KF_in_Georgia
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Posts posted by KF_in_Georgia
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I'm so sorry to hear you've lost your lovely girl.
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Often, I think, the decision about antibiotics has to do with how much gum deterioration there has been and whether or not teeth need to be extracted. That is, if there's going to be much bleeding from the dental, then you're more likely to want to give antibiotics to the dog. Some vets will prescribe antibiotics before the dental, then decide whether the drugs are needed afterwards based on what they had to do while the dog was knocked out. (This mirrors what happens with people, I think. My last extraction, I was on antibiotics for a week in advance.)
Last time my guys were in for dentals, the vet asked if I wanted painkillers if there were extractions. I said yes, but neither dog needed anything pulled so we didn't go home with painkillers. Again, the vets' plans varied, based on what they had to do to the dog.
For one of Sam's dentals, I'd faithfully fasted him the night before--no food, no water. So when I picked him up after the dental, I was surprised when he just planted all four feet flat on the floor in the vet's waiting room and peed an entire lake in front of a whole lot of witnesses. Clearly, they'd given him all he wanted to drink after the dental.
On more recent visits, I've been advised to not let them drink a lot when I get them home, for fear that post-anesthesia queasiness will have them vomiting up the water. The vet's office has advised giving small quantities of water the first night (they suggested I put out ice chips the dogs could lick), as well as very little to eat. So after nearly 24 hours of restricted intake, my guys are eager for all the water they can get. They can only hold so much at one time, so they'll tank up, pee soon, drink lots more again, pee more, and repeat for a day or two. They don't usually pee in the house, but there are times when they barely make it out the front door.
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I'm so sorry you lost your boy.
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I'll let Sam eat some grass if I know he's about to get his dinner. (His appetite is fine; he just likes grass.) If he eats grass on an empty stomach, he's bound to vomit it back up. If he gets food at about the same time, the grass stays down.
My first dog's appetite slacked off when the weather got warmer. She sometimes went for two or three days with just a little bit of nibbling at her kibble. My current two don't slack off their food bowls for anything: each is so afraid that the other will eat all the food that they eagerly gulp down anything in their bowls, including honkin'-huge glucosamine tablets.
So slacking off her food and/or grazing on grass aren't bad in themselves, but you don't want to see either condition go on for very long.
Is your girl still interested in her treats? If so, that's a good sign.
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How long have you had Bonny? Did you have her at this time last year?
I'm wondering if she has some sort of pollen allergy that's kicking in now. If there's lots of pollen out and she maybe laid in grass or something covered with that pollen, she might be having a reaction. If you had her at this time last year and she didn't have a similar reaction, this idea won't hold up, though.
Also, small bumps with the rash? Or large ones? There's a very tiny, biting, swarming fly (gnat-sized rather than housefly-sized) that nests in tall grass.* Dogs that disturb the flies' nest often are bitten, producing dark red bite marks that are flat, not raised bumps. Other dogs in the same area don't get the bites if they didn't disturb the nest, so you can have one dog with the rash and others without it. Also, since greys have more exposed skin than other breeds, the bites show up more on greyhounds than on other dogs. Benadryl is effective against the bites. The discussion of the fly bites came up recently on the Live Journal greyhound community here: http://community.livejournal.com/greyhounds/378772.html and here: http://community.livejournal.com/greyhounds/379573.html The owner of the bitten dog posted pictures in her Photobucket account, and I'm going to try to link to that here, in case you can't access the LJ community:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b244/lun...freyaspots1.jpg
*The dog owners discussing the fly bites on LJ both are located in the UK. I don't know if the same fly--or a similar one--is located in your area.
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Dogs with firm poop and good muscle tone express their own anal glands when they poop. (The gland gets squeezed between muscles and the poop.)
A dog with soft poop (or diarrhea) might need a bit of help. Hence, the butt scooting.
You typically won't get gas or a gassy smell from a dog needing assistance with its anal glands. The, um, "butt juice" involved in anal glands smells like dead fish and is pretty unmistakable.
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I'm posting without voting (three dogs, and I could only vote once). First dog had dewclaws and I left them alone; never had a problem. Second dog, same thing. Third dog came to me straight off the track without dewclaws; don't know when they were removed but I suspect it happened shortly after birth--there's no scarring.
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We went to the vet today, and I had a heckuva time not getting choked up and was so determined not to cry, that I ended up not asking the euthanasia questions what I wanted to ask, as far as housecalls, billing, etc. I will have my husband call her and ask her on the phone for me.
