diagnosed with meningitis. Welll she went through a period of anorexia where she didn't eat anything. The poor thing looked cachetic: ribs sticking out, all fur and bones. In an attempt to boost her appetite, we started doing boiled chicken and rice or potatoes. Nico, our other greyhound ( 11 years old) started turning up his nose at his kibble because he "wanted what she's having". So I started butting maybe a 1/4 cup of the chicken/rice I not his kibble,(plus a spoonful of wet, mixed with water) just to appease him. Well, we are now about 3 weeks in, and now he has watery diarrhea. Oops. Too rich? What should I do? He did not touch his food this morning. Help!

Wow, 3greys2Cats, that sounds like what Frappy has. The neurologist is not willing to commit to a firm diagnosis other than to call it a myelitis/meningitis and now encephalitis. He is also not commenting on the prognosis. Although today, he said the presence of seizures does not necessarily indicate a more grave prognosis. She looked better today at the hospital. Still wobbly( she does what I call the model walk there she crosses one leg in front of the other, like a model going down a catwalk). She is frightfully skinny and has lost 10 lbs. I cannot wait to bring her home.

Frappy had another seizure while at the veterinary hospital this morning, so they decided to keep her overnight to give her intravenous phenobarbital. The e-vet said her neuro exam was normal. We did not actually see the neurologist, but he was there consulting with the e-vet. They mentioned that they only did an MRI of her spine. With the new onset of seizures, an MRI of her head may be indicated. This is clearly a progression of whatever disease process is affecting her. The evet now calls it a combination of myelitis, meningitis and encephalitis. Words cannot begin to describe how scared I am, but I know a lot of you understand and have gone through similarly scary situations. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. They ran so much to us.

I think Frappuccino just had a seizure. She looked like she was " running" or twitching in her sleep, but it was quite a bit more agitated than normal. She woke up and tried to stand up, but could not. She cried and fell down several times. Finally we were able to get her on all for feet. We are waiting for the neurologist to come in to the office this morning. I hope this does not indicate a progression of her meningitis. She was on Gabapentin from our regular vet for about a week and a half prior to the MRI and was not weaned off. I know that also can precipitate seizures. Please keep fingers and paws crossed for us.

This is an ongoing saga of our sweet 9 year old little lady, Frappuccino. To recap her symptoms: 3 weeks ago she started having difficulty walking, and then refusing to eat. Our regular vet diagnosed some sort of problem with her neck. We tried conservative medications including Gabapentin, Tramadol & Robaxin, but the symptoms progressed. We sought a neurosurgery consultation and last Friday they did an MRI and a spinal tap. The MRI showed a myelitis at C2-4. They gave her intravenous steroids, and put her on Prednisone 15 mg BID. Yesterday, the neurosurgeon called with the spinal tap results: she also has meningitis. He says that there were no organisms found in the tap. Furthermore, the lack of neutrophils seems to indicate it is not an infectious etiology. Hence he is leaning toward SMRA (steroid responsive meningitis). However, there is a test for which he has to send CSF samples out to UC Davis. This tests for any nuclear material of any organism: bacterial or fungal. Apparently it is the definitive test to see if there is an infectious cause. From what I've read, a negative CSF test does not rule out an infectious cause, so I am going to authorize the office to send the CSF out for analysis. Google may be a bad thing. Everything I've read on meningitis is really bad. The prognosis is poor, even with aggressive treatment. I'm scared to death. Does anyone have real-life experience with meningitis in greyhounds? Frappy seems to be doing pretty well in response to the steroids. She is able to walk much better now and her pain is regressing. We do not have her on any other medications other than GI protectants and the steroids. I'm clinging to the improvement I see in her. Thank you for your prayers--they are working!!

