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SanTanSnuggles

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  1. My Pasadena has tested positive again for the ehrlichia so the vet had a PSA test done for her and here is here is the results and my vet reply to the test. Any Comments would be appreciated. The last time and first time it showed up was in Nov. 2016 Test results Feb 2023- Ehrlichia canis NEGATIVE RealPCR a a A positive Ehrlichia canis result indicates that E. canis DNA was detected in the sample submitted. In animals with clinical signs this supports infection. Clinical features of infection include (but are not limited to) lethargy, fever, anorexia, hemorrhagic diathesis, weight loss, lymphadenopathy, and splenomegaly. Subclinical infections are common. Thrombocytopenia, anemia and hyperglobulinemia are the most common laboratory abnormalities. A negative Ehrlichia canis result indicates that E. canis DNA was not detected in the sample submitted. A negative result does not necessarily indicate the absence of an infection. Negative results can result from intermittent rickettsemia, sequestered infection, previous antibiotic use, levels of organisms being too low for detection or 100% of clinically important Here is my vets reply Hi Linda and Joe, I received your email today and checked in to see that the Ehrlichia canis PCR results are in, as are the urinalysis results. The PCR test came back negative. This is good news. It means that there were no detectable organisms in the blood sample. It is possible for Pasadena to have an infection that is sequestered or otherwise undetectable (very low organism numbers or one that is resulting in intermittent circulating organisms that are absent at the current time), but given the absence of clinical signs and normal platelet numbers in her CBC I am hopeful that she has cleared the infection and requires no additional therapy. In additional good news, her urinalysis and urine protein to creatinine ratio also came back looking normal. I would recommend that we do several things moving forward. First, we should monitor her CBC (complete blood count) annually. Also, careful tick control to prevent future exposure is very important (monthly tick preventative year-round, extra skin checks when she has been in high tick burden areas). Finally, monitoring Pasadena for any clinical signs of Ehrlichia (bruising, any abnormal bleeding, lethargy, changes in appetite, lameness or joint swelling, changes in movement or vision) is indicated. If noted, any of these signs warrants an office visit. I hope that this email answers your questions. I will be in the office tomorrow until at least p.m. if you have follow-up questions. Kindest Regards, Left vets name out on purpose for privacy p.s. - I am sending a copy of the amended lab results to you now. Please let me know if you do not receive them. If you require additional records to be sent to the insurance company, please let me know and we can email them as well.
  2. We had our Surprise, who only had one serious grandma seizure when he was about three years old. It lasted a very long time. The ride to the vet was 15 minutes and as we got the vet to come out, he was still seizing. They kept him for the night, stopped his seizures and gave us suppositories' to give him, should they start again, Praise God, Surprise never had another one and the vet has no explanation as to what caused it.. But one good thing the vet told me to do when they has a seizure was to wrap ice in a towel and put it along his spine. The vet said that they often have a fever when they has a seizure and that the ice along the spine would help the high temperature to go away and also possibly reduce and take the seizure away. Hope all go well with your greyhound stays safe and is okay.
  3. Taking care of two is no harder than taking care of one. Have had two at a time for the past thirteen years. Would not change it. The first two were loners and did not have a partner. It is actually easier to have two as they communicate with one another and do stuff together. Less entertainment for you. If I could afford to have more, I would have several more. They are just darling together. And being a bonded pair is even more awesome. If one of my greyhounds looses a partner, I replace the partner quickly as they lonely and less active and have the same emotions that we do when it comes to being alone.
  4. Glad all seems well. When one of the two girls I have react negatively to the other one, I just try to draw their attention away from negative gestures by taking them for a walk, distract them with playing with a toy, or a treat. Seems to work for us. Their behavior has improved. Often, their spats are over treats and one trying to take it from the other one. Older one is more experienced. Younger one, usually walks away. But, younger one wants to hang on the older one when in the dog yard when they go out to pee. I feed them their regular meals separately most of the time and it is not a problem for me since I am retired. I do not leave them with food when I am not at home. They steal toys from one another to entertain themselves, and it has never been an issue. Older girl is on her third partner, since her last two partners have passed with cancer. When my girls walk together, the older one pees and the younger one will most always have to pee in the same spot to mark it, I think more of a challenge but without negative reaction from the older one. My human side sees it as a contest somewhat. They sleep on their own beds at night next to each other and have no issues. They follow each other around the house. I just think they love their own kind to communicate with. I have had two greyhounds together for the past 13 years and they just seem to love that the most. I would not have it any other way. My first two were loners did not have a companion to be with. My last six have never not had a partner to be with. It makes them more perky in my opinion as we all know greyhounds have that tendency to be couch potatoes. Congratulations on having more than one, like potato chips.
