feemandvm
-
Posts
352 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Store
Articles
Posts posted by feemandvm
-
-
Rimadyl and tramadol can be safely used together. The main drug interactions with tramadol occur with SSRI drugs like Prozac or Clomicalm.
-
Don't have time to read all the replies so will just throw in my $0.02.
I diagnosed my own 9 year old Greyhound with osteosarcoma in 2006. He also had an old fractured central tarsal bone in his non-cancerous back leg. He had a very outgoing personality and we thought he could handle the trips to the office for follow-up chemo so we went with surgery. He lived 12 months and 2 days. The overwhelming majority of that time was of high quality. The first 10-14 days after surgery there was a big adjustment and the last week he developed some painful nodules from the cancer and I'd say his quality of life deteriorated forcing us to pursue euthanasia. So would I "put a dog through that" again? If I felt that he/she had the personality for it? Absolutely! Without surgery I only would have had him for another 4 weeks max and with surgery I got 12 months. Easy decision for me.
Again... amputation is nto the right decision for every Greyhound and expense is a factor.
Reasons not to pursue amputation/chemo:
1. Other orthopedic issues in other legs that may not allow the dog to do well on 3 legs.
2. Other significant diseases already diagnosed which will already shorten teh dogs life significantly.
3. Cannot afford to pursue aggressive treatment.
4. Dog does not have the personality type that would ammend itself to regular trips to teh vet for chemo, labwork, etc.
One reason I don't think is a good reason not to pursue aggressive treatment is one I hear/read all the time. "I wouldn't want to put them through it". Is the surgery invassive and is there a recovery period? Absolutely. However, the majority of dogs do REALLY well with surgery. Dr. Couto at OSU always says dogs are born with 3 legs and a spare. Chemotherapy only results in significant side effects in about 20% of dogs... and those side effects can typically be managed with oral/injectable medications or reductions in chemotherapy drugs.
So is surgery right for you? Only you can answer that question for your Greyhound. Should you not consider it due to his age? IMHO it would be a mistake to do so. There is nothing in the world that I would take to give back that last year with Sky.
-
Not a "typical" side effect of either drug like it would be with prednisone. You'll need some bloodwork and a urinalysis to figure out what is going on!
-
Definitely needs to be on HW prevention. You will also need to verify that they are HW negative befoer starting Interceptor... it is a good drug but can cause a lot of harm in a heartworm positive dog.
-
Anyone interested in printing and sharing the information is certainly more than welcome to do so. No need to make separate requests... any of the information on our website is available to the public and can be cross posted, printed and shared, etc.
Thanks for the kind comments to!
-
Not using heartworm prevention during appropriate time periods is plain out neglect. Heartworm disease is a very serious disease and can be life threatening and is virtually completely preventible. It would be an extremely rare situation where heartworm prevention would not be recommended for a dog.
-
For anyone that has a copy of the Greyhound medical health packet... I FINALLY got a chance to update it and get it on-line. Here is a link to our clinic's library:
http://www.animalmedicalcentreofmedina.com/library.htm
Here is a direct link to the updated packet:
http://www.animalmedicalcentreofmedina.com...Packet%2008.pdf
There are some changes so if you have an old copy... please print out a copy of the updated packet.
-
I get a "not found" error with that link.
Kris
sorry... hte library portion of our website just updated this afternoon... try this link:
http://www.animalmedicalcentreofmedina.com...Packet%2008.pdf
Scan down to question #22.
-
http://www.animalmedicalcentreofmedina.com...cket%202005.pdf
Scan down to question 23 and I have a small blurb on Alabama rot. Not terribely helpful but it should provide you with some minimums.
-
I had one dog that started to gain weight, and panting a lot. I brought him in to be checked, and a T4 showed he was hypothyroid. He was put on .5 mg of soloxine 1x day. After 30 days, the vet did another T4 and he was right where he should be. He re-checked him again 90 days, and everything was still great. He then checked him every 6 mos, unless we saw weight gain/loss. At one point, his weight did drop a little so they did another T4 and his dose had to be decreased, as his thyroid had kicked back into gear.
A lot of things can cause fluctuations of a T4. The time that it was drawn is obviously the most logical one. Was it a "peek" or "trough" level? If both levels were done at the same time, then yes it is possible that the thyroid gland decided that it could "work" again... however, dogs with true hypothyroidism are not able to be tapered completely off of supplementation as the thyroid gland does not regain "full function".
Also remember that a T4 is a very unreliable way to diagnose hypothyroidism... it is very prone to false positive results as many diseases can lower a T4 (euthyroid sick syndrome).
-
Not sure on the Frontline, Dan, but I wouldn't think so. Did they give you Marin? If so, just have her take it and then do a re-check in a month. I wouldn't be *too* concerned about a one-off reading, but if she comes up weird again, I would be. Do you know what her numbers were or which specific enzymes were out of whack?
