TwiggysMom

Hi, this is Wendy in Chicago, also known as Twiggy's Mom. I'm so sorry you are going through this. Difficult enough in normal times, let alone now! I'm sure you already have found Greyhounds Only and GPA-Wisconsin, but they are additional groups to AG & MWG that I have worked with in the area. GPA-W doesn't work much in downtown & southwest, but I adopted from them (I'm downtown Chicago), and I know they used to have some adopters in the north and western suburbs. GO works most of the greater Chicagoland area. I've been out of the greyhound scene for several years now, so I am not sure whether any of this has changed. As for what to do now - while none of these are easy choices, I think the opinions of your vet and the adoption group both have validity. As a foster home who took in several rehomed and many newly retired racers, I can tell you that they do adjust to new surroundings very quickly. If you were to rehome Magic, you should not feel bad about letting her go to a home that is better suited to her current needs, especially since her medical condition is unlikely to improve. Of course, it would be ideal if you could still arrange to see her. On the other hand, the last 5 or 6 months of her life, my Twiggy had a tough time getting outside, even though there were only two steps up and down to get out. She was also dealing with increasing incontinence, and accidents happened multiple times/day. I used the washable hospital incontinence pads which worked wonders. I had the entire downstairs & all of her beds covered in them!! (Also did a lot of laundry - my poor washer/dryer!) If the pee pads wouldn't work for you on that scale, you could try what I did for fosters which was to set up a large x-pen lined with the same pee pads, and crate bowls for water/food dishes so they wouldn't spill or get contaminated. This might give you time to acclimate her to a harness. I know some people have had success with having their hounds essentially live in them for a while to get used to the feeling. My very best wishes to you and Magic!

Hi Ducky! Thank you for that link! I think this is also a link that works:

I haven't posted in some years now, but Twiggy was a good precursor for your girl. Twiggy had osteo at 6 years old. She had a front leg amp (left), and her share of issues after including a massive stroke 3 or 4 years later. Twiggy loved her walks and she was a high energy girl. She ran me ragged around the neighborhood for hours nearly every night for years after her amp, even when she was on chemo. She was also clocked on radar running 37 mph just weeks after her amp, and again just before her 11th birthday. Gauge your girl's energy and limitations, have a plan if you get too far & she can't make it home (we never needed it even with 3-hour walks). I did everything I could to let her have the life she wanted after osteo, and she wanted a LOT!! Her adventures were legendary and marvelous. Twiggy never wanted help, refused to use a harness/sling, etc. A lot of dogs aren't this determined to live to that extent, but if they are, it's amazing to see it unfold. The point to my story, is let her live the life she wants. She doesn't know these new limits set on her life, she only knows what she wants right now. She will need some limits, but she may be capable of more that you think. Twiggy made it just shy of 6 years post-amp for osteo, and the cancer never came back. The wear and tear on her tripod body eventually took its toll. I would like to believe she preferred living to the fullest versus living a quiet boring life for a little time longer, but I could be wrong. https://forum.greytalk.com/forum/13-cute-and-funny-things-greyhounds-do/ I am not sure if this link will work, but it is on of my favorite posts of Twiggy's post-amp adventures. Sorry, link did not work. Post was on July 20, 2013 and title was How To Spend A Day At The Beach

I don't comment much anymore, but I wanted to mention that while many dogs tolerate piroxicam well, that doesn't mean anything to a dog who has gone through intensive iv chemo. Twiggy was in the same boat, & she was getting the full metronomic protocol per Dr. Couto at the time, including Metacam (the liquid version of meloxicam which can easily be dosed exactly based on a dog's weight, making it even easier on the stomach). Even after dropping the 2 oral chemo meds, she developed an ulcer from Metacam and could no longer tolerate any NSAIDS. The chemo left her very sensitive to many medications. She could tolerate gabapentin, tramadol, amantadine, and any supplements I gave her just fine (including artemisinin). I know your oncos have disregarded artemisinin, & Twiggy's didn't know much about it at first, but said if Dr. C recommended it he was fine with it. Now, he recommends it to most of his patients. He went from the can't hurt, might help camp to strongly recommending it. Each time we had to stop one of the medicines that were supposed to prevent osteo from returning, like you, I was worried sick, but I was fulfilling my promise to Twiggy that I wouldn't give her anything that would keep her chronically sick in the hopes it would prolong her life. In the end, that paid off, the cancer never came back & she was happy & healthy. Bowie may be in a very similar situation to Twiggy's, and if the pirixocam is making her sick, I'd suggest switching to something easier on the tummy like Metacam, but would also recommend just stopping the nsaids altogether if they are going to make her uncomfortable. One other point about the Prilosec - it doesn't start working immediately, so you may need to continue her Pepcid in combination with the Prilosec for a day or two.

Sounds like the Vac-Therapy bandage Twiggy had to cure her pseudomonas-A infection (which was not readily treatable via anti-biotics - it was extremely drug-resistant) after her osteo amp. She had to stay in the hospital for a week, because it was too heavy for her to wear while still recovering from her amp. I believe it saved her life that week, & in the long-term may have been partly responsible for her actual cure of osteo.