Talked with the vet today. This vet is a neurologist/neurosurgeon, so he knows what he talks about. It appears that Frappy has meningitis. The CSF did not show any virus or bacteria, nor were there neutrophils. There were round cells (unsure of the significance of this). Our next decision is whether we should send CSF samples to UCDavis to test definitively for infectious agents (either bacteria or virus). Evidently this test looks for nuclear material. He doubts that it would come back positive, but it is our call. Any thoughts? Clinically she is slowly improving. She started to eat (since she liked biscuits, I chopped up a few and sprinkled it into chicken and rice) --she ate about 1 cup total. It's a start. Poor thing....she is just bones and fur.

Thank you for all the support. I will get some Nutri-Gel--that's exactly what I was looking for. And thanks for the tip about the Ensure--I was also thinking about that. Frappuccino is slowly getting stronger. She is able to navigate the threshold to the sidewalk now and can walk around the block. She hasn't done that in a month! It totally exhausts her and she has lost so much leg strength. Her hind legs wobble when she stands too long. She is drinking a lot of water, as to be expected. Up until yesterday, she refused all food. She is looking really skinny. I had fitted her harness before she went to the hospital, and then cinched it up when she came home, and it still hangs off of her. She looks like an emaciated homless pup. :sad1 Last night the only thing that she would even consider are Mother Hubbard's mini biscuits with some peanut butter smeared on them. So I kept feeding her the biscuits. I must have given her over 10 biscuits. I was elated. My friend was horrified--"stop, stop! The peanut butter is too fatty and since her stomach shrunk, all those biscuits and water will expand and give her a tummy ache." So I stopped. Sure enough, last night, she vomited. I think she vomited out last night's dose of Prednisone. It must have been a silent vomit, because I didn't wake up. This morning it was more peanut butter biscuits. She did stick her nose in her dog dish and I think she ate 1 mouthful of food. I didn't push the issue and tried not to be a hovering nervous mom watching her kid eat. I think that is progress. Will find out the CSF results today.

Yes. She is on both Pepsid and Prilosec and takes Carafate 1 hour before the meds.

Thanks for the feedback! Last night was rough. Every two hours we got up and took her out to pee. She looked like a drunk Bambi: limbs going every which direction. Even this morning, she was still going sideways and missed the step down to the driveway. I'm happy to report that time and waiting it out helped tremendously.She is walking much better and can go in and out of the house without us holding on to her harness. She is resting comfortably and does not appear to be in any pain. So, I think the Prednisone is working. She is on 15 mg twice a day for 5 days before we drop her down to 10 mg twice a day. She is still drinking quite a bit of water--just not as much as yesterday. She is still not eating anything. No interest. Nothing. Well, except for the Carafate she took on a doogie biscuit with peanut butter. I have tried to tempt her with: rice with hamburger, rice with cooked chicken, mixed with a little chicken broth, cheese, greek yogurt, vanilla ice cream, peanut butter. Nothing. Nada. So, I will call the vet's office tomorrow and see if the CSF results are in. How long can Frappy go without eating? Do they make Ensure for dogs? Thanks.

I posted earlier last week about my 9 year old sweet brindle grey, Frappuccino. She was having severe neck pain. Nearly everyone thought it was a classic herniated disc. Well, she had an MRI done on Friday and it is a myelitis: an inflammation of the spinal cord itself. The level is at C2-4, I think. The neurologist explained that it is either due to a meningitis or an autoimmune disorder. He says the autoimmune explanation is much more common in dogs. The CSF results are not back yet. She was started in IV steroids and we are continuing them orally. We got her home yesterday. It was a rough night: the Prednisone made her drink a lot and we had to take her out every two hours to pee. She was so gorked out: walking into walls, falling over, unable to stand up and she couldn't get a footing on our tile floor. We put down yoga and exercise mats all through the house. We assume it was a combination of the general anesthesia, the IV Morphine she was given for pain, as well as oral Tramadol and the spinal tap. So, more questions: 1. Does anyone have experience with myelitis? Is it a good prognosis? 2. If you have experience with anesthesia, how long does it take for all the effects to wear off? I remember our male grey, Nico, had anesthesia for a soft tissue cancer removal and it took until the following morning for all the effects to wear off. It is now Sunday and she had the anesthetic on Friday. Does that seem like a long time for her to be so wobbly? 3. How long can a greyhound go without eating anything? I know that she could not eat on Friday because of the MRI, she did not eat dinner that night, nor breakfast the next morning. She has not had anything since she came home. So, essentially she has not had food for 3 days. Is there a dog equivalent to Ensure: a liquid supplement? Thanks for your help. It's been rough.

