JohnF

What an awful thing to happen to your beautiful Moonshine. It was probably a burst aneurysm or or an undetected fracture in a neck vertebra; none of which you could be blamed for in any way, nor do anything about. But what a wonderful time she had with you... it's quality, not quantity that always matters most. Let those healing tears of grieving flow freely now and one day, when you're ready, teach all that you learned from her to your next ex-racer; that way lies gratitude for sharing a life and certain hope of continuity.

So sorry to read how your Stewie's time came far too soon. Even if they make it to 13 it's still too soon. When the time is right, don't necessarily rule out another; my experience has been that they can help keep us stable when dealing with a family illness.

It is clear that your Ronee was very, very much loved. So sorry to read of your loss.

Yes, I know how horrible that sort of thing can be. Time and 'getting back in the saddle' is the only real healer. Just carry a stout walking stick with you, or maybe one like a staff. (Even a folding stick gives you more range to use as a prod). We're not allowed to carry sprays and real weapons in the UK.. Another thing to do is read up on dog's body language and 'calming' signals. You'll then get confidence from knowing that most dogs are not behaving in a delinquent manner. Report all attacks or places where a dog persistently makes you fear it. (That makes it 'a dog dangerously out of control in a public place' according to UK law. Even one on a lead that lunges and bites your dog falls into that category.)

I'm so sorry to read how that happened to your Sarge, and thank you for warning us how an accident like that can come from the simplest of oversights. Let's make all dog owners aware of the dangers in human foods. Run free and healthy at the bridge Sarge

Respect. You did the right thing at the right time and he helped you too by having that last better day so that you could say goodbye while he wasn't in too much pain. Better a day too soon..... always the right choice to let them run free of pain again.

Ensure.... that's a yogurt powder thing isn't it? She never would lick yogurt pots though, but ice cream she didn't mind. I guess the best thing to do is to cook food that I might eat myself if she wont eat a tiny piece of it. Omlette, scrambled eggs, chicken etc.

Well, we got thru the night without having to drive to the E-Vet, so that's a positive. I suppose the Tramadol zonked her out if nothing else. At six this morning she wanted to get up and go outside. She had a stretch and drank some fresh water for the first time, then came back in. I managed the pills which were 1 big Synuclav tablet which I had to break into 4 and feed in some peanut butter wrapped in very thin sliced beef (like pastrami but not so 'chemically'), and the tramadol tabs she took in some soft cheese. These things are her favourite foods and its good she still fancied them; goodness knows how I'd have got pills in on their own with one side of her mouth so sore. I've yet to get her to take her regular Zantac but I know myself how horrible that can be if not swallowed immediately. (Can't give NSAIDs because of the sensitive stomach issues from last year). There was some black tarry stool, which I reported to the vet as no-one can be sure how much blood was swallowed. Quite a lot of 'gurgling' going on last night too. It's all left me too much in the dark with a bunch of teeth being taken out at the same time. My local vet doesn't keep them in overnight now like they used to, as it's not constantly staffed, so it would have needed to be done much further away in the group's E-Vet hospital. With all of Peggy's previous treatments there has at least been a mouth that can be handled to get pills down or syringe water into. Her teeth were fine until she was 8-9 too.

Thanks, yes I did. They have almost wiped out poor Peggy with a lot of teeth taken out on one side! Apparently one of the top ones ended up causing a small hole into the nasal cavity. From a happy dog on a walk at 7am we now have a devastated one high on Tramadol that won't look at water nor even sniff at food. They gave her fluids until I picked her up at 5pm so at least she shouldn't dehydrate. The only positive sign is that the bloody drool has more or less stopped. I'm hoping she gets thru the night without a trip to the E-vet 20 miles away for a pain relief injection as there's no way I can see to get tablets into her. However, this is my first ever dog in more than 50 years of owning dogs with teeth, I mean bad teeth needing extractions, so I don't have the coping strategies.

