Brondon530
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Grey Pup (4/9)
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Good point - we asked about any recalls, but should see if the formula has changed too. Thanks! Thanks! That's what we thought initially too, but he had a reaction to a 2nd bag of food as well. For now, the w/d is working great so we will stick with that. Thanks again! Great idea, thanks!
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Thanks John! All great points. And sorry to hear about your pup! We reached out to Acana and they didn't mention any changes. The rapid onset and fluctuation (bad diarrhea on Acana, back to normal on Hills, then bad diarrhea again on new bag of Acana) is what confuses me. His bloodwork has always showed higher levels of creatinine, so we've been advised to stay away from high protein options. I think we may keep him on the Hill's for a while until it calms down again, possibly even permanently if that's what the vet recommends... it worked extremely well last time. And then, if advised, we will slowly ease him onto another option.
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Posting to see if anyone has had a similar experience and can offer any advice... About 2 weeks ago, our 11 year old Greyhound, Rudy started experiencing the Big "D" all of a sudden. His energy level was normal, but his stomach was clearly off. Rudy has been eating Acana brand (Lamb and Apple variety) for well over a year with great results. We called our vet and he put Rudy on Hill's Prescription Diet W/D for a few days, which cleared up the issue almost immediately. Thinking we may have gotten a bad batch of food, we bought a new bag of Acana and tried again... but the problem has now returned. Has anyone experienced their Greyhound developing a similar acute intolerance to food? He's an older dog, but he doesn't have a history of sensitive stomach w/ food, so it seems odd. I'm not sure what would explain the sudden onset either. Could it be an allergy? He does have occasional acid reflux/gag reaction (where he looks like he's dry heaving), and we give him Prilosec to keep it at bay. I figured I'd reach out to see if anyone has had a similar experience, and what was done to help rectify the problem. We're going to call the vet again tomorrow but the immediate plan is to keep him on the Hill's food for the foreseeable future (possibly forever, if he says it's safe). Is it worth trying another Acana variety/are some protein options better for Greyhounds? Thanks in advance!
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Paw Pad Issue - Any Suggestions?
Brondon530 replied to Brondon530's topic in Health and Medical discussion
Thanks tbhounds and greysmom!! It looks like I misunderstood the vet - he meant have x-rays done (which we did tonight, no sedation) and, if they locate a foreign object, he would be anesthetized during the procedure to remove it. We should know within 24 hours if he's found a foreign object in there. The thought of putting a 10 year old under still makes me nervous and I think I'd prefer to have him sedated instead for the procedure, but the vet feels confident about anesthesia based on his good health. We will discuss it with him more... Fingers crossed we solve the problem soon. Thanks again! -
Paw Pad Issue - Any Suggestions?
Brondon530 replied to Brondon530's topic in Health and Medical discussion
Thank you for the wealth of information, greysmom! What you said about a deep toe tendon flaw got me thinking - he did stub his toe a couple months ago on the steps outside and ever since then has been walking with that toe slightly raised in the air/seems to have trouble balancing on that foot when he urinates. He didn't seem to ever be in pain from it, but he's a very stoic Grey. Could something like that create an issue with his paw pad? If so, would it be a corn or something entirely different (perhaps just irritation of the pad)? We dropped back in to the vet this morning and he said next steps would likely be anesthesia + xray, to see if any foreign objects are in there. He said he's feeling less confident that it's a wart/corn, based on how it looks and the progression it has taken over the past couple months. Of course, anesthesia with an older dog makes me nervous (even though he's very healthy) so we're going to further discuss our options/wondering if an ultrasound is an option. Thanks again for your help! -
Paw Pad Issue - Any Suggestions?
Brondon530 replied to Brondon530's topic in Health and Medical discussion
Thanks for the reply, BatterseaBrindl! As for soaking, what do you suggest? We've been wrapping his foot in a warm washcloth, but I've seen epsom salt as a frequent suggestion on here. Also, any "boot" companies that work well for Greyhounds? Thank you thank you! -
Hello Greyhound experts! My 10 year old Grey, Rudy has been dealing with a paw pad issue for quite some time now - it first started out as what looked like a small puncture wound on his left rear paw, but now he has this circular mark/wound surrounded by a larger black circular mark. We believe it's possible he either injured it when tripping up our outside building steps and scraping it, or possibly stepping in glass (we live in a city, which unfortunately means occasional glass on sidewalks). Oddly enough, it seems to periodically get better and then worse again. We've done pain meds (Rimadyl) and a course of antibiotics, and he does not show a noticeable limp on the pain meds but he resorts to limping when we try to reduce them. Of course, I'd much rather solve the issue than treat with pain meds, but it's been a frustrating "trial and error" process. He does not have a history of corns. Our vet initially speculated that it's possibly a wart, or a foreign object inside. He checked for other sources of pain (back, shoulder) and came up clean. The vet has scraped away at the wound, but hasn't found any foreign objects. We've tried soaking it in warm water and using bag balm, but the problem seems to carry on once he's off the pain meds. The wound is tender to the touch and he pulls away if pressure is put on it. Looking for any suggestions on what this might be (I'll post a picture) or what next steps we should take in trying to solve the mystery. It's entirely possible this is a corn, we just have no experience with them. Thanks in advance!