Thank you all. She really was something. A force of nature, I always said. Her boundless enthusiasm and determination brought me and many others joy. I wish I could properly do her memory justice. Just a few photos here, Not enough to really tell her story, but I hope her spirit can shine through

I am so very sorry about UPS. I remember her and FedX both very fondly. I know this is an incredibly difficult day for you.

I am so very happy to hear this!

3 1/2 is very young for osteo in a dog. But I know all too well how difficult it is to hear about evidence of a bone lesion on xray. I too, hope that it could be a tbd (perhaps one that wasn't tested for?) or valley fever. Dr. Couto would be an excellent choice for interpretation. If it does turn out to be the worst we all fear, the distal radius has a more favorable prognosis than most other locations, according to what Dr Couto told me when he saw Twiggy for her osteo many years ago (5 y 7 m, & still going, though feebly these days). I hope it turns out to be something more easily treatable than osteo, but some dogs do have a significant amount of excellent quality of life despite that evil bastard osteo.

You mentioned that Dorie is on Metacam. I know Metacam is supposed to be pretty well-tolerated, and can be dosed very accurately for your dog, But my girl was on it as part of a metronomic chemo protocol, and it caused her significant problems. Possibly her system was already fragile due to the iv chemo she had completed, and the Palladia that she was also taking at the same time, but either way, she could not tolerate it. After being on Metacam for a few months, she suddenly had a turn just like your Dorie did. She went from loving her 2-3 hour long daily walks, eating ravenously, playing with her toys constantly, and being a high-energy greyhound to practically overnight not eating, not playing, refusing food and walks. It turned out the Metacam caused an ulcer & made her feel awful. I stopped the Metacam, continued with the antacids, & she was back to herself within a week or so. It was an amazing turnaround. Maybe your vet would consider prescribing Tramadol instead of Metacam for her pain issues? Tramadol is a powerful pain reliever, but not an NSAID, so usually well tolerated. I really hope Dorie can get back to being happy and comfortable with a simple fix!!

I hear dog flu is making the rounds pretty heavily around here again, so I'd consider that as well.

Yes & Fast-growing, tall dogs are all highly prone to Osteo. Greyhounds, by all statistics I've seen, are far from the top breeds in terms of developing osteo. Among those are Great Danes, Goldens, Rotties, Burmese Mtn Dogs, and Pitties. (Pitties are more from personal experience than from published statistics). Twiggy, my only greyhound (aside from my fosters), got osteo at 6 years old. She is now 12, & just hit her 5 year, 5 month "ampuversary". Her age and tireless enthusiasm is catching up to her, but she has absolutely & completely kicked Osteo to the curb.

It is good to hear positive anecdotal information about this. Twiggy was diagnosed with kidney failure over a year ago (fortunately, with enalapril her numbers have been holding pretty steady & no further steps like diet changes or additions/increases in meds have been recommended). However, there is some not-so-great information about this product out there too - mainly insufficient clinical data and illegal marketing claims (per the FDA and AVMA) http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm454500.htm https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/151015n.aspx It might be worth weighing the cost / potential benefit / lack of scientific evidence for the efficacy of the product. I wouldn't say to stop it if it appears to be helping & doing no harm, but I'm not convinced that it is the miracle kidney drug that the company claimed.

I think you made the right decision if it was indeed a histiocytoma (and it sounds like it was). I do not have anything like extensive experience with this, but Twiggy got one on a toe of her only remaining front leg about 9 months after her amp for osteo. In a total panic, I rushed her in to see her oncologist, he looked at it, aspirated it, examined the cells and was extremely confident it was histiocytoma. He told me that typically once a histiocytoma is "messed with" (yes, his terms) via a needle aspirate, they tend to resolve on their own quite quickly. This was a good four+ years ago, and it has never returned. Scared me half to death, as it did you (and if you googled histiocytoma without adding "canine", it probably scared you even more!!), but my own experiences and everything I've been told by vets makes me believe that Charlie should continue to heal up beautifully.

I will chime in here too, and say it sounds like your boy is one of the rare ones who cheated on his cat-test. Out of twenty-some fosters, I had one like that. She did great on her cat test (my group used "volunteer" cats, let the cat walk around in a small room with the leashed & muzzled greyhound & evaluated the reactions of both the dog and cat, so it was a pretty good cat testing procedure, imo - some groups do better with this than others, I've even heard of some groups that use a stuffed cat or a cat video as their cat test, but that may have been long ago). At any rate, as soon as she walked into my house, she was entirely fixated on the cats, and they sensed that she was foe, not friend as well. After her first glimpse of them she continually searched, sniffed, and was on high-alert for them, even after I put her in a crate, put gates around the front of the crate, and draped the whole thing with blankets. All she did all night was try to peer out of cracks between blankets and search for cats. She wouldn't lay down, eat, sleep or anything - she pawed at the corners and bars of the crate, barking and whining all afternoon, evening and night. Your guy sounds slightly less fixated than her, but not by much. She could not have lived a comfortable life with cats, nor could the cats have lived a comfortable life with a dog like her. Fortunately, I was just the foster home. Another woman from the group took her the next day to foster at their no-cat house. They ended up deciding she needed to be part of their family and she lived a wonderful cat-free, care-free life with them. If you are comfortable giving it some more time and effort, that's great - but please don't feel guilty about the idea that he may just not be the right fit for your household. There is the right home for every hound and the right hound for every home. Good luck!

