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I did today's bandage change by myself, he flinched a bit when I cleaned his wounds, but did fine, I think I did ok, my main concern was wrapping the vet wrap too tight, which is easy to do. But I think it's all good...The vet can judge me tomorrow...

Durham NC http://www.tysonanimalhospital.com/index.htm Tyson Animal Hospital 7am-6pm Monday - Friday 8am-12pm 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month. 5415 NC Hwy 55 Durham, NC 27713 Phone: (919)544-8297 Fax: (919)361-5464 Dr. Tyson is the best, she is very Greyhound savvy, in fact, when she explains test results to me, she will say often times:" And that is perfectly normal for a Greyhound". I've been taking my dogs to her for over 4 years, and this week she really out did herself. Spud needed daily checks and bandage changes, she offered I could just drop him in the morning, and pick him up after work. She sometimes "forgets" to charge me, or the charge is zero, I get a discount, not sure why, she doesn't charge me for leaving him there all day, they claim they love to have him. And, the kicker, since he needs daily attention over the weekend, she offered to meet me at the office Saturday and Sunday to re-bandage him, she apologized that she would have three crazy kids with her. Are you kidding me? This morning I ran into her while dropping Spud off, she carried a small yappie under each arm. Obviously she has her hands full, yet she comes in for my dog, because he needs it, and she didn't want me to have to pay e-vet rates. Price are really reasonable, the staff is very friendly, and when I had to sent Darla to the bridge a few years ago, they were so very compassionate. She does have a bunch of cats running around, I think she took them in or they were dropped off, so when I take Karma in, I have her on a very short leash. Apparently she also does acupuncture, though we haven't had to try that....

The vet ran a complete senior panel, all his values look good, I doubt Alabama rot is to blame, he has been off the track for nearly 10 years. Two of the holes he probably just ran into a twig and they are healing fine, the one of concern is now finally granulating and looking better, she still thinks spider bite or snake. Yikes! In any case, she wants to continue to see him daily, clean the wound and re-bandage over the weekend, to save me the evet fees, she kindly offered to meet me at her office Saturday and Sunday. He is feeling better for sure, he would/could barely move the first few days and is now back to his old bouncy self.

Vet hinted at canine immune mediated thrombocytopenia, all the while not trying to scare me, or give me something to Google..good news is, it's treatable. She offered to meet me to change Spud's bandage on the weekend, to save me from having to spend $$$ on e-vet. I think I can change bandages myself, but she hinted that he does not like it...and totally giggled at my "kotex and vetwrap" method. Love this vet....

The original holes in his legs are holding their own, and may be sutured next week. But, a new hole appeared this morning on his face, has two staples now, and there is lots of bruising on his leg, and a new bruise on his belly.....not sure what to make of that.

He is feeling pretty good this morning, thankfully he easy to pill, just put the lot of them on top of his food, and he doesn't bother the bandage. I'll drop him off at the vets on my way to work and pick him up on the way home. Manuka honey is on order, thanks all for the tips!

Vet doesn't think it's MRSA but added a second anti-biotic, she is also packing the wound with anti-biotics at each bandage change. I suppose it could be a snake bite...it has been really warm here last weekend. Today the holes looked the same as yesterday, but the swelling is down and he seems to feel so much better. Maco, the wound looks something like in your picture, but larger and deeper (shudder), since it is right at the hock. Back to the vet again tomorrow....

OMG! Just googled MRSA, and dogs can get it, that is so much more likely than him getting not one, but two spider bites.....OTOH, where would he have caught that? He hasn't been anywhere but the backyard....and the groomers for a nail trim 2 weeks ago.

She does, but I don't, does a spider bite start bleeding right away? I think he ran into a twig, at least with the one that I noticed was bleeding to begin with. Now, both are bleeding and oozing fluids, nasty stuff, and scary, when will it stop eating his skin? Nobody can tell me....I'm kind of glad the vet wants to see him daily, I am afraid to take the bandage off now, no telling how much bigger the holes will be tomorrow. Plus, they offered to keep him there for the day, makes me feel better somebody is around to watch him.