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Haha!! Funny you should mention that... He's been getting spoiled with ground beef since the surgery and I ran out this morning. He looked at me like "UMMM where's the beef, mom?" Needless to say we bought more
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I wanted to provide an update on Rudy... FANTASTIC news: his tumor is benign! The vet ran the biopsy twice because he couldn't believe it. We are obviously thrilled. A sincere THANK YOU to all the Greytalk members that reached out for support and advice, we truly appreciate it. Greyhound owners are the best!
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What a crazy story. So glad it turned out relatively well for you all! Hi GeorgeofNE - Yes, we ended up at Angell after our vet noticed the tumor and sent him there for additional imaging and testing. They have been absolutely phenomenal - from getting Rudy into surgery within a couple hours, his post-op care, keeping us informed and updated. I'm extremely impressed.
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Hi carronstar - it's so wonderful to hear a success story! And you're right, it's terrifying - Rudy is our first Greyhound and has been extremely healthy up until this point. I'm finding it helpful to gather information about the disease and how to proceed from here. I'm praying that it's benign, we should hear back from the biopsy results next week. The doctor seemed pretty confident that it was Hemangiosarcoma (said about 80-90% sure). Did they mention similar odds to you, or was Aquitaine on better terms? Rudy's tumor was about 6cm, which I'm told doesn't really indicate good or bad (if anything, they said bigger might be better). And you proposed to the surgeon HAHA I love that! On the bright side, Rudy's tumor was almost completely intact/no rupture, so there's some reason for hope. And OHHHH yes, it's been expensive. I'm right there with ya though - Once we found out that it hadn't spread to other organs and could proceed with the surgery, I joked with my husband that I've never been so excited to spend thousands of dollars before hahaha. It's all worth it though - we just got back from visiting him in the ICU and he's doing extremely well. Whatever it takes, right?
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Thanks for the well-wishes, Charlies_Dad! We're hoping too Hi Blaidd49, thanks for the post. 2 years is wonderful! May I ask why you opted out of chemo? We haven't really discussed chemo vs. no chemo with the vet yet since we're waiting for a confirmed diagnosis, but I'd love to hear your thinking on the matter. I'm very new to this - Rudy is our first Greyhound and he's been extremely healthy until this point. The best I can do is gather as much information as possible on the disease in order to make an educated decision on how to proceed and do what's best for him. And I will definitely look into the I'm-Yunity study - do you know much about it, specifically how Grey's react to the treatment? Thanks again for the info! Hi MP_the4pack - I'm so sorry to hear about your Greys. This disease absolutely sucks! One of the hardest parts of this is how quickly it set in - Tuesday night, Rudy was the usual energetic, happy pup, and then Wednesday morning he was very lethargic, definitely in pain and not himself. We just visited him in the ICU and he's doing great post-op, but I know we have a long road ahead of us. Thanks for all the info, rycezmom! I will definitely look into this, seems like a great idea.
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Hi XTRAWLD, thanks for the note! I definitely appreciate the honesty. Rudy just turned 10 years old, so right in the target age range for this diagnosis :-\ We took him into the vet this morning because he was acting very lethargic. The vet manually checked him for pain and found some in the abdomen - an ultrasound confirmed that there was a tumor on his spleen. Yes, they did an additional ultrasound to check for other tumors in different locations (chest, liver, etc.) which came back clean (we definitely would've opted out of the surgery if it had spread, as it's too far progressed at that point). They seemed pleased that the spleen tumor was generally intact with no sign of rupture, but perhaps had a slow bleed (as there was some blood in his stomach area). Regardless, after some research, I've come to realize how grim of a diagnosis Hemangiosarcoma is and why the short timetable exists for life expectancy. I'm still holding out hope that it's benign, but the vet seemed rather confident (80-90% sure) that it's cancerous. I suppose we will find out from the biopsy next week. I think once we know more, we will then explore our options re: chemo, radiation, etc., but his comfort will definitely be of the utmost importance to us. Thanks again for sharing your story.
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Hi Houndtime - thanks for the note! I'm so sorry to hear about your Greys. I'm definitely struggling with the rapid onset of all of this - he was perfectly fine last night, running around like the happy pup he is... and then took a turn for the worse this morning. I actually had no idea they can remove an entire spleen from a dog with no complications, but apparently that's the case. Based on what the vet told us, the spleen tumor hadn't ruptured yet, so that helps with prognosis. Still, he's rather confident that it's cancerous. I guess we will find out next week after the biopsy. Thanks again for the kind words.
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Hi tbhounds, thanks for the note. They did an ultrasound prior to surgery and thankfully found no additional masses in his chest, liver, etc., and also said that they saw none in his abdomen during the splenectomy. The surgeon also said that the tumor itself was mostly intact - maybe some slow bleeding near it, but no rupture. Still, he thinks there's an 80-90% chance that it's hemangiosarcoma. Biopsy results should be back by early next week. Needless to say, we're hoping for the best. I think the only thing I'm holding onto for hope is that he had a hemangioma on his skin last year that was benign... not to say that has any effect on his current situation, but I think it's a sliver of hope! Thanks for the tip on Dr. Couto - I will certainly look into it if the biopsy comes back cancerous. Hi Annette - thanks for the note and kind words. I'm so sorry you lost your Grey to Hemangiosarcoma. 11 months, though - sounds like he was a real fighter! Thanks for the suggestions re: chemo and Dr. Couto, I will certainly look into it.