We took her to the neurologist for evaluation yesterday afternoon. They took one look at her and kept her there overnight for pain management and IV Morphine. An MRI was done today and shows that it is NOT a disc. It's a myelitis: inflammation of the cord itself. They took a CSF sample to rule out meningitis. If it is not meningitis and just a myelitis, the neurologist says it is usually due to the dogs own immune system. Sounds like she will need to be on steroids. Does anyone have experience with this? I googled it: says long term prognosis is guarded (translate: not very good). But the neurologist is considerably more upbeat: he thinks it is not bad. Either she can be weaned off steroid completely or put on a maintenance low dose. If she doesn't respond to steroids, they can try chemotherapy. I'd like to hear what your experiences are with this.

We have an almost 9 year old sweet little brindle female. She's always been the shy one. We have always known that walks are not her favorite thing, although she jumped for joy at the sound of the collars and leash. Recently, about 3-4 weeks ago, we noticed she became slower than normal,really not wanting to walk. Then she would not walk except out to the yard to pee/poop. She became anorexic as well. This all happened within a week. Alarmed, we brought her to the vet. All bloodwork and urinalysis are normal. Plain films show a possible disc space narrowing of the upper thoracic vertebrae. She was very tender all along her spine, according to the vet. She was put on Gabapentin 100 mg 3x/day and Robaxin 500 mg 3x/day. The symptoms we read about were consistent with what we saw: her head is bowed, she is unable/unwilling to lift it, stilted walking (she was walking as if she were walking on broken glass). The pain was incredible: she would whimper and cry all night long. We added Tramadol to the regimen and she is currently on 100 mg 4 times/day. Meanwhile, an ultrasound revealed a duodonal ulcer. She was placed on Carafate, Prilosec and Flagyl for that. It has been a roller coaster. Sometimes we think we are making headway: she was able to walk around the block, albeit slowly and she started to eat (we switched to chicken and rice). We found a good regimen of a Gabapentin, Robaxin and two Tramadol (50 mg ea) which would allow her to sleep all through the night. A few days ago, about 3-4 days after we bumped up her Gabapentin dose to 4x/day, she began to show signs of ataxia: she's wobbly, walking into walls and nearly falling upon our other greyhound. She also appears to have difficulty laying/sitting down. Last night she stood on top of her bed for over 2 hours. I was unsure if this was ataxia, pain or anxiety because of the medications' effects. The e-vet's office on the phone thought it represented pain. So: I have a few questions: 1. Does the ataxia ever resolve once the dog becomes tolerant to the Gabapentin? 2. If we are dealing with a herniated disc, can the pain be managed pharamacologically so that she can have a fairly good quality of life? We'd like to see her able to walk and eat without pain. We realize that the playing days are now over. 3. How long should we wait before taking her to the neurologist? I suspect they will ask for an MRI or myelogram, which will require sedation. I have been told that healing can occur, but takes a very very long time. It is heartbreaking seeing her like this: either she is asleep (which looks very peaceful) or she is awake, panting, drooling in what appears to be pain or anxiety. Thanks for your input...sorry it is so long.

Hi, it's me again!! Our 8 1/2 year old boy, Nico, had a small soft tissue tumor removed from his right rear hock area about 3 weeks ago. It turned out to be a spindle cell sarcoma. The vet thought it might have arisen from his broken hock that ended his racing career. Because of the depth and extent of the tumor, she was not able to get a clean deep margin. She did place 6 chemo beads, but not in the area that she wanted. She is encouraging radiation therapy post op. Unfortunately, this would require daily anesthesia for Nico 5 days/week, x 4 weeks. That sounds horrendous to me and I am concerned Nico would not survive it. I uploaded Nico's records and sent a request for a 2nd opinion from OSU through their website on May 6. How long does it typically take for OSU to get back to folks? Am I being overly anxious? I am praying and hoping there is some kinder alternative for Nico. Thanks everybody! Glad you are all here.

