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Urismom

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  1. Urismom
    Hi, did you ever order diapers from Washable Wonders? I was wondering if/how you successfully chose a size to order. Thanks!
  2. Urismom
    Thank you all for the suggestions. I'm also going to ask if doing another urine sample from maybe earlier in the morning might show up a possible UTI better.
  3. Urismom
    The urine on the bed is dilute and not strong in color. Yes, she is drinking more water. He said one of her kidney values was slightly off but not enough to be causing problems yet. He did not think it was ME. Maybe this is a stupid question, but what sort of specialist would I see for ME? I will be calling our vet Monday and mention the barium/scoping, and Cushings. I told him about the pee accidents last visit, but to be honest, they both happened at my parents house while they were dogsitting and I almost didn't believe them, she's never had an accident before so I thought for sure they were mistaken...till I found her in a puddle on our own bed.
  4. Urismom
    Doris is 9.5 years old. She started regurgitating (not vomiting) portions of her food, water, or both, a few months ago...escalating to probably once or twice a day recently, with a reluctance to eat/decrease in appetite. So the vet did an exam and full bloodwork, urine test. Nothing wrong that he thought would lead to the regurgitating. He thought it might be reflux and put her on Reglan to help with gut motility, but after 2 weeks, I don't think it's helped at all. Also over the course of the last month and a half, she has peed - I've concluded, in her sleep, during the daytime. Three times (that I know about) on a bed or a chair - not a full bladder's worth. Just knowing her habits, if she were awake and had to pee, she'd only do it standing up, never while just laying there in it, so I am 99% sure she's doing it in her sleep. And, it doesn't seem to matter if she's been walked recently. Today I walked her and she peed, went to the store for 2 hours, came home and found her laying in a puddle, unaware of it. This is after a clean bill of urinary health from last week's urine test. So I've been focused on the regurgitating, but now the peeing-in-sleep issue is becoming more prominent. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with a single condition that leads to both symptoms? She's always been in very good health, so to have two things going wrong at once is new for us and I was wondering if they might be connected. (I'll be calling the vet Monday.)
  5. Urismom
    We have a great update on Uri's tail that I thought would be best demonstrated by this video of him having what looks like the happiest dream ever. What a joy. As of Thanksgiving weekend, we began letting him go un-bandaged, using very strong bitter yuck spray from the vet to deter him from licking. The fur from the top and sides has indeed grow in, almost covering the visual evidence of the large scar, and definitely giving it some floof and padding. After a few weeks of the bitter spray, he has completely lost interest and it doesn't seem to bother him at all! It was a long 3 months but this video makes it all worth it! Thank you to everyone for your advice and encouragement, we really used a lot of group suggestions and helped save the tail!
  6. Urismom
    Aw, thanks for asking! I think his tail is doing well, although I still keep it bandaged at all times though not moist, and I muzzle him when I'm not with him. Tuesday night I let him sit with it unbandaged in the room with me for a few hours and he did not seem obsessed with it, so I am trying to be hopeful that at some point, we can let it go free and he won't damage it again. But most other times, he seems pretty obsessed when the bandage is off. He hates the muzzle so I try to be with him as much as possible so that he doesn't have to wear it. In the last few days, it seems he has started limping a bit on that foot where the toenail is growing back in, wish it wasn't hurting him, but also hoping that is indeed the problem so that it's not something worse. He has a yearly vet appt next week so I'll ask about that. This pic was taken last week - it looks better now that the hair has grown in on the sides and the top, but that middle part will probably always be exposed.
  7. Urismom
    Oh moleskin is a great idea, thank you! I will get some today.
  8. Urismom
    Thank you all for the suggestions. I changed the bandage last night and it looks ok, but like we've been set back maybe 3 weeks worth on the one side. Last night we discovered that the muzzle, from so much use, is starting to irritate and cut into the top of his nose. We wrapped the harsh edge of the plastic with paper towel for padding last night, it had a bit of blood on it this morning. The muzzle seems to be really our only hope for him not getting at the tail. The hood didn't work, and I'm not sure the tail sling would - I think that prevents wagging but in those pictures, it looked like the dog could still access the tail while laying down. We'll continue to build up the padding on the muzzle edge and put ointments on the face too.
