AEB

Yes, move where the tape grabs. I forgot to add this. So the tail does not get raw.

Sadie was notorious for her happy tail! And we still find blood here and there. We once awoke to what felt like being sprinkled by warm syrup- nope- blood. Everywhere! The walls, ceiling, inside the closet (doors were open) every piece of clothing, bedding, the carpet, coated with spatter. She had stood on her tail getting up and ripped open a fresh happy tail wound. Mess does not describe it. We probably dealt with it half a dozen times in ten years. Once it would not stop bleeding (pricker through the tip) and we had to take her to the vet. He shaved the tip and used what looked like a big match to cauterize it. He gave us extras. Then the procedure was gauze pad, gauze, then very sticky elastic bandage tape. Change bandage weekly until scab healed. We found the bandage wrap provided by the vet really held on and could be applied so the whole bandage was fairly loose. We also tried to keep her in the open when she wagged!

Yes, Spring in Maine is mud season. Then around June or so comes Black Fly season. But you will be there roughly during the very best months (though I LOVE Octobers in Maine). There will be hot days here and there in the 80's and even approaching 90's, but it is occasional. And the nights are cool. So there is plenty of relief. The weather will be starting to get cool when you leave for TX. Depending on whether you will be in coastal or inland Maine it can be quite cool in early Fall. I am NOT enjoying or Winter in New England this year. It has been wicked. But I will take cold over heat any day. I can always warm-up, but when it's hot I cannot escape the heat! Enjoy and good luck with all the changes! You have a very interesting year a head of you!

Well, Kevin is pretty relaxed and secure in many ways (he doesn't like being alone, but that's another story for another thread). Loud noises (dropping pans, thunderstorms, etc.) do not phase him. My husband questions whether it was a growl (BUT he was not there) because Kevin has no space issues and is such a lover. All I can do is report what I saw and how I instinctively interpreted it. I have been growled at before by Sadie. And Kevin has growled at my husband twice resource guarding (stuffies). We've done trading-up and it worked very well. I may have also seen this silent growl/pre-growl with a new toy with him twice when I did not have something to trade. I felt he was growling but did not hear anything. But he grabbed and held the toy and and stared at it and I saw the lips pull back as in the earliest stage of a growl. So I went to get something to trade. That is why I feel it was a growl. I will have to work on training and update this thread. But I welcome suggestions in the meantime!

Oh he's a wicked smiler too! I am very familiar with smiling. (But have never caught one of Sadie's or Kevin's one camera!). Nope, wasn't a smile. His lips were pulled back along the sides, like a growl. Edit: BTW-WHat a cutie Pie!! (Could I control hitting "Post" for once??)

The first thing any dog needs in order to feel secure is a good, solid understanding of the rules. The above incident reinforced to him that if he insists, you'll give in. Whether you want him on the bed or not, you do not want to teach him to forcibly insist on something you don't want him to do. Same thing with him pancaking and pushing you with his feet - pushing back makes it a game. Teach him to come onto the bed only when invited and teach him to get off the bed when that invitation is revoked and you'll all be much happier. When he pushes or insists, a simple command to get off the bed solves the issue. He'll learn that being on the bed is a privilege that can be revoked anytime his behavior is not acceptable. We've had him two months. Let me know if I mis-understand any of your post. I just want to clarify that he did NOT sleep with us that night. Also, I think you had a typo, I'm not sure if "pancaking" meant panicking, but if so, he's pushing with his feet, he's making himself very relaxed, stretching and taking over the space and shoving me to get comfy! I'm just trying to remove them because those toenails lodged into my body are very painful and I need to be able to move my arms! But it sounds like the way to go is training "up" and "off" and then any time he missteps (or shoves his feet into me) making him get off. Should I make him wait any longer to begin this training?

Last weekend Kevin decided to take his snuggling to the next level. He had been putting his front legs and body on the bed for hugs and kisses (He is a total lover!). But Saturday he decided to crawl into bed and plop himself down. We were surprised and did not kick him off. (We had not allowed Sadie in the bed because she would sleep startle, she growled and snapped twice, and also hogged the bed without really cuddling). So the next four days or so continued with the pattern of Kevin crawling into bed in the morning for snuggle time and leaving when one of us got up, and again getting some snuggle time in the evening. Tuesday night it was time to go to sleep and we told him not to get on the bed (he had previously shown no interest in late night cuddles). He was determined to sleep with us. After about ten minutes of directing him back to his bed and blocking ours he got the hint and sulked. Wednesday morning he was in bed with me and I was on the computer. And I was not letting him shove his feet into me, I was pushing them away. He got off and got back up a while later at the end/foot of the bed. For some reason he was very gassy. I decided to give him a piece of some generic Gas-X. He was at the foot of the bed. I leaned forward to hand it to him and he curled his lips back and appeared to growl. There was background noise so I did not hear it distinctly and maybe it had no noise, but I saw it. I told him "no" and ordered him off the bed and used the Gas-X goodie to entice him. He has not been allowed on since. I guess I am debating how to handle the situation. He is a sweet boy and we liked snuggling with him. And he liked being close to us. And he appears to miss it. But he puts his face right in my face and is not very respectful with space (pushes his Frito feet in my face and chest a lot- He almost took out one of my eyes with a toenail). I hate to end up being bitten in the face. I am looking for suggestions. I don't know if I should train him to come up on command and command only, and also train him "off"? If there is other training I should do? Or if I should just keep him off the bed? And, any suggestions as to how to keep him from flailing around so much and being so pushy in my space and endangering my eyes? Thank you in advance for all replies!

