starhound

I lost Dewey tonight. My heart is shattered. He seemed to recover well from the allergic bronchitis but suddenly he deteriorated very badly. He was found to have a massively enlarged heart. Huge and spherical even by greyhound standards. His back legs started to go and deteriorate in just a manner of days and he was in unbearable pain. I'll post a thread for him in remembrance as soon as I can. Right now I am just beyond broken. I miss him so much.

Thank you all for the support, Dewey seems okay now after almost a month of steroid medications (always hesitant to say we're in the clear though) Yes The puppies are crazy

That's comforting Remolacha, thank you... Vet did conclude his heart is a bit big even for a greyhound, but might have always been that way. I'll have to call our old vet offices (We move a lot, military..) and see if he had any other X-rays this vet can compare it to... Vet concluded allergic bronchitis as his lungs look a bit inflamed. He prescribed some steroids to see if it gets better in a month. Very glad that congestive heart issues were ruled out. Says he's amazed at how good his spine and hips are for his age which is also a comfort since I saw some recent leg weakness.

Thank you guys, he is my soul dog. I adore him no end. My husband took him to the vet today, I was so anxious it was better I didn't go. (Anybody else have more vet anxiety than their dog? I need to work on that) No heart murmur and no fluid could be heard in lungs... Dewey also had x-rays over his entire body and no signs of any tumours or arthritis of any sort. His heart is on the 'high side' of normal (but greyhounds do have larger hearts than other breeds of dogs? I'm not sure if the vet knows that) Only thing is that the lungs looked a 'little odd' to the vet and that they have 'more opacity' than the vet is used to. The vet is doing some additional research. Said it could be nothing though. So at the moment I really have no idea what is causing the cough until the vet comes back with a diagnosis. He's running bloodwork right now... My boy was tired from standing for an hour in the vet room so the techs let him lay down in the car where they took blood from him there. Love good vet techs.

Thank you so much Greysmom, I think he will be okay until tomorrow but it's good to have other people's opinions to help with my own. I have anxiety disorders and can sometimes fail to see if an emergency is really an emergency. Gonna get in at the vet ASAP tomorrow morning. Kind of suspecting heart issues at this time with all I've been reading and how his cough seems to match videos I've seen - but I pray it's something as benign as a cold or kennel cough. Fingers crossed. My sweet old man (and my two younger maniac rescues in the background)

Thanks for the reply.. really, nothing new at all.. He is making minor cough sounds where he usually wouldn't before... I wish E-vet was even an option, there are none near me that are open on Sundays. His breathing is a little heavy / labored but he can still walk and eat okay. I have a video clip to show the vet. I just hope it can wait until tomorrow because I really don't have any other options here but to wait until tomorrow

Hello everybody, it's been a few years since I last checked in here. My sweet greyhound Dewey is now 12.5 years old. It feels like just yesterday I adopted him when he was three. Over the years he has had pretty great health. My only real concerns have been a few years ago when he seemed to have small seizures perhaps once a year. He always recovered great within a few hours. He also has very stiff legs and, over the last few years, a sensitive tummy that makes finding hip and joint supplements that his stomach can handle difficult to come by. Anyway, last night we had an odd episode that I'm still worried about, and of course it happens on a Sunday when the vet isn't open. He got up to go into the bedroom, but ended up standing for a moment in the hallway. He coughed a little and stared into space, a bit stumbly like the last time he had an 'episode' but the coughing was new. His legs went straight like they were cramping, too. Today he seems fine. He ate his breakfast and trotted around the garden, but he is still breathing a just a little bit heavy and coughing periodically. I fully intend to get him into the vet tomorrow morning but has anybody experienced anything like this? I worry very easily about any of my dogs and my husband is convinced that I'm over-reacting because of Dewey's good state this morning, but I really feel like especially the cough, is not a typical reverse sneeze type cough. I know that to be a symptom of heart troubles and failures so of course I'll get that checked tomorrow too. Any experiences like this? I'll let you guys know what the vet says. Thank you for reading

Thank you for replying. He just had full bloodwork done for a carnassial tooth extraction which all came back perfectly, so that's at least a comfort. Since his motor function is 100% and I know his levels are good I'm wondering if I should watch and wait before taking him to the vet again.

Google suggests it might be symptoms of Vestiblular syndrome. Does anybody have any experience?

I don't think it was a TIA. At least, I hope not.

