Laurenbiz

We might be going down that route. I am not sure yet, but I will know more tonight! The pharmacist called me and asked, "do you know that this prescription is $600 for a two-month supply?" Ummm ... He told me Prozac is $4/month and that he dispenses quite a lot of Prozac for dogs. Justin is calling the vet again about some more reasonable options! I'll see what happens.

Hello! Thank you for your responses. No, I don't muzzle him. In fact, he has a muzzle simply because a muzzle came with him at adoption! We never use it. It may be a good idea, though. Yesterday, one of his nails had the tip dangling off, so I cut that off. Another one of his nails was a little bloody. On a few occasions since, I've taken warm water/dog shampoo to clean his paws. My thought is that he did all of this destruction by digging since he has some damage on his paws. To MaryJane and Mandy's Mom — I think you hit the nail on the head about the generic medication difference! I never knew this. We got generic Clomipramine from the AZ pharmacy in November (that he's taking now that's had no effect), and also generic Clomipramine from my local Target pharmacy a few years back (which worked wonders for his anxiety). But since the AZ pharmacy is a compounding pharmacy, I think you're right about the generic medication ingredients being just a little different! And UPDATE: Our vet called in a new RX at Target pharmacy. I am picking up the new pills today! Today's discovery: I shoved our biggest couch in front of the sliding door to prevent him from digging at the carpet by the door or tearing down pieces of the blinds. Did that stop him? Nope. He even moved the couch at a diagonal. I'm so glad that these are not nice couches! I've also contacted a local doggy daycare asking if I could tour the facility.

Bernie's separation anxiety has returned, and it's to the point that I really don't know what to do. (He's on meds!) Here's the LONG story, short: - Adopted Bernie in 2010 - Had lots of crating/bathroom issues being alone - Did all the usual things to avoid SA (long walks, exercise, music/treats when alone, practicing alone training) - Escaped his crate one day, so we got rid of the crate - Finally put him on Clomipramine 25mg/1x a day ....... Hallelujah! A happy dog when alone. He was on Clomipramine for a little over a year, and we successfully weaned him off. He went on for a few years without SA issues while medication-free. Here is the new problem: - Sold our house a few months ago due to us moving and building a new home - Moved into an apt. in December — will be living here during the new home construction - Started him back on Clomipramine in November anticipating some issues with living in the new apt. - Clomipramine's price since 2010 has increased, so our vet called in a prescription to Diamondback Pharmacy in Arizona instead of our local Target where I got it from in 2010 - Bernie has taken Clomipramine 40mg/1x a day from the AZ pharmacy since November ... and his SA is only getting worse I kept thinking that Bernie not having his own yard was a problem. Now in the apt, Bernie gets multiple walks daily and dog park visits 1-2 times a week. But these forms of exercise aren't helping with his SA, so I'm starting to think that my original "no yard" idea doesn't make much sense. I think it's something with the meds. Is it possible that shipping the medicine through cold weather affected it? Do any of you have experience with Diamondback Pharmacy? I've emailed the vet asking the same questions about the meds. Any suggestions or support?! Thank you! PS — Here is Bernie's latest creation:

Melanoma?!? The weird thing is, I have not seen him licking it or scratching it at all. Whatever this burn type of mark is, he doesn't seem to care at all.

Yes, this is a new scar/mark. It's been there for maybe a week. Someone on the GPA-WI forum told me that possibly this was "lick granuloma" — I've never heard of such a thing. I am going to take a picture and add it soon.

UPDATE 6pm: I took photos. Here are some: This is quite strange, but I think Bernie has a burn on the inside of his left back leg. This part of his leg is bald, so the burn is just on the skin. I noticed it a few days ago, and it seemed scab-like. Of course I see scabs on him every now and then, and I just watch to make sure they heal up. There have never been any issues with his little scabs. A few days ago, I noticed that it seemed more reddish, and I decided that it was a strange bruise. I touched it yesterday, and I finally decided that it is a burn, based on the texture. If you can think of the rough, almost scaly-feeling texture of a burn, that's exactly what this feels like. (It's about the size of a quarter.) It hasn't gotten bigger or worse, and it hasn't really gone away, either. It's been there for about a week. And it boggles my mind how he would have a burn on his skin, or at least some sort of injury that seems like a burn. I have no clue where he got it or how he would have gotten this. Does anyone have experience with something like this? Is there something topically that I should put on? Does this justify a vet visit? If he was a black dog, I bet I would never even know that this was there! PS — He is not licking it or touching it. He doesn't seem to be phased by it.

