XTRAWLD
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Posts posted by XTRAWLD
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Thanks guys. I appreciate all the threads. Never heard about the corneal ulcers. Yuck.
His eye is improved today, less redness and no pus. Think I'll call the vet to get an appt later tonight after I get home from work. He's due to have his prednisone today for his allergies (been holding off giving it to him to see if it affects his eye).
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Before I start, I'm not a NEWB with a greyhound, so please don't treat me like I know ZERO about greys or dogs. Usually when I post in this section I get picked apart, and I have no idea why. I'm just looking for advice and ideas - not harsh criticism.
Kasey usually has "eye booger" that we pick out from time to time from his eyes. This is a usual occurance and we aren't alarmed by it. Usually it's a light grey/black, and that's where the black crusties form on the corners of their eyes. Yesterday morning though, I picked out a bit of green. Later in the day I could tell he was "favouring" the eye, pawing at it with his dew claw and actually squinting with it closed. I put eye drops in, natural tears, which is a staple in our house ever since he needed extra lubrication years ago with his third eyelid. It didn't seem to help very much, and I noticed the white of his eye is red. Before bedtime I put more drops and took a look as best I could. He closed his eye a lot and not letting me have a good look. I just rinsed the eye with a damp cold facecloth sort of like a soothing compress for a couple minutes.
This morning there isn't much of a change. He was holding it closed first thing this morning, however I noticed less green pus than the morning before. His third eyelid looks like it's covering more of his eye than it should first thing this morning, so I applied a lubricating gel - again as I did years ago when he had some dryness. He walks around with both eyes fully open, but time to time, that eye is squinting and is visibly smaller, so he is bothered. He likes to close it especially when I want to take a look.
My question now that you have the background story - a couple weeks ago hubby had an eye issue, a blocked tear duct we presume and redness/swelling on his eyelid, which went away after lubricating and taking a diff allergy med than his usual Claritin - Benadryl. His eye cleared up and he was good as new. I'm wondering if whatever happened to transferred to Kasey? Was it more than just a blocked tear duct? My right eye seems to be bothering ME a bit now as well and I wonder if I'm just imagining things or if something is getting transferred from human to dog to human? Am I crazy? Is something in the air? It wasn't pink eye, I know what that looks like, but what else can be transferred? How do I protect Ryder?
Anyway, I also gave Benadryl to Kasey this morning, wondering if that may help him as well - it worked for hubby! We've given it to him before because of his allergies, which is why I have it kicking around - so don't jump on me for giving this to him - we have before!
Also how do I check his eye if maybe there is something foreign bothering him under his eyelid? If something is in there, would it create irritation enough to produce a little pus? Pus if from infection - so..... He will let me handle him, but he's constantly shutting that eye not letting me get a look.
If this isn't better by tomorrow I will take him to the vet to see what's going on, but hoping this might clear up on it's own right now.
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Owie, poor girl. Kinda looks like a bulge near the top - hard to tell on the pics. Clean it really well. I use hurt free bandaid solution for things like that. If you have CS, spray some of that on there afterwards. If not, try to put some Polysporin/Neosporin on it. Rinse it with some epsom salt water a couple times a day and hopefully you'll see an improvement. If it starts to look worse, or pus....I'd go see a vet.
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Hi fellow GRA member!
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Kasey has never been a big eater, and I think this is a contributing factor - not food motivated. He could eat 5 cups of kibble a day - that's a stretch for him to try to eat (force fed so to speak by putting something on it to make him eat) and still not gain much at all. It also doesn't help that he's on prednisone to control allergies.
What worked? Raw. He gained 2 pounds in a month and was doing really well weight wise when he was on raw. However, being on raw didn't help anything else. He still had a bad case of allergies, however he never missed a meal! We struggle with his weight still, and do our best to keep him not looking like a rack of bones since we are now back on kibble. Seems like we can never win with him.
Ryder is the complete opposite, I think he looks at food and gains weight!
