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I'd try explaining to your vet that Diana won't eat the prescription food and that you've done your research on a home-cooked diet that meets a lot of the same nutritional criteria (low phosphorus, lower, high quality protein, etc). A good vet should respect and work with you, or at least offer you some options to consider. I can't imagine that he would insist that you keep feeding a food she won't eat. If you just don't feel like your vet is willing to work with you, maybe it's time to consider finding a vet you're more comfortable with. As long as my kidney patients are stable and doing well clinically, I usually recommend bloodwork every 3-4 months.

With chronic kidney disease, the creatinine may not (and often doesn't) drop. I'm usually happy if it stays stable. Chronic renal disease is progressive and irreversible, so those values will gradually and eventually increase with time and age. If she's feeling good, eating well, and maintaining her weight, those are all good signs.

Since your adoption group called your boy a true spook, I hope they also prepared you for the long road and patience he'll require. Everything you describe is pretty par for the course with a spook. He's not being stubborn. For many spooks, freezing and becoming immobile is how they deal with their fear. Some will also try to bolt when they are panicked. All dogs, but especially shy, timid dogs, are very sensitive to our body language. Approaching him directly, face-on, and with eye contact are all very intimidating for an insecure dog. If you need to walk toward him, try to approach in a curve or from the side inside of walking directly toward him. Turn your side or back to him when trying to offer food out of your hand. Squat or sit next to him instead of leaning over him. If he'll take food when you set it down, stay nearby (sitting with your side or back to the treat) and see if he'll approach to take it with you right there. If he will, leave your hand, palm up, near the food. Then leave the food in the palm of your hand, with your hand on the floor, stretched out behind or beside you. Using a leash will be less scary than trying to walk him by his collar. Clip the leash on, turn your back to him, and just start walking. If he doesn't follow, try applying gentle, steady tension to the leash, but don't turn to face him. Keep your back to him and face the way you want to go. If that doesn't work, you may need to use the harness and 'suitcase' method, but trips outside to potty 3-4 times a day should not be optional. If your yard is fenced, and he'll go out and come back in the house without using a leash, that would be better. Most of the greyhounds I've fostered have been spooky or shy because those are the ones I request and enjoy working with. In the beginning, I interact with them as little as possible, and just give them time to get used to my household and routine. The only things that I work on during those first few weeks are going in and out to potty and crating at mealtime. It takes time, but most spooks will settle in and act like normal dogs when in their familiar environment. Dealing with outings and change will be challenges to tackle later.

There are pros and cons to both the 'old' extracapsular repair and the newer techniques like TPLO and TTA. There's a good chance the other knee will go too, regardless of which surgery she has. Doing the newer surgery doesn't increase the risk of her blowing out the other knee. The reason both knees tend to eventually be effected is related to their anatomy and conformation. With a larger dog, especially one who is overweight, TLPO or TTA is probably the better way to go. If you try the less expensive extracapsular repair, and the suture doesn't hold, then you end up having to do the more expensive surgery anyway. Of course, there are also successful results with the extracapsular repair, so it's a bit of a gamble.

"Treat the patient, not the lab work." If you're feeding a home-cooked diet that is low in phosphorus, and has lower, high quality protein, the prescription food isn't going to be any better. And there's no need to do the SQ fluids if her appetite is good and she feels good. It's still a good idea to do the bloodwork to assess the progression of the kidney disease, and include electrolytes to see if you need to supplement with anything. Mary Jane, the OP posted Diana's kidney values in this thread. Unfortunately, the values are high enough to indicate true kidney disease, not just greyhound normal: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/313121-kidney-disease-food-suggestions-help-quick/

It is sometimes possible to do this through a process called pre-adoption. You can contact the dog's racing owner/kennel and/or the trainer and make arrangements for when the dog is ready to retire. However, there's a lot to consider when attempting to go this route. It is best done with the assistance of an adoption group so that you'll have a support network if things don't work out. Sometimes there is a miscommunication at the track, and the dog gets sent to another adoption group, especially if you don't keep in close contact with the owner. You'd need to be flexible on timing. The dog may be injured and be ready to retire the day after you talk to the owner. Or you may need to wait years if the dog is kept for stud or brood duties. There's also the concern whether the dog will be a good match for your household. If you have cats, or small dogs, or children, you won't know if the dog will be tolerant of them. So pre-adoption is best suited for those who are very flexible, have a lot of dog experience, and can handle whatever comes their way. There's a thread on here for people who have pre-adopted and are waiting for their pups to retire: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/300353-watching-and-waiting-on-a-racin-doggie/ You can use any photo hosting service. I mostly use Photobucket, but I've used the direct link to photos I've posted on Facebook too (like the ones of Barry above). Are you using the Image button at the top of the reply box?