They gave her ZENTONIL 400 , A friend just called and said the frontline did it , he called a dr. carrol who has had this before with frontline.
Just heard another grey went threw the same thing , the frontline throws the test off
I would contact Merial and see if any other liver reactions to Frontline have been reported. I have NEVER seen an elevated ALT from Frontline application. Frontline will NOT cause a false positive elevation in ALT on a lab result (there is no 'interaction' with teh test) and if Frontline is the cause of the ALT in this case (and I'm not convinced that it is) you need to stop the medication ASAP. ALT elevations will occur with severe trauma and liver damage... not much else.
I can't tell you what caused the elevated ALT... it could be 100s of things... but Frontline would be a very unlikely source. Can you post the results of the labwork?
-
I would call the vet that you have the records from and ask for a copy of his thyroid test that they diagnosed him as being hypothyroid. They should have it readily accessible and can provide you with a copy.
It could be that his thyroid has corrected itself and ne no longer needs the soloxine at all.True hypothyroidism really doesn't "self correct". Dogs can be started on Soloxine and then have it discontinued and be fine but those dogs are not truly hypothyroid. Also remember that thyroid supplementation will cause hair growth, weight loss and extra energy in dogs with normal thyroid levels so "response to treatment" can also be a difficult way to assess if a dog is truly hypothyroid.
A low free T4 by equilibrium dialysis paired with a high TSH would be the ideal way to make a true diagnosis of hypothyroidism. If you look at ALL the Greyhounds on thyroid supplementation... I would bet that less than 50% will meet this standard.
-
Did the dog come to you with thyroid meds, or did your vet put him on to begin with?
If your vet put him on, did he do a full thyroid panel first, or just a T4?
If there's no record of any test but a T4, I'd take him off the thyroid meds. You need to wait longer than 2 weeks, tho, before retesting. I believe MSU (the gold standard for thyroid testing) recommends 6 weeks. And that test should be a full thyroid panel, not just a T4.
Hang on a sec and I'll give you a link.
Here ya go, question #19: http://www.animalhealth.msu.edu/FAQ/Endocr...d_Canine.php#19
Scroll up and down the link for some other useful info. Good luck!
Great post... echos my thoughts exactly.
You need to know if this dog is truly hypothyroid. Is there anyway you can access the medical records and test results from when he was started?
-
It was taken off of the market due to a higher than expected number of adverse reactions. The recall was not mandated by the FDA but was voluntary on the part of Fort Dodge.
In a comprehensive review of these "reactions", it was found that a lot of the reports were unfounded. People were blaming PH6 for conditions like lymphoma of the eye which was completely unfounded. No changes were made to the drug as the FDA found that in reviewing the US reports and in reviewing its use internationally that the voluntary recall was unnecessary and it would be released again in the US.
Upon being released, owners will have to sign an informed consent form which just states that the veterinarian has discussed with them any possible side effects from the product. Any veterinarian that wants to use the product will also have to take a seminar on the product which will detail the latest information on the FDAs review of the product.
The idea behind the informed consent form is that Fort Dodge states that the FDA wants to monitor the product closely on reintroduction and this will aid in it as owners will be counselled on what to watch for and who to contact should they note a reaction.
-
This is a great drug. Much better for controlling vomiting and nausea than our older drugs like Reglan, Chlorpromazine, Prochlorperazine, etc. It is only once daily which is easy to do as well. The problem is that the dose needed for motion sickness is 4x the dose that is needed for vomiting for other reasons which makes it a little pricier.
Great drug though... a definite improvement over what has been on the market.
-
Hmm... not sure what test they would have done. Urine protein levels if done in the hospital or sent out are done on a dipstick. If you want to really quanitify the protein then you need to do a urine protein:creatinine ratio. If you measured a true urine protein you would get a real number and not 3+.
Showing good urine concentration also doesn't rule out protein loss in the urine. My current greyhound has protein in her urine and has excellent specific gravity. Her kidney functions fine but it has "leaks" which allow the protein to come out. The only way you would know is by doing the urine protein:creatinine ratio.
-
You can give this to your vet: Dr. Stack's Bloodwork Article or refer her to the OSU Greyhound Health & Wellness Program: OSU-GHWP
And to summarize from Dr. Stack's article:
"Greyhound total proteins tend to run on the low end of normal - T.P.s in the 5.0's and 6.0's are the norm."
Total protein (greyhound norms): 4.5 - 6.2
Your value: 5.2
Globulin (greyhound norms): 2.1 - 3.2
Your value: 17 (are you sure this is in units of g/L? "Other dogs" normals are given as 2.8-4.2.)
In any event, the point is that globulin is normally a little lower in the greyhound than in other breeds, and being one point lower than the reference values puts in in the "low normal" range for greys.
