o_rooly

There are no words.

My friends and coworkers have seen that video umpteen times Link to the video: http://www.crackerdogphotography.com/Pets/Greyhounds/2005922_LkpD3x#!i=498228013&k=b5QSzVJ Thank you so much, Steve, for sharing your sweet hounds with us. She and Katie are so loved. Nikki and Alex's sweetness also comes through in their photos. I am so very sorry that Sadie and Katie both had to leave so soon. I could never click fast enough to get into their photo threads when I saw them pop up. I can't imagine how you are feeling. My thoughts are with you and your family.

Oh, no, no, no. I'm so sorry.

Hope Jen doesn't mind me pulling this from another thread -- I just asked her the same question about Zuri's leg-licking, since Aston's doing the same thing. Here's her response (from the Three Weeks 'Til Spring ABT thread):

Every decision you have made for Nadir was made out of love. You were doing your best to keep your sweet buddy comfortable. No one, NO ONE, including you, can fault you for that. He was so very fortunate to have such a tireless, loving mom fighting for him. Nadir has quite an honor guard waiting for him at the bridge. He will be up there playing pain-free until you meet again.

She is so beautiful. The snow is so glaaaarey, dad! Best to close my eyes and soak in the sun :beatheart

Definitely look into acupuncture, and perhaps load him up on Adequan? Both have made a Huge difference as Aston's LS has progressed. He started to have episodes of weakness at the turn of the year that were so bad that he was almost squatting when he walked for up to 30 seconds at a time -- a session of acupuncture made these disappear, and then starting him on Adequan (injections 2x/week for 4 weeks is the loading regimen, from what I've gathered) has made it easier for him to remain totally upright when standing for extended periods. As for chiro -- I took Aston to two sessions a few years ago, to help with his compensation for his corn. Looking back, I wish I had gotten a spinal xray before taking him -- the chiro didn't take one, and a: the sessions were very painful, and b: after each session, Aston suffered bad cramps/spasms that were painful enough for him to scream continuously for the duration. I don't know if this was a case of "it would get worse before it got better / better effects over time," but I wasn't willing to put Aston through more of it if I wasn't absolutely sure. I do know that Aston's body has always been pretty jacked up from that corn, which has been present since he got off the track (or away from the farm) at ~2 years old, based on the past medical records that I got from our adoption group. Sooo -- his compensating right side has always been incredibly tight in terms of musculature and fascia, even now that the corn is gone. His acupuncturist does massage him quite a bit during sessions, and I continue the work at home to keep things "even" in terms of tension (hopefully). Edit: Have you tried gabapentin for Zuri? From what I can tell, and from my experience, it's a pretty benign "can't hurt/might help" drug. I'm not sure whether it's actually helped Aston, BUT since it doesn't seem to negatively affect him, either, we've kept it in for a shotgun effect against possible pain.

TONS of white light coming Nadir's way. :hope

Beaming TONS of good thoughts. Please give Keiva scritchies for us

Thank you, everyone Another update... Spotted worms in Aston's poop yesterday morning. Must be hard to gain weight when you're sharing your food... Aston weighs 56.7lbs today. He weighed 68.5lbs on February 13. Awaiting test results, but he got Drontal Plus today, and will get another dose in two weeks. Also picked up FloraZil+ probiotic spray. The vet on staff today, who treated Aston at his previous hospital, said we need to taper him further down on the pred, soon. I texted our regular vet (same practice, but wasn't on duty) to update her about the worms, and she responded with "maybe that's why he's so skinny.".... Here he is a few minutes ago, clearly enjoying Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Hulu with me. Still a happy guy. Still weak. We'll head out for a workout once it cools off outside (yay for this year's California "winter" ).

I am VERY relieved to hear that Carl's perking up. For what it's worth, I have Aston on a crapload of supplements, at my vet's recommendation (or at least her "okay" given his crapload of Rx meds). Beaming continued good thoughts! So many babies gone to the bridge. I am so sorry, every one.

Same here.. though I've only asked for scripts from two clinics, and it happened to be the same receptionist Our current clinic HAS cut me a ton of breaks, but I don't think they charge for calling a prescription in to Costco, for example.

I'm so, so sorry. Matt, you are so very loved.

