christinepi

He wasn't nervous or shaking, since the vet came to our home, and he's a mellow guy, though he certainly wasn't thrilled with the whole thing; but it's good to hear that CK can go up and come down quickly. Might there be anything else (no idea what, just thinking out loud) that could bring on such variation (if indeed it's just that)?

Tracker just go this blood test back a few days ago. He's 11. His creatinine is 1.5, SDMA is 11, and the urine specific gravity is 1.048. RBC, WBC, Globulin and Hemoglobin all normal for a Greyhound. His T4 is normal and he's on thyroid meds. But his platelets are 173 in a lab range of 80-150 (and from what I understand Greys should be lower than regular dogs), and here's what made me nearly faint: his Creatine Kinase is 841 (range 10-200)! He's on 60mg of Galliprant per day. Before I actually got the lab results in writing today, I only had a text from the vet a few days ago and she just said everything looked pretty good, which really blows my mind because so far she's been really good. I sent her a text and I'm waiting for a response. I'll also send this to Dr Couto and Hemopet. But if anyone could chime until then, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks, this is helpful!

Tracker is due for both rabies and a booster shot, I believe it's distemper (can't find the vet's postcard with the vaccines due). He's had an adverse reaction in the past when he got, I'm pretty sure (sorry, I know, this is all very vague), 3 vaccines at once. I don't want this to ever happen again. Do members think I should only have him vaccinated for one vaccine at a time and no more, period, or are two ok at the same time? If I should space them apart, how much time should I allow? A week? Two?

Tracker will start on Doxepin shortly for his laryngeal paralysis. I know there are a few Greys who were or are on it for the same reason. My vet's prescribing 75mg 2xday. According to the internet, the maximum dose for humans per day is 150mg, but humans weigh ca twice as much as a Greyhound. But maybe this is what it takes? Would love your input before I start this.

I didn't ask, but I will. He started showing symptoms about a year ago, but there has been no progression. The frequency of cough/retches remains stable, which I'm very glad for. Hope it'll stay that way. He has confirmed allergies, but nobody can tell whether that's what causing the cough/retch. His larynx wasn't moving during inspection, so that would pretty much point to LP, and I guess the allergies aren't really bothering him. Who knows. I wipe him down with wet wipes after every walk now to get pollen off his fur (we're in a rural area with tons of grass and trees). MP, that's so great to hear that things had gone well! FiveRoooers, thanks for your wishes and good to hear acupuncture and the painkillers helped. I will try acupuncture on him asap.

Btw, Dr Couto wrote this: I strongly discourage Greyhound owners from pursuing surgical correction, since there are lots of complications. I have done it only in dogs where we had no other treatment options. Of the forum members who had this procedure (uni/bilateral tie back) done to their dogs, what was your experience?

I sent all the info to Dr Couto and he more or less concurrs it's laryngeal paralysis (early stage). He suggested I could do a CT scan and/or ultrasound, but apart from the cost not to mention physical/emotional stress for Tracker (all labs are far away) I just don't see the point. His symptoms are still so mild that he's perfectly comfortable. Should this change, we'll deal with it then. We likely will try Doxepin in the near future, but right now we're trying to figure out how to help him with his hind end weakness and arthritis in his thoracic spine. We put him on Galliprant, and will probably add Gabapentin soon, and that doesn't go well with Doxepin. Once we have his pain dialed in one way or another, we'll try Doxepin. This is my first dog and the idea of his not being around eventually just makes me well up already.

I know, right? I just sent the vet a question re post nasal drip. Maybe he has a mild form of it.

I finally got Tracker's allergy test results. He's allergic to a ton of environmental allergens, like "mixed feathers", alder, dust mites, eukalyptus, marsh elder, a bunch of grasses etc. May that explain his retching? I hope so. We were advised to wipe down his chin, belly, and paws after every walk with green tea wipes or diluted chlorhexidine. So we ordered green tea wipes online. Of course, the retching could still be totally unrelated to allergens. And dust mites--there in every house by the millions, can't do much about that. At least he's not allergic to our cat!!

The vet wrote after the procedure: they sedated him prior to anesthesia for the laryngeal exam. and then: "we did give him an injection of Doxapram to stimulate respirations. I did not see any asymmetry of laryngeal movement nor any collapse of the structure of his larynx. However, the movement I did see was less than what I would have expected. Tracker, as an athlete, has a very large trachea and larynx. It is possible that his windpipe is so large that there is not enough pressure to demonstrate the full range of laryngeal movement needed when he is exercising." She concluded he doesn't have severe LP, but maybe is in the early stages. You wrote "If both flaps in the larynx are not moving normally under light anesthesia, it could mean LP". Now Tracker WAS under anesthesia, and maybe that makes for a totally different medical situation, but what do you make of his larynx not moving? Neal, Tracker seems to have more interest in grass now, too, although maybe I'm just being paranoid after reading your post... will watch carefully...

3greatjoys: you wrote: I would ask vet to check her larynx movements whenever her next scheduled surgery occurs. What do you make of Tracker's lack of movements? That's something I don't get. The vet was really baffled by that.

