Riverhound

The vet at NGAP said Joe's teeth looked great today. He zapped a couple spots, and cleaned his funky canines -- no anesthesia, no charge. Friggin' awsome!

:yay Dr. Patel said he didn't need a full dental! He cleaned the grunge off his canines, zapped a couple other spots, and we were all done. (I wasn't even finished shopping in their store.) No charge for the quick cleaning, just for the exam and his shots. AND the doc isn't overly concerned about the mystery limp! Joe got a nifty red plaid coat that I need to take pictures of. Perfect for the holidays! We celebrated with Cheeburger Cheeburger followed by a trip to Lambertville and some nice Riverhorse beer. (For folks in the area, they allow dogs in the tasting room. And they have Milky Bones!) :yay

Oh, dear. Evidently Joe is waaaay spoiled! He gets something (duck jerky, milk bone, leftover breakfast) when we leave in the morning, something else when I leave after lunch, and many somethings at night (little biskie, more duck jerky, pizza bones, leftover dinner). Sometimes a pig ear, bully stick, or stuffed kong. Oh, and when we take him to an outdoor restaurant we usually stop at fancy pet store and get him a nice cookie. Then he shares our dinner. Did I mention the occasional Mickey D's cheeseburger? Despite our efforts, he's not obese. But he is a tyrant.

Joe's going to NGAP for a dental tomorrow. His breath is less-than-sweet! He hasn't had one since I've had him, so I'm a little nervous -- but I know that's one of their specialities and he'll be fine. I'm also going to take in his records from my vet and the ortho-guy; maybe NGAP will be able to shed some light on Joe's mystery knee/back problem. Send any spare good thoughts his way, please! He's currently telling us that he's starving (no after dinner treats tonight!) and alternating pathetic-underfed-eyes with major stink-eye. Zombie Joe's soon to be clean chompers:

I don't know, but I'm finding out tomorrow!

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Oh my god! I'm so very sorry! :f_pink

I really like your siggy! Thank you! (I'm proud that I did it in Word.)

Bald butts are beautiful!

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Can you force-feed her? Soft food she won't choke on and just stuff it it? (Like you would with a pill.)

Blowing hot air. Hair dryers, heaters, whatever! The heater at Sharky's in Dewey completely flipped him out until "Uncle Sharky" stood in front of it to let His Majesty pass. The things I expected him to be afraid of -- lawn mowers, chainsaws, vacuum, are no problem at all.

Just an observation...if the vet was looking for money, he would have done more x-rays on that first visit, while he had you in the office. Many clients never return for a follow-up appointment... Sorry the specialist wasn't able to give you a more definite answer than your regular vet. Some cases are just difficult and 'don't read the book.' Hoping it's nothing serious and that Joe improves with rest. Are there any vets in your area that specialize in rehab and sports medicine? Any that do acupuncture or chiropractic work? Those may be other options to consider. Our local rehab specialist does a more thorough exam than most of the orthopedic surgeons I know. I'm glad to know you both think the vet's intentions were good! I'm ridiculously suspicious of any doctor, and for no good reason! Also lawyers, bankers, mechanics -- pretty much the whole human race. It's good to have the perspective of folks who aren't as loony as I. It seems like rest and pain meds are the answer for now. Joe's not happy about the rest part, but he loooves the rimadyl tablets. And the extra pig ears, Kong stuffers, etc. Spoiled brat!

That ad has me wanting to hop in the car and drive down a load of kibble right now! Stunning model with "feed me" eyes.

George has LS, right? What was it like early on? I think this ortho-guy is good -- but I also feel he's looking for money. Like, let's not do more X-rays on the first visit, let's wait till I can charge another exam fee. (But I'm a very suspicious person in general!) I'm just really not pleased that the pricey vet gave no more insight into what's wrong with Joe than the local vet; and that he said the most likely problem is the one OSU ruled out (cruciate ligament injury). But again, WTH do I know!

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Thank you! That's a wonderful idea. "Iliopsoas strain" -- what's that? Here I come, Google!

Don't ask me what's what, but someone said he has nice guts!