Does your vet have an online presence, where you can email questions to the office? It might be easier--less emotionally charged--for you and your husband to type out your questions and then email them to the vets office. Then you can privately read the reply, decide how you want to handle things, etc. And if there are things where you need to make choices (cremation, return of ashes, etc.), you can put your wishes in writing, email them back to the vet, print a copy for yourself, and take that printout to the vets when you have to go there. Then there's no issue of trying to remember everything, or being surprised by something the vet wants to do.
Thinking of you...
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Find a solution you like. Put it on a jumbo cotton ball. Hold the ball in your hands for a moment to warm it up. Then tuck the ball into your dog's ear and massage the ear from the outside. (The dog probably will love this part. Ear scritches--what's not to love?)
Then take out the cotton ball, and wipe it around in his ear to get out any excess gunk.
This is more comfortable for your dog than you squirting a solution into his ears. Ever had anyone shoot water (or worse) into your ears? And if it was a cold liquid...? No fun.
After cleaning, you might want to take a dry cotton ball and wipe around inside his ear to get out any excess moisture.
Note that this method--more comfortable than squirting a solution into his ear--also avoids the messy head shake, so you can safely do it in the house.
I clean dog ears for a living.
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Hydrogen peroxide is inexpensive (about fifty cents US, I think) and is available in small bottles in the pharmacy/drug section of grocery stores and similar places.
But HP loses it's strength once you've broken the seal and opened the bottle. If you use any from a bottle, get a new bottle soon. Put it in the doggy first-aid kit in your car--for you and the dog.
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How hot was the ground he was walking on? Asphalt? Concrete? Grass?
When the warmer weather hits here, I try to keep the dogs walking on grass* (or pinestraw) and off the hot asphalt. The heat reflecting up from the asphalt is pretty severe, and then there's the temperature of the asphalt right on their feet.
Take a damp cloth with you on your walks--something you can use to cool down his belly. (Wipe his belly to dampen it, then fan him.) And if you pause for rests, make sure he's standing on shady ground or on vegetation of some type.
And is Ziggy the dog in your avatar? If so, fine. But if Ziggy is a dark dog, you might want to limit his time in direct sunlight. (My girls have both been black or mostly-black, and I worry more about them in the direct sun.)
*Of course, Sam has grass allergies, so I have to wipe his feet down when we get home. And I have to watch for ant beds on our walks.
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Consider getting empty capsules (try your nearest pharmacist) and put the panacur in that. Then pill him with those, especially if the peanut butter or whatever else you have to use might be upsetting his stomach.
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My Sam never raced. The Greyhound Racing and Breeding Database lists his weight as 64 pounds. When I got him (from his first foster home) nearly 7 years ago, he weighed 72. Right now, he weighs 64 pounds, and his weight stays within two pounds of that.
Jacey raced at 57 pounds. When I got my chunky monkey from the adoption group (3 years ago), she weighed 62(!) pounds. I got her weight back down, and it stayed about 57 until she started having health issues, at which time it went back up to more than 60 pounds. Once we got her meds adjusted properly, her weight started back down. Right now, she weighs about 54 pounds.
Both dogs look good at their present weights. Jacey's ribs don't show much, but you can find her hipbones without a problem and she looks...svelte. Sam's ribs tend to show a lot, but his hipbones don't jut out too much: I swear he just sucks in his sides so he can look pitiful.
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I'm so, so sorry to read this. We'll be here for you, and thinking of Naz and all of you.
As awful as it is to have to make the decisions you've had to make, you're right that it was never going to be easier. I lost Oreo to a freak accident: I never had to make the hard decisions...but I didn't get a chance to say goodbye, either.
All our losses are beyond-belief hard...which may be why so many of us are crying now for you and Naz.
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Someone else might have better input, but sometimes dogs just eat stuff as long as they don't think it tastes awful.
My Sam eats tissues--only used ones from the trash, though; he's totally uninterested in the clean ones fresh from the box. In Sam's case, I'm fairly certain there are no essential nutrients in used tissues.
If you Google the topic, there are lots of articles. The consensus seems to be that it might be nutritional deficits--or just boredom. But the articles do say that you need to stop it to be sure your dog isn't picking up parasites from the dirt.
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My boy has been known to let out the GSOD when one of his tougher female housemates decided to correct some bad behavior of his. The girls didn't hurt him--but they scared him enough that he yelled. I think it was the greyhound equivalent of crying, "Uncle!" (It happened once with Oreo, then once with Jacey.)
