KF_in_Georgia

When I needed to fatten up an older dog, all I did was give him more of what he already ate. We went from 3 cups a day to 4 cups on a smallish--65 pound--boy. Please be careful about giving fattening food: that can trigger diarrhea and all kinds of trouble. I knew Sam would be okay with eggs, so I gave him an egg a day (microwaved in a custard dish, so no significant fats added). That and extra kibble, and rice on a few nights, too. If four cups a day is too much at individual meals, feed him more meals. I was giving Sam three meals a day (a bedtime meal). Then, once I started working from home, we went to four meals a day because his back end was giving him trouble and it was hard for him to stay on his feet through a big meal.

But greyhounds can get UTIs, so make sure your boy has plenty of water to drink. As long as he's able to pee at the beginning of walks, you don't have to worry if the tank's run dry by the end. He won't be doing it just to please you, though. There's probably a great smell he wants to mark, but he just doesn't have any ammo left.

I used Ensure for Sam. He liked the vanilla flavor. Actually, I fed some to both dogs--just poured it on their kibble and they ate it all. And when Sam was refusing to eat his kibble--but blissfully licking all the Ensure out of the bowl--I started sending his kibble through the food processor. I'd grind up 3 cups a day, then mix 3/4 cup kibble with Ensure or yogurt or some other treat (oatmeal was popular, also ground chicken or tuna) to make something about the consistency of pudding. He was being fed 4 times a day. (And you might want to try Sarge on smaller meals more often, to see if that helps.) As long as Sam was eatting most of the kibble, I had fewer worries about whether he was getting enough nutrition. (Sam was 13 and recovering from an ulcer; with the ground kibble, I managed to keep him from losing any weight.)

Peter got the Nature's Recipe instead of Iams today and tonight. No itching, licking, or chewing. And it's been about 14 hours since any antihistamines. He finished his bedtime Kong about 30 minutes ago, and he's sleeping like a log. The article says flea allergy dermatitis causes immediate itching. But there has not been a single glimpse of a flea in the entire 13 days he's been here. I've checked his groin and his belly (both pretty hairless), and he has no sign of any bites, bumps, pustules, or anything like that. If it's not a food allergy, then I'm guessing it's the ragweed. We didn't go out as much today as yesterday, and the pollen count was lower today. Sometime soon, when the pollen count drops to a sensible number, I might try him on the Iams again to see if there's a reaction.

If you don't have a snood, you might be able to make one from the sleeve of an old sweatshirt. It won't fit tight, so it might not annoy her, but it will keep the ear from moving so much when she shakes her head. Just cut the sleeve to go over her head, and you might need to slit the ribbing of the sleeve to keep it from being too tight. It's an alternative, if she won't tolerate the bandage. It probably will heal on its own, but if she shakes her head a lot, you'll want to head for the vet (but not an e-vet). There's a potential problem called a hematoma that could occur if she shakes her head too much.

But the Iams has corn as its 2nd ingredient, and the NR has no corn. Both formulas have poultry fat, so I'm less inclined to blame the chicken in the Iams. (Neither formula has wheat.) His Kongs have been whatever kibble is current, with a tablespoon or two of yogurt (and a couple of mini-marshmallows). The current yogurt is strawberry/banana, but they've been getting that flavor for several days and the marshmallows since Day 1. (He arrived here 31 August.) He's had no people food besides the yogurt and marshmallows (and a slice of turkey lunchmeat to wrap his pills in), and he usually gets kibble as a treat. He sometimes gets BilJac chicken liver training treats, but has been getting them off and on for several days. (But they have wheat flour, so perhaps I need to watch them.) And he gets Missing Link Hip and Joint formula, 2 teaspoons a day. (His hips and joints are fine, but he's getting the same formula my 8-year-old gets, and he's been getting it since the beginning.) Flea preventative (Frontline Plus) more than a week ago; heartworm (ivermectin in a capsule, so no flavoring ingredients) one week ago. Any ideas what else could have triggered such a sudden reaction? He's been exposed to the high ragweed pollen levels for more than a week, and he's not showing the typical pollen reaction (he's not chewing or licking at his feet). And he's much better on Benadryl or Zyrtec, which leads me to worry less about the possibility of worms. The Benedryl might not have actually helped with the itching, but it made him dopey enough to sleep. The Zyrtec hasn't made him groggy, but he's not itching or scratching since I gave him 10mg this morning. No change in laundry detergent--and, in fact, bed covers were washed the day before he arrived, but not since. There's no sign of any bug bites--no-see-'ums or flies or anything like that. And no rash on his skin. The biting and obsessive licking started about 8 or 9 last night, 12 hours or so after his first meal of the Iams, 9 hours after our short trip to the park. (The park trip was less than an hour long--just walking on concrete, dirt, or grass.) The licking started again this morning when he woke up. He still had Iams for breakfast, but his lunchtime Kong was NR, and his supper and bedtime Kong will be, too. If it's the pollen, then once the Zyrtec wears off, he should have a relapse--tomorrow's pollen count is forecast to be in the red range.