Regardless of whether he was awake or asleep, a single snap/bite like this is not an attack, but a reactive response to something that startled or scared him. Dogs feel the most vulnerable when they are lying down. Even if he was awake, he might not have been paying attention, and the sitter 'suddenly' appearing near him, perhaps partly leaning over or toward him as she went to pick up a toy, just startled him. Like someone coming up next to or behind you unexpectedly, and you jump and reflexively swing out an arm in defense, perhaps accidentally hitting your friend who was trying to play a joke on you. Obviously, there is risk of something like this happening again, especially without knowing the full circumstances of this particular incident. And as others have said, if you or your husband are just not comfortable having him in the home anymore, it would be best to return him to the group. Working with a dog who has a bite history takes commitment and understanding, and often long term management. He may always be a dog you need to approach cautiously when he's lying down. It doesn't matter if he's on a dog bed or not - if he's lying down, he's resting and needs his space.

Glad to hear Murphy is eating well now! How are you trying to post your Photobucket photos? Are you clicking on the Image icon and pasting in the direct link? Greyhound-Data.com is a great source of information on racing greyhounds. You can find her pedigree, race data, offspring, and littermates. Here's Murphy's page. If it asks you to sign up for an account, it's a free registration. http://greyhound-data.com/d?i=1691192 When you open her page on Greyhound-Data, there's a link near the top to see her offspring. From there, you can click on each pup's name to get to their page. A couple of them have nice photos taken by a friend of mine who helps at the adoption kennel at the Orange Park track in Jacksonville, FL. If you scroll down on Murphy's page, you can see a list of Murphy's littermates, as well as other pups her mom had from other litters. Most of Barry's littermates are still racing. I got Barry as a foster back in December because he was extremely shy. The trainer worked with him for months, and even tried Bach flower remedies, before giving up and sending him to adoption. None of his littermates are shy, and they're all doing well at the track. Here's her handsome son Barry:

Any updates? Hopefully Lizzie is doing better. Breathing difficulties are always very worrisome.

Lots of good responses already. Definitely agree with holding back on the add-ins. Especially since you've only had her a few days, some dogs need a little time to adjust before they start eating consistently, and mixing in extras will just teach her to be picky. And some just aren't very motivated by their regular food and just eat as much as they need. Do you know what her background is? I saw in another thread that Murphy is GS Millie. Looks like her last race was 3 years ago, and she was a brood who had at least 1 litter. (As an aside, I fostered one of her pups, GS Barry!) Since its been so long since she raced, her racing weight is less relevant. The more important thing is how does she look? Can you post some standing photos of her? When they are no longer racing, they tend to lose muscle mass and can be healthy under their race weight. My boy Wiki has been 6-7 lbs under his racing weight for most of his retirement and looks good. I also agree that 5-7 cups is a huge amount of food, especially for a small female. Murphy finished her racing career at 56 lbs. For a smaller girl who needs to gain a little weight, I usually start at 4-5 cups daily. But that's usually a newly retired racer whose metabolism is still in 'race mode', just spayed, and adjusting to the transition from track to home. All of those factors increase caloric needs. I did have an intact male I fostered who was fresh off the track, recovering from a broken leg, battling diarrhea, and a few pounds under his race weight who I had to feed 7-8 cups for the first few weeks to get his weight up. Every dog is different.

Considering she was just diagnosed, hospitalized, and started on meds a few days ago, the tiredness/weakness could be a combination of stress and the meds not having fully kicked in yet. Her poor appetite might be from the meds, but probably more likely from the congestive heart failure itself. If you're able to get her to eat fairly consistently, that's good. Your best clinical gauges of how she's doing with the heart disease and responding to the meds will probably be the frequency of coughing, her respiratory rate, as well as how easily she is able to breathe. Have you asked the vets why they have given her such a short time and poor prognosis? Especially if they feel her heart disease is very advanced, there's nothing to lose by adding the Vetmedin.