Hi all, For those of you who give your Greys baby aspirin, can you tell me exactly what you do? Bernie must have pulled something while running in the yard today. My parents are in town for the weekend, and he was being a showoff — he was outside running fast in the backyard, let out a loud yelp, and suddenly stopped running. For the past hour or so, he's stood still and/or paced a little in the house but refuses to lay down. He does not seem to be favoring any specific foot, but he appears to be having problems being comfortable. I think — I THINK — he may have the same issue from a few months ago: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/284875-limpingwobbly-walking/page__hl__bernie__st__20 Back then, the vet told us that he could take a baby aspirin. Of course, this wasn't just yesterday, so I don't recall any specifics from the vet about this. Since it's Sunday, my vet is not open. So, if I decide later today that Bernie may need a baby aspirin, do I just buy specific "baby" aspirin and give him one pill? Cut the pill in half? Give it to him with food? I'm just wondering what any of you do with your doggies that take baby aspirin? Thank you!!!

Have you tried crating him or keeping him in a safe room to see if that changes the sudden accidents? It's possible he goes crazy with the entire run of the house. You may want to practice alone training or try taping him to hear/see what he's doing when he is alone and has the run of the house. Did you use Nature's Miracle to clean up the cat's mess? If you didn't use an enzymatic cleaner and clean it up well, then he could definitely be marking because he still may smell the cat's pee! Good luck!

Hi all, Thank you again for all the suggestions! He seemed to have completely stopped in the past few hours. His mouth is just like normal now! Weird ...

Hi- I did look at his gums and teeth, trying to find something stuck in between teeth or cuts on his gums. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I did not think about the insect sting/bite. I don't know if this happened -- but I will definitely watch for swelling. Thank you!

Well, right after I posted my original post, I asked Justin to take him outside to see if he acts different in a slightly different environment. His favorite thing ever is enjoying the backyard. When we got him outside, he acted like he was totally ready to play. ??? Still weird left-side drooling and left-side licking.

Hi all, We're noticing Bernie do a strange thing this morning. He is drooling a lot and is licking the left side of his mouth. The whole left side of his snout is literally dripping because he continues to lick. He started this excessive drooling and licking about 45 minutes ago, which was a few hours after his breakfast. He ate breakfast like normal, and was happy to eat. We did not let him outdoors for at least 30 minutes after he ate. (We always make him wait like this.) He does not want any water. I checked his mouth and I'm not seeing cuts or bleeding or anything. Does anyone have any ideas what this may be?

I'm home! Here is the update: Justin took him to the vet for the 3pm appointment. Justin called me at 4:15 while I was at work to give me a quick update. Justin said that the vet told him that Bernie likely had a pinched nerve or a pulled muscle in his back. He said that the vet checked all of his legs, feet, toes, pressed on and felt everything, and nothing was out of the ordinary. He said the vet noted that Bernie had no swelling in any areas. All this led him to believe that it's a muscle or nerve issue in his back. Justin called me around noontime when he was at home with Bernie, and he told me pretty much the same signs that I'd seen. So, Bernie was still very stiff, slow, wobbly and uninterested midday. Justin said that by the time they got to the vet, though, Bernie was acting like normal! Maybe the vet thought we were crazy. If he still shows signs of the pain or if he yelps, the vet said we can give him a baby aspirin. Now that I'm home, I've seen Bernie walk around the house. He still seems like he is not walking in a fluid motion, but he is moving faster and he acts happy. So, this is good news ... and hopefully this thing just resolves itself!

