Roo

Seeing as how she's coming home (unexpectedly early) on Monday, I suppose it's time to introduce Tessa, formerly known (and still occasionally referred to) as Pizza Joint! I started following her four years ago, back when I had Eli. I was stalking his still-racing siblings and saw her race name on a program and loved it. I love pizza, and how can you not love a dog named Pizza Joint? I watched a race. The way she raced reminded me so much of our angel Dusty - really excited, really intense, and really fast I watched her next race, and the race after that, and I just kept watching, falling more and more in love with this blue dog I'd never met. I watched her for a year or so, then took the long way home from visiting family in PA so I could go to Wheeling to meet her. Her trainer was super nice and brought her to the track so I could meet her, even though she didn't have a race that day. She couldn't care less about me - she heard the lure and the dogs and wanted to run! But I was smitten. I kept watching. Race after race, I rooted her on. I'd text her trainer after every race, comment on her performance or her spirit, and he'd write back and say how hard she tried regardless of where she placed. She retired just before her fourth birthday - she tweaked a muscle in her leg and her owner didn't want to risk further injury. She retired from racing and went to a farm in Kansas to be a mama. Two litters and a year and a half later, I got a text that she was ready for her couch. This was right around the time Daisy was ailing quickly, and two days after Daisy told me she was ready and we said our goodbyes, I learned that Tessa had arrived at PRH. The first time I really got to spend time with Tessa, she licked the tip of my nose, just as Daisy had always done, and I took it as a sign from my little girl that this was right. Tessa seems like a real sweetie. She's a little nervous, but not so nervous that she won't take treats or seek pets. When she's not sure what's going on or what she's expected to do, she flops down and observes. She was not a fan of my dad's hat, but as soon as he took it off he was allowed to pet her She roaches in her crate (I've always wanted a roach! None of our previous pups could manage it.) And her wardrobe already consists of two collars, including a pizza-themed one because, really, how could I not put a dog named Pizza Joint in a pizza collar? As it turns out, she's even more like our angel Dusty than I first thought - if you ask her, anything small is something to chase. When we cat tested her at PRH, she tried her best to get at Colby through her muzzle (fortunately Colby is a seasoned test cat and was unfazed by this). She tried to get a little dog and a couple cats at the vet (while she was feeling awful with a 105 fever!), and the cat silhouette over the door to the vet definitely looked like prey Looks like I'll have my hands full with her till we can work on some "Look at me" and "Please do not try to eat the fluffy". We've been having a bit of medical drama the past couple of days (thread here) but she's back at PRH now after two nights staying at different vets. Her temp still spikes periodically but she's on two different antibiotics to combat whatever's causing it (still unknown, but we're all kind of thinking ehrlichia), so I'm hopeful that these will work and she'll make a full recovery. She's coming home Monday for a week so I can monitor her temp and behavior, then back to the kennel so I can start to pack up my house and move.

She's still spiking a fever, particularly in the afternoons. They added a second antibiotic to see if it'll kick whatever's going on. I can't get down there till Monday but she's coming home then so I can monitor her. She apparently has an appetite and is acting like herself, so that's something.

This is the site I used when I was trying to figure out what was going on with Daisy. I agree with the other folks - have your vet check vision and hearing. But if both of those are still in good order, then dementia might be what's going on.

Not yet, which I'm hoping is a good thing. I figure if something awful happened overnight, they would have called by now!

Have you thought about doggy dementia? My Daisy had it and would occasionally act as though she had no idea who I was and take off running from me. She was ordinarily right underfoot and had to be near me at all times, so it was always strange when she decided I was scary. She got worse at night and would stand outside and stare off into the distance when we went out for her last pee.

If the biopsy comes back negative, I might just do a consult with him.

She came through surgery fine. She's groggy but still doing well. Still no clue what's going on with her. The vet said her liver didn't scream cancer, but she still took a piece to biopsy. Temp is still a little over 103. Fluid in her abdomen was mostly gone so we still don't know what caused that or the fever. She's going to stay on Doxy a while to see if it helps whatever's causing the fever.

This was my first thought - I read up on it a lot with Daisy because she had the dermal version so when I heard she had blood in her abdomen I got instantly worried about hemangiosarcoma. I assume they'll be able to tell from visual inspection if it is? She went in for surgery a couple hours ago and I haven't heard anything yet.

Apparently she's feeling more herself this morning - hopped right in the car and tried to drive

Welcome to GT! I volunteer at the adoption kennel and I loved Mangelo (I also love his new name - Odin is perfect!) Hope you don't mind if I add his photo...

She made it through the night! Her temp is currently 103, it broke and then spiked again during the night but is back down. I suggested hepatitis but her WBC is normal. The internet says hepatitis would lower her WBC. A couple different greyhound vets have looked at her bloodwork and symptoms and are just as baffled as the original vet. She's being transferred back to the regular vet. I believe they're planning on surgery to see if they can figure out what's going on and to spay her while she's in there.

