starhound

I thoroughly checked for torn webbing and hard spots, there's none... but it's just the outermost toe that seems to be hurting him a lot. Since it's the outermost I'm wondering if he got stepped on or knocked it.. but there's no swelling at all. Do broken toes typically have swelling? At least I managed to localize the pain to a toe... One of my bridge hounds was taken by Osteosarcoma (who has a very similar pedigree to Dewey) so I get paranoid about 'the big O' ...

Tonight my 6 year old boy began limping. I did the impulsive thing and pushed different areas for pain, fearing Osteo. The pain is coming from his outermost toes on his right front paw. I intend to take him to the vet if this limp keeps up over the weekend (otherwise, he seems ok) but he snapped at me when I pressed his toes, so I'm extremely worried it might be more severe. Anybody been through anything like this? I didn't see any thorns, webbing tears, etc. Protective and overworried mum, out.

I know what you guys mean with keeping food bowls, pawprints, etc preserved.. I lost Brandy during that huge snowstorm that hit the East coast this January.. A few days after we lost her I went outside in the snow to sit by myself, I noticed her pawprints were still in the snow. Her hairs are still in the back of our car.. Every time I see one I have to put it in my pocket so it won't get 'lost'.. I feel crazy sometimes You can always tell her hairs from Deweys' hairs since Dewey is black and Brandy was brindle

The weather here has dropped to 20 degrees.. Which is making me think of Brandy a lot. I lost her to a stroke at the beginning of the year, when the temperature was similar. The cold really brings back the feeling of loss for me. I was browsing through photos today when I found this one.. I hate pictures of myself (especially pictures where I'm asleep) but I thought you guys would understand the significance of it. My boyfriend took this picture about a week before we lost Brandy. Every morning after he got up, she would jump into his spot, to sleep next to me. Miss you, sweet brindle lady. Originally I intended to have some of her ashes put in a pendant, but I haven't been able to bring myself to do anything like that yet.. I can't even hold the box. I don't think I'll ever be able to. I still can't admit what happened. About a month ago we finally threw out a half-empty can of green beans that were meant to be her inbetween-meal snack the day she was put to sleep. (Over 6 months in the fridge.. gross, I know) She loved her green beans.

Yesterday my vet gave me Sulfasalazine 1000mg/day for Dewey. Hopefully that and the rest of the Flagyl will help. Dewey is still 100% himself

He is on Flagyl at the moment, which seemed to take the blood out of his poop and make it a more healthy colour...(At least that's a step forward..) will call my vet tomorrow though and mention the other dewormers you guys mentioned. Also great idea to bleach the areas he's pooped on before - Thank you all.

Would antibiotics have cleared that up though? He's still on his 7-day course of them... the blood seems to have stopped thanks to those but the loose stools still remain

Up until a few days ago I had no idea that dogs can catch Hookworms simply by walking over ground they're in.. When I take him out now, I move him to a different patch of grass each time (Luckily the yard is more of a field) If I'd known before I think that would have helped fight them The dewormer was Drontal, 45lbs+ I'm not sure when his next dose is due, I'll call my vet tomorrow and find out.. Thank you for the suggestions, I will see if I can find anything..

I really think injury, especially if it came up overnight, and it's on the side of the foot where it could have been knocked hard Sundays always get me too

