mychip1

Glad to hear he had a better day!!! Patience does wonders with these guys.

I wish I had advice - but just can send prayers.

My greys, like Susan's, tend to be a bit breed prejudice. If you are going to introduce, then yes, muzzle - but the other dog should be muzzled too so she is not vulnerable. If she is with much smaller dogs, the muzzle for them is less critical, but she most definitely should have one. But it's really rare that mine are ever with any other breed - and JJ is highly reactive to other dogs when he is on a leash - less so off leash - and him being attacked by a loose dog made it worse, of course, so we just don't push it.

How are you making out?

JJ is on soloxine and has been for several years after an extremely low count. He had gotten lethargic, etc. He's fine on it!

Best of luck. I'm assuming people have told you not to leave them together unsupervised - now or even for a long time. And if you do, there's nothing wrong with muzzling. Mine wore muzzles for several years until I was sure they would be good with my cat. I would paint peanut butter on the inside when I left the house so they saw it as a treat. Just my thoughts.... He is just beautiful!

Mine have long days alone because I work. When they were young, they could hold it - so I do wonder if it's the separation anxiety. My older boy has trouble now - so I put a diaper on him. I agree that a longer walk is good. That tends to help with the accidents. Hang in there. If you can make it work, you will have the best companion in the world.

Agreed.... The real key with mine isn't the distance, but how fast as they get older. A half-hour for 1.5 miles is a decent clip, but not excessive...IF it's not hot and humid. Watch those pads! Best wishes and welcome.

Yup....exactly.

I hate jumping on bandwagon stories from the news and social media - but in 2013, Costco did recall its Jerky treats. Wonder if something is going on with them again. So strange that they both appeared to have gotten a toxin. Have you used any new household cleaners or detergents on their beds/blankets?

Wonderful news!!!! Continued prayers.

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.