gr8mama

I had a Subaru Legacy sedan when I adopted our first GH. Loved the car, but my boy was too tall when he stood on the back seat. Went to a Subaru Forester, which was perfect. He could lay down in the back and look out the windows without standing up. Kept the Forester through the second adoption. When we adopted #3, we went to a mini-van and mostly rode with all the seats removed from the back, except when we were transporting people as well as dogs. I have the Kia Sedona and I regularly transport 5 hounds long distances (7 hours) with no space issues. I love Subarus and just checked out the interior space on the new Ascent. Beautiful car and it would definitely fit 3-4 dogs, but it's high off the ground and the seats fold flat, but not level and spaces between the second and third rows. So, our next vehicle will be another mini-van....probably the Chrysler Pacifica with it's Stow and Go seats.

I did ask the internist that we're working with directly and he said he wasn't really sure and looked at the vet tech in the room as if it was her role to answer. I got the impression that fleas and ticks weren't in his wheelhouse. I think I might try the Seresto collar.....a major advantage is that if it appears that she starts to have a reaction, the collar can be quickly removed unlike one of the systemic options such as Nexguard.

My little just-turned-three year old greyhound girl was just diagnosed with "Immune-mediated Polyarthropathy". She literally fell apart over about a two day period and went from a happy, bouncy, loving-life girl to running a 105 fever with no energy, no appetite, pain in every joint, high bilirubin, etc., brink of death little skeleton of a girl. Her weight plummeted from 60 pounds to 42 over a 2 week period. After an MRI, lots of bloodwork, tick panels, neurologist consult, then critical care and internist consults and a full week in ICU, we had a diagnosis and treatment was started with Prednisone, Mycophenolate (immunosuppressant), gabepentin and tramadol for pain and omeprazole (prilosec) for her tummy. Thankfully, she's on the mend now.....she's regained 8 pounds of weight and a good bit of her spunk and is back to being the terror of the squirrel population in the back yard. The internist says we will probably never know what triggered her immune system to attack her body. We adopted her 17 months ago and she has not had any injuries and has been kept on flea/tick medicine and Heartguard religiously since we got her. Two tick panels came back negative. So besides tick bites and injury, the internist advises that we need to be very cautious about vaccinations going forward. Several veterinary professionals that I respect and trust have quietly told me that if she were their dog, they would not get her vaccinated again because of the risk of reactivating the immune response. I'm OK with that, but I'm in a quandry about what to do about flea/tick protection as well as parasite protection. We have one other 7-year old greyhound and we often foster. I have been successfully using Heartguard Plus and Nexguard for years. Is it safe to continue using these two products for our little auto-immune girl? We live in the mid-Atlantic area and have a 1/2 acre fenced yard in a fairly wooded area. Deer, foxes, possums, and squirrels all live in our neighborhood. I'm open to other ideas, including natural or homeopathic remedies, but only if they really work. I loathe fleas and don't want to take a chance on her getting a tick bite. Suggestions? Think we can stay with the Heartguard + and Nexguard?

I'm the Foster Coordinator for our adoption group and we have used Frontline Plus and Heartguard for years for our foster dogs. We don't have a kennel, so all our dogs are in foster homes. I'm thinking of switching to Revolution. Has anyone used this product and if so, is it effective and safe for greyhounds?

Dear Robin, I'm just reading this....so, so sorry to hear about Treasure. I know how you loved her so. She did such a good job of teaching Iker about living a loved life.....it will be part of her legacy. She's with your special boy, Phoenix now.......still guiding Iker in his new life. Hugs and more hugs to you. Gail

Consider giving her a 3 Mg. tablet of Melatonin a half hour before bedtime. It should help her sleep through the night AND give her a fuzzy butt. I had never used Melatonin until my 13 1/2 year old boy couldn't climb steps to the bedroom anymore. He was sleeping on the first floor all by himself with the rest of the pack upstairs. When he'd wake up in the middle of the night, he'd get confused with no one around and start barking. As soon as we started the Melatonin, he slept right through the night.

Dr. Patel and the other vets at NGAP are very good and you can't beat them for dental work. Many of our Delaware adopters travel over an hour to NGAP for dental work.

Hi Robin, If it helps at all, Radar's eyes are dilated a lot as well. I know he still sees OK - I know this for sure because when we are at M&Gs in larger outside locations even if DH has him across on the other side of a field or open area, when I look over at him, his eyes are riveted on me. (Did I mention that he's my heart hound?) No stumbling of any kind, and he still races around the big 3/4 acre lot like a young dog. Since Radar and Phene are brudders, maybe it's just old age? I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Phene and will anxiously wait to hear what the doctor says. Hugs to your precious boy and a paw bump from Radar, Gail and Radar

Have been in touch with the adopters and they have had two appointments with a veterinary opthalmologist. Diagnosis is now confirmed as SARDS and sweet Harmony is totally blind. She is a young dog (she will be 5 next month) and after the initial confusion, she is doing quite well. The adopters were scared and nervous in the beginning, but are surprised and relieved that she is getting around very well. The adoptive father is retired so he is home with her quite a lot. Thanks to everyone for the information and positive thoughts! Gail

Bump

Thanks so much to everyone who has posted. GTers are the best! I will share this info with the adopters and keep checking this thread. Will also post back after Tuesday. Gail Mom to GHs Radar (real brudder by the same mudder to the great Phoenix of Canada), Cricket and Stevie Nix. GPA-DE

A family who adopted a 4 year old dog from our group in early December called this morning to say that they believe their dog has gone totally blind within the last few days. Symptoms include walking into doors and walls inside, walking into the fence outside and not being able to find her way back into the house from the fenced back yard. They were referred by their vet to an opthalmology specialist and they have an appointment on Tuesday. The intake vet at the Specialty Clinic saw them this morning and make a very preliminary diagnosis of detached retina. Has anyone ever heard of this happening in greyhounds? And, what are the chances that even if it did happen that it would occur bilaterally? Does anyone know of any other cases where a greyhound went blind within a matter of days? Thanks for any information or ideas.

We taught our smarty pants girl, Cricket, to ring a big jingle bell that we attached to the door knob with a ribbon by nudging it with her nose. She learned that trick in about two days (maybe less). Then, of course, she thought it was great fun to go over and ring the bell, and watch me or DH come over to open the door for her as if we were her personal servants. (We have a fenced yard.) After a couple of days of this routine (she rings bell, humans come let her out, she comes back in after a few minutes, shortly after she rings bell again, humans come accomodate her again) we said to ourselves, Are you kidding? This is way too much fun for her.....no fun at all for us. So, we took the bell down and that was that. BUT, the training principle is the same one as you would use to teach "touch" with clicker training. Hang the bell on the doorknob, bring Badger over gently to stand in front of the bell, use a cue word (potty? out?) and gently move his face so that it touches and rings the bell. Then, praise him and take him out. If you make it fun and use your happy, you're-the-best-dog-in-the-world voice, he'll learn it in no time. Just be careful what you wish for - he'll get it quickly and may decide he wants (not needs) to go out just for fun.