XTRAWLD

Usually takes a half hour to work. It's now been 2 hours after giving him his pills and he's sleeping quietly after eating his dinner (which I cut back to half just in case he really does have indigestion). I can't believe how dumb I feel. Will be certain it was the throat closing up on him when he gets up for our nightly walk and he is not hacking. That hasn't happened in a long time. Hubby and I were just thinking what happens when you are congested, your sinuses swell and then I thought, HIS THROAT IS SWELLING. Lesson learned.....

Thanks for the tip JarBear. When I'm at Costco next, I'll look for em. Except I should probably buy a small pack at the drug store to try to see if it works before buying a massive bottle. The vet is trying to encourage me to go from raw back to gasto-intestinal diet (kibble). I don't feel that I have given enough time to raw to completely throw it out the window.....so if I can try to get them to adjust to the raw better and give raw and honest go, I'd be willing to try the Pepcid to control the acid. The Cerenia is working well but of course can't be used long term. Half dose is so far the key.

OMG how stupid am I. He did this once before, years ago, and I thought his throat was closing up because of allergies. Gave him his meds....away it went. He has been doing so well on raw, I have nearly forgotten that he occasionally still needs prednisone. This chin is "puffy" and he's scratching - clearly that is a sign to us to give him his prednisone. Just administered it now. Lets hope for improvement. OMG lets hope.

The last time he had bone was Tuesday (that was a turkey drum) - he only started doing this licking thing morning. I figure any fragment of bone would be gone by now. I gave him a chewable Vitamin C tablet yesterday morning - that has got to be dissolved by now. He's had a turkey drum last week on Tuesday also - no issues. Could it be congestion? He is certainly acting like something is stuck. We had to go out for family visiting today and when we came back there has been no change. I found no mess either. If anything I don't notice the licking and swallowing as much, it's now more active, coughing to get something up and out. Twice on our walk he stopped to do this, and also when we came home he was excited to see us. I just gave him a 1/4 cup of beef broth. He is acting fine, walk, pee, playing, nothing out of the ordinary but for this coughing. He has never touched ANYTHING in the house, so I don't think he would have picked up something and tried to eat it. He's always been really good that way. He's currently sleeping, so it's not like he's licking/swallowing/coughing constantly. I have been feeding raw since April 1. We are currently feeding pork belly and pork heart and beef tripe, (I feed all three in a meal, never just one item in a meal), the heart was first introduced on April 15, (up to that point I was feeding only belly and tripe) and then I was feeding heart every other day. He's been eating heart for 2 days straight now, so I think I'll omit that for him and go back to the pork belly and tripe only. I also think I will reduce his daily consumption. He's never been a big eater, so it might just be too much food in general for him. He's picky so I cut the pork pieces in half, otherwise he actually will refuse to eat it. (Some dog he is). I do the frozen and thaw out before they need to eat it - so based on comments I don't think the food itself is bad. It's fresh from a local farm and I put it in bags and freeze it the second I get it home (it's actually really really cold when we are bagging it - as my husband can attest to with his frozen hands). Oddly, it's like he has a cold.....like he's stuffy and congested - is that possible and it's not related to food at all? If this keeps up, for sure we will visit the vet, sucks it has to be on a long weekend, but if I am concerned enough, have no fear I WILL take him. I'm just thinking it's a 24 hour thing too....at least I hope so. Ryder is fine. If it's not one dog, it's the friggin' other....

Indigestion? Acid reflux for him too? Video He will do that for about a minute, and then nothing for like 5 minutes, and then salivate again and swallow. He has been playing with toys, gone pee and poo, walks fine and I can't see that his ribcage is enlarged, so, I don't think it's bloat.....but this is unusual and how do I help him? We gave him pepto at 615am he had breakfast at 7am, and Gas-x at 930am just in case. He's still doing the same thing since 530am.....Lots of lip licking, saliva and swallowing.....it's almost like something is stuck in his throat, but nothing is in there, and nothing is stuck in his teeth....

I have not tried Pepcid - but have been thinking about it and mentioned it to the vet and he nodded it is something worth using, however we haven't gone down that route yet. Is Pepcid ok to give daily? I cut the dosage on the Cerenia last night, and so far, Ryder is more alert - more like himself but with the added bonus of not wanting to throw up.

