christinepi

Please add Tracker to the March list.

That's wonderful!

I hope this'll work--I don't know how to post pics, sorry... https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5c3525322bfcc72cd92d123f/master/w_6000,c_limit/190121_r33590.jpg

Tracker is 12 and always had bald thighs in the back. In the last two to three month, I've noticed a distinct fuzz having grown there, pretty much covering up the baldness. Also, the fur area where the neck meets the shoulders stands up now and seems thicker, and looks very fuzzy. It's cute and not worrisome--just curious if others have had a similar experience?

I'm too worried about his kidneys for Metacam, but perhaps the Codeine or Amantadine might be options. About steroids: I heard they can cause increased urination, not something Tracker (or I) needs after those awful 5-6 weeks with 3-4 times having to go out at night... but maybe a low dose wouldn't cause this?

Tracker of course has always liked cat poop. A while back, we had to put him on low phosphorus/low protein food, and commensurate with that, his interest in cat poop has absolutely skyrocketed. He just won't get his nose of the ground anymore, and keeps finding stuff in places he never showed interest in before. Is it possible that there's a connection with the low protein food? Is cat poop his protein "supplement"??

Which drug are you talking about? Tramadol?

Tried nothing else, this is all new. The only thing with prednisone might be more urination, which I really don't want to trigger, as he's been already pretty "trigger happy" (beginning stages of kidney disease). Although if it were a super low dose, maybe he wouldn't have to pee more?

Does codeine sulfate make the dogs a sleepy as Tramadol? And I have a question re dosing Gabapentin. I'm currently weaning Tracker off the Tramadol. I'm not sure how much it did for him, if anything. So I'm left with Gaba. Currently he gets 1 300mg pill in the am, 1 300mg pill inthe afternoon, and 2 300mg pills before bed (this last one we just raised from 1 pill, thinking if he gets more tired initially on the nighttime dose it's fine since he's horizontal anyway). I'll go up to 2 300mg pills this afternoon (this is all under vet supervision and approval) since his hind end is very tremble-y when he comes back from a (very mellow) walk. How far can one take this?? Eventually I'll have to add second 300mg pill in the am, too, I figure, and then what? Would it be better to add codeine, say, or keep going up with Gaba until he's clearly better? Also, can too much Gaba trigger nighttime peeing episodes if he gets too "relaxed"? He had a recent 6 week period of lots of nighttime peeing events which he's fortunately ended.

That's exactly what my vet said, too, re: Gabapentin. That's what we're currently doing with Tracker. Phasing out the Tramadol and upping the Gaba he's already on.

Our vet told us that Tramadol seems to work differently in dogs than in humans, in the sense that the pain relief is very short lived. There must be some research on this somewhwere. Any suggestions? Opinions?

Our vet uses IDEXX. I'll check out IRIS, thanks! Well, our vet talked to Hill's re diet. He has had GI issues for the last 2-3 months (soft stool in th eafternoon/evening). So she initially (this was before the urination stuff started) put him on z/d, after a bout of coccidia which was treated with antibiotics. This helped. Now that the kidney business has been added, the quest was to find a diet that accommodated both. Since apparently the k/d is not for use long term, I guess the vet and Hill's figured that i/d is a good compromise. I hear you on the question whether it matters at 12. It's true. I'll check out Felix's blood work shortly.

Need to add that the vet wants to put Tracker on a phosphorus binding drug which seems overkill to me, but what do I know. He's already on Tramadol, Gabapentin, Desmopressin and Thyroid Tabs, so adding one more drug, if it is even needed, makes me worried.

Tracker’s (he’s almost 12) nighttime peeing saga started first week of September. Initially it was only once a night. He worked his way up to 3-4 times a night by Sept 22nd. Sept 28 he was put on Desmopressin on suspicion of diabetes insipidus. This worked relatively quickly and since Oct 1st he’s been down to once a night. So far so good. I measured his drinking two days in a row at the beginning of September (when this all started) and it was 850ml both days. Starting Sept 25, I started measuring water intake again. Since then, he’s been drinking somewhere 1.5 to 2.1 liters per day. Even though he has been peeing much less since Oct 1st he still drinks the same amount. What does that mean? Is that a good sign? Of course we’ve done all sorts of tests during this time. No UTI; no Cushing’s; no Lepto; no tickborne disease. Chest x-ray and abdominal ultrasound unremarkable. However, Sept 10 he was found to be low on Vitamin B12 (241, see below). He got an injection and he’s up for re-testing next week to see whether he’s still low. We’ve had a hell of a time catching morning urine that’s been in him for at least 7 hours or more, since he had been peeing so frequently it was never in him for more than 3 hours. The most recent catch was 7 hours. He still loves to eat. Below are the blood test results from Sept 18 that were whacky (with the exception of phosphorus): RBC 9.2, Grey normal 7.4-9.0 Hematocrit 68.3, Grey normal 55-65 Hemoglobin 23.5, Grey normal 19.0-21.5 Lymphocyes 0.737, normal 1.06-4.95 Monocytes 0.067, normal 0.13-1.15 Eosinophiles 0, normal 0.07-1.49 SDMA 21, normal 0-14, though according to Dr Dodds and Dr Couto 21 CAN be ok Urine Specific Gravity: two days ago it was 0.018 (inside him for 7 hours) Phosphorus 5.4, normal 2.5-6.1 However, at the time of blood draw, he’d been on the Hill’s z/d diet, which is low phosphorus (0.58), for 3 weeks, if that matters) Total protein 6.6, Grey normal 4.5-6.2 Creatine Kinase 545, normal 10-200 Vitamin B12 241, normal 284-836, tested Sept 10 Also, the vet did a urine protein:creatinine ratio, which was normal. Most recent urine tests show protein in urine: Oct 1 it was ++, Oct 10 it said protein +1, whatever that means—before that date, there never was protein in the urine. Ultimately, we’re uncertain whether his kidneys are compromised or not and whether, consequently, we should put him on a Hill’s diet as recommended by our vet (she’s suggesting I/D, since he also seems to have has GI issues)). We’ve heard contradictory recommendations of normal vs. low phosphorus diet for him and also low vs. normal protein diets for him. The current diet he’s on is a mix of z/d and d/d, both of which are only 14% protein, which seems such a pittance. The suggested I/D is even lower. Sorry for this tome and thanks for reading.

