christinepi

He's going on 7. He isn't coughing, though. He looks like I would look like if my nose itched like crazy--I would pull mine up, too, and try to snort out the offending tickle. He never coughs. He was doing it less today, so I'm hoping it's on its way out. I think there's some connection to his inhaling a wad of cat hair last week. Maybe there's still some in there?Is it possible that food aspiration could cause him to snort?

How does one go about finding allergy to what? What confuses me is this instantaneous reaction, AS he's eating, and only then. Once he's done eating, he stops sneezing. What could be the trigger? The food? Food dust particles he inhales?

I don't think it's that because he's had reverse sneeze before in various situations and this looks and sounds different. What he's doing now sounds like a serious (temporary) irritation. He pulls his lips way up and shows all his teeth, and his nose is all wrinkled. Can't hurt trying to hand feed, though.

Tracker gets The Honest Kitchen dehydrated food as well as kibble. Yesterday, for the first time, Tracker would have a sneeze/snort attack while he ate his kibble, then again a while later while he ate the wet food, and again this morning, while he ate both at the same time. I'm baffled. He's not sneezing/snorting otherwise. He did have a major sneeze/snort attack last Saturday when he accidentally inhaled a bunch of cat hair; that attack lasted a good 15 minutes, on and off, while he was trying to clear his nose, and then subsided, and he hadn't sneezed again at all until yesterday when eating. What could this possibly be? Allergy? But it's so sudden, WHILE eating, so could that be? He's been on the wet food for years; the kibble he's eating right now he's only been on for maybe a week, but up till yesterday he's not had a problem. And he showed the same sneeze reaction to the wet food. Is there stills some cat hair stuck in his nose? But why would food trigger a tickle?

Tracker was diagnosed with a corn, and we're looking into different options. My husband uses a cream for his calloused feet, called Callex. He thought this might work to soften Tracker's pad and draw up the corn, so I want to check first with the forum whether there are any ingredients that could be harmful for a Grey. It says it's an enzyme exfoliant, and it contains: Petrolatum USP, protease (subtilisin), amino peptidase, peppermint oil. Any thoughts? And I just read online about a (one Greyhound) study that used a product called Jack's Gel that brought up the corn so they could hull it, when nothing else had worked for the dog? Anybody heard of this?

KF_in_Georgia, same with Tracker, the corn is completely flat to the pad, no definition, although there is a clear color difference (light gray rather than black). If that flat kind of corn can't be hulled or dremeled, what can be done? Like in your case, Silver just has to live with it? Just out of curiosity: if there's (like in Tracker's case) a light gray color that makes the flat corn still well defined visually, would that make it hull-able?

Dick, I hear you. That's exactly what I thought after I started looking into this. It seems like a no brainer. She could have hulled him on the spot. Why give him meds unnecessarily? I took him to this specialist today because that's where he had the original surgery done. She has her office 35 minutes away (we live in a rural area). We have a local vet 10 minutes from us, but I have no clue how good she is about hulling--since only Greyhounds get corns--I only learned that today-- would she have the experience? I'll have to ask. Now I really don't know what to do. No surgery for the corn, for sure, but the meds?

When we got Tracker, he needed surgery for a race track injury. One of his front toes needed amputation. After the surgery, the vet said he was likely to limp on that leg somewhat for the rest of his life. He has limped, on and off, for the time we've had him (3 years now). The last 2 months it's gotten increasingly pronounced (not non stop, but often enough). So I took him to the vet and she x-rayed him; all normal, no arthritis, no cancer. However, he has a corn in that same foot, more specifically, in the toe next to the amputated one, and he showed a reaction to having that particular toe pad squeezed. She suggested to put him on Rimadyl, (and Tramadol, if necessary), for 10 days, and see whether that would make the limp go away. She said this also could be a ligament that may have been torn/inflamed. She said she'd remove the corn surgically, if in 10 days this can be identified as the problem (with the caveat it'll likely come back). Now I've never had a dog before, with corns or without, so I started snooping around this forum. It seems there's zero need to remove corns surgically, but that they can be hulled, even at home. So that doesn't make me happy about this vet at this point (this was my first visit with her, though I liked her personally. And she is Greyhound savvy, at least). Another unanswered question right know (I didn't think to ask when in the office--all these questions always pop up after one leaves): would painkiller actually help with what feels like a rock in one's shoe? I imagine it could, but it seems like a different kind of situation, compared to, say, an inflammation or tooth pain. But I may be totally wrong on this. I went to FB Greyhounds with Corns, but haven't read much yet. I learned about creams, and Therapaws. My questions: Tracker has reacted very badly to Fentanyl in the past, and while Tramadol, according to the vet, is an opioid, it's doesn't quite act like Fentanyl. I should just try one, and if he gets all anxious and loopy, just stick with the Rimadyl. Does that sound reasonable? And secondly: should I strongly resist her suggestion to have the corn surgically removed, if it comes to that, or are there ever situations when surgery is justified? His doesn't even stick out or look bad, if that's anything to go by. It's just a little lighter in color than the rest of the pad and totally even it.

