Moneypenny

When my Smoke died suddenly in the back yard, I called a friend and we gently put him on a blanket and carried him to the car. My friend called the vet for me on her way over to my house and when we got there they brought a stretcher out and I helped them put him gently on the stretcher and covered him up to be taken into the vets office (for cremation). It has been my experience that when something you never expect actually happens, you always find a way to handle it, I never had a plan for something like this, but I just kind of handled it step by step and only fell apart after I got home.

I have lost 11 hounds in 18 years, only 1 died at home and that was just last year. He was 13.5 and suffered some kind of cardiac event while running in the yard, he was gone quickly. As sad I was to lose him, I didn't have the agonizing, emotional turmoil of making the decision and all that goes with that. Smoke hated the vet, I only had him a year and a half, he was a return after his owner died, so for me, having him pass while running with my other hounds in the yard he loved to lounge in, without the stress of the vet made it all very peaceful.

I am not sure where you are located, but the best place to buy rugs is Old Time Pottery, if you have one in your area, they have very inexpensive rubber backed throw rugs, I have them all over my kitchen and sunroom to keep my dogs from slipping all over. They are so reasonably priced that I just throw them out if we have a bad "accident" on any of them.

My very first greyhound had these same issues....bad diarrhea, low albumin. We did not do an ultrasound, vet said the only way to really determine what was wrong was a biopsy of the intestines, we opted to keep trying other things, he too was almost 10. What we did was change his food to Anamet (the fish and potato) and eliminated all corn from his diet and I do mean all (treats, etc). We had tried the prescription foods (ID, etc) but those still had corn and didn't make any difference. The Anamet food (had to order online, don't know if it's still made this was 13 yrs ago) and giving him hard boiled egg whites with his meals (very high in Albumin) got him better, his Albumin level got to low normal and was acceptable, we lost him about 1 year later to osteo. We opted not to do the biopsy because he had become very thin with the constant diarrhea and he also had a reaction to a dose of heartguard (neurological) and we weren't sure if he was up to the surgery. I think if the osteo hadn't reared it's ugly head, he would have continued to do well on the Anamet food and the elimination of all corn in his diet. Good Luck, I know how you feel........

When I have done scrambled eggs, it's usually 2 eggs each, rice is a good filler, I have even done dry toast You can do veggies too....green beans, carrots...a little mini smorgasbord

Yep, scrambled eggs, and we have thrown cheerios on top

I know this may sound silly......once when the power went out and my storm phobic boy could hear every thunder bolt and see every flash of lightening (it was nighttime), I read a book out loud to help calm him Hearing my voice seemed to offer him some comfort and he layed down and listened, he was still panting and concerned, but he did lie down. I knew my voice offered him comfort, but ran out of things to say , so I thought, why not read out loud? He did better during storms with the power on because I would turn up the tv and keep lots of lights on so he couldn't see the lightening, but without power I had to improvise I have heard good things about the thundershirt, I don't have any storm phobic dogs right now, so I haven't tried it personally, but for some hounds I hear it works wonders.

You mentioned that last year she had low albumin, one of my greys had that many years ago and my vet suggested putting hard boiled egg whites into his food, the whites are very high in albumin. We also used a fish based food (without corn), eliminated corn from any treats (had to bake them myself then not as many pet store options)and he firmed up pretty well. Now his wasn't seasonal, so I don't know if this will help or not, but I feel your pain and wish you luck, give Betty a get well

I am so sorry Run free and Godspeed Pita

Thank you all for your sweet thoughts, hugs and just being there. Received notification of one more at the bridge as of this morning and another whose mom and dad are on their way to the vet to say goodbye and send her on her journey. I know these types of things run in cycles, and I guess our group's turn is now...... ♥♥Hug your Hounds♥♥ God Speed Cole and Gabby.

Do you have nightlights? I had a senior boy that was anxious at night, he too would pace, etc. The vet suggested leaving a light on for him, as soon as we left the kitchen light on, he slept in the living room where the light would shine on him and he was fine for the rest of his life...he never slept in the bedroom with me, but was happy to sleep in the living room, the wierd thing was he would cover his head at night on his own...but only in the light shining in from the kitchen Never did figure that out.............

Feeling very sad today, my adoption group lost 3 of our adopted hounds yesterday. I have been doing greyhound adoptions since 1994 and don't ever remember getting notified 3 times in less than 24 hours that a beloved hound has gone to the bridge. All were very loved by wonderful families, but it makes me sad. I hope this is it for awhile...... God speed Asia, Gunner and Tuffin Thanks for listening.......and hug your hounds ♥♥♥

One of our foster homes was having this same problem with a new dog. What has worked for her is a small meal before bedtime, now she sleeps all night, don't know if this will work for you or not, they are not giving her a lot, just a good handful of kibble and she seems to sleep better..........good luck!

Thank you all so much, we have made great progress over the last few days! I am working this weekend, but will be off Monday and plan to spend some more time working with her. You are all the best! Here is the cute little monster in question!! The muzzle wasn't to protect my fingers, but all my girls wear one when outside

I don't think she knows any tricks, but she is very smart and sooooo food motivated, I think I will start working to teach her some. I have been tossing the treats to her to save my fingers and she actually is a pretty good catch But I wasn't really training her, just saving my fingers! Thank you for your input, I think we have a good place to start, I just don't know with her motivation what a "low value" treat would be......any thoughts as to what to try?