When we adopted Dewey in March, he had a -lot- of Hookworms. Our vet has been treating him since then, and the Hookworms have been slowly diminishing in number, but they're still there. About 5-6 days ago Dewey began to get loose stools which had a few spots of red. I began to feed him rice with his kibble and the next day it was bloody diarrhea - About 60% blood and 40% stool. He went to the vet, who was unfortunately not our regular greyhound-savvy vet we love, but I felt it was necessary he get seen. Dewey got his next dose of dewormer and anti-biotics. We initially thought it might be a virus, as our 12-year old IG had an episode at the E-Vet for diarrhea that was mostly blood. (He recovered completely ) The next day we got on the phone to our regular vet who said the Hookworms were definately causing it, and to keep feeding him rice with his kibble and to give him a teaspoon of pepto with his meal for a few days. After he started the anti-biotics, the red stool went back to just having blood spots, and last night/this morning he's had stools with no blood in, but they're still very loose. At this point he's had diarrhea for about 5-6 days. It may have 'firmed up' very slightly from when this began but it's still too loose/watery. Should I be worried he's had diarrhea for that long? He's perfectly himself other than having the diarrhea.. if he were ever to become lethargic of course I would rush him to the E-vet, but he seems normal. He does not appear dehydrated or weak. He's still bouncing around and being Dewey-man.. still eager for his food and his toys. I tried to find some canned pumpkin to 'bulk' his stool out but the stores keep telling me it's the wrong season Does anybody else have any experience with Hookworms like this, or diarrhea for more than 6 days? I'm really worried

Massive amounts of good vibes being sent to your poor hound. Thinking of you all.

Thank you for all the wellwishes Spunki came home this morning.. and literally ran into the house. He certainly isn't feeling lethargic and just seems himself. His stools are still a little bloody, but definately better than the 75% bloody stools of last night. He's on antibiotics, and we took a short walk today with Dewey and Spunki just seemed completely fine. Hoping this is the end of whatever happened.. It was alarming because of the amount of blood and his age. Thank you all.

Hello all! This is Starhound's husband posting.. We had a rather frightening experience yesterday with our little 12-year-old iggy boy, "Spunki". (On Friday the 13th, no less) Last night, we arrived home to find that Spunki had left an alarming mess on the floor around his bed. It was not just diarrhea--the poor guy had so much blood in his stool that there was barely any "stool" to be seen. Needless to say we contacted our local animal ER and the vet there told us that he was dehydrated and suffering with some sort of gastrointestinal problem.. he is currently being treated overnight with antibiotics, mild painkillers, and IV fluids. I just called the ER a few minutes ago and I was told that he's doing well, but I'm still worried that something else could be wrong... there was just SO much blood for such a small dog. He seemed completely normal, otherwise. I guess that's one good sign, but I can't help but worry. Has anyone else experienced something like this? Could it be something serious?

By the way, I agree with the vet’s assessment – marking isn’t just for pee! Thank god humans aren't like that I'll look into some herbal calming remedies for our days out

Just in case anybody is still following this thread... Dewey was due a check-up at the vets for some random lameness a few days ago (X-ray determines no bone cancer, most likely just muscle injury.. thank god) .. 2 days later and some anti-inflammatories and he seems all better I mentioned the force-pooping to my vet and he said trying to poop everywhere is another form of marking behaviour, most probably mixed with excitement... he never gets diahrrea at home so it's bound to be behavioural instead of physical... Any suggestions on how to 'calm down' his poops?

I've just never seen a hound do it to this extent

I think because a (human) member of my family was diagnosed with IBS.. and the same thing happened whenever they got nervous or stressed. I understand dogs and humans are different though.. it only happens when Dewey's nervous/excited, though..

Dewey never has diarrhea at home - but the instant we're out, especially at events involving lots of dogs, he poops a lot.. literally, forcing it out until it's either liquid or nothing comes out. This only happens at 'social' places.. Eg, with a walk around the local pond, he is fine.. A greyhound event, or dog meetup, or a walk in the woods with lots of different scents.. and he'll strain himself to keep pooping. Today we went to Dogfest and I think it overwhelmed him. After forcing out 2 regular poops, 4 small amounts of diarrhea, he strained to poop until he squeaked and nothing was coming out. At that point, being 90 degrees out and him being a black dog, we decided it was best we sit in the car with him, with full air conditioning on. But since we got home, he seems so stiff and he's limping a bit. I could just be over-paranoid here.. he did have a really long walk in the sun today, but part of me worries he strained himself trying to poop. If he gets worse I'll get him to the vet ASAP.. he just looks achey and tired, and right now he's completely zoned out on the sofa, asleep.. but this "excitement, must poop myself to the point of diarrhea". does worry me. He has a vet checkup in a few days anyway, but I was curious as to whether or not any other greytalk users have a hound that does this.