Edit: Kasey ate pork - purely meat based (pork belly) and turkey necks/drums. That worked for us. He's allergic to chicken, and mildly to pork, so he sorta got stuck eating the meaty chunks we gave him - and I think ultimately that's what helped him put the weight on.....
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My goodness you've been through a lot! I hope everything works out for you!
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We had the hardest time finding a food for Kasey once we got him. a lot of it is trial and error. We buy small bags first, but you also have to try the food for a little bit, you can't just feed for a couple days and then give up. You can return bags of uneaten food if it doesn't work out, but ask at the counter first. Lamb goes right through Kasey, I would say that even chicken could be intolerable to some dogs. He actually does better on the cheapest, not good for you food if that makes sense. Premium quality holistic organic food - just didn't work. A couple years later, Kasey now has a severe allergy to anything chicken. Go figure.
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The playing is indoors, in our basement that has a little bit of room to stretch their legs and have some room around each of them for tug, etc. They both willingly play with me or hubby at the same time. It's a bit of an acrobatic display though because they play separately....one hand holds the bear, the other holds the dragon. LOL
I did figure Ryder wasn't sure about the fun police wanting to play. I'm worried Kasey might be rough, but as mentioned Ryder would put him in his place I would hope if he did something where he was too uncomfortable. So we should stop intervening and stopping Kasey until we see something more aggressive? We should have Ryder stand up for himself instead? I've seen the skin tear thread when hounds get upset with eachother and I would never forgive myself if Kasey did that to Ryder.
I'd like to get the interaction on video and then post it here, but of course the camera is never within reach when play time begins.
I'd just watch them. When we first got Maddy we were careful when she and Rocky played because they get pretty wound up.
This is them playing not too long after we got Maddy. They're not quite this wild anymore (they're old hounds).
Strangely the 2 play police sleeping didn't put an end to this
They've never played outside, but if they did we would have muzzled them.
I watched the vid. Neither of them are lying down when play time is about to start, both are always standing. Ryder is the more submissive one, but I doubt he would be up for Kasey grabbing his head! At this stage of the game anyway!
AHHH, the teeth are so close to the eyeballs!
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Our boys have been together now for over a year. Kasey "tolerates" Ryder. Ryder is a spunky 3 year old, soon to be 4. You just pick up a toy and he will play with you. Kasey is 8 and he picks the times to be happy and playful. We've had Kasey 6 years now, so we are familiar with him. Over the past couple of days, I have seen Kasey with a full high wag of his tail, try to approach Ryder to play. Earlier this week he went into a full bow, tail wagging, barking at Ryder. Ryder shys away, kinda stands there hoping Kasey won't pounce on him. Ryder is very careful not to place a foot wrong in our house! Kasey has started to pick up and play with toys that Ryder plays with. Kasey usually uses only his teddy bear, but now he's grabbed a squaky "wubba" and Ryder's favorite toy "dragon". This morning Kasey held "wubba" and I was tugging and Ryder came in for a grab of the end I had....but when he saw Kasey attached to the other end he backed off, but I did encourage him to try to grab the other end if he wanted, because I've noticed this "play" behaviour from Kasey.
Kasey is a big party pooper in our house. In the past, if Ryder is playing too much Kasey will just come into the room and Ryder will stop. But now, it seems like he wants to get along. We waited to see what would happen each time Kasey has tried to play. Kasey has tried to nip Ryder, going mostly for the neck and ears, a couple times trying the back. No injury, but Ryder's fur is a little damp so I know he made contact. We are very carefully watching and call it off when we think Kasey is getting ahead of himself and he immediately stops. I think Ryder is too scared to play with Kasey when Kasey is in full out play mode, so we try to protect Ryder by calling Kasey off when he's going nuts. Ryder's tail is not tucked between his legs when this happens, he just sorta turns his body to the side away from Kasey and stands there.
How do I know when it's ok and try to let him play? If I think they are starting to play and I grab the muzzles, they immediately stop and Kasey tried desperately to get the muzzle off like he's never had to deal with it ever in his life, so the total focus of play is gone in an instant.
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How's the healing krissy? What ended up working best for you?