So Kasey is salivating and swallowing. Started at 530. I was thinking he's not reacting well to the raw (we've been feeding for nearly a month) but this is not like him. He's laying down, not pacing, stretches now and again. We've taken him for 2 walks - no sign of enlarged rib cage, he did pees and poops etc, but we'll keep an eye on him. No wretching. Go figure on a Good Friday, good thing E-Vet is around the corner just in case. UGH. If just the salivating/swallowing continues do I get him checked out? He hasn't tried to throw up yet.

I know you've probably tried everything - cooked rice? Plain might be a little bland, but roll it around in some gravy and see what happens? When Kasey hasn't had a desire to eat rice, almost ALWAYS worked. The last time around I added beef broth so the rice wasn't so plain....he lapped it up. What about soft treats? Something that comes to mind is pill pockets, they are so mushy and full of smell to mask the pills Kasey loves them (he just doesn't know pills are in there). Beef jerky was a good try - good that she ate that! I wonder..... When we go hiking we sometimes buy these gel packs/gummies. They are like an electrolyte like Gatorade/Powerade, but easier to carry around and keep your energy levels up. I wonder if that might help? They look like this - Energy Gels and Chews When we used to hike a lot with Kasey and if we would run out of water, he would drink some Gatorade/Powerade and get blue or pink lips afterwards, it was a hoot. Glad to hear about her good news.

Kasey has been trying to vomit or something since 5:30 this morning. He's been constantly licking and swallowing. (I know I get a build up of saliva before I hurl so, I figure that's what he's doing). He's been doing this for 1.5 hours now. There is nothing stuck in his throat. He's not the vomiter in the house, Ryder is. For Kasey to throw up takes a lot, but he did this 2 weekends ago....and we are already above his quota. But for both of them to want to throw up in the early morning hours I can't help but connect this to something going on with the raw food. Lets not visit the "feed later" thing, I've beat that to death with Ryder. Can we try to think about: Is there too much fat in their meals? Are the chunks of food too big? Is the food bad? (How long can different items keep in the fridge before spoiling?) Could it be served/fed to them better - ie should it be room temperature instead of out of the fridge or should I wash/rinse the meat before feeding? There might be a minute detail that I am not doing that could make the difference. I'm hesitant about feeding Kasey breakfast just to have it all over the house in a few minutes.

Got the call. He couldn't be more perfect across the board. He did the Spec cPL & TLI tests and his counts are perfect. So pancreatitis is ruled out. No need to get any inflammatory drugs as there are no signals he's in need of them. I asked if I can reduce the dosage of his Cerenia in half cause he's a friggin zombie LOL and he agreed (he's going to obedience class tonight so having a sedative might not be the best thing either). His reasoning to give the Cerenia was indeed to get the dog's body to relax and to break the cycle of vomiting. Based on the result, he did just that. He gave me his cell phone number to call in case there is something bad going on with Ryder over the long weekend. I thought that was super. He did think that going to a gastro-diet or in combination with raw would inevitably be the best for Ryder, because he may just have a sensitive stomach and that's that. PHEW SIGH OF RELIEF!

Thanks Everyone. Yes it is not to be used for longer than 5 days, we are using it for 4, so we have 3 left. I don't think he wants to treat what is going on until he knows what is going on. Does that make sense? He doesn't want to give an inflammatory med if he doesn't know for sure that's the problem which is why I think he gave us Cerenia. He just wants his body to slow down a little bit and if he is inflamed to give him a bit of a chance to recoup. Perhaps by keeping him "still" his body can relax a bit. Ryder was very quiet last night. Not restless at all. Usually in the middle of the night he would get up multiple times to find a better sleeping position regardless of if he would throw up or not. The vet did talk about diet. He's not against raw feeding, however he did suggest that we consider not feeding it exclusively. Giving him a gasto type kibble may be enough for him to slow his digestion down. It might also be enough get rid of the bile since it could be digested easier and slower.....We never really considered that giving him a nice piece of protein (pork) was really hard work for him to digest - we were actually thinking the opposite, but perhaps he is irritated by how hard he has to work to digest the raw. I forgot to mention to him about his mucousy stool when he was on Kirkland....I'll have to find that thread and the date.....maybe we can piece together something. Batmom - Regarding the feeding type of food change with kibble - we've been there, done that (and done over and over again with Kasey considering he has allergies). I actually think he was probably better on crappy Iams than on any other premium kibble he was on. Regarding fat - the pork belly trim I'm feeding has a lot of fat - perhaps I'll cut it a lot of it off to see how much of a difference that makes. Again - didn't realize fat could be a cause. See what can be learned on this forum - great stuff! Thank you all! Results expected today.....keep the comments coming. I wanted to add - we have met all three vets now at the new practice we are at. The vet today was a man - Ryder doesn't like men, but he was a good boy anyway. Great fact - he worked with a Greyhound Rescue Group during his schooling - I'd like to prompt him for more info about that sometime, but I'm so happy to hear he is familiar with the breed.