Thank you, everybody, for the good wishes and sound advice. Funny how things look better in the morning after a night's sleep. DH and I have decided to wait for the biopsy and contact Dr. Couto at OSU for a second opinion. We want what is best for Nico, and feel he is a fighter and is still a relatively young, healthy lad with many more years left with us. On a cheerier note, we got to bring him home today! He looked a little groggy and drunk when we picked him up . Clearly, he was stressed: he drank two full bowls of water when we got him home!! Our other grey, Frappuccino, was beside herself with joy when he came home. We are looking forward to pampering and spoiling him this weekend! Thanks again and I will let you all know what the biopsy results are!!

Nico, our 8 year old grey, recently developed a soft tissue mass the size of a cherry tomato near his right hock. It was squishy, but adherent to the underlying tissues, so I knew it wasn't good. Discussion with an surgeon who specializes in oncology revealed that she suspects it is either a hemangiosarcoma or a spindle cell sarcoma. (aspiration yielded blood). Today, Nico underwent surgery to remove the mass. The surgeon found that while the outer portion of the tumor was encapsulated, the deeper portion was adherent to the scar tissue from his old broken hock. She thinks that is the origin of the tumor and that it has been brewing for a while. She took the dissection all the way down to bone. The bad part, she said, is that there is now no tissue in which to implant chemotherapy beads. We were hoping to avoid radiation therapy. The surgeon suspects that this tumor will respond well to radiation therapy. The hard part, she says, is that the dog has to lie still for 15 min/session and therefore has to be sedated. The regimen is 5 days/week x 4 weeks. Does anyone have experience with RT? How does the dog do with the repeated sedations as well as any side effects of the RT? We do not have a definitive diagnosis yet...biopsy report will take 5 days or so. I am devastated. I knew it was bad, but this was beyond what I was expecting. Please say a prayer for Nico. He's such an affectionate goof who is a beautiful athlete, but doesn't know it. He brings a smile to everyone who meets him and is such a good ambassa-dog for the greyhound community. DH and I love him dearly.

I know that it has been a few weeks since anyone has posted in this thread. By coincidence, my 8 year old grey, Nico is doing the same thing. I always thought he occasionally got a "hairball" caught in his throat, but today I came home from work to find him agitated, gagging, lip smacking and coughing. I took a video with my iPhone and uploaded it to my vet. He does not think it is kennel cough. He thinks its more a throat irritation. Afterhe gave me some ideas for OTC meds, I took Nico out for a walk. Wouldn't you know it? He started chomping on grass like a cow. Another call into the vet. He seemed to think it was a GI upset or something. He advised me remotely about bloat. So, as of right now, Nico is resting quietly with only occasional gagging. I'll keep you all posted if I can get to the bottom of this. Thanks for the idea about looking in his mouth for hair--I'll check that out!

Asking for your best thoughts and wishes for my girl, Frappuccino. Monday we noticed that she was eating very slowly. Usually she dives into her food and doesn't come up for air for all of the 30 seconds it takes for her to finish her meal. Tuesday my DH said she vomited half of her breakfast. We were going to the vet on Wednesday anyway for a dental cleaning so the vet took a look at her. Plain films of her abdomen showed a lot of food in her stomach. He recommended re-taking the films on an empty stomach, so this morning we went back for new films before breakfast. The new films were much better: her stomach definitely was more empty, but there was still a grey blob in the middle of her stomach that was questionable. Consultation with the radiologist today could not rule out a foreign body. So, tomorrow they are going to do a barium swallow/upper GI on her. She seems to be fine now: eating without any vomiting, although I haven't fed her a normal size meal yet. No fever. Poop seems to be relatively normal, just smaller (because of smaller meals?) Could it have been that she was simply hot (temps here in S. Ca were only in the 80's unlike the rest of the country..) I am praying it is not a foreign body. Does that mean sugery or at the very least endoscopy (under anesthesia?) If you have any experience with this, I'd love to hear your stories. Thanks.