Oh no! Strength to Onyx. Paws and fingers crossed here. You're both in our thoughts.

I wanted to mention that you might want to ask your vet (or OSU) about starting Bandit on a low dose aspirin. Hounds with GN tend to throw clots--Ohio state had my girl (50lbs) on 20mgs daily. It's a low enough dose that it didn't interfere with the other medications she was taking including prednisone. We too had Sadie on a baby aspirin at first I then discussed some concerns with the vet (it has downsides too) and decided to eliminate it, on balance. It was a personal decision based in part on what i believed was her reaction and certain risks and her situation. Her food contained EFAs which are supposed to help as well. Supplementing with these may be worth discussing with the vet.

Yes, Enalapril and other ACE inhibitors have been linked to kidney failure. It is not understood why, however. It is theorized that dogs/people taking these medications may already have compromised kidney function and the declining function is coincidental and has nothing to do with the medication. There may be a link, however. It is, of course, difficult to parse out when the patient is taking it for kidney failure. I can tell you that Sadie took Enalapril for nearly two years. She began at 10mg and eventually increased to 20mg. I do not believe that it "caused" kidney failure.

Greys do have slightly different "normal" values for kidney related values and they are explained on the OSU website in an article. I wish I could remember all values off the top of my head but they've faded-away since losing Sadie. As for BP it is not a bad idea to get one if possible, or at least try. WHat our vet did because Sadie could not relax in the office (despite her being the Queen of the office) was put her in the car and let her relax for about ten minutes (the car was her cocoon of safety). Then a tech went out and sat in the car with her and the machine and took her pressure (which also runs slightly higher in greys). It helped us confirm she needed to go on Enalipril. JoeJoe'smom has greyt suggestions. If you have kidney issues going on, try to avoid the low protein diets for as long as possible. Low protein diets are hard on these guys.

For really minor scrapes i just wash with soap and water, allow to dry. For a slightly larger scrape I'll apply bag balm after cleaning. If the wound is more than a scrape I clean it up and bandage with gauze and vet wrap over the top (lots of experience bandaging horses and the vet has approved my bandaging). With vet wrap you just have to be careful not to pull too tightly. As for nails, I'm not sure what to say. My dogs have been easy about their nails. I've always trimmed every two weeks and handled their feet a lot so it's not a big deal and not much needs to come off. I usually "attack" when the dog is in a relaxed position on his side. At first Kevin pulled some but now is fine. Try to make handling her feet a positive experience. Keep the muzzle on, of course. But see if she improves if you spend a few minutes everyday just handling her feet. Treat her. Then when she's relaxed about her feet being handled and manipulated try bringing out the clippers and just touch them to her nails. Then eventually open them and touch them to her nails and see what happens. Move along from there. You may be able to de-sensitize her. Or maybe not ... So, Bach's makes a Rescue Remedy for pets but I haven't tried it yet. It's made of flower essences. Maybe you'd feel more comfortable with that than drugs?

Also, if you're worried about the fat in eggs, they sell cartons of just plain old egg whites in the store. You could scramble those instead. Also, baked sweet potato- carby and enticing. Good for helping to gain weight and low in fat. As for yogurt smoothie, you could try Kefir. It's with the yogurts. A different kind of cultured milk product. Pourable and with 10 probiotics it good for them. Nothing artificial. Kevin likes it plain. But they have flavors. A couple of tbs on top of his food with each meal- it's his favorite part! Plus you wouldn't have to make it up- less "cooking"! Good luck and tell Chase to take it easy in this nasty weather!

I second the pre and pro-biotics. I also second something to coat her stomach. Not sure if a little plain keifer with her food would be enough here as far as the probiotics. The vet should be able to recommend something (and maybe a recc on the bandage situation too- since they have to bandage weird furry places all the time!). And usually I think pro/prebiotics are continued for two weeks after the antibiotics are stopped. The antibiotics, once started, usually have to be finished. But, I am not sure if they could be switched. Another question for the vet. Would be great if they could get her on something gentler. And I agree stinky food seems to be the order for encouraging eating. McDonald's, tripe, sardines. Maybe not the easiest on the stomach, but having an empty stomach is no good! Poor girl, I feel for her. I do not tolerate them well either. But I also, like MZH, believe that these measures help. Glad to hear she's maintaining her weight in spite of it all. Go Chase!!

I don't know what to say. You both did everything you could. I am so very sorry. He was a very special boy and very loved.