So as some as you know, Ryder has had morning vomiting issues for what seems like forever. We've had him nearly a year and as far back as I can remember he's been throwing up bile in the early morning hours. I have been trying to control it with food, and can no longer find a trend as to how to prevent the bile, nor can I figure out the good days he's had vs. the bad. We went to the vet today. The vet was understanding about our food switch from kibble to raw 20 days ago. He did a full check up of Ryder - his temperature was up only by half a degree. Based on talking with the vet, Ryder has been prescribed Cerenia to see if it helps. He also took some blood and it will be analyzed with results expected tomorrow. He's banking on "smoldering" pancreatitis but of course we all hope not. One step at a time here of course. I could go on and on about what was discussed but I won't. I just want Ryder to stop throwing up and feeling crappy. The Cerenia we have is 60 mg for 4 days. We gave him his first dose today and we'll see what happens. I will have to research more about Cerenia but would appreciate comments regarding the use of this drug. In addition, the same can be said for "smoldering" pancreas version. Thanks everyone.

What food change would you propose I do? He did this on kibble, and now on raw...... That's what I'm worried about, that it is so recurring that he needs medical attention before it gets worse. So far 4 nights in a row he's holding his own.

Fruitcake - I totally agree. Changing the route and avoiding the situation isn't always the best idea. Ryder is in obedience class and I spoke to the trainer about how skiddish he still is. Last week, there was work being done at a house down the street and a trailer was parked out front and a guy was shovelling sand and banging around. Ryder got spooked. I stood there and asked for a sit and waited. 45 minutes and he finally sat and calmed down. I moved down the street and waited again for a sit - took 30 minutes this time. We continued on our walk, I got a sit within 10 minutes of asking, then 5, then 3 and so on. It's a method of training called "flooding". You expose the dog to the "element" as much as possible until they calm down and do as they are told. To relate this to people - lets say you have a fear of spiders. I will lock you into a room FULL of spiders. You can freak out and go mental but if I let you out in that state, you will be worse off than you were when you went in. If I let you out when you are calm and have conquered the fear, you will be better off. Often people don't want to train the dog this way because it takes too long and no one has patience, but it is nearly the best method out there to get a dog to conquer it's fear or get over their excitement etc., and gives the owner the control.

My Kasey is on prednisone for his allergies. The "sideffect" is increased appetite - although he's always exhibited the opposite of this effect - not much of an appetite. Maybe that is a greyhound thing and might explain further why she isn't mowing stuff down. We are all thinking of you guys, thank you for your updates.

We've been puke free for 3 nights. See if you can spot a trend cause I can't: Last throw up was Apr 12. Apr 13 Breakfast 9:10am, Dinner 8pm, bedtime snack a small handful of dehydrated lung/liver Apr 14 Breakfast 7:00am, Dinner 7pm, no snack period Apr 15 Breakfast 7:00am, Dinner 7:30, piece of bread for bedtime snack Apr 16 Breakfast 6:45am, Dinner I'm aiming for 7 or maybe 8 because I hope to sleep in a little tomorrow morning and seems if I can hold out for a late dinner, I'm not ending up with puke..... I'm still laying out towels in the event he pukes in his favorite spot. At this point, I'm not going to get up in the middle of the night to rush out to clean it anymore. Haven't had a chance to make it out to the vet, but plan to soon just to chat with her. She was very reasonable in her pricing when we took him in to get his paw looked at (this is our new vet) so hopefully just to talk to her about his bile issue will not cost an arm and a leg. I wonder if I even need to bring him in or if it can be discussed on the phone?! I like the oatmeal idea - the problem is I'm having problems controlling his weight as it is. I'm scaling his feeding back today to see what kind of an impact that will have since he's mister tubalub.

In the summer when the hose is back out in the backyard, I just turn the hose on and off I go with the watering...and while I'm out there, some for the trees, some for the flowers....some for the rest of the grass......you'll end up with a pretty backyard every time she pees by the time you are done!

Ryder loves the shell...Kasey not so much. So far, my boys are still alive and kickin'. I think the shell provides them with calcium....

We had signs in our window alerting greyhounds are inside in case of fire. If something happens when we aren't home (we are in a townhouse complex joined on both sides to our neighbours) hopefully someone would be able to rescue them.