Just tried this method and it was a lot easier! I don't know why I was still holding the treat with my fingers....duh...a flat hand approach saves my fingers I will keep working this way, she doesn't really get excited with her body, she will look intently at me, but when she knows the treat is forthcoming, she just "chomps"! I kept the treat in my closed fist and she looked slightly confused, but waited, didn't grab at my fist, and when I offered it to her palm up, from under her chin, she did grab it, but my fingers weren't in the way! Thank you so much, we now have a jumping off point to start working on this.

Asia came to my house on Christmas Eve, she was an owner surrender after 6+ years. She has settled in nicely with my other 2 girls. She plays well with others, loves to go for walks, sleeps all night, plays with toys, an all around really nice girl. But when I give her a treat, she goes for it with such gusto she takes my fingers with it I have had greyhounds for 17 years, I have never had one who acts this way with treats! She didn't do this when she first came here, she was rather reserved, working on getting acclimated to the household routine, etc. She has blossomed into a wonderful, outgoing girl, but she is so mesmerized by treats, I have taken to just tossing them to her to save my fingers I know this is not a good solution and would like to teach her to take them gently, but I am not quite sure how to go about it. She is not aggressive in anyway, just soooo food motivated she can't focus! She also eats her meals with the same gusto, like it's her last meal, she has learned that she has to wait until the other 2 girls are finished before she checks their bowls. She is a very responsive, eager to please girl, but I have become gunshy about handing her a treat and would like to remedy this. At this time she is a foster and I don't want her to go to a home where the family would have to wear work gloves to give her treats! Oh and she is 8 1/2 years old, but doesn't act a day over 5 Thanks for any advice!

I just went through this with a little girlie return that I picked up on Christmas Eve. "Asia" was apparently accustomed to waking her owners during the night, so they made her sleep in another room, but that wouldn't fly for me, I like my dogs to sleep in my room with me. So, I make sure she has relieved herself right before bed, I make sure there is only a small amount of water down so she can't "tank up" on it and need to go, then when she tries to wake me up, I just firmly tell her "go back to bed". When she lays back down I tell her she's a good girl. Initially, we had to do this about 4 times before she settled back down. We did this for about 2 weeks and now she doesn't wake me at all. You don't really need to scold, just be firm As long as you know he shouldn't need to relieve himself, just stand your ground that you want him to go back to sleep. Good Luck!

Kerry, I haven't read all of the prior info on Merlin's condition so I apologize if my suggestion has already been tried. My very first greyhound Shadow had the same problems you are describing as far as the IBD. This was in 1999. We tried many things, including the metro, we even did predinsone to reduce inflammation. I don't think my vet called it IBD, it was just horrible diarrhea. Long story short, what finally worked and firmed up his stools was a fish and potato dry food and only homemade treats with no corn. We battled this for months, Shadow also had low protein and albumin levels, so my vet suggested giving him cooked eggs with his food. I would hard boil a bunch and just slice one on his food each meal. He did stay on the metro for a while after things improved, but he also had the neurological episode you are talking about, totally freaked me out I thought I was going to lose him, but then I learned also that neuro issues are a side effect of the metro. He never had another episode once we cut the dosage back a little. Once I got him on a very restricted diet, he was fine for over a year and we stopped the metro, he did great until he got osteo I can't remember the brand of food at the time, but I had to order it because at that time you couldn't buy fish/potato food at the pet store. I don't know if this helps any, but I know how you feel, give Merlin a

My girl Emmi has been on Clomipramine for about 18 months, she was in another foster home before she came to me, when she arrived to our group she was a complete spook, peed all over herself if you even looked at her. The foster home did a wonderful job bringing her along and I have continued the meds because they truly seem to help her. She is a fabulous, loving girl with her own people and in her own environment, I think the meds help her cope when outside of her comfort zone. She is definately a girl who needs a routine, any variance from it and she isn't sure what to do Based on what I have read periodically on GT, there are a fair number of people who use Clomipramine, I don't know where everyone gets theirs, but I get mine filled at Walgreens and by joining their prescription plan ($35 annually for family plan includes all pets) I save $54 per month on her refills. I can also save on any other meds for any other pet in my home, I can't use it for myself because I have rx insurance, but if the prescription plan saves more than my insurance I can use it instead of my insurance. Your mileage may vary ..........

I am new to Greytalk, but not new to greyhounds. They have shared my life for over 14 years. I wanted to say thanks for this thread. I have a senior boy that was returned to my group in February, his owner passed away. He has had a horrible fear of the washing machine. I don't have a basement in my home and the washer is off the kitchen. Every time I would run it, he would go into a panic, similar to storm phobia. We worked around it for the most part, by letting him stay outside while the washer was running. That is until it got cold here in the midwest, I couldn't leave him outside, so I used all the pointers in this thread and we have overcome our fear of the washer! He is still aware of it, and concerned, but will lay down on his bed and tolerate it. Thank you again!