Brandy left for the bridge almost two weeks ago but I'm only just able to post about her here. I've been so fragile. Brandy was a therapy greyhound. I've had greyhounds all my life, but she was my soul dog. I feel she shared my sense of humour and she was always so happy. To her, everybody was her friend. She would greet random people in the street as if they were long-lost friends she hadn't seen for years. Her death was too sudden. She went from fine to completely downhill in less than 24 hours. One morning we woke up and she was swaying slightly. It got worse so we took her to the E-vet, who said she was dehydrated and kept her overnight on an IV. The next day when I got her back, she didn't know where she was, or who I was, and she kept pawing at her eye and throwing herself around as if she was in unbearable pain. She was so confused. She was screaming in pain. We made a stretcher out of a comforter and took her to our usual vet, who said she'd suffered a massive, massive stroke and that giving her drugs would just prolong her confused state. The damage was perminent. She couldn't eat, drink, or even walk anymore. The vet said the kindest thing was to let her go. I hugged her and held onto her until her heart stopped beating. In late 2005 I heard about some greyhounds being kept in a shed. They apparently weren't fed much and kept biting eachother. I agreed to take one of them as I wanted another hound. (The other hounds in the shed got homes.) Brandy came into my house for the first time, and clung to my sofa. For about three days she was glued to it, sleeping and healing. She was covered in bite wounds, some of them were an inch or more wide. My vet couldn't stitch them up because her skin was too thin, but she healed up. As she settled in, her obsession with toys grew. She loved toys. She'd carry them everywhere, greet you with them, sleep with them.. she just loved them. I spoiled her with them, but she deserved it, because she'd been through so much neglect. Despite being spoiled by me, she was never bad.. just always so loving, adoring, happy. Not long after I got her, she suffered a uterus infection and had to be emergency spayed. Shortly after that, my other greyhound at the time, Crystal, attacked her at random. Her wounds were so bad - Brandy's neck had to be surgically closed in two places with stitches - that I decided it would be best to rehome Crystal as an only-dog. I had been trying to curb Crystal's dog aggression for a long time but Brandy had suffered because of it. Luckily my mother gave Crystal a home. Brandy became my only dog and she went everywhere with me. In 2008 I immigrated to the USA.. and no way was I going without my Brandy. I raised the $2000+ involved in having her brought over.. but when it was over, we were home together. Her ashes are home with me as of yesterday. The pain is unreal.. I miss her more than I can describe. I made a Flickr album for her here: With me in London.. and with me on vacation in West Virginia. I miss you Brandy. It was too soon for you to leave.

Ended up going to the meet and greet in Towson.. got to meet the lovely people with Greyhound pets of America and their hounds. I took some pictures and will post them up tonight sometime. I was happy being there and felt very comforted by the hounds.. but I didn't want to come home, because I knew the hound-less feeling would burn.. and it does... I guess this means I should put in an application.

Morning everyone. It's 7am and I'm aleady up because I can't sleep. I need some hounds today We're going to the Towson meet and greet first and then possibly to the Frederick one as it goes on a little longer. I really hope it makes me feel better. (Natrually, my GPS charger has chosen to break. Looks like we might have to do this the old fashioned Mapquest way..)

Thank you, I will let you know if I can make it I just checked my email and I have an invite to a greyhound meet in Towson tomomorrow too, so that's three to pick from, I want to go to all of them and visit every hound possible Thank you so much This really gives me confidence, and thank you for your phone number, I don't have a phone right now (thank god for Skype) but I am ever so grateful

Do you have an email address or MSN/AIM name I can contact you at? I was going to PM this but I don't have enough posts