He also has had occasional muscle cramps in his legs (hasn't happened for years, though). He once woke me at 2am with a scream, but in this case he was half-sitting/half-standing in my bed and just stood there frozen and screaming. I grabbed him and tipped him onto his side. That seemed to release the strain on the cramped muscle, and he just gave a little whimper, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
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My guys love Milk Bone treats, but I don't use them. The ingredients aren't bad--unless your dog (like my Sam) has an allergy to wheat. Wheat is the number one ingredient in many treats...including Milk Bone.
The wheat triggers diarrhea in Sam. I cut out wheat-based treats and also changed to a kibble that did not include wheat. You might try cutting wheat out of your dog's diet and see if there's any improvement.
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When the dog is walking ordinarily (rather than running or jumping around) and you can hear the nails click, it's time to Dremel. Under normal conditions, a dog's pads should hit the ground when he walks--not his nails.
I have friends who Dremel their dogs' nails just a bit every week. I tend to let my guys go longer--a month or so--but I grind off a lot the first time I hear nails clicking as we walk. My guys are quite tolerant of the grinding. If they were less tolerant, I'd do it more often and for shorter periods. But Sam actually lies on the sofa and sticks his feet out for me.
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I'm so sorry for your loss.
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Isnt there something bad about some sweetener that is used in gum that is supposed to be deadly in small doses for dogs? And if so, could it be in candy?
The dangerous sweetener is Xylitol, and it usually turns up in "sugar-free" gum, maybe in candy, too. Details here.
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I'm so sorry you've lost your boy, but I'm sure he knew how much he was loved.
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Yes, you can.
Really.
Three or four times--it isn't just a fluke. What if it happens when you aren't home and he hurts himself in his panic? (And how does Diana react to him? How would she react to him if you weren't there?) Get the vet's suggestions, and see if he thinks blood work now would be of any use at all.
Anything happen in the yard, recently? Any chemical treatments? It might be something that bothers him but not Diana. Your vet might have other ideas.
Good luck.
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I'm so sorry this has happened. When you lose your baby, it's so hard. When you lose something more, it's like the last straw.
When Oreo died (3 years ago today--from a blood clot in surgery, too), the crematorium handled things properly. But I wanted Oreo's tag collar--with her adoption group tags and her rabies tag (I'd kept all her earlier tags)--and between the e-vet and the surgical practice, her collar had disappeared. They never found it, and I still wish I could have it back. (When my current klutz landed in the same ER last summer, I made them look through their lost and found for Oreo's collar again.)
You did what you could for Suenos from the very beginning. You loved her, worried and fretted for her. The things that went wrong were not your fault, and you never failed your girl.
And she died knowing she was very much loved, which may be the most important thing you did for her.
You'll find the right memorial for her, but I'm so sorry you're having to go through this.
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Is it the noise that starts the trouble? Or the barometric pressure?
If it's the noise, try a thunderstorm CD.
Jacey's first storm at my house, she jumped and spooked. Fortunately, it was a short storm.
I broke out the thunderstorm CD. (Its non-rhythmic booms are perfect for drowning out a neighbor's annoying bass track.) I let Jacey watch me put it in the player, and I pushed the button and played. She was just curious about it--not frightened. The walls didn't rumble or shake, and I think she quickly realized the noise from the player was harmless.
For a while after that, when I had to leave her at home, I'd leave the CD playing in a loop. And I'd play it in the bedroom at night when we were all sleeping. (I love a good thunderstorm to sleep by.) Leaving the player running during the day just meant that she got used to the noise more quickly, and it also masked any sounds of real approaching storms. And it helps that Sam doesn't even blink for a storm.
Then we had a humdinger of a storm on a day I was home. The dogs and I went out and sat in the carport--sheltered from the rain--where Jacey could see the flashes and feel the booms. Sam laid down and went right to sleep. Jacey stood and watched for a time, then laid down. She didn't sleep, but she didn't panic.
We still go out to the carport if there's a storm while I'm home. Sam sleeps. Jacey lays down right away, rests her head on my leg, and watches the storm. I've always thought that I caught an incipient thunder phobia right in the nick of time. (She's had several little phobias for us to work through. She's not a spook--but she's been skittish about all kinds of unexpected things--like envelopes with crinkly cellophane windows.
)---
If it's the barometric pressure that triggers her stress, then the CD won't help. Have you looked into the Storm Defender Cape? I've heard of success stories, and they offer a full refund if it doesn't help.
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Fractured Leg
in Health and Medical discussion
Posted
I'll be thinking of you and your boy.
It will be no consolation for you to know that you'll be mentally reliving that awful moment forever (although it will become a bit less vivid over time). But try to remember that Jackson is not reliving it. He knows how he feels now--but doesn't really remember how it felt then.