I'm not sure where you heard that Palladia has side effects 'pretty often', but from what I've seen from personal experience and talking to our local oncologist, while the risk of side effects is real and potentially serious, the frequency of problems is pretty low, especially when compared with traditional chemo. Palladia is one of a class of drugs considered targeted therapy because it targets certain receptors of cancer cells more specifically than chemo. Traditional chemo tends to affect all rapidly dividing cells, which is what results in most of the negative effects it is known for. Also, if a dog does develop side effects from Palladia, the majority clear up quickly once the medication is stopped. I had a dog who was on Palladia for almost 3 years with absolutely no problems. I've also had a couple patients who were on Palladia for mast cell tumors, which is the FDA-approved use, and neither had any issues with it. I don't have any experience with using Palladia to treat lung mets from osteosarcoma.

I second the recommendation to see a cardiologist, if there's one within a reasonable distance. Consulting with a specialist and getting an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) will provide you with information that would help you manage her heart disease as effectively as possible, as well as get a more accurate prognosis. Giving her only a week or two is pretty pessimistic. I know of a lot of dogs who did well for months to even a year or two after a diagnosis of congestive heart failure. It's pretty typical to start a dog with heart disease on a diuretic like Lasix (furosemide), as well as an ACE inhibitor like enalapril or benazepril. I'm assuming those are probably the 2 meds she's on? If the heart disease is not adequately managed with those, you can sometimes get more improvement by adding another medication called Vetmedin (pimobendan). Best wishes for your girl.

Any updates? I wouldn't treat for kidney disease without more information. Any protein in the urine? Did you recheck the specific gravity on a first morning sample? How old Ernie? Lots of things can cause increased drinking and urination, as mentioned above. Has his appetite changed? Have you changed anything with the type of food or how he's fed? The weight loss would make me more concerned that there might be a more serious underlying problem.

This implies that the quality of medicine provided for patients under the care of adoption groups is not as much of a priority as that provided for owned pets. Maybe this is true in a shelter situation, but it is absolutely not true for any of the vet clinics I've worked at. Dogs that are fosters of an adoption group and individually owned pets receive the same recommendations and the same level of care. "Failed procedures" are unacceptable for both the vet and the adoption group. Again, I have never heard of a case where combining a spay and a dental cleaning resulting in complications due to infection, which is the rationale given for why it's not ideal to do both at the same time. Additionally, I don't personally know of any vets who would recommend 2 separate procedures, with the increased anesthetic risk, simply so that they can charge twice. The majority of vets I know and have worked with prefer to combine minor procedures to minimize the number of anesthetic episodes needed.

At the clinics I've worked at, it's been pretty standard to combine procedures as long as they are routine or fairly minor. Our adoption group has placed over 1300 greyhounds, and all dogs have a dental cleaning done at the same time as their spay/neuter when they first arrive. I understand the rationale for not wanting to combine, and that seems to be an increasing trend, but I've never seen or heard of a case where the dog developed an infection thought to be a result of combining a sterile surgery with a dental cleaning. I'd prefer to not double the anesthetic risk by putting the dog under twice. Combining procedures also keeps costs down for the client, which is essential for a rescue or adoption group.

I'm glad Barkley is doing better, and it's hard to argue with success, but I agree with greysmom. Much of what tends to be attributed to 'dominance' or 'alpha' is simply a matter of providing a consistent routine and firm guidelines. You really don't have to think about it in terms of him trying to control you, or you controlling him. That perspective can sometimes result in a negative attitude toward the dog, which doesn't help anyone.

Not if it's all given at the same time. It's a chewable, so it can be chewed up or broken apart and doesn't have to be swallowed whole. There has been some discussion in the past about "splitting the dose" as in giving 1/2 one day, and 1/2 the next, and that would probably compromise efficacy.

A small percentage of dogs just don't seem to tolerate it well. If it's a consistent response, then I recommend switching to a different product. I wouldn't suggest splitting the dose. We use a lot of Trifexis at a clinic, and I've only had a handful of clients report this type of consistent problem. We've never had a issue contacting Elanco, and I've found the company to be very responsive and quick to address problems.

Just seeing this. I'd be wondering what the "4 different tests" were that made her conclude that Jeff is hypothyroid. TSH is probably the most important value to look at, especially in a greyhound. About 20% of dogs can be hypothyroid even with a normal TSH, so if the clinical signs are consistent and both T4 and free T4 are very low, I'd consider treating even if the TSH wasn't high. Otherwise, I'm always suspicious of a hypothyroid diagnosis in a greyhound without a full panel. The scientific studies that have looked at this would seem to indicate that low thyroid is normal for greyhounds. If greyhounds were prone to hypothyroidism, I'd expect a lot more to show the typical clinical signs, and also show a more dramatic response when started on thyroid supplement. I've taken more greyhounds off thyroid hormone than started on it, and the owners of most of the ones I've taken off medication reported little to no clinical change when the dog started on meds, or when the meds were stopped.