Hi all! Here is a morning update. He has not yelped this morning. He's been quiet. He was in our office room when I woke up, (in retrospect, I should have made him sleep in the same room as me - oh well,) and I made him get up and go outside. He was slow getting up from laying down on his bed. He was slow and still wobbly/limpy walking to the door to go outside. He was really hesitant with going outside. We have two steps down to the patio, and from the patio, he has the whole yard at the same level. He stood and looked at the two steps for a few minutes, and finally, very slowly, walked out on the patio. I'm not sure if he went potty! I was getting breakfast ready for our cat at the time. I looked out there later, and he was just standing in the yard. Again a few minutes later, he was just standing around. I finally told him to come in, which he did, and he had more enthusiasm walking up the two steps than he did walking down. He then immediately went to our guest bedroom. I watched him lay down in there. Still slow with the whole process of laying down. I then went to get his breakfast ready probably 15 or 20 minutes after that. He ALWAYS trots to the kitchen when I say, "Bernie, it's breakfast!" I did that and he never came. He was still in the guest bedroom, and I made him stand up. I kept trying to get him to walk out to the kitchen, but he never moved. I went back about 5-10 minutes later, and he was still just standing in there. I finally took his food bowl to the guest bedroom. He was laying down at that time, licked the food, and that was it. So, I'm not sure if he used the bathroom, and I do know for sure that he doesn't want food. Our vet opens at 8am, and I will be dialing his number exactly at 8am! UPDATE 9am: I'm at work. I can't stay home all day and watch him and worry! I did call the vet at 8am. Our vet is in surgeries in the morning, and the earliest appointment today is at 3pm, so I took it. Justin had a work dinner thing last night in Milwaukee, and he stayed there overnight. He said he canceled the appointments he had today, and he is driving back home this morning. He might actually be home now. He will do office work from home today so he can watch Bernie. Then he'll take him to the vet at 3! Justin's schedule is a little more flexible than mine.

PS - Justin is not here tonight. He is traveling for work. But when I told him about all this on the phone tonight, his first response was, "Do you think he has arthritis?" Hmmm ... Is that a possibility?

All of these comments about the back and neck problems are eye-opening! I kept thinking something was wrong with a foot or leg. Well, here is an update. This happened and all started at some point during the 7 o'clock hour CST. For the first 45 minutes or an hour, he yelled 5 times, every time with movement or pressure (like laying on his bed.) During the 9 o'clock hour, though, he has moved around the house more. I haven't noticed as much limp and wobble, but he is still walking slowly. He had just two small and quiet yelps. So, I think we are going to try to get some sleep and head to bed! I am hesitant to give him any pain meds, though, since I'm not familiar with drug interactions with his Clomipramine. He takes that for SA, but we've weaned him down - almost off. He takes 1 pill every other day, and it is a 50mg pill. I didn't really want to put other meds in his system since I'm not sure about th interactions. Anne, our vet doesn't have a phone person after hours. I will have to call them in the morning. My nearest E-vet is about 30 minutes away. Thanks all! I'll let you know more later.

Hi all, Bernie is my first Greyhound, and this is the first time I've seen him behave strangely - both physically and mentally. I am home alone at the moment, so no one else can see exactly what he is doing. Here is the story: I was walking toward my bedroom. He was on his slumber ball in the living room. To head to the bedroom, I had my back to him. I suddenly heard a loud yelp/scream and turned around immediately. He was then standing up, just standing still. In the process of him getting up from his bed, he made that noise. I tried making him walk to me, then walk this way, then walk over there. He was limpy with his walk. He sort of seemed to be putting more weight on his front left leg than his front right, so I thought that maybe it's the front right. I made him go outside. He walked to the back of the yard where he usually potties. He did poop, but his walk to and from the house was very slow and wobbly/limpy. I decided that maybe his back left leg was acting funny. He seemed to be taking short, small steps with that leg. We came back into the house. I tried feeling around on his bones in all his legs. I looked at all of his toes and feet. I pressed hard on his bones in his legs and feet to see if any of that pressure would make him yelp. Nothing. He found another bed and laid down. He acted like laying down was physically difficult. When he finally went down and put pressure on his left front arm, he yelped again. He is laying down but has his eyes wide open. He doesn't seem relaxed. I'm worried he is in pain. What does everyone think? Is this something ASAP to talk to an E-vet? Or should I wait and see how he is in the morning? (PS - Bernie is 5 years old, no known history of injuries, up-do-date on all shots.)