  5. My nephew had good intentions and bought a treat for my greyhounds called "Rewardables Hide Free Chicken Recipe Chew for Dogs'" as a Christmas Present for them from Costco. I open the bag and decided to read the ingredients. It contains sorbitol and from what I have googled on the net, it sounded like that was not a good food for cats and dogs. I make their meals at home. Just glad that he did not give that to them when I was not home. Good thing to watch the good intentions for pets from family members during the Holiday Season. Has anyone given their greyhound food made for dogs with sorbitol in it? I have always read that artificial sugars were harmful. Sorbitol question apparently came up in 2013 and 2017 questions. But I could not find out if it is safe for Greyhounds as a treat. Does anyone have comments or experience with this sugar substitute? If so would you kindly share what you have discovered. Thank you.
  6. Came back to see if anyone posted more on the greyhound health insurance and so far, no changes. So far my two ladies are good. One is going on nine and the newbe turned three in August. They both seem to be fine. Amen. Vets never use to charge so much that one had to get insurance in the past. One was was able to take the pet to the vet more often and it seemed to me that when we were growing up back in the 60's and 70's that our pets did not seem to have as many issues as they have today and they lived longer for sure. I
  7. I checked out about twenty different sites. Took days. I ended up with SPOT.Com. It was high, but not as high a some. I got 90 Percent / $500 ded, /unlimited coverage. I wanted to use healthy paws, but they would only insure the new greyhound for 70 percent, $500 deductible. Again they said they changed their underwriter when I talked to them and are not insuring new greyhounds for more than I said. I even went back to the site and tried again, but got the same answer. The quoted cost at SPOT is about the same as it was at Pets Best, as were many others. I chose it because of the underwriter, that was also on some of the other pet policies. AARP gives discounts, but it is a limited amount for the year that they would cover. AARP sponsors Fetch. Pumpkin was slightly more than Spot, but they have the same underwriter. Even checked out my home ins. to see if they offered Pet Ins and they did not. I had never had a problem with Healthy Paws as far as claims went, just that they took a long time to reimburse. I checked out AllState, Embrace, StateFarm, and so many more. Having pet insurance is so worth it. My other pet who has been with Healthy Paws is still there with the 90/250/unlimited policy. They will keep her, just not give me the same for the new greyhound girl. They changed their underwriter for new policies in Dec 2019, per their customer service. I even checked out Amazon, as sometimes over the past 12 years, they have made offers for discount programs that were so worth it. I could not do a veteran as my husband passed and I am not one. There were so many "Agents" who represented many of the same policies. My email got full and my phone rang off the hook for sure. I hope that now that I have made the move, that they will stop. There was an interesting thing I saw when checking out my homeowners/vehicle site. They actually had a list of dogs that they will not cover an owner for if say the dog bit someone or such. Thankfully, greyhounds are not on that list. Their the dearest breed ever. I have 30 days to cancel without claims, should something better comes along. One could only wish. I will come back and check here now and than to see if anyone would like to give advice. I am always open for trying to save. Thank you to all who have commented. It helped me feel better about things.
  8. Just called Healthy Paws and was shocked that they no longer will cover new greyhounds pets at 90 percent. Have to find a new good insurance for my pet. Healthy Paws said that they changed their insurance underwriter and will only cover the greyhounds for 70 percent. Disappointed, as they were very good. Got to now spend time trying to find a good insurance that is stable. Any Suggestions? Looking to take care of this in the next couple of days.