If you're sure all his basic needs have been met (not hungry, has a comfortable place to sleep, has been out and both pooped and peed), then this sounds like learned attention-seeking behavior. By responding to him when he barks - sitting with him, giving him food, taking him for a walk - you've essentially taught him that this is how he gets attention when he wants it. Since you mention that he used to sleep through the night, do you remember how and when this behavior initially started? Honestly, the best thing to do is to ignore the behavior, although it may mean a few sleepless nights, unless earplugs work. How close are your neighbors? Can you be proactive, and go talk to them about this? If you let them know that you're working on it, they may be more tolerant of a week or two of barking. I'm not a fan of the no bark collars, but the ones that use compressed air or citronella are definitely better than ones that utilize electric shock.

So sorry to hear about Sallie's diagnosis. Considering that OSA will continue to weaken the bone, I would have to say that re-break is possible. The hardware used to repair fractures is not meant for long term support, just temporary while the bone heals, which will likely not happen in this case. The actual risk of re-break probably depends on exactly where the fracture is and how they surgically stabilized it, also whether it's in a location that's amenable to also using an external splint for additional support. Also keep in mind that even stabilized, the bone cancer is still painful, and amputation would remove the source of that pain. Obviously chest x-rays need to be done before amputation is even considered, and your oncologist should be able to provide more guidance too. Sending good thoughts. As always, there's no right or wrong, and there's no easy answer.

Sentinel doesn't really treat fleas either. It just prevents flea eggs from hatching, so it will help prevent an infestation in your house. But it doesn't do anything for the adult fleas your dog might pick up. Greyhounds aren't any more sensitive to Trifexis than any other dog. A small percentage of individual dogs of any breed can get an upset stomach on Trifexis, but most tolerate it well as long as it's given with a full meal. I've used Trifexis for all my fosters, and for a while, almost every greyhound coming into our group got a dose of Trifexis with their initial vetting. I think the main group vet has switched to Heartgard and NexGard for better tick control now. I don't think feeding Heartgard with or without food will help with the diarrhea issue. That's usually caused by a sensitivity to one of the inactive ingredients in the chew, like the beef. It typically doesn't need to be given with food. I'm not typically a fan of the topical heartworm preventatives, as I think absorption is more reliable with oral administration, but it may be the best way to go with a suspected food allergy. Advantage Multi provides better intestinal parasite protection, while Revolution has some efficacy against ticks.

I'm way late to this thread, but just wanted to comment on this. I may be wrong, but I'm not aware of any rabies vaccine labels (or any canine vaccine labels for that matter) that specified the location where it should be administered. The recommendations for giving different vaccinations in specific sites (such as rabies in the right hip, DHPP in the left hip, etc) is something that is taught in vet school and suggested by various veterinary organizations as a way to make it possible to tell which vaccine caused a local reaction like what the OP experienced. It has nothing to do with being able to amputate the leg (which wouldn't work with vaccines given in the hip area anyway). As tbhounds mentioned, injection site sarcomas are mostly an issue with cats and are extremely rare in dogs. Recommendations for cat vaccines have included suggestions to inject lower down in the leg (below the stifle/knee), and even in the tail, so that amputation would be possible if an aggressive tumor developed. This is a different issue from the certain vaccines in certain locations concept.

I agree that a sudden behavior change in an older dog warrants a full medical workup, as there is likely an underlying cause. Please keep us posted. I've never heard of magnesium deficiency being a primary cause of behavior problems in dogs. And I'm also not aware that it's common, or that it is caused by stress. Just because I'm not familiar with it doesn't mean it isn't true, though, and I tried to do some research and can't find anything that refers to this. Hawthorn, can you provide some references? Even if not specific to greyhounds, is there anything relating to dogs? Magnesium deficiency is caused by inadequate intake (unlikely in any dog eating a commercial kibble), or inappropriate absorption or loss, but those usually only happen with other significant underlying diseases. And from what I can find, it is suspected that a lot of people don't consume adequate amounts of magnesium, but commercial dog foods have minimum requirements for magnesium content, so I'd be concerned that giving it to a dog eating kibble would risk over-supplementing.