JJNg

Are you working with a vet who is experienced with the use of behavioral meds? Amitriptyline is not one that is used by veterinary behaviorists these days. It is not thought to have as much of an anti-anxiety effect as some of the more serotonin-specific meds like clomipramine (Clomicalm) or fluoxetine (Prozac).

Coming in a bit late to this thread, but it may help to look at the growling and snapping a bit differently. Those behaviors are not "aggression" or the dog trying to challenge or dominate you. They are the only way a dog has to communicate that she is uncomfortable with a situation. To build a bond of trust with our dogs, we need to respect what they are trying to tell us, rather than just expect them to do what we want without any consideration for their feelings. Here's an article I came across recently that is relevant to this thread: Why Growling is Good

Discoid lupus is usually just limited to the nose, and personally, I'd just start with the fish oil and vitamin E before doing anything else. Make sure you're using an appropriate dose of omega-3. In most cases, that alone is enough to keep it managed. IMO, no need to risk the side effects of long term steroids or antibiotics for a relatively mild condition. For the most part, doxy is pretty safe. The most common side effect is GI upset. But with long term use, I do worry about antibiotic resistance. Since you say you searched old threads, I imagine you probably already read this one: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/314671-rough-nose/ I posted photos of my boy Carter there. The only thing he gets different from my other dogs is extra fish oil and vitamin E. I've noticed he does get a little worse in the winter, although never to the point of discomfort since starting the supplements. It can take several weeks to see much of an effect.

What is their current body condition? What is your reason for switching from free feeding to meal feeding? Are you trying to get one or more of your dogs to gain or lose weight? I look at a dog's weight to tell if they are getting an appropriate amount of food. If they are maintaining a healthy weight, then they are getting enough. How much food a dog *wants* often isn't how much food the dog *needs* (probably applies to many of us humans too...). Don't worry about the bag guidelines for feeding amounts. Every dog's metabolism is different. I've had dogs that needed less than what's listed on the bag, and others that need more. Those are just general guidelines.

For a suspected hookworm larval leak case, I would use a pyrantel product every 2 weeks for 2-3 months. If you're using a heartworm preventative that contains pyrantel (Heartgard or equivalent), you could just deworm in the middle of the month between heartworm preventative doses. The Panacur protocol where you repeat in 3 weeks and 3 months is what is typically recommend for whipworms.

That neutrophil count isn't that unusual for a greyhound. Sounds like the vet has already confirmed that, but if needed, this is a good scientific article on the topic: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3816276/pdf/nihms496011.pdf

Because the treatment for GME is to suppress the immune system, she will have a harder time healing from wounds and be more likely to get infections. I'd recommend following up with your vet sooner rather than later on any wounds that aren't healing, especially if she is no longer on any oral antibiotics right now.

Unfortunately, the data on the 5-FU protocol hasn't been published. When I asked Dr. Couto about it, he said that the resident in charge of the project had left, and once the resident leaves, stuff usually doesn't get published. IMO, it's a shame as it seems to be an effective, and much less expensive option, for appropriately selected cases. Dr. Couto told me that he had data on a number of cases, and the results were as good, if not better, than radiation treatment. I trusted his experience, and my local oncologist was willing to try it with my whippet. He was the first case she did, and she's also used the protocol on a greyhound patient of mine since then. However, especially given the other 2 growths Surprise had that were tested, metronomic chemo sounds like the best way to go. The reason we had to use it on my foster was because after surgery, the skin around the scar was too tight for them to inject enough of the 5-FU chemo underneath. The last I heard, my foster hadn't had any bladder issues. Our oncologist told us that at the low doses used for metronomic chemo, the chances of that are extremely low. The bladder issues are seen more with traditional chemo that uses much higher doses of the Cytoxan. The oncologist I worked with also tried to further decrease the risk of the bladder problem happening by giving a dose of Lasix (furosemide), a 'water pill' that increases urine production with each dose of the chemo to flush out the bladder.

Did Dr. Couto mention the 5-FU local injections at all? I had a greyhound foster with a soft tissue sarcoma on his wrist where we were unable to get margins. We did a very similar metronomic protocol using Cytoxan and Rimadyl (instead of the piroxicam). Did they talk to you about the possible bladder side effects with Cytoxan? My foster got adopted, and last I heard, he was still doing well with that protocol with no regrowth.

How is Surprise doing? I saw that he's going to start on oral chemo? What protocol are they going with?

Just wanted to add that the typical course of Amicar is every 8 hours for 5 days (not times - I imagine that was a typo?). For greyhounds under 75 lbs the recommended dose is 500 mg instead of 1000 mg. Also, I believe Dr. Shelley Lake has recommended getting compounded aminocaproic acid from a mail order veterinary compounding pharmacy called Meds 4 Vets. http://www.medsforvets.com/ I asked Dr. Couto a while back if he'd had experience with compounded Amicar, but he said he hadn't, so I'd stuck with using the commercially available generic. With this recent shortage, this may be an option to look into.

What were the changes on the urinalysis that your vet used to diagnose the UTI? Since it was a free catch sample, inflammatory changes can come from the skin and vulva and may not necessarily indicate a UTI. You'd need a urinalysis on a sterile sample obtained via cystocentesis and/or a urine culture to confirm an infection. That said, it doesn't hurt to do a course of antibiotics, but I wouldn't be too worried about it.

I have a boy with presumed discoid lupus - not diagnosed on biopsy, but very consistent clinical signs. Photos of his nose below. I give him 4 regular strength 1000 mg fish oil daily (2 with each meal) and 400 I.U. vitamin E with each meal. Definitely saw improvement after starting the fish oil and vitamin E.