Yes, although she's never had dental work, she usually won't eat anything either until the day after an anesthetic; which makes me wonder about getting the meds down? I've got in some eggs, some white fish, and some deboned chicken that I can boil up soft, and found some old towels to put round her bed too. The vet just phoned and said she's had several teeth out on one side but he thought she'd been under long enough and will work on the other side, which isn't so bad, in a month or two's time. They said they'd discharge her late afternoon, so I'll have her home to look after this evening. It's not my busy week so she can have plenty of attention.

Thanks for all the helpful advice. I took her in at 8 this morning and she's having the dental right now. I'm feeling guilt-tripped over it as usual; it's always scary with the oldies.

So sorry to read of your sad loss of Tessa. 13 years and the last two dealing with brain issues; I think you went that extra mile for Tessa and gave her a wonderful life. Run free with all the other Greyhound souls at the bridge Tessa, and if you spot a friendly golden brindle who comes up to play, that'll probably be 'Angel' who we sent there in 2009.

So sorry that it was Sherri's time to leave you all. No matter how long we have them it never seems enough.

Peggy, now 11, is scheduled for some dental work on Monday provided that her bloodwork first thing in the morning shows she can handle it. I expect there will be some extractions. So I'm wondering, after the anesthetic wears off, what is the right kind of food to give her to eat and for how long? Any advice greatly appreciated.

If you know someone else nearby with a dog, have them visit and introduce their dog and then try walking both dogs out together. Very soon your George will need to go out in order to check and 'top-up' the pee marking places. It just takes time. Do your best to prevent signs of stress entering your voices and particularly body movements which tend to become 'jerky'. If he's licking his lips and yawning and looking away (so-called Calming Signals - which you can look up). You could send the same signal back, meaning: "OK I get it, but don't worry..."

Accidents happen. They only fun that was lost was chasing around after the white tip. Put soft towels over things like radiators in the hallway. Keep the dressings clean and changes as often as recommended. Remember Manuka Honey (20+ or better) if infection sets it.

The stress of boarding probably did it. Your vet may want to give a suitable laxative.

Gum disease, bad tooth, gastric reflux. Mention it to your vet.

It's probably being made worse by the massive stress of being rehomed. In the meantime, until you can get to the vet, give him some Benadryl orally at 1mg/lb every 8 hrs. (So that's like 75mg per dose for a regular greyhound. Make sure it's just plain Benadryl)

I would not recommend adopting a Greyhound in your situation. The Prague Ratter, with it's squeaky noises and terrier-like disposition is likely - via its attempts at dominance - to spark prey-drive in a Greyhound. It may even teach the Greyhound that it is OK to be bad-mannered and this could mean that your Greyhound would be difficult to trust when visiting other people's homes. So, if you are persistent in getting a Greyhound I think it is essential that it is one that has already successfully lived with a little squeaky dog, and also cats which dart about quickly and do not trigger the dog's prey-drive.

The cyclical nature of it could be down to a parasite like Giardia so you'd need to get your vet onto that. As the others have said, feeding a little of his regular food before bed could help, but they can and do get nervous colitis You could as try giving just 1 (one) 75mg tablet of Ranitidine or Zantac early evening. Give it in a piece of meat as it doesn't taste nice. (Have a second piece of meat standing by which your dog can see or smell to ensure the first gets swallowed)

I think the obsessive sniffing is probably displacement activity to hide her not feeling well or being unhappy. Peggy will do that in weather which she thinks is too hot, or sometimes when she thinks it's getting too dark for a walk when it's finally got cool (another hot weather annoyance). Good luck at the vet's; they'll probably check for obvious pain-causing things like teeth or a stomach going into spasm etc.

I used a similar chewy one on Peggy the other day. As it started to kill the fleas about about 3-4 hours later she began to itch like crazy and I had to give a Piriton tablet. Soon calmed down though.

That can even happen to me after over-exercizing! It takes a while for the electrolytes to balance themselves back right. Glucose needs to get there too and dehyrdataton can be involved. What a sensible girl Stella is, not running thru it like a crazy athlete.