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Mmmmm, turkey necks are Kasey's favorite. He loves them (raw). And it has the right amount of bone in them to keep his system happy for a day or two.
He's a sloppy eater though, so I have to hold the neck as he chews or it ends up ALL OVER my floor and I have extra work to clean up. (Sorry, this doesn't make it sound appetizing, but you can indeed feed it raw and all to our pups. I was skeptical at first, but it's totally possible.) I'd just be concerned about giving one raw thing for the first time ever, and then a raw thing the next week, without having their system transition over all at once. I'm sure other people have more experience with "irregular" raw feeding. It's sorta, sorry the pun, going cold turkey in order to feed raw, and I'd think it's all or nothing after being there and doing that. I don't know if there is an "in between" time where you still feed kibble, because IMO that will just mess up the dog's system more.
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I think I read on here to put a pool noodle on!
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Kasey does this too. He walks right up and acts like an ostrich!
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Kasey has allergies. We did blood testing to determine what he's allergic to but could not do skin testing because he would have to be off meds for too long of a time. Blood testing is also less accurate than skin testing.
I have noticed this on him too, but doesn't seem to bother him, I just thought it was almost like a callus since he lays down like a roo often and that part of the belly touches the carpet/bed, etc all the time.
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Mugsy had to go for an ultrasound yesterday, all is fine...he just has an enlarged prostate, but he went to the same place that Vinny went for his ultrasound the day we had to let him cross the bridge. Frosty was with us that day in May. When we came home with Mugsy she sniffed him up & down. Fast forward to this morning, Mugsy was lying on the floor on his side, Frosty came in from outside ran upstairs with a purpose, came right back with one of Mugsy's favorite toys in her mouth walked right over to him, dropped it in front of him and walked over to the couch and waited for me to straighten her blanket so she could lay in her spot. It seemed to me that she knew where he had been, and thought he needed some care. Could that be? She picked one of his favorite toys out of a bin of about 30 or 40 toys...coincidence?
That is so awesome. Makes you think good things about the world sometime when an animal surprises you like that, doesn't it?
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Wait command works well. Helps to slowly increase the time increments little by little. I couldn't get Ryder to sit for more than 5 seconds, now he's easily up to over a minute (I haven't timed the longest he's stayed sitting).
He still wants to jump out of the car as soon as we open the door, so we do the wait command there as well, but that one is much more difficult.
We've had Kasey for 6 years now, and he understands wait. I'd be willing to bet I could encircle him with cookies and he wouldn't touch them, much like the photos with Rainy. Clearly Rainy know's who's boss!
My obedience class also taught us how to "claim" an object - such that you leave a cookie on the floor but Ryder shouldn't touch it, I move forward and loudly say "mine". This also works for things he would pick up outside and shouldn't be in his mouth, I say "mine" and he drops it. Practice makes perfect. In our class we used hot dogs - so cruel - right in front of them, and had to claim them, but gave incremental time allowance for them to try to take it. Once satisfied, we picked it up and said ok and fed it to them. We are the boss! Practice practice practice and patience patience patience.
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Ryder had both his big back top molars pulled about 5 weeks ago and he's only 3! Stitches only fully fell out about a week ago too! He's slowly getting used to chewing things without those teeth, but I cringe every time he eats something crunchy/hard, so he and I know what you are going to go through!
Speedy recovery!
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I disagree about them not having "anger" or "i'll get back at you attitude". My sister-in-law's little runt of a dog defecates in the house on purpose when left alone or if she's scolded him. He does it in plain sight of her, often right after going outside, cause he knows the cue. "I get it, you send me out to do my business and then you leave me all day long by myself....." I totally believe animals, however I think it's more common in cats, can have this get back at you mentality. I can understand the dog going in the house as a last resort....but this was not her situation nor is it the OP's.
I would recommend if you catch him peeing again, sternly correct the dog with a no, but take him straight out to do his business after it happens. When we got Ryder, he peed in the house on several occassions and this is how we corrected it. He just had to go potty way more frequently than Kasey who has a tank of steel, and he had no cue to tell us "I gotta go ma". Ryder now has built up his own tank and hasn't peed in the house for nearly a full year now.