If you see 5-6 ribs and a distinct outline of the hipbones while he's standing, he needs to gain a few pounds. Are his stools normal now? Has he been checked for worms or dewormed? Also, don't be afraid to feed him more until his weight gets to where you want it, and then back down again. I'd try increasing him to 5 cups/day for a couple weeks and see if he looks less bony. Just remember not to overdo it and decrease the food again when get to where you only see 2-3 ribs and less of his hips.

The crate is a good tool for housetraining and preventing destructive behavior, but I'm not sure it really helps with true separation anxiety. Having 2 hounds will greatly decrease the chances of separation anxiety. Whether it's a good idea to adopt 2 at the same time somewhat depends on your level of experience with dogs. The stairs may be difficult depending how how big of a flight it is and what type of stairs. Some greyhounds do stairs naturally without needing much training at all. The group you adopt from should help you decide whether to adopt 1 or 2 initially, and also help find the right match for your home. If you're in North America, greyhounds here are used to being crated at the track, and it can be a secure, private space for them in a new environment. When I bring a new foster home, the first thing I do is take them out to potty and then put them in the crate to establish that as a baseline. All my dogs are fed all their meals in the crate, and new fosters are crated whenever I can't give them my full attention (when I'm in the bathroom, shower, preparing meals, etc). When I can supervise closely, they are loose with me and my dogs. I have 6 dogs of my own, and everyone is crated when I'm not home.

I find the oral flea products, like Comfortis and NexGard, work more reliably than any of the topicals. They also kill fleas faster and reduce the potential to bite, so dogs with flea allergies tend to do better on the oral products. However, none of the products will repel fleas, so environmental control, and making sure any other pets in the home are also on flea control are essential. If you're still seeing fleas despite trying all those products, that means you have an infestation in your home or surrounding property. Might be worth hiring a professional exterminator, and if there's an outside source of fleas (stray/feral cats, rabbits, squirrels, etc), you may need to treat the yard on a regular basis to keep things under control.

Heartworm preventative works by killing the immature heartworm larva picked up over the past month. So if you don't have heartworm in your area, all you should need to do if you wanted to be absolutely safe is to give her a dose or two of heartworm preventative after you return home. No need to start her on it before your trip.

I usually use one of the oral products and give it a few days prior to planned travel. If they're due for their HW preventative, I'll sometimes use Trifexis. If not, I'll give either Comfortis or NexGard. Even if ticks might be an issue where I'm going, I'm pretty comfortable using Trifexis/Comfortis because it seems to work pretty well against ticks in the first week or two after administration, even though it's not labeled for ticks. I've definitely found dead ticks on my guys within that time frame, and the studies show pretty good efficacy in those first couple weeks. It's just that the tick protection doesn't last all month, so the company couldn't put it on the label. Tick collars work by a similar mechanism as the topicals. The active ingredients in the collar diffuse out into the skin oils and take time to reach full efficacy. Depending on which brand, most collars have to be on for at least 48 hours before you get full protection.

I agree with tbhounds about consulting with an oncologist or Dr. Couto before proceeding with your vet's plan. Especially since he's not being forthcoming with detailed information, we have no idea what kind of chemo he is planning to inject, and there's no way anyone can address your question of what reactions to expect. Your vet should be the one giving you this information anyway. Administering chemo of any form is a serious and risky procedure, and I wouldn't be comfortable with a vet who isn't keeping you informed of exactly what the protocol and plan is. A hemangiopericytoma is a type of soft tissue sarcoma. Most of them behave similarly, so they are grouped together as soft tissue sarcomas.

I'm curious why your vet feels Sentinel is less effective? Interceptor, Sentinel, and Trifexis all contain the same heartworm preventative ingredient, and from what I've seen working in an area with a lot of heartworm disease, they are just as effective as the other options.

When we could no longer get Soloxine from our distributor, I did a little research, and it seems like some of the vet experts recommend Thyro-Tabs made by Lloyd as the next best option. That's what I've started carrying at the clinic, and so far the patients I've switched over seem to be doing well on it.

Glad to hear she's doing better. It sounds like you're definitely on the right track. A friend of mine is fostering a dog with a similar condition.

What medication is she on, and how is she doing?

If your vet feels that Sentinel is most likely what made Winnie sick, did they report it to the manufacturer? Sometimes the company will even help cover the cost of treatment. Not sure how Virbac handles issues like this since they just recently took over Sentinel from Novartis, but it wouldn't hurt to look into it. Any medication has the potential for side effects and individuals can have unusual reactions. Heartworm preventative in general is very safe and the vast majority of dogs don't have any problems. Sentinel isn't any more likely to cause problems than any of the other products available.

Ask your vet for a copy of the report. Or at least ask what grade the tumor was. If he didn't tell you the name of the drug he is planning to inject or possible side effects, you need to talk to him about this before consenting to treatment. It would have been best to send off all 3 growths for pathology. If he didn't save or send off the smaller ones, the most you can do at this point is to watch very closely to see if they start to come back. 5-FU is a type of chemo, and it's the only one I'm familiar with injecting into the tumor or under the scar. The full name is 5-fluorouracil, and it is mixed with sterile sesame oil so that it stays at the site and doesn't get absorbed into the bloodstream. Dr. Couto developed the protocol while he was at Ohio State. The injections are usually given once a week. With my whippet, we did 4 injections, but we had to delay the last one because he developed irritated skin over the site, and we had to wait until it was healed before doing that last injection. They usually have to be sedated for the injections because it can be painful, and the shots have to be very precise since it is chemo. With the 5-FU injections, I was told that there were no special concerns for the environment because it was such a small amount injected locally. Sorry, I don't know of any places on the Internet you can go for more info since Dr. Couto's protocol is not published anywhere, so most vets, even oncologists, don't know about it.