Thank you again to everyone. He has still been 'iffy' with his food after the vet visit, but he has consistently taken down maybe half of the food in his bowl every time. Last night, though, he totally ignored his dinner. This morning when I got up, I noticed two spots in the house where he vomited in the night. It's nothing substantial because of course he didn't have dinner. The vomit spots on the floor are yellow in color and they are just liquid. Because the spots are yellow, I did look at his eyes and gums, but they are the usual color - not jaundiced color. Bernie was very interested in his food this morning and actually ate all of it! Are the vomits a cause for concern and warrant another call and/or visit to the vet?

Hello all, We went to the vet this evening, and Bernie seems to be okay. The vet listened to his heart and abdomen area. He said that everything sounded clear, and his liver did not feel inflamed. He did not notice jaundiced coloring of his eyes, gums, ears, etc. He checked his mouth and he said that he saw no issues. Also, with Bernie's interest in treats - even super-crunchy ones - he said any pain in his mouth (that would cause him to avoid food) was unlikely. Dr. Williams did talk about the possibility that Bernie may have eaten something that made his stomach feel a little 'off,' and he noted that he may have eaten something like rabbit feces in our backyard or something else like that. But let's talk about cat food ... Honestly, I never mentioned the cat food to him. Here I go sounded ignorant, but I actually didn't know about differences in cat and dog foods! At our house, we don't want him munching on our cat's food 24/7, so we always keep her food on our kitchen counter. My parents have two cats and no dogs, so they leave the cat food bowls on the floor at their kitchen, which is why Bernie easily ate some. I made sure that I picked up the food bowls after that so he wouldn't eat it! The cat food at my parents' house must have been a rare treat. I'm sorry I didn't read this Greytalk thread again before the vet, or else I would have mentioned the cat food. Most of our discussion dealt with whether this is a food change or a pancreatic issue. This HAS been going on with a new bag of food, and he noted that food companies may not always be very informative to consumers if the formula or some ingredients have changed. The other part of our discussion was about the pancreatitis. Our vet said that he could do additional tests to determine if Bernie had some level of pancreatitis, but he said that the results of those tests can vary from dog to dog, and even week to week. He said that because he didn't feel the test was very reliable, he didn't want to jump on it today and do it. He said if Bernie doesn't seem to have a better appetite in the next few weeks, then we should consider that. He said it's totally possible that Bernie has a mild case of it, and this could be a small flare-up that causes his stomach to feel a little goofy, making him not want lots of food. He said, though, that since Bernie does want to eat some things and doesn't appear to have the symptoms of bad pancreatitis (like lots of vomiting,) then a possible mild flare-up is okay. Also, he said that if it came down to it, treatment of pancreatitis would be the same, with or without the blood test mentioned above. The good news is that Bernie is at 70 lbs. The last time we took him to the vet for his annual check-up in November, Bernie was 64 lbs. We didn't know why, and his weight should be 70, so we started feeding him more! He is now heavier, and we take him to the vet because he's picky with food. Well, we're happy that we went for the peace of mind.

Thanks to everyone who has responded! For Silverfish: No, I am not aware of him eating anything while on our Christmas trip that he shouldn't have. Well, other than cat food that was, of course, supposed to be for my parents' cats. We took his regular TOTW food, along with yogurt and boiled eggs in a cold lunchbox for the drive. We gave him his usual food and treats there, even though he didn't eat everything in front of him. After a long drive and being in a new place, though, we figured that he may be a little stressed. So the fact that he wasn't eating well while he was there didn't really bother us. His various add-ins are what he's been used to. Like at Christmas, we tried the yogurt with pieces of boiled eggs. Most recently, we've been adding in raw beef ground chuck, yogurt and a small handful of peas. This morning, I tried simply just the dry food with a successful two or three bites, and then he left. Bernie also isn't a big chewer. He definitely chews bully sticks or bones when we give them to him, but we've never caught him chewing something that he wasn't supposed to eat. He occasionally will 'stockpile' our slippers on his bed for whatever reason, but he doesn't chew them. In other news, his stools have been totally normal. Just this morning on his walk, he had a normal stool. It looked fine coming out and wasn't too mushy or runny. I easily picked it up. I guess his few bites of food here and there are still enough to make him poop! I made an appt. with our vet! He can see us this evening, so I'll report again later. Thank you again!