Good point, tbhounds. I believe the vet who amputated his toe may have taken those x-rays. I need to check on that. OwnedbySummer: Chiropractic never did me any good, so I'm rather reluctant, but I'm open to it. I'll check on that as well.

Tracker came to us with a partly amputated right front toe 3 years ago. He limped a fair amount, so the vet said the toe should come all the way off because the remaining stub was hurting him. So we did that. The vet predicted that he might still limp for the rest of his life. This seems to have been a correct prediction. The weird thing is that he sometimes barely limps at all, and then again goes through phases where he limps a lot more, even to the point of hopping on three legs for a few strides when he gets exited. At the same time, he can run zoomies w/o problems, too. I'd say over all the times when he limps more strongly amount to ca 30% of the time, then another 60% of the time he limps mildly, and 10% of the time he's practically limp free. I don't quite know what to do. Take him back to the vet? I feel sad for him that he is in at least some amount of pain for him so much of the time, but maybe that can't be changed. I'm just terrified that one day he'll develop osteo in that leg and I won't notice at first because he limps there anyways, and then it might be too late (I realize it's often too late anyways, but still). Has anybody had a situation like that? Would some warm baths help for that paw? Or some support gadgets?

He had the full panel done 6 weeks ago at Michigan. Sorry, I failed to mention that. If I understand you correctly, at this point I should do T4 and TSH? Interesting that you say Soloxine will pep up any dog--certainly not mine...

So Tracker has been on Soloxine for almost 5 weeks now, for his lower energy level (thyroid was low, all other tests were negative/normal). I understand he needs to be rechecked after 6 weeks to see where the thyroid is at. 1. What should he be checked for? T4 and free T4? What else? 2. Can the local lab do this properly or should I have it sent to Michigan? 3. His energy level has not come up. If the re-test reveals his levels of T4 or whatever else were unchanged, should he be getting a higher level, and if so, how is it determined how much higher? If the T4 level were higher than before, say, in the normal greyhound range, but his energy level is unchanged, should I discontinue the drug?

Just to be sure, I didn't mean to imply YOUR dog would ever end up at the pound or that you're trying to assert dominance. My post was only in response to the comment on Dennis, and adding my pet peeve was meant as a general statement. It would be wonderful if the 'idiotic percentage' of the dog owning world came to understand that there are alternatives to the dominance approach. Lastly, unless somebody did some actual research on greyhound social hierarchy (and maybe someone has, and I will be proven wrong, and that's fine), I'll stay in the 'greyhounds are just another dog' camp, as far as something as deep running as hierarchy behavior--or the lack of it--goes. Does anyone know of any research on this?

I'm not trying to be contrary, but I find it really interesting how human minds work. With that in mind, what about the possibility that Dennis was interpreting things through his (dominance theory influenced) lens? Maybe Giselle and others would have seen something very different at play? Apart from that, put simply: Either dominance theory is a wrong concept, or it's right, and then it would apply to all dog breeds, and not just one. To me, the number one thing that drives me up the wall about dominance theory is when the dog is the one who suffers for it, because his behavior is being misinterpreted, he gets punished, the dog doesn't get the help he needs and next thing he knows he gets dumped at the pound.

Any possibility of her having to pee or poop? With my grey, he slept all the way through from 4:30pm until the next day at 7:30am without having to go out for 2.5 years, and then, one night, he started whining. We let him out, and he did indeed have to go. This repeated itself a few nights until we figured out that this could be fixed by letting him out at 9:30pm every night. No more whining.

Tracker is supposed to go on Soloxine. Today would be the day for his first dose. I realized when it said on the bottle to give it to him every 12 hours that he's not exactly on a 12 hour feeding schedule; he gets fed at 7:30am and 4pm (pretty much on the dot, as his Highness requires). Should I go ahead and gradually push the 4pm out to, say, 5pm or even 6pm (I shudder to think how well that would go down), or am I too concerned with this? Is my assumption this is given with food actually correct? Or should it be given on an empty stomach? If so, how many hours before or after feeding?

I did the full tick panel thing and it was all negative. He had Babesia before adoption, but was treated for it and has been negative since then, when tested. I'll see a cardiologist, yes, for an ultrasound. Glad to hear the bruising seems normal, and that his numbers don't seem too low!

Forgot to add that the platelets in 2013 were 165,000, and in 2012 107,000. ?

