Pippin

If GIJenn makes your siggies, she takes care of making sure they're the proper size And the mods do a good job of keeping up on those, too.

Oh, Clare.... I'm so very sorry. Run free, sweet Maggie

I teared up when I saw the thread title. I'm so sorry, Lynn. Gentle hugs to you. Run free, Joplin. Send your mama a rainbow.

Jonathan, I'm so sorry. But 33 months on a 6-month prognosis - WOW! Run free, sweet Sasha

We had a flea epidemic last August - my vet said she saw a ton of dogs in a 2-week period with fleas, and htey were all using Frontline. She recommends Advantix, becuase apparently the fleas around here are immune to Frontline.

Oh, Tracey.... I'm SO sorry. I was totally hoping to get a different diagnosis.

I will never forget the story of Robin walking into the dining room and finding Loca on top of the table. That ranks right up with Oscar's Hulk-man, and Dee's trash-stealing antics. Robin, I am so very sorry for your loss. There will never be another girl like Loca. Dee sends her condolences, as well. Loca, you can have a Reko reunion up at the bridge -- Sojourner was on the farm with you, and she's there. And you can hang out with the Burpdog and his buddies. Let Robin know you're ok, sweetie. And help her get a good night's sleep, sometime this week. She's overdue for one. Run with the angels, little girl. You'll be missed.

Like the Proud Racer you are...

Oh, Nancy.... how heart-breaking! I'm glad they're together again, but I wish they were still here with the rest of us. edited to add some memories. April 2003, when I'd first met the hunka hunka burning love.... Christmas 2006, when it was my privilege & pleasure to house-sit for them in Montgomery... Together again... I'll raise a glass tonight to Hunky/Jeanie/Profile/Frannie tonight, and to all the other bridge kids, too. And I'll be saying a prayer for Nancy/Simon and all who loved the Hunkster.

me, too I'll be sharing this one, for sure

Welcome home, Loca! Next time, take it easy a little when you're going crazy in someone's back yard - your mama doesn't need any more weeks like this one (nor do you)

It certainly doesn't sound good... I'm sorry Hang in there, Loca-girl -- stop scaring your mommy!

AdvantIX (mentioned above) DOES protect against ticks.

OK, I was doing mostly ok reading through here until I got to this one. Bebe, I'm glad you're happy, little girl! Your mama-trish loved you very very much. But Peatie needed her to keep him company. I remember you, Trish. I remember your laugh, your enthusiasm, your unending ideas & energy. As long as you're remembered, you're never really gone. That means you'll be around for a long, long time.

It's like losing my Angie all over again -- your boy looked so much like my heart-girl (must be those wigwam wag genes). I'm so sorry, Susan... Run free, sweet boy -- Angie will show you around. Don't forget to visit your humans - they miss you something fierce.

OMG, I'm just now seeing this. Oh, Nan - my heart aches for you. You've been on my mind all weekend - now I know why. I loved your little girl - she had such a presence, and was easily the most beautiful grey I've ever known. Reflected beauty: Christmas morning: Renaissance Jeany: And I'll never forget her scrunching herself into Zoe's bed when she spent some time here last Dec. I'll hug my hounds tighter tonight, and say a prayer for your loss. I'm glad you & Simon are together for this - I'd hate for you to have an ocean between you at such a time. **heads off to find tissues**

Best, ole buddy, you get well from whatever it is and stop scaring your mama! (and your friends) Let me know what you find out, Susan.

Just got back from Dr Filer - all is good. Effective immediately, she's off the Tramadol & Robaxin, and we're easing her back up to full activity. One of her hind legs was a little wobbly this morning, but I attribute that to her nervousness at being there, and her nervousness in the car during the trip there. 90% of the time, she has her normal bouncy walk.

Mais oui!