I hadn't thought about hepatitis! I'm not sure if they have either. I'll suggest it. She was moved from Kansas to Florida about two weeks ago, then from Florida to PRH about a week ago. Not sure about parvo, though I hope it's not that - I lost a litter of foster pups to parvo years ago and it was absolutely terrible Her symptoms don't sound similar to theirs, but I've never seen it in an older dog so maybe it acts a little differently.

Not that I know of, though she's now at the specially vet that gets all the ultrasound referrals so if she doesn't improve I'm sure it's on the list.

That's what I was thinking - as far as I know, her wbc was fairly normal. The only thing I was told was significantly elevated was her Alt.

She isn't spayed yet - was supposed to happen next week. I don't think they've ruled out pyometra - I'll suggest that. Would it have an effect on her blood work?

Looking for ideas. I've been posting about Tessa (fka Pizza Joint) in the Watching & Waiting thread for a long time (maybe 4 years now?). Two weeks ago, I learned she was officially retired from both racing and brood duties and was headed my way. Sunday a week ago she arrived at PRH. I met her Monday. She was staying to get vetted before I brought her home. I visited again last Saturday and yesterday. I'm 2.5 hours away from the kennel now, so I'm getting all my info through the grapevine (and therefore worrying like crazy between messages). Here's what we know... She's 5 1/2 years old, raced until just before her 3rd birthday, was a brood the rest of the time. Two litters, April 2016 and October 2016. Retired and arrived at PRH at the very end of June. Was supposed to come home (finally!) in about two weeks after being vetted. Initial symptoms over the past week: -She's dropped some weight, but she was a brood and so was fairly hefty when she arrived and had a couple pounds to spare -Ate well for a couple days, then threw up twice Saturday morning, had fairly explosive diarrhea outside, and refused breakfast and treats. A couple other dogs were having GI issues so we figured there was a bug going around (happens occasionally). As far as I know, her appetite has been off and on since then. She didn't want to eat yesterday morning but eventually did, and she took some treats -She's a bit nervous in general, but she was really distressed yesterday. I figured it was because I brought my parents to meet her and she takes a while to warm up to new folks. She trotted circles around the grass lot (doing fly-bys - she'd run up, get a pat, then run away), laid down against the wall, let me pet her, but was obviously only interested in getting back inside. We walked up the road a little ways (not too far because it was hot). -She didn't really respond to being called (she knows her name and, when I was spending time with her a week ago, I'd call her and she'd come running, or at the very least wag her tail enthusiastically). Tuesday when I called her, she got up, trotted a couple steps, then turned around and laid back down. -I noticed some redness on one of her back legs on Saturday I left the kennel yesterday feeling concerned and like something was wrong, but without really knowing her and being around her all the time, I figured I was just being paranoid. Symptoms today: -Really bad bloody diarrhea overnight and this morning -Fever of 105, climbed to 106 after arriving at the vet -Disorientation (seemed to have no idea where she was) -Lethargy -Head tilt -Once the volunteer noticed the head tilt, she got her out of her crate. She was acting odd, confused, and within a few minutes wasn't able to stand The volunteer rushed her to the vet. They started getting her cooled down immediately and started her on Doxy and fluids also. Her blood tests looked normal except for a pretty elevated Alt (not sure what the number is, just that it's pretty elevated). Other values were fairly normal. They're having a hard time keeping her temp down. Whenever they took her off the cooling thing, her temp spiked again. They took x-rays and nothing was as defined as it should be. She has blood in her abdomen, but it doesn't look fresh like something has just ruptured. She's headed to a specialty vet for overnight observation just in case her temp spikes again or she has another episode like she did earlier today, then back to the regular vet in the morning. Since she needs to be spayed anyway, I'm wondering if they'll go ahead with that (as long as she's able to handle it) and poke around a bit while they're in there to see if they can figure out what's happening and where the blood is coming from. Original guess was something tick-borne, possibly ehrlichia, but now no one is sure. The vet is at a loss trying to match these symptoms with any one thing. Does anyone have any idea what these symptoms might fit? Last I heard, her temp was down below 103 (yay!). Hopefully it'll stay down this time. I just drove home today and I'm so tempted to turn right around and drive back down to see her tomorrow morning. I'm not sure what good I'd be doing besides being close. While she's my dog, she hasn't had a chance to really learn this yet (I've spent time with her since her arrival, but not enough for her to bond to me yet). While I feel very attached to Tessa, to her, I'm just another nice person who has given her food and affection a couple times. And a photo (because I know the rules!) until I can actually make an introduction thread for her - I've been waiting till I got her home...