Ca 6-7 weeks ago, Tracker started slowing down pretty suddenly. He's 6. He just isn't that into his 2 40 minute walks/day anymore, and sometimes turns around to go back home on his own after just 15-20 minutes. His new energy level has been consistent, meaning there's been no further downward trend. He still ADORES going with the dog walker, though, though I switched to one who takes him for shorter walks than before, but still, the walks are longer than what he does with me. He still loves to do zoomies, too, almost the same as before. Ca 4 weeks ago we did a thyroid panel with Michigan, came back on the low end of normal, but no recommendation for drugs. Then, a week ago, I did a CBC, chemistry, urinalysis, stool, and tick panel. CBC: RBC: 6.52 HGB: 18.0 HCT: 50.9. Everything else came back normal/negative. 14 months ago, he also slowed down some, though he rebounded. We did a CBC then, with the following results: RBC: 7.93 HGB: 19.8 HCT: 54.0 He's on regular Heartgard meds. I haven't dewormed him for anything else in a year, maybe. Should I do this? The vet heard a heart murmur last week, for which we'll take him to a specialist shortly. Lastly, when they took blood from his neck for the thyroid panel 4 weeks ago, this left him with a bruise like nothing I've ever seen before. It was a big area, furiously red. It took almost 6 days to go away. However, when a different vet took a sample from the same spot last week, there was no bruising whatsoever. Not sure what this means. I think I'll contact OSU for this, too, but wanted to get input from the forum as well.

I'm just speaking for myself here. Tracker looks like Hester in the photo every single time he gets this close to a strange dog as well as to dogs that he only meets intermittently, but has encountered many times (like the neighbors' friendly dogs down the road). He's never attacked another dog. He's never showed his teeth to another dog or even pulled his lips back. He'll growl upon meeting a dog, but he also growls every.single.time he urinates/marks or sniffs another dog's urine or when I rub his butt in a way he adores or just to tell the world he's here. He plays well off leash with all sorts of other (initially strange) dogs, large and small. He's just concerned about his personal space when on leash. So he just puffs up to make that clear (he looks like Hester in the photo), and after a few seconds he's fine and loses all interest. So to say categorically that Hester is about to attack seems to me to be jumping to conclusions. The posture in the photo is just a fragment of a whole sequence of behaviors. It has to be put into context of what Hester actually does before, during, and after the encounter.

I don't believe in the "alpha" theory. A truly confident dog, just like a truly confident wolf, has no need to posture and get all puffy. They know who they are, and one good stare while sitting on their bum is all they need to do to get the other critter back in line, if that's what they think is necessary. My grey is the same puffy way, and I've come to realize that a) in many situations he's just responding to rude manners in the other dogs or he's often plain old insecure and anxious and figures a good offense is the best defense. He's just bluffing in order to keep other dogs away--and it works. I've given up on trying to change that, and believe me, I've tried a lot of different things. I just keep a wide berth and never let him get nose to nose with strange dogs. It's frustrating. That said, you may get very far with Hester with the right training.

What happened was that I was the one who requested the thyroid test without actually seeing the vet, because I knew he had been on the low side of normal a year ago. I figured let's do that test first and take it from there. So my vet hasn't seen him and, for that reason, not done a physical. That's why my vet's suggestion to test him for Cushing's seems particularly bizarre. He's scheduled for an exam at a different vet next week. He's had a liver function test and I believe a regular chemistry panel done for some other stuff less than a year ago, all normal. I'll be sure to have his heart checked, and have an x-ray done.

We went on vacation for the first time in three years which is how long we've had Tracker (not his fault, it just didn't happen). Tracker is very used to us being around most of the time. So we got a house sitter. Tracker had only met her once for a few minutes a few weeks before we left. She reported on the second day that Tracker would whine as soon as she went somewhere in the house where he couldn't see her or readily hear her. He also peed, for the first time ever, in the house while she went outside to to farm chores. She called us and told us and I suggested she give him a treat whenever she was leaving the house and do a little alone training (just leave for a few minutes, come back, extend the time etc etc. This worked well, he never peed again, and while he never was super happy to see her leave (she was home most of the time), he developed the confidence that she wouldn't desert him, either. So my question is: I assume this is pretty normal? He's my first dog and I don't have experience beyond him. I didn't even think he would worry about being left alone, because I figured he's still in his familiar home, and all the routines pretty much stayed the same, the only difference being the person. But clearly he felt differently. I also assume that would repeat itself with a different sitter. What's other people's experience been with this?

Tracker is 6 now and always had decent energy. Starting ca 5 weeks ago, he started getting tired way faster on walks than normal. Not always, not every day, but there's been a trend. He's had a million false health alarm over the years, so I decided to give this 3 weeks and then do a thyroid panel at University of Michigan, the results of which took two weeks to come back (this was today). We did the same test last year, he was on the low end of normal, but the report said there was no reason to put him on a drug. This time, the thryroid levels have been slightly lower still, but again, the vet there said it's fine. My vet here in town next suggested to bring him in for a whole day to test him for Cushing's disease. This seems absurd to me. Lethargy could have many different reasons, so testing for Cushing's seems totally random to me, apart from being unnecessarily stressful for Tracker and apart from the fact he has none of the symptoms listed for Cushing's other than lethargy. She didn't even suggest and hasn't yet done a liver function test, CBC, urinalysis and tick test or anything of the sort. This has made me so wary that I set up an appointment next week with a different vet. I feel that a liver function test, CBC, urinalysis and tick test might be of the order as a next step. Would people on this forum agree? Other suggestions? Tracker has no other symptoms. He eats well and seems his normal self. He just loses momentum more frequently than normal.

So what does he do when the time gets moved forward?