Agreed. We had a lost greyhound in the area this weekend, and some of us spent Saturday, Sunday, and part of Monday hunting for her in orange pollen count, orange air quality conditions, in one of the most inhospitable areas a dog could go missing. She's home safely, though--and I'm still taking antihistamines.

For upset stomachs, you can give it straight from your clean spoon. Or I'll make oatmeal, which is soothing to the stomach, and stir in a spoonful while the oatmeal is still hot, then let it all cool before mealtime.

He might feel better than you think he will. When I had an abscessed tooth, I felt so much better once the abscess was drained and the root was killed (root canal). And I no longer flinched with every bite, anticipating the pain. Hoping for the best for Huston...

I'm so sorry.

I changed dog foods yesterday (didn't transition), and foster dog was itching like mad last night and this morning--chewing at the base of his tail and licking his groin. Three possibilities, I think: 1-Food allergy. There's grain in the new food (Iams green bag), and there wasn't any in the old (Nature's Recipe Venison & Rice). Would a food allergy show this quickly (i.e., within the first 12 hours)? And licking in those two areas? 2-Pollen/ragweed. It's been bad for a few days, but he spent more time than usual outside yesterday when I took him to the park. But we just walked, and he doesn't get roll-in-the-grass time since I know the pollen's been bad. 3-Worms. Foster has been here nearly two weeks, and this suddenly happened--but my other dog is fine. Maybe new guy has been stressed enough (he's a bounce) that a latent infection of worms has become active? I threw this in because he's chewing his tail a lot, but his poop is okay. I'll give him a Zyrtec this morning, and I'll go buy new dog food for him today. If he doesn't get better quickly, we'll see the vet. P.S. Not fleas. He's on a flea preventative, and there's no sign of fleas (and they'd show in his groin). Also, Silver isn't itchy. Obligatory photo: He's GRA Peter. ETA: I gave him two Benadryl last night and we all got a good night's sleep. Fleas or hooks wouldn't have allowed that.

The Crohn's study--which of course was people, not dogs--gave both at the same time: tapering down the prednisone while slowly building up the budesonide (or the placebo) at the same time.

The closest I can get is a study of patients with inactive Crohn's disease who were switched from prednisone to budesonide. They tapered the prednisone over weeks, and even then some of the Crohn's disease patients suffered relapses. Not really close, but it shows they didn't leap from one med to the other. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1728198/ ETA: It appears patients took both meds at once, tapering down the pred while increasing the budesonide to compensate.

Sorry. As far as I know it needs to be the medical grade, expensive Manuka honey. And the higher the number, the better. WebMD has an article here. But I'm not sure that a single jar doesn't save you at least that much money in vet bills, so it's a fair trade--especially since it often works faster (and better) than some of the vet's stuff.

I'm pretty sure PetSmart requires "within six months" for boarding, and possibly also for daycare. Another consideration for you is how much your dog is in the face of other dogs who may or may not have been vaccinated. I was careful to stick to every six months for my girl, who does lots of meet and greets, as long as I had a frail 13-year-old she might bring trouble home to. The 13-year-old is gone now, and my girl is about to hit a fairly busy season for meet and greets, but she had her last vaccination in late May, so she's good through the fall meet-and-greet rush.

Check with where you board her. Many boarding kennels will require that a dog has had that vaccine within the last 6 months.