  9. I have tried all of the various suggested methods. Hashtag Pasadena continues to want to be hand fed with my hands, not out of the bowl. She still likes to go to the rail on the ramp, which is her shoulder height and have me put her food on it in various places so she can eat directly off the rail. For a while, after she ate, Into the Future would go out to look if she left any scraps behind as she went down to the dog yard. I had to make sure he would not be disappointed, as he was a foodie and loved to go and get something off the rail if she left it behind. However yesterday Into the Future went to see Jesus. He passed after fighting an untreatable brain tumor for five months. We had the vet come into our home to help him pass. He was with my son, myself, my nephew Walter and his girl, Hashtag Pasadena. It was no surprise that she spent all her time afterwards still trying to find him and would cry out for him. Eating last night was not going to happen. I got her to eat just a little bit ago, by first putting it gently into her mouth and than sitting with her as she continued to finely eat off of the rail. So strange not to leave a little for Into the Future. Missing his wake up call every morning and the big kisses from our Giant, white/. foodie, smart, playful, loving greyhound guy. I know she is missing him too. Not even one day, but our Joy in the Morning is missing. Pray for us to get it back. Hashtag Pasadena especially. He was the second partner she lost to cancer. Hashtag Pasadena is a beautiful small white greyhound with lots of love. She is very quiet and hardly talks to us, but she is sobbing now and then at her loss. We give her lots of love and walks and more, but can not replace communication and love of her own kind. She is eight years old. Just a little sweetheart. We live in the country, so there are no people around for her to take doggie walks with. One reason why we always have two. She was with us when we got Into the Future and soon learned that with the foodie, she had to show him she was boss of her domain. Hashtag Pasadena is our sixth greyhound and Into the Future was our seventh. He also called him seven of seven, Into and Future, and after he got sick and blind in one eye, we called him sidewinder, as since he could not see on one side, he would walk sideways when not being led on the harness. He still knew the boundaries of his dog yard to the very end. He was a fighter and would look at his hind legs when they stopped working as to say, come on and get up. We again miss him so very much. Our hearts are hurting and broken.
  10. Just coming back to tell about my Greyhound Into The Future. We took him to the vet about a week after my post. She examined him and thought that maybe he had an ear infection and put him on an anti biotic and gabapentin. Also ear drops. That did not stop him from rubbing the side of his face, so around ten days later we took him back and she did a major blood test and she took xrays. They also did major tick testing. Not much changed since the ten days before but because he was now showing signs of having trouble with his back right leg, she suggested we take him to a neurologist. We could only get an appt for may 17th, but was told that if we wanted, we could take him in through emergency and they may do the MRI sooner. So we took him in last night, dropped him off. They did a blood test and said that most things came out good, but there were some serious issues. His WBC was down. His Eosinophils was .02 his monocytes were .13 his lymphocytes .41 and his neutrophils was 3.05. They also took many more xrays and nothing showed in his body that way that looked wrong. In the morning they are going to do an MRI in a couple of hours. It is not looking good for him she said. She said that those four parts of the WBC and his new head tilt, and his back leg issue probably meant that he had brain cancer. There also seemed to be a wasting away of muscle in his right side of the face in a very short time. There were no strong visible signs, just mostly him rubbing his paw over his face until this past week when he got the head tilt and started to not see where he was going on his right side, with stopping and rechecking it. Early Monday in the wee morning hours he was also listless. Future just turned seven years old. He had raced for four years until he had a major fall at the track. No injuries were reported. He was adopted for four days and returned and than we got him. When ever we get a new greyhound, we always do major base line blood tests, as we have lost one to GME, one with osteosarcoma and one with hemangiosarcoma. At that time his tests were all great and stayed that way until he was attacked by an animal last April 2021. Only one of his above four numbers were low, he got a couple of stitches, his other eye stitched and ten days later had his dental and had two teeth pulled. He did good with all of that. I live in the country, next to a state park. My husband passed March in 2021.with multiple myeloma, kidney and heart disease. And many more things. My adult son lives with me and has CP. Into the Future is such a sweetheart and an important part of our lives since we adopted him on 11/4/20108 He has a partner also called Hashtag Pasadena. She is doing good and has just turned nine. She is also a white Greyhound. Future is our seventh greyhound. I will keep up my hopes that the doctor is wrong, that maybe, there could just be some type of infection that could be cured instead, but I will just leave it there for now.
  11. Feed our two chicken we cook, grated apple mixed in and grated cheese. Sometimes switch out the meat to beef or boneless fish with the cheese and apple. Costco chicken and rice formula dog bones, milk bones, a little whole milk now and than and ice cream for a special treat. We keep a list on fridge what dogs can not have to check ingredients on any other things if we decide to share it with them. They also get various safe veggies mixed in at times with their food. They are very healthy and have good weight. One is seven years old and the other one will be nine in May. They are our sixth and seventh greyhounds.
