mychip1

Hi Robert!!! Welcome. Who is your hound? We love pictures.

Some good advice from others. Both of those don't surprise me with an aging hound. My EZ started to lose hind end strength....I got the harness with a handle to help me on stairs with him. He was about that age when it started. My JJ leaks occasionally. I use a belly band if he seems to go through a bad spell with it. Cheap runners are all over my house - though rubber backed mats sound good, too.

I did have trouble once before and apparently, every so often they totally shut the factories down and clean everything. That's why it's so expensive, etc. Not sure how true that is...but I was told that at Petco once.

I use RC for Dustin. I had no trouble last week getting it. I wish you were closer, I would share some. I get it through my vet online.

As Chris said - above....I agree. I have one who has low thyroid....He has been on Soloxyn for years and doing great...but yes, once you put them on it, you keep them on it - so the dosage is critical. Good luck.

Please know that so many of us grieve with you - as we no the horrible pain of sudden loss - and the guilt of wondering what happened - and if we could have changed things... Just know that at 11 years, he lived a wonderful life of love with you. My heart aches when I read your posts about being afraid to go home. I know that pain of emptiness. As an aside - that's when I joined greytalk.....to look for answers as to what happened to my Jack post operatively. What I gained from his loss was this wonderful place to speak with other like minded people who have been with me through the ups and downs of hounds - and life in general.

My Dustin has pulled a few off. I took him to the evet once..but he got,so stressed about the bandage that now, if I can stop the bleeding I just leave it. The quick seals off in a few days.

Thank you, all. I made the decision last Monday to end Reagan's battle. He wagged his tail until the end - had chicken feet that day - and huge dog biscuits the night before from my significant other. I am so grateful for those of you who helped me to understand that not every disease and med acts the same for every dog.

Thank you for adding my sweet boy.

That's the challenge. He wags his tail, loves his walks, etc...so then I say that he does enjoy parts of his life....but he's still starving. It's so hard to euthanize a creature that still experiences joy. Thanks for your honesty, CMC333. This helps me at least feel a little less alone in the decision. Then I beat myself up and say maybe I haven't been vigilant enough and weaning off the pred to soon maybe didn't allow the viocase to work...but then I know intuitively, the pred wouldn't have made that much of a difference.

Thanks. I am putting him back on the prednisone for a few days. I had weaned him off - thought hey had said just to wean him down - but I'm so leery of keeping an animal on that...but I guess it can't hurt. It did seem to help his poop a little.

Some people seem to maintain it just fine. I just can't seem to make it work for him.

Yup...sounds like she's happy and calm!

Just an update. I had a vet that comes to the house for my cat look at Reagan as well for another set of eyes - to decide if it was time to make the decision as I was seeing no improvement beyond a little initial bump with the viocase. She agreed with diagnosis, and wanted to at least go all out before I made a decision and put him on Predinisone, metrondionzole, and Pancreate - which is also an enzyme. Her own dog had EPI and didn't respond to viocase, but did to pancreate. Just like with the viocase, the first week or so looked good. Less, and more firm, poo....but still no weight gain, still has massive pyka issues, and poo is degenerating again - probably because he's eating everything in site - and it all passes right through, i.e. paper towels, coffee filters, bottles of dressing that he opens and eats, etc. He's also started to get growly again with the other dogs which had subsided for a week or two as well. Unfortunately, both vets have agreed that despite his tail wagging and playing with toys, his quality of life is not good given his appetite and weight. It's a hard decision when they are still upbeat and playful - but the bottom line is that he's starving to death.

Best wishes...sounds like you've got yourself a pretty "normal" greyhound - whatever that means in our world! If she figured out stairs that fast, agility might be the way to go. I was just wishing today I had done that with Dustin. He was the slowest of my hounds - completely failed racing and never got past schooling races, but he launches around the yard like a gymnast and he's the one who mastered stairs faster than any. My JJ could run - but he still, seven years later, runs up the stairs like he's scrambling to survive - as opposed to Dustin who lightly touches each foot on each step. Enjoy your hound!

Thanks, Cricket

OK. Thanks!

I'm actually going to try yogurt for him... I'm Armenian - and my old grandmothers always believed that the cultures in yogurt cured all digestive ills. I do have a butcher I could get raw from - and have thought about feeding him pancreas. I would rather get it from the website you suggested though - if they can do the packing and transport. Thank you!!!

We had an ultrasound - that did not show anything...but they indicated there is a unique cancer that can inhabit the lining of the intestine that the ultrasound would not have shown. The only reason I am hesitant to think it's that is that he has stabilized a bit on the meds....he hasn't gained, but he seems to have stopped losing weight - and has less episodes of raw spots on his skin.

Possibly of an intestinal cancer, but biopsy would require sedation and I'm not sure he could handle it.

The last paragraph of that first article is where I feel I'm at. I realize that I could try ten different foods with ten combinations of dosages for enzymes, but it seems futile as the changes I've made when I have tried - even taking him off meds totally and putting him back on have showed only minimal progress.

My vet had me switch to a prescription diet - but there was no change - if anything worse. I put him back on the Regal adult bites that JJ eats. I read things that say no grain - but then some people say it made no difference.

So Reagan hasn't gained weight and the amount of poop is disproportionately large and almost unmanageable. I don't know what to do. He eats four meals a day w enzymes. He is sometimes playful and happy, but other times is just ravenous and aggressive snapping at my other hounds So Reagan hasn't gained weight and the amount of poop is disproportionately large and almost unmanageable. I don't know what to do. He eats four meals a day w enzymes. He is sometimes playful and happy, but other times is just ravenous and aggressive snapping at my other hounds

Curious of outcome?

Don't feel badly if you have to return - but I do feel badly he hasn't found a home - and it doesn't sound like the group is all that credible. I hope the best for you and him.