Twiggy has a very sensitive stomach for the past 5 years since her iv chemo, but no issues with her tramadol or gabapentin. (she now gets 200 mg 3x/day of gaba, with no issues). Based on that, and others' experiences, I think it is unlikely that the gabapentin would be problematic.

From that description, it does sound like you'll be able to get her used to a wagon pretty quickly - that's great! I had to laugh about the stairs, too. When she came home, I was pretty comfortable with her going upstairs by herself after just a few assisted tries, but I wasn't ready for her to go down by herself. Too risky. So one evening, at bedtime, I told Twiggy "okay - upstairs"... She knew what that meant, but apparently she knew even then that she was more comfortable going down stairs than up; so she turned the other direction and ran downstairs instead! I nearly had a heart attack, but she did them perfectly. No more down stairs training for her!! I'm so happy to hear how great Tanzi is doing - sounds like she is very quickly returning to normal life!

I think getting her used to a wagon as soon as possible is a great idea. Tanzi is an independent girl, & probably resistant to such things. From my experience, now is the best possible time to train her to use a wagon or stroller. I wish I had the foresight to do that with Twiggy years ago.

In my experience between Twiggy and many fosters, all but one of the ice melters labeled "pet safe" are anything but. Safe Paw is the only one that they can actually walk on without pain. Actually, I think rock salt is better than most other ice melters, but still not good for paws. Sand would be the best, most cost effective solution, IMO. Unfortunately, Safe Paw is extremely expensive, and I can't afford to use it to the extent necessary to get Twiggy out of the development. I do remove the melters the association uses for a portion of the development, but just to get her to the sidewalk costs $40 per snowfall. Then there is the public sidewalk to treat. The same company that makes Safe Paw also has a new(ish?) product called Traction Magic. It is not an ice melter, but is designed to give immediate traction on slippery surfaces. I ordered a pail of it and just applied some an hour or so ago; not convinced of its effectiveness yet. I will definitely update once I get Twiggy to try it out. Another option is boots or socks. I bought the Woodrow Wear greyhound socks for Twiggy a couple years ago, but she promptly ate one... yacked it up weeks later & ate it again... yacked it up again & I grabbed it before she could snarf it down once more, lol. (good news - it washed up good as new so I have a spare since she's a tripod!!) I'm trying them again now out of desperation. We were out of options for her to go outside anywhere with her traction, tripod, and hind end issues, and I was looking at quality of life issues. They have made an amazing difference & have extended her quality of life. They don't stay on all that well, but if I can get them on a stubborn, elderly, hind-end-weakned tripod, anyone can! lol. ETA: I see dmdsmoxie and Batmom also recommend sand as a good solution!

It's wonderful that she is so determined and full of adventure!

I'm facing a similar situation. Twiggy's vet has mentioned something I heard about before: https://www.toegrips.com/ I also heard about these paw grips (which were not mentioned by her vet) http://pupgearcorporation.com/products/Paw-Pads I would be very interested in hearing anyone's experience/knowledge about these items. I tried the Woodrow Wear greyhound socks, but Twiggy just ate them, so they were a no-go for her, but may work well for others. Also, I've heard great things about the Help Em Up harness, http://helpemup.com/ so that may be worth looking into also. Unfortunately, Twiggy is far too stubbornly independent to stand for something like that, & harnesses don't work well on a front-leg amputee anyway. At risk of further hijacking your thread, if anyone has any ideas that might work for Twiggy, I'd love to hear them! I'm not sure it is fair to try to put her through the icy winter with these issues that have developed in the past couple weeks. (I was just about to launch a thread on this subject for Twiggy, but Wally's situation is so similar, it seems unnecessary to have two going at the same time, I'm sorry for glomming on to Wally's thread!!!)

Aww, she is looking so good and happy! I would keep an eye on the red area though - I can't remember whether she is still on abx... Might not be a bad idea to keep some colloidal silver on it and cover it with a t-shirt (my vet's first line of defense when it was obvious Twiggy had an infection in her suture line)

Tell her not to worry, she will be a champion 1-armed bed fluffer in no time! ...Twiggy, the champion 1-armed bed fluffer

Great news about her incision!

Fantastic! Sounds just like Twiggy! I taped a large non-stick absorbent wound pad to the inside of Twiggy's t-shirts in the most "leaky" wound areas. That really helped.