Ryder often will go and eat anything remaining in Kasey's bowl if we don't stop him. He now knows not to step near the bowl until I say it's ok to do so. This was done by telling him no if he advanced towards it, and claiming Kasey's bowl as mine once Kasey was finished.
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I also believe they are maggots and are not tape worms (I've had experience with both) ....although those are huge maggots - musta been feeding for a bit.
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Hi fellow Greyhound lovers.
Our newly almost adopted girl took a tumble coming off the deck last night. She has a serious skinned front paw. Not worthy of stitches, not dripping blood, but a scrape that is very red and when I dab it, a little bit of blood. We bandaged it last night, but due to her licking, took it off this a.m. I am interested in advice as to whether we cover it again, let her lick it, what to put on it (if anything). I don't want it to get infected, just want it to heal quickly and safely. I'm home with her all day to monitor licking, etc. Right now she's sleeping. Thanks everyone for the assistance. I appreciate it.
I recommend spraying Collodial Silver on it and leave it open to dry. If you can't/don't have CS then I have in the past just put polysporin on it and left it to air. Helps the healing process. Good luck. Paws are tough places!
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Wow. Can't believe the amount of bite responses! Naturally I take care and watch for signs always, as should everyone. Yes I was certainly looking for "provoked" biting as opposed to accidental. Kasey has accidently bit us when we are playing, missed the toy and grabbed a finger, etc so I don't really count those as "bites" because they were not intentional. Kasey is a big time ham, any 2 legged creature with hands are welcome to give him scratches any time! Interesting group of stories....thanks for sharing.
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I always hug and kiss my boys. Often close to their face and muzzles etc. Never once has anything like this evoked a response like "get away from me". They have never snapped, never got mad, never growled or showed their teeth. They stand there and take all the fuss going on about them.
While it's never happened, and I'm not sure it ever will but I guess I'm curious about the breed in general - even though we've had Kasey for 6 years now. I'm not talking about a playful nip from anyone, but rather a full out mouth grab. Do greyhounds possess the "anger" or "intolerance" for lack of a better word than other breeds of dog? Not many other breeds would like a head and face right next to theirs and would lunge and strike.....I wonder sometimes if they would ever just snap and lose it and grab me. LOL
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I'd also agree it's a puppy thing and an excitement thing.
We have caught Kasey chewing his leash a couple times. It's usually when we are at the door ready for our walk and he gets excited.
I second the Lupine....lifetime warranty on those suckers. Kasey has never tried chewing the Lupine, but always goes after our soft alternate one that latches onto our harness (since it has a backwards lobster clip type latch that won't fit on a large ring).
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I take melatonin when I can't sleep. It certainly relaxes you, and if I wake during sleep, I fall back asleep pretty quickly. If you read up on melatonin itself (I wikied it before I tried melatonin the first time, great write up), it is a naturally occurring thing in the body, and way better to use than sleeping pills. Some people do not have enough of it, or too much of it, and it directly affects your sleeping pattern. I don't know about the "you couldn't poison a dog with melatonin if you tried", but if 3mg works on a full grown human, I'd imagine that is enough for our greys. I've never taken more than the 3mg, don't see why a human would need to. I do agree that it is something to try for storm fear, since it is a relaxant.
He's a sloppy eater though, so I have to hold the neck as he chews or it ends up ALL OVER my floor and I have extra work to clean up. (Sorry, this doesn't make it sound appetizing, but you can indeed feed it raw and all to our pups. I was skeptical at first, but it's totally possible.)
Eye Bother
in Health and Medical discussion
Posted
The drops and gel I use have nothing but lubricating meds in them, no steroids, etc. I booked a 5pm appt today to take him, the earliest they had. His eyes are open, but it's certainly a little "tender" so to speak. I do think he's better than he was yesterday and certainly the day before. I also did not give him prednisone this morning in case it would mask symptoms, so we'll see what happens when we take him for his visit.
Poor dog, poor wallet. It's always one thing after the other with Kasey. Good thing he's not scared of going to the vet!