Well, this was something I thought of. At the same time, though, I thought that he's technically eating the SAME food. But yes, we've had a change with the bag. We actually took a small, brand new bag with us for our Christmas trip. Then when we came back home, we finished that bag and bought a brand new jumbo bag. So his issues have been with the new bags.

Hi all, I hope you can give me some suggestions for whether Bernie is just suddenly picky or if he may have a bigger problem that deserves a talk with our vet. Ever since we adopted him in October 2010, he's done a great job going to the raised feeder after I set his food down, and he eats it all at once. But he's changed that pattern in the past few weeks. For Christmas, we took him with us on a long drive to my parents' house. Being new in that house, he didn't eat very well. We would set his food bowl in his raised feeder, and he wouldn't go to it. Maybe he'd walk up to it 10 minutes later and take a few bites. I was concerned about him not eating, so I stuck some of that food in a Kong and gave it to him on his bed. He ate a little bit of that here and there. And ever since then, he hasn't really eaten his full meal in one sitting at his raised feeder. He may eat only half and leave - or he may sit around the house and go to the feeder later and eat a little. I am taking the food away after about 20 minutes to keep the consistent meal time regimen. We have not changed his food or meal times, other than the three or four days where he ate at my parents' house two weeks ago. He eats TOTW Sierra Mountain mix (all lamb-based) with a combination of extra fillers: salmon oil, yogurt, TOTW canned food, peas, broccoli, bananas, scrambled/hard-boiled eggs, carrots, sweet potatoes, beef ground chuck and canned pumpkin. We usually rotate every now and then; he usually has two or three extras mixed in with his kibble. Here's the catch: Bernie still perks up his ears when he hears the cheese wrapper, and he's really excited to eat a slice of cheese. He will eat stinky treats when I give him some. (Like bully sticks or dried liver bites.) Any ideas here? Thank you!

You know, I do a very good job over-thinking lots of things. Thanks everyone! Your responses helped!

Hi everybody, I'm in a bit of a pickle with our Christmas traveling situation and Bernie! We are driving back home to Missouri for Christmas, and we're taking Bernie. He really enjoys riding, and he took that same trip with us last year for Christmas. All of our relatives back home like seeing him, too! Our plan is to drive back on Thursday afternoon/evening because I am taking a half day at work that day. I'll be working in the morning, and if we get on the road between noon or 1pm, we'll be back in KCMO probably between 8 - 9 pm. My concern is that Bernie's mealtime, 5:45 pm, will be during our travel time. We've never traveled with him before during the time he would have a meal. Typically, we make that 8-hour drive between 8am - 4pm or so, where we don't interfere with his meals. Because of my half day at work, we're stuck with his dinner time while driving. What suggestions do you have for dealing with his dinner that day? I'm thinking that he could his regular-sized breakfast earlier than usual, then a small 'lunch' an hour or so before we leave, then I could occasionally give him snacks during the trip. I'm also thinking about the possibility of taking an extra-long break in the drive and just feed him his full meal and we'd wait around for an hour or so before driving again for him to digest. I'd like to hear what you think would work well for this situation. Thanks!

Thank you for the link, and thank you to Charlie's Dad for your information, too. Melanie actually has talked to someone at OSU. I don't know if she has plans set in stone with the chemo, but she mentioned that OSU is willing to ship the chemo to the E-Vet here in Madison, and from what I understood, the shipping and the treatment would be free. She said that what she'd be paying for is gas and wear and tear on her car. From her house to the E-Vet's location in Madison is probably a 45-minute drive. I didn't mention in my original post that Melanie is a nurse, too. She actually had a nursing position at a nursing home/elderly care center facility. She told us yesterday that she tried working with them to give her fewer hours so she could be home more with Gobi, but they couldn't - so she actually lost her job. She will talk your ear off with medical terms for his bones and what the surgeons did, etc., and it's all gibberish to me! I will give her that info on the osteo thread, too. I'm not sure if she knows all that information, so it is always helpful! Thank you!