Hi Greytalkers. I'm looking for some advice with something my greyhound has experienced. I tend to overworry about my old boy. My greyhound is 10 and a half. Last night he was sleeping peacefully and got up, still apparently asleep, walked to the living room staggering. For a few moments he stood and struggled to keep his balance, without actually falling but it was clear he was having some difficulty to remain upright. I turned on the light and he was alright less than 10 seconds after. His balance was 100% back and his coordination was all there. He had this same thing happen about 6 months ago, so it's not a frequent occurrence at this point. Still it's a bit alarming to watch. Has anybody had similar happen with their grey? I want to believe it's something as simple as night terrors springing him awake but of course I worry about epilepsy or something worse causing the brief stagger. Thanks for reading.

We have been moved 2 weeks now. I noticed the weight loss about a week ago. and I really hope so!

Many thanks

I tried that and he still stress-pooped on the floor. This house is a rental so it's just not do-able

Spunki still lives with my ex husband so he's not in the picture now.. But the more exercise thing is also a possibility because when Dewey lived with my ex husband he would sleep all day til I got home (ex husband works night shifts) and my room mate is a dog trainer so he's always alert for her (and treats) so I guess his sleep schedule also changed. I have to crate him while at work because he just can't have full reign of this house.. it was a rule that was put in place before we moved here. He does trash/counter surf and get on furniture/beds that aren't mine. If I had it my way, it wouldn't be the case. He does seem to be stressed... he is whining a lot. I wish I could explain to him what happened. I think he is wondering when we are going back. All the hugs in the world can't explain to him that we're staying here now

Has anybody else ever experienced their hound losing weight after moving house? Divorce forced my living situation to change, Dewey moved with me into a new house with a few coworkers and their dog. (Whom he gets along with perfectly) He has lost weight - not dangerously so, but I'm seeing more ribs than I'd like. He is still active and happy/hyper with a full appetite. He also has to be crated when alone in the house now which he hates... It's a big change for him. He used to have the full run of our old house. He is alone for about 5 hours while I'm at work on certain days and he's not used to it and messes in his crate too. I can take him to work with me some days but it's not always possible. Is it usual for a hound to have weight loss from a schedule change/move, even though he's eating the same amount and same food? I have been treating him with more calorie-dense things to try and bring his weight back up but thus far nothing has helped.

Beautiful pups, welcome from Mechanicsburg, PA!

Just took his bandages off, took me an hour so I didn't hurt him more, looked like texas chainsaw massacre No longer bleeding but 4 of his claws are just totally gone, no quick, nothing.

Thank you for all the messages, while SLO sucks its good to know we're not alone. Sad to see SLO is not as easy to treat as I initially read.. We just got back from the vet. He diagnosed SLO within seconds and they numbed Dewey's paws to remove the claws that were hanging off and trimmed back all the others that were hollowed. He's now all bandaged up and home with prednisone, iron supplements and antibiotics but I feel so bad for the boy. It came on within a few days and got so bad in such a short space of time. Here's hoping the meds show some improvement sometime soon.. Vet was so nice, he'd seen multiple greyhounds with SLO and was no stranger to it (We moved to a new area recently, had to find a greyhound friendly vet

Thank you, I'm going to take that webpage with me on my iPad, we are seeing a very greyhound friendly vet which is comforting, so hopefully he has treated SLO before. It's a comfort to know your Venus is better now We managed to get an appointment for today instead of monday, so we can get this treatment started.

Just googled and it does indeed look like SLO Hopefully it can be resolved quickly with meds according to what I'm reading..

The situation got a little worse I kept the 'nail' clean and covered which seemed to help that nail, but now almost all of his nails are in bad shape.. I'm not sure if it's the weather or allergies, or both.. He is licking his feet a lot and the bases of most of his nails are scabby and another nail is half-falling off. My vet couldn't fit me in until Monday so until then I'm just spraying his toes with vetricin and gently rubbing vaseline on his claws. Has anybody else experienced this? I've had Dewey for 2 summers now and this is the first he's had these symptoms..

Today Dewey broke off one of his toenails. (On a weekend of course).. It looks like there's a pinkish piece of hard toenail left surrounding the quick, though a little does seem to be exposed on the top Is this worthy of an evet visit? It's not bleeding and it doesn't seem to be bothering him but I don't want him to be in pain.. it's gotta hurt. Anything I can do in the meantime? I've been flushing it with salt water and spraying it with Vetericyn

Hmm.. today less limping but some very slight swelling around the toe. Still some sensitivity when I put pressure on it, but no snapping at me like last night. Potential vet trip, or something that can ride out with time? When I got home from work he bounded around and did the happydance... so I'm guessing a broken toe would hinder such movement..