Spud is my klutz, he tends to run into things, twigs, branches, and who knows what else. There is almost always a little puncture wound on him, and most are no big deal, heal on their own. Sunday he was acting a bit slower than normal, and walked down the ramp into the yard kind of wonky. Since I figured he wants to run up and down the fence barking at neighbors dogs, I called him back. Too late, he had already wiped out, but came right back in, however, dripping blood from a small hole on the inside of his leg, that's when I noticed another one, same leg, on the outside. That was not bleeding though, and may have been a few days old. Suddenly his leg starts swelling, about twice the normal size.....and blood is drip, drip, dripping. Nothing big enough to need stitches, and no gusher, just a slow drip. I decided to keep an eye on that, by the next morning he could barely walk, and I called the vet to get pain meds. An hour later, he looked so much worse, I call them back to say we are coming in, and if I have to carry him. I did have to help him a lot, carried him in his Webmaster harness more than he walked. The vet cleaned it up, decided no stitches are needed, we did x-rays just in case, and they sent us home with Rimadyl, Tramadol and anti-biotics. This morning he walked better but the holes looked worse, still oozing and bleeding....The vet wanted to let it heal out in the air, and normally I subscribe to that school of thought, but this morning I wrapped a Kotex and vetwrap around his leg. After a few hours at work I got nervous that he may still be bleeding, so I told my boss I'm going home to check on my dog. At first he seemed better, a bit more mobile, but than I removed the bandage from this morning.....It looked like his skin is a panty hose with a run, the holes had gotten even bigger, I could see muscle, back to the vet. They cleaned it all out real good and bandaged him. Vet thinks it may have been a spider bite, this will get worse before it gets better. He is to come in daily for bandage changes and check-ups. Poor Spud, he is 11, he doesn't need this, and I am scared, how much more skin can he lose? They can't stitch it together, the skin just disappeared.....

So, turns out, he tested positive for Lyme Disease, thank you Colleen for the tip! I never expected this, since Spud raced in FL, and I couldn't recall if I ever had him vaccinated. The test can't tell if his anti-bodies come from a vaccine or the real thing...in any case, I picked up the antibiotics from the vet, it's Doxycycline, he has to take it for 3 weeks and we retest in 6 months. I wonder if he picked it up in 2010, when we went to GIG, and a few months later, to Pittsburgh to get Karma...either way, he is back to his old self, if not better...

Turns out the issues were not related, he is eating again, but has a disk problem, x-rays turned up nothing. So he is on Rimadyl and muscle relaxers and strict rest. No stairs, good thing I only have two tiny steps out front, not sure how I would do that otherwise. And, just in case, I had them test for TBD's, while we're there anyway.

I will take him in for x-rays tomorrow, I'm starting to suspect that whatever it is that ails him won't show up in blood tests...All my research points to hermangiosarcoma, which would truly be devastating, but I have to be realistic, mostly, I have to be fair to Spud.

Colleen, he is eating again, since Friday morning, I was so happy, and all of a sudden from one turn-out to the next, the issue with his legs came up. They ran the gamut of tests of him just last week, because of the not eating thing, I told the vet run them all, because what if she guesses wrong as to what to test for? One issue may not have to do anything with the other, maybe it does, maybe not, but either way, he had just been tested for everything. He gets around, but it's almost like his hind legs are drunk, the rest is fine, and he is very unsure of what he can trust them to do. I put the Ruffwear harness on him now, that way I can pick him up if he can't get up, and hold on to him when we go outside. Also, this gets worse the more he lays around, once he moved around a bit he is a little better. Kind of like it would be with arthritis, but arthritis doesn't pop up from one hour to the next, right?