  9. Urismom
    So discouraged - after 6.5 great weeks (we stopped moist bandaging a week ago but have been keeping it fully dry bandaged and padded for one week)....beautiful pink skin, smooth, no scab... Well today I lost track of him for about 15 minutes, without his muzzle, and by the time I got back to him, he had pulled the bandage down enough to get at the wound and he licked it raw. Opened it up again, bloodied. I am so disappointed and discouraged. We prevented him from getting a lick in for nearly 7 weeks! And so nice and healed...and now it's all raw and open and bloody again, and plus it has his tongue bacteria to boot for the first time since the ER vet gave it a good cleaning. So we went back to manuka honey and a wet bandage. And now he'll have to be muzzled constantly, unless he's in a room with me with the door closed, and I feel like that will be for months and months, and he hates it wearing it. And he licks the inside of it during the night over and over and over and keeps my husband and I awake. I have been letting him overnight without the muzzle for about a week, but now I'll put it back on again. I feel like I can't imagine a time -- since it probably won't grow hair there -- that he won't be interested and obsessively want to lick it. He is such a licker. And I can't fathom that fragile skin is ever going to get tough enough to withstand that tongue. Just had to vent - thanks for listening! I really hope it heals up quickly from this setback.
  10. Urismom
    Thank you everyone for the input! I guess we'll stop gooping the tail wound, and move on to a dry padded bandage for a few weeks. I am so grateful to God that it seems like the tail is out of the woods and we've avoided amputation. I was wondering if maybe a new toenail is starting to try to come through the hole, and that's why all of a sudden, his toe has opened up again and he's obsessed with it now.
  11. Urismom
    So today, after 4.5 weeks, Uri's toe hole started bleeding again. And THEN he somehow totally got the entire tail bandage completely off - the first time he's managed that also in 4.5 weeks - and I was outside, so I wasn't there to see if he got a few licks in. But, it looks ok and I washed and rebangaged. We are trying to decide at what point we should/can stop with the moist environment (have been using vaseline and manuka honey) and maybe just start dry bandaging. What do you guys all think? Currently, there is no scab and no open parts of the wound. It is smooth and dry, though still pink and vulnerable looking. I'm not really sure what I'm looking at.
  12. Urismom
    Thank you all! We're still keeping it wrapped and moist. Here is a picture showing week 3's progress:
  13. Urismom
    Yeah sooooo....a few hours after the vet visit, I decided to go back to the moist/honey/bandage treatment. Drying out and scabbing just instinctually didn't feel right to me. I feel bad and worried because it's not like I'm the veterinarian, who I certainly trust. I am going to keep it moist and covered at least for a few more days, maybe a week, and then go from there.
  14. Urismom
    We saw the vet again today. He thinks the tail wound is looking great, he thinks the manuka honey was helpful. He said that we should stop keeping it moist and bandaging it, and instead, leave it open to the air and let it dry out and scab over. That makes me soooo nervous, as I've always felt comfort in keeping it moist, and we had really gotten the hang of the bandages and keeping it safe that way. I'm afraid now it will get dirty, or bang into something and open up, or that Uri - who is an obsessive licker - will get at it and lick it raw. We taped a plastic syringe tube around it from the top, and I will watch him like a hawk and he'll have to wear his muzzle-with-poop-guard whenever I can't supervise. I hope the drying out/scab phase goes ok. I'm sure the scabbing will bother him a lot more, whereas when we had it moist and bandaged, he didn't even seem to notice it. Never thought I'd feel like I miss goopy-bandage stage. :-) I am so glad the vet thinks it is going well. He said we don't even need to schedule a follow-up appointment unless something concerns me. Thank you all for the suggestions!!
  15. Urismom
    Haha, no, I'm not! But, I am definitely approaching this tail like a serious project and figured I might as well approach the results analytically! I like to feel encouraged by seeing progress. I hope it keeps up, I know I'll be crushed if it takes a turn for the worse, as several people have said their dog's wounds did even after many weeks.
  16. Urismom
    Here's an update on Uri! His foot where he lost the toenail is doing very well. He was licking it a lot - the vet prescribed a week of anti-inflammatory to help soothe that. Also, we got the poop guard for his muzzle, so he wears that when I can't be supervising so that he doesn't get into an obsessive licking mode. The tail is seeing definite progress, still hopeful that it will heal up. The bandage has been staying on very well this week - changing it daily, he hasn't gotten a lick in for over a week! I put together some pictures to show how it is progressing. I am so encouraged to see less tendon and more of the red fleshy stuff. The manuka honey I ordered came last night, so today I put on his first dressing with the honey. Thank you everyone so much for the suggestions.
  17. Urismom
    Thank you everyone so much for the input and great suggestions! I have ordered some manuka honey. We just saw our regular vet for a follow-up and he said it is going in the right direction, but still has a long road ahead. He prescribed an oral antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory (for the toe). He said the granulation layer has started to form and the honey might help with that. We have another appointment in 10 days.