Update - 2/23 Can't believe it's been a month since I updated y'all. We have our ortho-vet re-eval Tues morning. I'm expecting him to give her a clean bill of health. she's walking fine, no yelps in 6 weeks. I'll let y'all know what the ortho vet says. I think she's fine, and expect him to think the same thing.

Casey displayed symptoms at 8.75 yrs. She'll be 9 in March. X-rays show a huge bone spur on her spine in the LS area, so apparently there was some type of damage/weakness to her back years ago, before we ever knew her (she moved into our group right before she turned 4). I never knew anything was wrong until she started very occasionally yelping when rising from bed. Then she went from once-in-a-blue-moon yelping to screaming in pain every time she stood up. We've done the bed-rest to give the inflammation from the pinched nerve time to subside, and we'll figure out what we do next based on what the ortho doc says in late Feb. I saw definite hind-end weakness early on during her bed-rest, but as she heals more, it's less & less apparent. She's back to her usual bouncy walk, and is full of energy/enthusiasm for life, just like she was before she started screaming in pain.

Casey was just recently diagnosed (early jan), and we're just on a med regime for now (tramadol/robaxin). It's made a huge difference for her. The bed-rest seems to have helped as well (she had a pinched nerve, and we've been letting the inflammation subside). She's almost not wobbly at all, now, and it's all I can do to keep her from running in the yard. We go back to the ortho vet for re-eval on 2/24. I will look into chiro/acupuncture for her in the future, but don't have the extra funds for it right now There will also be scheduling challenges to deal with. My vet has never done the depo injections, but she told me to ask the ortho vet about it, as well. I'm going to ask him when we see him later this month.

Jake, my buddy, STOP SCARING YOUR MAMA! Hope you feel better soon, handsome!

And here's your 1/21 Casey update. I call her ortho vet tomorrow (1/22) for our 2-week checkup. He said that could be done via phone. I emailed my vet today, for the first time in 10 days. How great is that? I had been doing daily emails, at first. She continues to do well. Her poop is usually firm, sometimes not so firm. I've been giving her chicken necks/backs to help with her teeth, and it helps her poop, too (let's hear it for secondary benefits). We're on the phase-out of prednisone (two more tabs between now & Sat), and I'd say that about 50% of the time, she has her regular bouncy walk. The other 50%, she has a wobbly rear-end (makes sense with LS). I heard some yelps yesterday morning before I was fully awake. I think it was her in her crate, but it might have been Pip in his sleep. But she's sleeping in an airline crate in the bedroom, and I think it's just not quite big enough for her. It's definitely smaller than the wire crate in the livingroom. So last night, I tried to leave her in the livingroom, but that got me a whine-fest. She wants to be with the rest of us, for sure! So she spent the night in the airline crate again, and there were no yelps this a.m., but still.... I was trying to figure out what to do, and then today I read the "senior greyhounds" thread in Soap Box. The answer was right there: x-pens! I can either set up an x-pen in the bedroom for her, or I can move her wire crate back to the bedroom, and x-pen her corner of the livingroom. (any suggestions for putting an x-pen on a hardwood floor, to protect the floor?) In the future, I'll explore chiropractic/acupuncture for her, as long as my finances will support it. But I'm thinking I'll wait until we've completed the six-week regimen the ortho vet gave me first, and see what we find out at her re-exam. She's a happy dog, and has not complained at all this entire time (well, other than whining when confined to a separate room). She takes her meds eagerly, as long as they're coated with peanut butter or hidden in a hot dog. I usually give her a taste of the peanut butter first, and save some for after all the meds, so she'll have non-med peanut butter as well as meds hidden in peanut butter. I always have to save out enough peanut butter to share with the other 2 dogs, of course.

Go, Grace! Adding to the up comments.... For the entire 12 months of 2008, I had totally healthy dogs. My only vet bills last year were routine exams and dentals. I think I actually had 14 months with no health issues - not too shabby! If it weren't for having them trim Zoe's nails every 6 weeks, I'd have barely seen my vet staff.