Gabapentin has a half-life of about 8 hours, I've read. (I can't find that source now. Sorry.) When it's given to people to prevent seizures, it's prescribed for every 12 hours, so I'd certainly think you'd want the pain relief on at least that a 12-hour schedule. (When my dog was taking it for pain, he was getting it about every 6 hours, but he was taking more pills.) ETA: I did find this source: http://www.drugs.com/dosage/gabapentin.html#Usual_Adult_Dose_for_Postherpetic_Neuralgia It has human doses when used for pain (adults and kids), and prescribes taking it 3x daily. Obviously, the dosage isn't useful for your boy, but the timing info might help.

What I don't understand is why my vet's office always asks if I want the container back. Does anyone ever say "yes"?

Kristin, I'm so sorry you had to say goodbye to your girl.

If you want to collect a grass-free, dirt-free, pine-needle-free sample, try slipping a small paper plate under Violet's back end. Then just bag plate and poop all at once. My vet has never complained about grass or other extras, but the paper plate is handy if someone's having soft poop or normally poops on tall grass or other complications. Hint: Put your hand into a clean poop bag, and treat the bag as a glove protecting the hand that's positioning the plate. That will give you a little protection against splashes or a moving dog or other issues, and you just pull the bag down over plate and poop and all.

The brilliant folks at Tufts. I think there's something like a flat fee (in 2010, it was $250) that will cover a period of consultations. Jen Bachelor worked with them for her noise-phobic dog Reagan. See here for Tufts: http://www.tufts.edu/vet/petfax/ See here for Jen's posts about Reagan: http://neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com/search/label/Reagan%20Fears

Capstar and Frontline Plus work differently, and you could give both. Capstar can be expected to kill fleas (thought not ticks) for about 24 hours; it should start killing within 30 minutes. Don't expect it to work for an entire week. (Capstar is often used at animal hospitals to deal with fleas on an incoming patient who can't be given a flea bath. It's also used by rescue groups sending a dog home with a new adopter. It's not really a flea preventative; it's just a short-term flea killer. And it's safe enough to use on puppies, which is not the case with a lot of other flea products.) Frontline Plus could take a day or two to get up to speed. But you can safely give it now; you don't have to wait until Friday. If you missed some of the eggs, expect another outbreak in about two months (as those eggs hatch). You might want to step up the vacuuming again about then and see if you can head it off. If there's a bag in your vacuum cleaner, be sure to toss the bag after you vacuum. Don't bomb the house now until you're sure you've got a problem inside.

Consider delivering her to her temporary home-away-from-home 24 hours early. You may pay for an extra day of boarding, but you can deliver her and keep in close touch in those first few hours with whoever's keeping her. And if you deliver her before you do obvious packing and stuff at home, you might be able to head off the whole thing if she stays calmer to start with. And you can tell the person keeping her about restricting Violet's activity, especially for the first several hours.

Be advised that some dogs taking larger doses of tramadol will exhibit panting, pacing, and other behaviors that look like a pain response when it's actually anxiety. I don't doubt that Molly's in pain, but it may be that some of her more extreme symptoms are being generated by the large dose of tramadol. A different pain med (but not morphine or anything like that for a greyhound) might give Molly some relief and let you back off the high dose of tramadol. Robaxin (methocarbamol) is a muscle relaxer, and gabapentin is another pain reliever (although it takes a couple of days to get up to full strength), and either (or both) of those can be used with tramadol. Don't stop tramadol abruptly, though, without a vet's orders.

Laurie, in your seizure log, note how long since a meal and note the weather, too. You're going to be looking for common denominators that Emmy could be reacting to, so falling barometric pressure before a storm, excessive heat/humidity, a little longer between meals than usual, a treat she doesn't get very often--any of those might be a helpful indicator. Oh--and how soon after her last heartworm meds and flea/tick treatments. It may sound silly--and you don't want to read too much into a simple coincidence--but something might show up. I had two greyhounds who were having diarrhea occasionally. They were on a straightforward kibble diet, leash-walked only (meaning they weren't getting into something outside), not getting people food--and they'd both have diarrhea on the same days. I plotted it on a calendar and finally realized the diarrhea occurred within 24 hours of their heartworm meds. I never even suspected the meds because they'd been taking heartworm meds for years; but this was when Interceptor went off the market, and we'd changed to Heartgard Plus. The flavoring added to the Heartgard Plus was the culprit. In Emmy's case, you might not find a cause or trigger, but you might be able to spot a warning sign of trouble getting ready to start. Good luck.