  18. Urismom
    I think I can picture that. Part of the problem is that Uri is naturally/long-term bald along the backside of his tail, from about an inch above the wound upward. So there isn't a lot of area to work with above the wound for taping, without putting it on bare skin -- which is its own problem. We actually haven't been taping at all near the wound, it's too hard to describe the way the ER vet showed us to bandage it, but it only involves tape on the fur below the wound, which we extend above it a little bit where fur allows. So tape near the wound is actually not an issue...but gauze in it, seems to be. Hubby put some duct tape just on the bottom of his muzzle, like a makeshift poop guard until the one I ordered arrives. (Don't worry, I'll make sure it's off often enough for him to drink water.) Seems to be working for the foot-licking. I can't wait to see the vet tomorrow! Hope we get some good advice! I took pictures of the wound Tuesday, and again yesterday, and I have been comparing them on the computer screen to see if I can see any difference....hubby says (and I know) it's crazy to look for any change in that short of a time period. :-p
  19. Urismom
    I have heard good things about Manuka honey, I will get some of that. Last night it took over an hour to change the bandage. We have a good mechanism to get the bandage to stay on - it doesn't fall off anymore, so he hasn't been able to lick it in a few days, so that is good. But, it does slide down a bit, like the innards shift, about an inch downward....so instead of the non-stick pad being against the wound, the dry gauze ends up on the wound...and then it bleeds through those layers, dries, and the stick to it. So I had to keep moistening the gauze bit by bit to peel it away so it wouldn't hurt him or disrupt the wound, very frustrating. It must be harder on me than on him, because during that hour-long process -- during which I was in tears -- he was so chill, he ended up asleep in a deep dream, twitching and running in his sleep. We have a follow-up vet appt tomorrow afternoon.
  20. Urismom
    That's encouraging, thanks! I love his bandage, so cute!
  21. Urismom
    I saw that in some other threads. He's not much of a tail wagger and it's not banging onto things, so I'm not sure that's what we need, but thank you for the suggestion! Ooh, duct tape, good idea! Thanks for the suggestion.
  22. Urismom
    Just ordered a poop guard! Thank you for the suggestion, it can't hurt!
  23. Urismom
    We found that if he wears the cone of shame, and also at the same time, his muzzle (no poop guard) , that seems to discourage licking. I'm sure he still could technically, but he's so miserable and encumbered that I think he figures "why bother?" So that's what we have been doing, at night only. Hadn't thought of a poop guard, that might be a good solution. Do you know how they are sized, or are all plastic muzzles the same? I found these here: http://www.greyhoundsonly.com/greyhounds-only-store/accessories/236-stool-guard
  24. Urismom
    Last week, Uri's tail got caught in the door. He skinned nearly 2 inches of it, on both sides, right down to the tendons. He has seen two vets about it, one who suggested leaving the hair for cushion and to lesson trauma/prickles and using homeopathic creams with twice-daily bandage changes and ointments, and one who recommended giving it a good cleaning and shaving, and reducing bandage changes to every 1-2 days. Both vets had very valid points. In the end, we had it shaved down and are down to once-a-day bandage changes, partially because we are having trouble getting a bandage to stay in place any longer than that. We are refining our bandaging techniques! Then, unrelated, he ripped out a toenail entirely the other night - blood everywhere. That's why we ended up seeing two vets about the tail....because we made a late-night emergency room trip about the toe. So he was limping, with bandages on both ends, and the poor boy is just miserable. The foot bandage is off now, but we are trying to keep him from licking it. We have a cone-of-shame, but he hates it and is very clumsy and easily spooked when it collides into evvverything....so wearing it is doubly distressing, plus he has still managed a few reach-around licks with it on. So I am just trying to watch him constantly, and putting the hood on only overnight or if I have to step away. He has Tramadol HCL pills to keep him low-key and help with pain, but I am using those sparingly and today he doesn't seem to need any. The foot seems to be settling down for healing, but I am still so worried about his tail. Trying to avoid amputation, but not feeling optimistic the more I read about other cases. I will say - the wound looks no worse after one week...but it also doesn't look any better. Basically, it doesn't look any different. I just look at it the way it is now and I can't imagine it is going to heal. It looks so mean and there is sooooo much ground to cover. I also feel like we can't leave him alone for a second - because if the bandage does come off while we are not looking or away, he instantly settles into licking, licking, licking...That happened Saturday morning and I feel like, with 2 minutes of licking, he exposed more tendon than had been exposed before and set us back several days of healing. That is an argument for giving him more Tramadol, because it keeps him sedate and he is less likely to be standing up, walking around, hitting the bandage, shaking the bandage off....but I don't like the way he seemed so doped up on it. If it was only for a few more days, maybe, but I know this injury is a long haul thing and I don't really want him on meds like that. Anyway - we would appreciate prayers for his tail to heal, for vet wisdom regarding next steps, and for momma to manage the bandaging and 24-7 dog watch so that he doesn't get any licks in. My poor, sweet boy. He is such a good patient, doesn't protest one bit,
  25. Urismom
    Thank you, I will look into those different options.
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