Joe is very gimpy on his left hind leg, moderately gimpy right hind leg. My vet got a big pain reponse (scream) on the left knee, this guy got it on the right. We had films from our regular vet, which are on another thread & were sent to OSU -- they seemed confused, too. I have Rimadyl from the local vet, and can get more. The ortho guy/surgeon says to only use it "as needed" not 2x daily as my vet prescribed. I kinda get that, cause Joe's a lunatic when he feels good, and he needs to be calm now -- but I don't want him hurting at all. He did mention possibly using tranquilizers if Joe gets really nuts with all the resting. My vet's closed tomorrow, but I'll be calling her to see what she has to say, and to get painkillers. Joe's a crazyman. This is going to be HARD. I'm thinking that if the pain is bilateral, it's more likely spinal/referred spinal pain than the knee/cruciate ligaments (and cruciate problems are rare with these guys). But, WTH do I know? I'm just the worried mom!

I mostly need to vent (rant). Maybe this should be in soapbox? We took Joe to a fancy (expensive) ortho guy, who did a very comprehensive (painful) exam this afternoon. No x-rays, so I starved the poor dog for no reason! He said, well geez, could be his knee, could be his back, I really dunno. Rest him up for 8 weeks and come see me again (for another gazillion dollar exam -- not covered by the insurance, I don't think?) if he's not all better. Maybe he needs surgery, maybe he doesn't. Maybe he has LS, maybe he doesn't. We're just gonna wait and see if he gets better or worse. (But it's NOT cancer, so really I can't complain too much! Except I am complaining, cause I want answers. Damn it. ) And I know it's not the vet's fault that Joe's a weird-o who might have a bizarre injury for a greyhound. But Grrrrrrr. So, no stairs, no sofa, no upsie-downsie obedience training. No running, no stuffies, no playing. NO FUN. We bought a gazillion treats and things to stuff in Kongs right after the vet trip, and Joe got McDonald's. I think DH will be ordering doggie puzzles, and I'm going to reread the keeping an invalid entertained threads. He'll be overweight when this is over. And, I finally got DH totally on board with chipping after Joe got all goofy with the girlie-hounds in Dewey. Now we have to put it off until Doofus is better, cause the girlie-hound will just make him want to tear around like a lunatic. So, please wish us luck for an easy 8 weeks and a fully recovered houndie. I'm afraid we'll all be stir-crazy before too long.

Oh, that sounds awful! Poor Hailey, and poor your back! I'm kind of looking for someone to tell me what they SHOULD be using to sedate him so we don't have the experience you had, or at least to minimize it as much as possible. DH will be with us if he needs carrying, so between us we could manage if we had to, but I'd rather not. I haven't used this vet before (Dr. Puerto at CARES in Langhorne, PA), so I'm a bit nervous.

Joe's going to an ortho specialist for his knee problem tomorrow. They'll likely need to sedate him to get a different view of the knee than what I have from my regular vet. The receptionist said they get lots of greys, so they probably know what they're doing, BUT I'm a helicopter Mom and need to make sure! So, what should they be using if they need to put him under? And how goofy will he be after? Btw, this is what my vet said: "Left tibial crest, lateral radiograph, small bone cyst-like lesion, pain w/drawer test left stifle" and this is what OSU said: "Do you have more x-rays? (AP or anteroposterior view?), the “lesion” may be an artifact. Also, drawer sign means ruptured cruciate and hounds don’t rupture cruciates." Thanks!

Ace turned Joe into a zombie -- it was scary how out of it he was. Xanax is better for him. (We're using it for thunderphobia)

Eww! Poor dog, and poor you. No experience with this, but you have my sympathy.

Joe acted like that last year; I wanted to kill him. It turned out that he had a UTI and was telling me he didn't feel good. I thought he was just being a PITA, but my poor baby was sick! Of, course, now he knows that nosing at me at night gets him the whole "Are you ok, baby?" routine! He's a smart bugger. It could also be that it's getting dark really early now, or that he just wants attention, but I'd consider a vet trip.