Problem is, the cat might beat him to it--she'll eat anything short of rusty nails.

Now there's an idea (peanut butter)! Shall try a few times. We already have mats on both sides, so that doesn't seem to be the issue. We just screwed in a brighter bulb for at night, let's see.

We've had to build Tracker a dog door due to need for nighttime urination. We don't have the actual frame and flap yet, just the hole and visquine strips (4-5" wide), which he uses just fine during the day but can't at night when there not slightly pinned open at the bottom (just 1" is enough), even with the porch light on. We're worried that once the actual door gets here (and we got the biggest size, too, due to his arthritis, and only one flap) he won't know what to do, especially at that size and weight. Even if he'd get it eventually during the day, there's no guarantee he'll get it at night. He once peed right in front of the visquine strips onto the doormat when the strips didn't have the 1" crack. I guess it looked "solid" to him. Does anyone have some suggestions how to train him to use the big single vinyl flap with the future door at night (and for the day time, too)? Pinning it back initially doesn't really seem to work in this case because he has to be able to use it in both directions.

I just came across this (sorry if this has been posted already): The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning on September 20, 2018 about the isoxazoline flea and tick products fluralaner for dogs and cats (Bravecto®), afoxalaner for dogs (Nexgard®), and saroloner for dogs (Simparica®). The recently introduced isoxazoline, lotilaner (Credelio®) for dogs falls into this same class. Dogs and cats with no known prior medical history of muscle tremors, ataxia, and seizures have experienced those adverse reactions to this class of flea and tick preventive pesticides. While the FDA is not pulling the four flea and tick preventatives off the market at this time, they will all have to carry an FDA warning on their packaging.

Good question. I don't know whether his urine was cultured. I assumed it automatically was. I'll have to check. No susceptibility testing.

Tracker had an abdominal ultrasound, which was normal. Would a prostate or kidney issue have shown in an ultrasound, I wonder? The vet was also suggesting an endoscopy, which makes me so nervous. He's almost 12, and easily stressed these days, but if that's what it takes...

I did. Have not heard back yet.

2 months ago or so, Tracker started requesting to be let out every night in the middle of the night to pee. We did a urinalysis which came back negative, but the vet put him on Clavamox anyway, and it cleared up right away. So 6-7 weeks go by w/o problems, and then the nighttime peeing started up again 8 days ago. Again, negative analysis; the vet put him on Baytril--it's been 8 days ago, no improvement. Then, lo and behold, when I started taking his belly band off while he was munching his breakfast this morning, I noticed he was dripping urine into the band. Not a flow, just a steady drip. Not sure he's dribbled anywhere else after that (he's outside a fair amount), but there's nothing obvious on the pads. What I'm trying to figure out whether a) Baytril was perhaps not the right antibiotic for this case, and maybe the last 8 days have not been caused by bacteria at all, but rather building up to incontinence? I don't know how these things start. I guess it could also be both infection AND incontinence at the same time.

What is a normal amount of water for a 73 lb Greyhound on a day of around 62 degrees (although apart from occasional sunbaths Tracker is mostly indoors)? Has anyone ever measured what their healthy dog drinks?

Thanks for that !

To give you an example why I'm not sure I entirely trust the doc who put him on z/d, one of the things she said was that when asked how often Tracker normally poops per day I said a good 6-7 times (generally 2 or even 3 times per morning walks, less in the afternoon/evening) she responded this was NOT NORMAL. I said well he's been doing this for all the 8.5 years I've had him; she insisted this still wasn't normal. I have nothing to compare it to, so what do I know, but he's always been healthy, so why not 6-7 times? Maybe he likes spreading it out? You'd think an ultrasound IS reliable (or the interpretation thereof by the radiologist), which saw no trouble in the GI tract/stomach etc. But maybe there's stuff he missed? I wonder whether I shouldn't see a specialist.