Are there any greysitters/greywalkers in the Orange County, California area near Irvine?

So sad to read about your sudden loss. My thoughts are with you and your family...

I didn't think so because at the time it happened, he was not in one of his playful moods. Also, I put a damper on the behaviour so I didn't let it progress...

I'm not sure if this is a problem or not. About 1 month ago, we got our second greyhound, Frappuccino. She's a 4 year old who never raced. Our first grey, Nico, is 6 years old and a former racer. She is very submissive to him and they seem to get along fairly well together. However, every once in a while, Nico will bark twice at her ("woof, woof") and nip at her ear. (doesn't actually bite her ears, but gets scary close). For the life of me, I can't see what provokes him to do this. She was not looking at him or approaching him in a threatening manner. I "nip" it in the bud (sorry for the bad pun) by standing up, saying a firm "NO" to Nico. Do you think this is problematic? or will escalate? Any advice?

Update: Okay..so I split up Nico's dinner last night and fed him half at 7:00 PM and the other half at 10:00 PM. (He was a little confused, like: "that's it? where's the rest??" and ..."what? eat again?"). Gave him the Pepsid AC before bed, then gave him a LARGE biscuit with his morning thyroid pill and my hubby says NO episodes of grass eating or vomiting this morning. Yay!! Keep your fingers crossed. As for free-feeding, I know from what I've read that it is not a good idea and that if he doesn't eat when I put the food down, I should remove the bowl. I think I was just worried about his waning appetite and the "mommy-nurturing" thing took over. Do you guys think this is a bad idea? Thanks for all your suggestions and support. It really makes me feel better that Nico is not the only grey with this problem. I'll try to figure out how to post photos so you guys can see what a gorgeous guy he is!!

Wow...thanks for all the suggestions, everybody! I have been feeding after the morning walk. Since the antibiotic, he just watches me put the food bowl down and doesn't make a move toward it at all! The bowl is empty by the time I come home from work at lunchtime. I can certainly try to feed him in the morning before our walk..that's an easy thing to do! I am also going to try to split the evening meal in 2 and give him the second half before bed. If we end up having to switch his food, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you folks for suggestions on what food to switch him to! (Seems as though there is no end to my questions!!!!!).

Hi Everybody! This is such a great forum...I've learned so much as a first time dog/greyhound owner. Nico is handsome 6 year old brindle boy. Some of you might remember he suffered a broken bone in his paw earlier this year. Anyway, within the last 2 weeks, he's started to eat grass as soon as we do our morning walk, and then promptly throws up! It's all just yellow bile and undigested grass. Talked to the vet who thinks he's got reflux. He advised feeding later in the night and giving Pepsid AC 20 mg at bedtime. That worked for 1 day, and then today...he's back to vomiting. A little background: about 3 weeks ago, Nico developed a rash in his butt/groin area that he was furiously licking. The vet diagnosed a bacterial infection and put him on antibiotics. (A cephalosporin--1x/day dosing). That worked for the first 5 days or so, but made Nico lose his appetite tremendously and start the grass eating/vomiting cycle. Since the rash had resolved quickly, the vet told us to discontinue the antibiotics, which we did about 8 days ago. Since then, his appetite has returned heartily and otherwise seems very healthy and happy. I was worried about possible pancreatitis from the antibiotics, but the vet assured me this was not likely, given that Nico was eating well. Our routine is to feed him 7 AM and 7PM (mostly dry food with a bit of canned food for taste). He gets his usual kong in the afternoon and doggie biscuits through the day. Does anyone have any ideas? Should I be worried about this? Thanks so much for your help!!!