A/G ratio (albumin:globulin ratio) will then be skewed because globulin seems so low. If albumin is normal, the A/G ratio would seem high.
As for creatinine:
Greyhounds: .8 - 1.6
Other dogs: .0 - 1.0
Again- different units. But the point is that relatively high creatinine is not unusual for the retired racing grey.
Don't take teh ranges listed on the link listed above as a reference range... they really are somewhat laboratory dependent. I see a LOT of Greyhounds with creatinine levels over 1.6 that are completely normal.
When it comes to learning Greyhound bloodwork, learn trends:
Greyhounds can have creatinine levels often slightly above the reference range used for of other dogs
Greyhounds can have globulin levels slightly lower than the reference range used for other dogs.
Total protein is made up of albumin and globulin... so if a Greyhound has a low globulin then they will typically have a low total protein. If they also have a low globulin, then they will have a higher albumin to globulin ratio.
Again... learn trends and not ranges and units won't matter. Here are some extra links for you:
http://www.animalmedicalcentreofmedina.com...d%20Labwork.pdf
http://www.animalmedicalcentreofmedina.com...cket%202005.pdf
-
I would definitely recommend a follow-up appointment to consult with an oncologist. It takes 1,000,000 tumor cells to show up as a small spot on an x-ray, so negative x-rays does not mean that the cancer hasn't spread... it means either the cancer hasn't spread or that it did spread but at undetectable levels. My Greyhound had a clean x-ray when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma but later did develop lung metastasis despite surgery and chemotherapy. Technically there was cancer in the lungs when we took his x-rays... it just wasn't at a detectable level.
Consult with an oncologist to see if the melanoma vaccine might be something worth pursuing.
-
Proheart 6 is being reintroduced to the US market after being re-approved by the FDA. This product is unique in that it ensures protection against heartworm infection for 6 months without the need for monthly administration of products.
This product I do think has a place in the US market... but largely only in households where owners simply cannot remember to use monthly products monthly. There are a lot of dogs out there whose owners are able to make a 6 pack of Heartgard last 3 years and "still have a dose left at home". Those dogs would be best suited with Proheart administration as any risk of Proheart would be far outweighed by the risk of heartworm disease.
So here is my $0.02.
Is the release of PH6 in the US a good thing? Yes.
Is PH6 the best product on the market? No.
Is PH6 the right choice for your dog? If you are unable to give monthly products monthly as labeled then PH6 is something you should consider. If you are able to use monthly products monthly then I would recommend continuing to do so.
-
You need a urine protein creatinine ratio to determine if the protein is significant. If the value is <1 then no diet change is necessary. I would also ask to have the blood pressure evaluated as we often see high blood pressure linked with protein loss in the urine in Greyhounds.
This is what Dr. Couto told us to do for the Flashman and his ratio was perfect as was his BP...it still is of concern to me.
There are all kinds of reasons for false positive results on the urine protein sticks. If you get a normal UPC ratio then you know the stick is "wrong" and only a false positive.
-
You need a urine protein creatinine ratio to determine if the protein is significant. If the value is <1 then no diet change is necessary. I would also ask to have the blood pressure evaluated as we often see high blood pressure linked with protein loss in the urine in Greyhounds.
-
Likely contamination based no the UA... but the culture will tell you for sure. Urine looks good.
-
There have been a few single case reports where tumors have arisen at the site of a microchip... a cause/effect relationship was not definitively established, however. Even if there is a true "cause/effect" relationship, the risk would be so low that the benefits of chipping would far out weigh any perceived risk.
I don't know of any oncologists who have recommended against microchipping as well.
Phew....thank you Dr. Feeman. I just got off the phone with my vet and they pretty much said the same thing. I lost my boy, Jett, to cancer, but it was mast cell tumor cancer...nothing related to his microchip.
Ok, now I can breath a bit easier.
Both of my current dogs are chipped and my next ones will be to. : )
-
Asked to comment:
Don't really have much to add as I haven't had to treat any Greyhounds with pulmonary hypertension... or many dogs at all for that reason. Your best source of information will really be the cardiologist who will know the severity of the disease, other complicating factors and would be more likely to have treated other similar problems.
Revolution?
in Health and Medical discussion
Posted
Revolution is safe in greyhounds and is a very safe product overall. Because of what Revolution covers I would bet that the rate of reactions to Revolution is less than combining a HW prevention and a flea prevention separately.
The majority of our clients choose Revolution b/c of convenience. They can apply a single topical med that will protect them against both fleas and heartworm and it is generally a little bit cheaper than Heartgard + Frontline. I honestly can say that I don't remember the last owner we had that called in with an adverse reaction to Revolution.
That isn't to say that Revolution is the best product on teh market... technically HG + Frontline will get you better coverage than Revolution alone for most things but Revolution is a good and safe product.