Neal, I'm so sorry to hear this. Fingers crossed that Ned will recover. Thanks for letting me know about what arthritis drugs can do. Which drug was it? Tracker's not on anything yet, but I ordered Galliprant for him, because I read this: A new arthritis drug for dogs called grapiprant (Galliprant®) is now available. Grapiprant works similarly to an NSAID but it targets just one specific pain receptor. Other NSAIDs also affect other similar receptors that are important to kidney health and the maintenance of the lining of the stomach, so those drugs have a higher risk for side effects to those organs. The FDA toxicity studies on grapiprant involved giving dogs 15 times the label dose with no fatalities or serious side effects. It should be a great choice for treating chronic pain in dogs who don’t tolerate other NSAIDs such as carprofen and deracoxib. Galliprant can be used off label for cats as well. I'm hoping that'll lessen the risk for problems. Question though: in Ned's case, did arthritis drugs come first, quite some time ago, which eventually triggered reflux, which caused his coughing/retching? Do I have the sequence correct? All the best, Christine

I know. I will send Dr Couto the video of Tracker's laryngoscopy and ask him what HE thinks this "huge larynx" is about. And whether he thinks we're looking at early LP or not. Or megaesophagus. Or something else entirely, like, nothing. I'll keep you posted. I also sent a serum sample to Dr Dodds to see about environmental allergies, but haven't heard yet.

They're smart that way...

Wow, thanks so much for all your replies. I think a picture is slowly emerging. I feel like trying an NSAID, either the tried and true, or Galliprant, and if I don't see any change, I could add the Gaba and use it with or without the NSAID. And throw in some acupuncture. I was glad Remolacha advised against chiropratic in case he has LS, because that was one thing I thought of trying. I did try PT over a year ago for months once a week and that did nothing. He loved it, though, because he was fed little bits of chicken by the assistant for 40 minutes.

LaFlaca, It appears, then, that Gaba is more like an alternative to NSAIDs if they're not tolerated. Gaba is not a harmless drug in and of itself, so I'm wondering whether I shouldn't go with the NSAID and see wgether Tracker tolerates it ok and then stick with it?

OK, I feel much more inclined to give Tracker an NSAID now. One question remains: Wendy is on Gaba b/c she can't have NSAIDs, but what about, Conner, Remolacha? Why is he on Gaba rather than an anti-inflammatory? Is that always an option as an alternative or is Gaba only used in certain situations which may not apply in Tracker's case?

That's reassuring. About the acupuncture: my vet's office offers it. I personally have never been helped by it, and don't really believe in it anyway, but, who knows? Has it really helped you or your dog? I thought about trying it on Tracker, but am currently on the fence about it...

Tracker, who is now 10.5, started showing some hind end weakness a bit over a year ago. When he stands for a bit without moving, his legs start shaking. I took him to a PT for months. She said he felt better to her, but I never actually saw a difference (which doesn't mean he wasn't helped by her). I also tried laser therapy, no change. I stopped both therapies because I had to drive 45 minutes for them one way, Things have been stable since. Recently he needed a lung x-ray for something else and it was confirmed what the PT had said that there was mild arthritis in his thoracic spine and none in the hips, though his range of motion in the hips was declared not entirely as big as normal. His joints felt good. Sooo... the vet wants him on Galliprant, which costs a fortune, and as an alternative on Rimadyl or Meloxicam. I'm not certain whether this is the right tack (the vet overall seems to be very drug happy). She had me start him on some fish oil supplement ca 4 weeks ago to help with inflammation. She said it might take 6-8 weeks for it to kick in. Right now I feel like at least waiting that long to see whether or not the oil does anything before putting him on an NSAID. The thing that makes it so hard to decide anything in regards to NSAIDs is: they can be bad in the long run (although I would have his liver checked regularly), but could one argue that since the NSAID would help with inflammation, it might slow down the arthritis in the long run, too, even if it perhaps doesn't even bother him that much right now, is that correct? What causes that leg trembling anyway (I always figured there's a problem in his hips, but that doesn't appear to be the case)? He doesn't appear to be uncomfortable. He still hops into the car mostly completely normally and moves normally otherwise. I'm not opposed to NSAIDs, but want to make an informed decision.

The only thing I can think of is doing an allergy test and then perhaps treating with some drug, maybe antihistamine, and seeing whether symptoms go away? I had a serum sample sent to Hemopet today, and the test is for environmental allergies (Spectrum serum testing for inhalant and contact allergens). Sorry I can't be of help here.

All the vitals are normal, incl. all blood work.

I wrote Dr Dodds and described the symptoms. She suggested allergies, since the symptoms are so intermittent. How strange, but I'm glad Wendy is fine now.

That's really helpful, thank you! I forwarded this to my vet. I'm still hoping that the allergy test reveals some allergy to some pollen or something, but if that's all negative, I'm hoping the vet will let me try Doxepin. Did you test for allergies?

Doxepin is an antidepressant--what does it do to help with LP? Does it relax the body?