Thanks. They've been having boneless meals since the Turkey drums on Tues evening. This morning's poop was better for Kasey. Now I know it takes at least 2 days for a drum to clear their system.

4th class last night. I had called Howard early last week to ask about what to do with Kasey when I'm training. He suggested to put Kasey away. I had to form a bond with Ryder. I could train and play with Kasey later, but he wasn't going to learn how to do things from Kasey, I had to show Ryder directly. I'm glad I asked! In we went, did the circle of friends as I now like to call it. He sat a couple times for people and he was actually approaching them as they came up to him, curious about what was in their pocket. He's still got big time trust issues especially in men. The last guy that visited Ryder got a sit out of him, I was so happy - but he didn't give him anything....I'm like HELLO....**? Reward that behaviour.....ugh. After the circle we grabbed the haltis/gentle leaders. I only tried a Halti in the last class and got a chance to try the Gentle Leader last night. IMO it fit much better. It sat lower on his nose, however size medium seemed a little too tight and there was zero slack (unlike the Halti I tried the week prior). Howard did not have any of the snap together Leaders, and so we just tried a buckle version. The only difference is how quick you can put it on and get going (where it connects by the ears), when you have a squirming dog, you want to do this quickly. Howard went to put it on Ryder and he squirmed really bad, reared up and flipped over. He's so terrified of men, but at least he didn't bite him. I put the Leader on him once he gathered himself back up. We were then required to sit at the door before it opened, but this whole fuss he put up (we were last) delayed the class so off we went outside. I'm curious if one on one training with Ryder and Howard only might help the fear, I'd like to talk to Howard about that sometime. We went for a walk outside as a group past a myriad of distractions, horses, ducks, dogs (barking, pacing and the owners dog that was running around off lead on purpose). We were required to sit at locations. Ryder wanted nothing to do with sitting, he doesn't bother to try when I pull on the Leader. I put him in a sit by tucking his legs and THEN he sat and stayed there and I rewarded him. SHEESH. We went back to the arena. Leaders off. We then "dressed" our dog in T-Shirts. Enforcing the poke-prod-pull lesson we learned the week prior. Ryder wore a yellow "Fast Dogs" shirt like a champ. No issues putting him into clothing (I yelled to Howard, "Is it sad that I've done this before?") LOL He told us to get the dog comfortable with this, and even have friends do it when they are over. That would be a fun game huh? After that we learned a tug game. We eventually want to start rewarding with play and not just food. We all got a tug rope and were encouraged to get the dogs excited and start playing. We had to abide by the "tug rules" so that we were training dogs to play as the reward, making them want to keep playing. Ryder watched other dogs playing, I couldn't get him interested. He does it at home LOL of course. So Howard told me to bring his toy to class next week, since we will work on play reward when he does something good instead of food. I realized last night, my training with Ryder has been slacking and I need to step it up. When I spent a solid week with him learning sit, he was stellar in the next class. Now he's like "whatever, mom". 2 classes left. At this point, he's not good enough in his training for me to consider agility. I think we will just get too frustrated learning new things when he doesn't have the basics down solid. So I'll worry about agility when I get there. Maybe invest time in some solo sessions with Howard instead. Have to think about that.

Well, last night we tried it, this one must have fit more snug/better because he was fussing.....last class he didn't seem to care as much. I didn't purchase it because it was a strap and buckle type and I think I would like a snap/click version because it is quicker. I considered the halti coming loose and thought that I'd like to secure a short leash to the collar until I get the gimmick hooked up properly. My mom sews and does magic with anything....so once I find the actual halti to use I'll get it going. I found that the Gentle Leader actually fit him way better than the Halti last week. It sat a little lower on his nose and not right at his eye balls, but I found that the portion that went over his nose was really tight, like choking tight just standing there. I don't know if a Medium is his size as there is no slack when he's being good. When he ate treats with it on, he coughed, so I think it's just a smidge too tight. ANYWAY, thank you for the suggestions.....I'll think of something this week. I have a spare martingale that I think I will use, I don't want his pretty one sewn up.

Ya, Kasey is straining, Ryder isn't as bad. I'll remember that for next time. I think all the bone might finally be out of their system now.....we'll see what I find on our walk this morning!

The easiest solution - water the patch of grass immediately after urination. Keep a watering can full nearby, and go out and water when she's done. I'm not saying there might not be some burning, but it really helps the concentration of urine.

That is such great news. I'm sure being home and her usual surroundings is helping her out immensely! Keep up the love!