I haven't tried pasta (yet). I've been leery because anything grain-based hasn't been great for his digestive system, for a few years now. However, today's potato hasn't turned things to mush, yet? so hopefully that will pan out Aside from egg whites, what's another good lean protein (or five)? I'm not sure at this point whether i should still try to stay novel -- that was suggested in the beginning of the second leg-swelling episode, in case his food was causing the severe immune response. I did try adding chicken in lieu of bison for a meal, and it didn't go well. It didn't seem to be a problem before, so I'm not sure what's going on. I buy 90% lean ground bison, drain it and rinse it after browning, but still do end up with coagulated fat in the food baggies when refrigerated...

I'm so, so sorry. Holding you and your sweet baby in my thoughts. Everything you have done has been out of love. Mimosa is so very fortunate.

Another update... I am hoping, hoping that his weight loss has stalled with the pred reduction, but I can't really tell. He was looking particularly ribby in certain light yesterday, so I sent a photo-message to my vet's cell, which resulted in a "Oh Jesus!! He needs CARBS!!!" response. She recommended quinoa, oatmeal and potato if other items haven't worked. I have tried sweet potato, rice, oatmeal (that one was yesterday after the text conversation), and broccoli as non-meat additives; the first three resulted in quick discomfort and diarrhea, while the broccoli resulted in what I presume to be gas pain, based on the panting and eventual tooting. The only thing thus far that has not gone straight through him is a careful amount of bison, combined with some egg whites. I've been feeding him 4 meals of this per day (with a little bone meal, a lot of enzyme powder; and probiotics added to the non-doxy meals), trying not to hit the overfeeding threshold that results in everything coming out a quick mess on the other end. I just added a little white potato to his second meal today, so I hope it sticks. I'm also ramping up exercise in hopes that using his muscles more will encourage his body to try to keep muscle mass (under the "use it or lose it" theory). He is really out of shape, and his wrist is still a little swollen, so I'm not doing anything drastic -- just trying to get him to trot through short walks (~3/8 mile), or more if he's up for it. I'm afraid to expend more precious calories, but it's evident that he's really weak, especially in his hind end, as his muscle is getting burned away. Hoping that this slows the melting. Here's buddy as of 5 minutes ago. He's still feeling good, happy and bouncy for walks (albeit shaky since his muscle has left him), perky, scarfs his food, sighs big floopy sighs when he gets the couch "fluffed up" juuuuust right, sleeps peacefully. And that is why we do what we do. A rollercoaster ride... but he is a happy 11 years old.

Just saw this, glad it's resolving!!! Aston has had a few bouts of oddball mystery pick-a-leg swelling, but his has developed into a pattern. He's under a two-pronged treatment -- immunosuppressive to treat as though his body is overreactive, and also doxycycline to treat for a possible flying-under-the-radar tickborne disease. How is Opal today? Hope things are less icy out.

No words, Chad. I'm so, so sorry.

Congratulations, to you, and to sweet Noah!

Casper, you are so very loved. Kim, I have no words. Everything you have done has been out of love, and to do right by Casper. He was such a fortunate guy.

Nell!!

I'm cooking Aston's food -- I would just feed him raw at this point, except that he's on the high pred + imuran for immunosuppression... I'm afraid raw could harm him right now? not sure. It seems that chicken and grains are at least irritating to him. My sister told me about Harmony Farms -- I haven't checked them out yet. The bison from Costco seems to be holding okay for him, though :\

Here's Aston this afternoon: Two passersby on today's lunch walk asked if I just rescued him from a bad situation. Thankfully, we are going down to 30mg of pred from 60mg, for now. Hopefully, that and the continuance of 4 meals/day will stop the wasting. Happily, Aston is still ALWAYS willing to scarf some food. I gave him a few egg whites and a little ground bison for lunch, and lo! wee firm poops on his dinner walk!!! so hopefully, that means I've found something that he can easily absorb... so egg whites it is, at least for his "extra"/non-med meals. Will add more enzyme powder, too. Another happy note is that the omeprazole has had a few days to take effect; I stopped the pepcid yesterday (which I had been overlapping to cover any possible gap), and Aston was restful with no signs of discomfort after eating a medication-meal. Wrist swelling is slowly, slowly dissipating. I'm massaging his wrist very gently to try to distribute lymph. One day at a time Edit to add: Just fed him dinner -- more ground bison, with 2 egg whites that I had cooked earlier in coconut oil and refrigerated. I opened the wee piece of gladware that I had stored them in, and OMG, the fart smell. That's the reason I can't bear to eat precooked hardboiled eggs... I dumped the blob of egg whites into his bowl with the bison, and guess what he went for first?? dogs are gross.