oldrunners

My girl went through this last fall. She went in for a regularly scheduled dental (with bloodwork before) and vet noticed that her platelets were lower than they had been at her previous physical, so the vet redid the platelet count. This value was even lower, so we did the TBD test, but started doxy right away. Vet also pulled blood a third time, this time with a larger bore needle, and again the platelets were quite a bit lower. In the meantime the TBD test came back negative. By this point Sasha's platelets were in the low 70's. Vet said that she wasn't too concerned about the actual number, but that the numbers were consistently going down. So, Sasha remained on the doxy, since it has a tendency to suppress the immune system, and was put on pred for 10 days. By day 3 of the pred, there wasn't enough water in the world for Sasha to drink, I was taking her out every hour, and twice at night, and whenever she slept she peed herself and whatever she was sleeping on, including my sofa and both Elaine's beds. Even going out every hour she sometimes didn't make it to the back door, or off the porch. I went out and bought several cheap comforters to use as beds, and washed them daily, sometimes multiple times. The good news is after all the meds were done, retest (with large bore needle) had her back into the normal range, and she was able to have her dental.

My boy is currently under treatment for an iliopsoas strain. He is on muscle relaxers, novox, and must be leash walked for at least a month to six weeks. He is also undergoing acupuncture. We are just starting week 3, and I've stopped the novox because he isn't indicating any pain, but vet says to keep up with the muscle relaxers until further notice.

Thank you! I will be switching over to this as soon as the bags I have are gone. No reason not to buy a couple of bags now!

Welcome from the right coast!

Welcome from Delaware! Blacks are my favorite---I've had 6 over the years. Sasha, Penny, and Julio (The Dog Whose Ass is Grass)send their greetings, too.

Welcome from Lower, Slower Delaware!

I am so sorry. Damn cancer!

Welcome from Delaware!

Welcome Gus and Lisa, from Sasha, Penny and Julio--The Dog Whose Ass Is Grass!

Both of my girls are on thyroxine and are doing fine. Several years ago, tho, we tried it for one of my bridge boys, and it didn't work at all---he had to go back on the soloxine. I have no explanation why it works for the girls, but didn't for Oliver.

My Sasha once ate a plastic bag from the trash, unbeknownst to me. I found out about it when she pooped it out, filled with poop. She swears she was just trying to make my poop-clean-up job more efficient.

I don't know about the cheese, but Herbox makes a powdered form of beef broth that is sodium free. It comes in a small jar to measure out, or in a box of one-cup individual serving envelopes. If it is not available in your area, I'd be happy to send you some.

Vittles Vault, and a non-adjustable steel baby gate screwed into the kitchen doorjamb with 2 1/2 inch screws. Julio, the-dog-whose-ass-is-grass, is still muttering under his breath because he has been foiled.

Haven Lake Animal Hospital in Milford. There are 5 vets in the practice, but my dogs only see Dr. Coon (the owner), Dr. Francis and Dr. Adkins. Rehoboth Animal Hospital, in Rehoboth. One of the local adopters and a foster mom is a vet tech there. Savannah Animal Hospital enjoys an excellent reputation, is a 24 hour practice, but I have heard many times that they are pricey. I don't know that personally because I'm perfectly happy with Haven Lake. BTW, I can make it to Barnes and Noble from Milford in an hour and 10, so your trip to Rehoboth should be less than an hour...

Where are you on the eastern shore? Within a drivable distance of southern Delaware? We have a grey-savvy vet here in Milford, and there are 2 grey savvy practices in Rehoboth.

Welcome from Delaware! I'm originally from northwest Bergen County, and I don't miss it one single bit!!!

I know peeps who get the green bag Iams there also.

My Julio uses a 16" feeder. He weighs 77 lbs.

I have only used a belly band once. It was homemade, and came with the dog. It was a cotton flannel band about 7" wide at its widest, and long enough to go around the boy's waist, with a velcro closure that met on his back. It narrowed as it got to the closure area, so by that time it was about 4-5 inches wide. The padded portion was in the widest part and was a square of more flannel about 3/4 of an inch thick. I used it once. The problem I had was when I needed to wash it, I couldn't figure out which load of laundry to put a pee-soaked item into. I decided to wash it by hand, soaked and wrung and soaked some more. Then put it outside to dry. After a whole day outdoors, and a complete cycle in the dryer, it was still damp. By this time I had spent the whole day watching Jack, letting him out frequently, telling him "No" as needed, and he never had an accident again. So, in my experience, get something that has a removable pad of some sort, and some sort of dampness barrier to prevent the pee from soaking through to the band itself.

Yeah, I've got one, too. Dear sweet Penny would eat her own, but all 3 enjoy any rabbit or cat poop in the yard. So, muzzles with poop guards for all. The poop guards come in one size. You put them on the outside of small muzzles, and inside the larger ones. I have always gotten mine at the GEM store at either big Dewey or Spring Dewey.

I did. Didn't occur to me that there might be issues---I just did it. No problems...

We're looking for Nutro grain free turkey and potato. I stopped by my local Concord Pet today for my own dogs' food and spoke with the manager. She said as far as she knows, Nutro is discontinuing their line of grain free. Also, they searched their store-wide inventory for me---thats how I found the bags in Rehoboth. There are probably a couple more bags floating around in smaller stores somewhere on Delmarva, but I refuse to drive more than an hour or so to get them! I think my daughter has bought a bag of every grain free food made, and my dogs have finished off each and every one, except this one. As much as my daughter wants to feed grain free, my granddog seems to have other ideas! I feed Nutro chicken and brown rice, and Lua loves it. Thank you for your advice, and we shall see what happens!

My daughter and I just did a 2 state search for Nutro grain free. I found 2 14# bags in Rehoboth Concord Pet store, and bought them both. (for $84!!!) When I asked if I could order more, I was told it was listed as OBS in the computer. That means obsolete, and therefore cannot be re-ordered. Our Petsmart doesn't have it anymore, nor does any stores near my daughter in Virginia. She has emailed Nutro, but hasn't heard back. This is unfortunate since it is the only food Lua will eat with any gusto. Our conclusion is that they are either re-vamping the product, re-doing the packaging, or, discontinuing the product altogether. (This dog lived in Europe the first year of her life, and ate a grain free food from England. This food can be bought here, but is hideously expensive. Since she has been in the States it has been a struggle to find something she likes that is grain free, and within my daughter's budget.) So, if the dates are ok, I suggest you buy it!

Try Long Dog Leather. Their leashes have a very secure closure.

Welcome from Sasha, Penny and Julio on the right coast!