FCE would explain the sudden onset of his hind leg weakness, but his appetite was down before that happened, and almost as soon as he wanted to eat again, this happened. I started him on double doses of Fresh Factor, hoping that might help, not even sure how to get him to the vet, he can't possibly get in and out of the car, in fact we had big problems with that last week already. I need to dig out the Webmaster Harness and see if it fits him...

Spud is 11, he has always been a very good eater, but suddenly on Monday he only had half his dinner, and he ate it slowly, he seemed listless and depressed. He also had loose stools, not normal for him at all, so I took him to the vet, they could not find anything obvious wrong, we ran a full blood panel. Nothing wrong there either, except slightly elevated bilirubin levels in blood and urine. Since yesterday, he has perked up a bit and is eating his full meals again, if slow, not the usual wolfing down he's always done. Today, I let him outside first thing this morning, he ate, and then wanted out again, I let him out, and he had tremendous trouble with the stairs (five steps) into the yard, he fell more than walked down, and could not get back up at all. His hind legs were shaking, I took a leash and walked him around the front, where there is only a small step. He is restless, standing around panting much of the time, and even had difficulty laying down on his bed. I've seen the weakness and shakyness in older dogs, but never seen it come on this suddenly. Maybe this is just a result of his poor eating this last week? The panting concerns me, as that could indicate pain, but I don't want to give him Rimadyl, since the vet thought the bilirubin points to a minor liver event.

Oh wow! He is handsome! I adopted an almost 2 year old 9 years ago, he used to bark in my face when he wanted something, used to scare me bad, now he just whines, or at least barks away from me, now I appreciate him letting me know he needs to go outside, back then I about had a heart attack. They learn, we learn, he sounds pretty darn perfect....

She is lovely, and I am glad she now DOES have a family of her own! Seriously, I am so happy she landed with you, your girls and Bruce. It is perfectly normal for a newly adopted dog to not eat, she will soon enough. ETA cuz I can't speel...

A few days ago my son told me Spud had suddenly started crying, and one of his legs was pulled way up, at a weird angle, and the other one couldn't quite support him, it was as if he couldn't straighten his leg for about 30 seconds, he relaxed shortly after and is fine now. Do dogs get cramps in their legs, like a Charlie Horse? DS's immediate idea was to give him a banana, he just had another episode and it scared the crap out of me. He was happy about the banana though I will have him checked out by the vet of course, but was wondering if anyone else has seen something similar before. Oh, Spud is 10 1/2, had a very short racing career and lives a pretty sedate live...

Hey, I'm pretty sure they would take chicken over cookies any day! I made the bad mistake of thinking I can give raw chicken to my GP the other day, she pooped and puked all over the place for the next 24 hours.....she will never get chicken again. Bet she won't miss it....The Greys have no problem with chicken, so they will continue to get it from time to time.

I am so very sorry Rachel, your girl had such a sweet face, many hugs to you...

What others said, you are doing GREAT! He will be out of the crate more and more over time, for now, it is his safe place. Good for you for being able to provide that, and good for him for liking it, like I said, this will change. When he is ready....a week is not very long, if he is still in there 2 years from now, find me and ask me what is wrong

Hmmm, stay away from Hartz stuff, pets have died from that, also, I would not use more than one product at the time. A good flea shampoo (ask your vet) should get you started, and I would spray the house, and the yard. Better yet, have someone do it, make sure they know you have pets.

How attached are you to that husband of yours? J/K, wish I could help, but mine sleep on their beds, or the Great Pyr sleeps on the carpet (plenty of dog beds, but she refuses)....Spud had sleep startle when he first arrived, so he got kicked off the bed, Karma was never allowed, but she does sleep in my sons bed. He complains she steals the blanket I like having my bed surrounded by dogs, but I never so much liked a dog in the bed.

I switched mine from TOTW to Costco's Nature's Domain salmon, they like it ( they like everything though), and same small, firm poops as with TOTW. No issues, so we'll stick with it.