I know one of our adopters jogs with her hound - he was young when she got him, so he really needed the outlet It took her a while to build him up but he'll go a couple miles with her now. Just be careful building her up, especially in the summer heat!

It depends on the dog! There are some with awesome deep barks, some with medium barks, and some with high squeaky "Are you sure that's not a bichon" barks. Our first boy never ever barked except for once. Dad worked late and came home. Regis slept in the sunroom. Dad came up to the sunroom door, started unlocking it, and Regis leapt up and barked so nice and loud. Dad was impressed.

"I don't think you'll want her - her leg is wonky." My parents met Daisy first. I had a list of three dogs (including Daisy) for them to look at at the shelter when they went to visit my grandparents, and with just one glance, my parents ruled her out. They had me on FaceTime and walked through the shelter, panning to show me the pups. They panned over Daisy and she was staring out the door of her pen, following them with her eyes as they walked by. Then they met the dogs. The first was a nervous shepherd mix who was afraid of my Dad. The second was a little corgi mx who barked constantly at nothing in particular. Then Dad panned the phone over, turning it to face him so he could tell me that they were going to head out, and there she stood, wonky leg jutting out sideways, staring at my parents through the fence, as if to say "Hey, I'm over here!" without actually making a sound. "You're there - you might as well go meet her," I said, pushing gently. So they did. Daisy climbed first into the volunteer's lap, then my Mom's. Two days later, I drove 2.5 hours to adopt her. The first thing she did was launch herself into my lap and nuzzle her head under my chin. That's all it took. I filled out the paperwork and took her home, free of charge thanks to an adoption promotion I hadn't known about. When they walked her out to the lobby, the timid little terrier I'd met in the back suddenly burst out in front of the volunteer, trying her best to drag him across the room, to me, and out to freedom. I didn't know what I'd gotten myself into. A lifelong greyhound person, I found having a terrier to be quite the change. She stared constantly. Her idea of cuddling was to stand on my chest and gaze deep into my eyes. She'd then sigh, lay down next to me, and snooze away. Her very favorite thing was putting her front paws in your lap and leaning hard into your body. If she liked you enough, she'd tuck her head under your chin. She loved the little things, like napping in a sunbeam. She tolerated all sorts of ridiculous outfits without complaint. She excelled at side-eye and was not shy about displaying her displeasure with a glare. She went to the beach with me for Easter, and though the water rushing up to touch her toes was rather offensive, she enjoyed the many different sniffs there were to sniff. We had a little routine, an exchange of "I love you"s that didn't involve words she couldn't say. She'd give my nose one gentle lick, and I'd smooch the top of her head in return. It was our thing. She had started having episodes back in May. Just two at first, then weeks without any, and then four in a week, including a really awful one where I wasn't sure she'd come out of it. The vet said they were either episodes of fainting from her heart, or she had a brain tumor. The vet said her next episode could be minor or it could be fatal. Her heart murmur was at 6/6. She seemed tired all the time, but still hauled herself off her bed to follow me from room to room and make sure I didn't leave. Rather than wait until an emergency, I opted to let her go while she was still her enough to enjoy her last couple of days. I took her home and spoiled her rotten. She didn't have to pick through any gross kibble for that delicious meat - she received bowls of meat and couscous for each meal. I hand-fed her steak bites while we watched TV this morning. She curled up on the sofa behind my legs, checking in on me occasionally to make sure I was alright. We passed our last hours together snuggled close. When the time came, we stopped at McDonald's on the way to the vet. She got a vanilla soft-serve cone and some fries. She curled up in my lap, and left this world doing what she'd always loved most and done best - snuggling. My little peanut, my dog-bean, my (literal) co-pilot. The house feels so empty and quiet without her tippytap nails and her attention-getting snorts. Daisy taught me patience. Daisy taught me acceptance. Daisy taught me to always watch for bears, because you just never know when they might be around the corner. I think it's safe to say that Daisy had a paw (or two) in making me the me I am now.

She's going to Project Racing Home the next time the hauler heads up this way (not sure when that is - hopefully soon!) - they'll keep her for a couple weeks and have her vetted and then I'll pick her up from there!

I've​ only been officially waiting for about a year and a half, but I've been watching her since her third or so race, so about 4 years!

Pizza Joint is officially on her way to me! I found out yesterday morning that he was ready to retire her, and she is supposed to be getting on a haul this morning. She's heading for Florida​ and will have a layover there until the hauler heads up north again. I can't believe she's finally on her way! I'm excited and a little terrified all at the same time

Crash, the former test cat at PRH, passed away today. He got to enjoy a good year or so of retirement (in a house where there were greyhounds to boss around!). He was the very best at his job and thoroughly enjoyed getting to put the greys in their places during cat testing.

Aw, Twiggy

I think so too