For whatever it is worth, Sadie had a happy tail that wouldn't stop bleeding (turns out she had a puncture from a pricker). When the vet tested her blood he found low white blood count and Von Willebrand factor. When he consulted re: greyhounds he found both values were normal for greys. It gave us a good scare though. We also managed to find the offending hole. In any event, greys have a different Von Willebrand factor, if I recall correctly (you may want your vet to consult OSU if they tell you it's abnormal). And I hope it's something simple. Scritches for your handsome boy.

Relieved to hear that Harley is doing ok. Really bad days are to be expected when battling an illness like this, especially when adding something like Tramadol. My vet offered it as an option at one point in Sadie's life and explained its zombie-like effects. So it sounds to me like a really good sign that once he shook it he wanted to eat. And it sounds like you're on the right track- figuring out what he likes and feeding that (great that the food from the vet is one of those thing- who knew!!) and trying new things. Timing the Tramadol with your sleep and finding the right dose. See, you're making progress. I'm sorry it's so exhausting. Between the physical demands and the emotion of it all I'm sure you feel like you're on another planet. But, hopefully seeing that things are slowly getting on track helps. Sending lots of hugs for you Sherry and scritches for Harley. April & Kevin

I am so very sorry.

Ok, like Judy said, puree the rice. And try it with quinoa. Try brown rice because it has more nutrition. It also has more flavor and maybe its fiber will help firm his poo? My cautions on any broth (because we used them for Sadie's homecooking)- most are high sodium and most have onions and garlic in them. It's so hard to find one that has nothing from the allium family. You either have to make your own or we found one by Swanson that was low sodium and had no onion or garlic. But, it might have been beef?? Not sure if there was a chicken kind. Also, is he on a probiotic to help with the wipeout that has surely occurred to his intestinal flora from all the big D? Just keep trying the feedings as frequently as possible. It will help keep his appetite up and if all he can handle are small amounts it will help with the weight. But weight is so hard, especially when you have to limit a part of their diet or they are refusing food. Just hang in there and watch what he's showing interest in. Keep drinking those fluids Harley!

Don't forget Tufts also. Not sure how far that is from you, but it may be no further than some of the other options. Good luck and I'm very sorry.

Glad things are still ok. As for sweet potatoes, they are for lean dogs to add weight. I feed them to Kevin when we have them. He digests them very well. They have more nutrition than white and I think they are more appealing to the dogs. Ask the Dr. if you can roast them- it makes them so sweet. (You probably already know this, but in case you don't eat them) Just prick them all around and throw them in the 400 degree oven for about an hour. Put foil under them because they will drip juices that will burn onto your oven and smoke. When the skins seem to have pulled away and they smell sweet and are squishy to the touch they are done . Let them cool and then you can just peel the skins off easily or squeeze them out of the skins. You could spread them on the toast or mix them with eggs whites. I bet he likes them! Also ask her about Quinoa. It is a high protein, low fat grain that is very nutritious. You could use it in place of pasta. Maybe he'd like it mixed into the sweet potato mash with some salmon or egg whites. I know that feeling of wanting them to eat something, anything. I hope he continues on a good course. Hang in there, you're a greyt mom.

For whatever this is worth- Sadie used to get cramps in her front legs. She would yelp out in pain and hold her leg out stiff and cry. We would rub it and encourage her to walk and after a couple of minutes it would ease and be like nothing ever happened. (sort of like a toe cramp if you have ever experienced one of those). She got them when she was younger. But a few months before she passed she had a horrible incident where she could not get up and all her muscles were locked-up, but her eyes told me she was very much with it. She was crying for more than 20 minutes. All i could do was hold her because trying to move her caused her more pain. I thought she would die in my arms. I called my husband and told him I thought she was dying and to rush home. He got home and she was coming out of it. We went to the vet that afternoon. He wondered if it was a seizure but having had personal experiences with those before I believe it was more likely a stroke or possibly a horrible muscle spasm that affected most of her body. Poor Roo. I simply relate this to let you know a muscle spasm can be very painful- it can be caused by neurological issues, but also nutritional imbalance. I hope it is something simple and she continues to improve. If she can move around and get some light exercise it may keep her muscles from being as tense. I hope you get an answer soon and she starts to feel better.

Yes on the kidney values. See OSU's site for all the specifics on "normal" for grey kidney values. I sure hope she feels better soon. Can they give her a different antibiotics if her tummy is still bothering her in a couple days? Poor Chase. I hope she's back track soon!! She is a little beauty.

I remember something about them helping a GH and it was someone here who posted it, but I can't remember what exactly it was. Ocean State is just down the street from me and from what I have heard, they have quite a reputation I did a search and saw it was "Fasave" who has several posts about a Dr. Huntley. It appears in posts about alternative treatments for Rizzo's cancer and other related posts. She may be able to give you her experience if you contact her. I do not know her.

No personal experience, but when we thought Sadie had leukemia I believe Ocean State Veterinary was where our vet was going to send us. They handle all the "big stuff" and the emergencies around here. They are in East Greenwich, RI. http://www.osvs.net/ Good luck and I hope Lucy is doing as well as can be expected.