  12. Into The Future: Large white greyhound, 88 llbs, well built, playful, up to date on shots. Generally has a mixture of grated apples, home cooked chicken, grated cheese for meals or we also give him beef or fish. Loves his sweet potato, carrots, peas, also. Likes Costco Dog Biscuits chicken and rice formula, and milk bones. and chicken Nyla bones. Sometimes he has scrambled eggs for breakfast and toast. We only have kibble on hand for emergencies as we rather make our own food for the dogs. He is seven years old and very spry and playful and runs like a puppy. He is our 7th greyhound. His partner our 6th greyhound is doing great and she has no redness in her eye. We adopted Future in 11/4/2018 and he has no known issues on his medical history, other than normal scrapes now and then. He loves food. It may be an allergy, not sure, but his eye is red on the corners, but appears to be clear elsewhere. He rubs his face against me in the morning when he gets up and acts as if he wants to scratch that area, as he rubs it. Most of the day it does not seem to bother him. It is spring and things are starting to bloom. I am wondering if there are any safe human eye drops OTC that he may be able to try to see if it stops the itching or open for suggestions. He is not bothering the other eye at this time, but I will be watching it to see if any change.
  13. Used the collar for six plus years on different greyhounds, have had no ticks or fleas or other troubles. However one seems to have less hair on his neck. He came that way and never got any more hair there. His butt was also kind of hairless, but has grown in since we adopted him in 2018 .He is healthy and play just fine. Used spot ons in the past and had sick greyhounds. I will continue my use of them.
  14. While pets often receive bone, soft tissue and cornea allografts for transplantation, the only type of organ transplant available for cats and dogs is a kidney transplant, according to Dr. Lillian Aronson of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine, who talked to Vetstreet.Aug 3, 2018. My husband is a kidney transplant guy. Got one from me and one from a friend 18 years later. So when I saw your question, I thought I would look and see. Very expensive, but maybe if you have pet insurance, they would pay for some of it ? This post is from 2018. If you had time maybe start a go. fund me Your story really touches my heart. God Bless.
  15. I have a female greyhound that developed a strange habit only to eat at her breakfast time. I give my two fresh cooked chicken, ground up apple, shredded cheese and some other added food to change it out for breakfast and or dinner. That said, the boy (Into The Future) will eat his meal with gusto from his metal aluminum bowel no matter what and where I feed him a main meal. However he will only take and eat treats on his dog bed in the living room. The girl (Hashtag Pasadena) has decided that she likes to eat her food off of a rail outside on the ramp. So each morning, I take her meal outside and put scoops of it on the rail for her to eat, while the boy is eating inside. I leave a little in her metal aluminum bowl just to try and get her to eat breakfast from the bowel. Dinner is no problem at all. She eats it from the bowl, in the house, next to the big boy. She would have you feed her by hand all the time if she had her choice, as she acts like a little princess. Just saying this as they all have had different eating habits. One pair would eat out of the same bowel at the same time. But if they did eat out of a different bowl, the boy would always leave the carrots and peas for the girl. That was HeartSweet and Surprise. Ec Flirt, and San Tan Snuggles ate normal. I'm Just Stormy liked to eat out of a bowl normal, but would lick his milk bone until it got soft before he would eat it. Surprise ate his milk bone the same way too. It was so funny the first time I gave them one, it was like they did not know what a bone was like. It takes time to see how, where and what they want to eat their food from. They're just like people, particular. It may just take time to discover how they want to eat.
  16. Macoduck, thank you. Late, as I have not been here for a bit. Surprise surly knows your respect of adding him to the list. We miss him dearly. Hashtag Pasadena has a new really really big boy as a friend. She has taught him all Surprise had taught her, except how to bury bones. That was special between her and Surprise. Thru "Hashtag Pasadena" and now "Into the Future," "Surprise" continues to live forever in our hearts. Greyhounds have a way of giving us love eternally. Greyhounds Never Forget.
  17. It took me time to post this. Because of his love, we have another new friend for Hashtag Pasadena My Sweet Surprise: The Best of Times He was born in a van on the way home from the vet. His siblings were birthed at the vets. Hence the name” Surprise”. He was raised on the Greyhound farm. He got a number, but did not need to race. We adopted him. His coat was a thick black fur. Four white paws, Tip of his tail was white And one more unmentionable was tipped white His chest was white appearing as to Wear a tuxedo, ready for the ball. He arrived 10/10/10 With his love HeartSweet (Heart Suit) They were like music together Always in harmony. They danced together into the night Until 2014 August late She gained her wings and over the Rainbow she went to Dog Bone Town San Tan Snuggles joined him 9/7/14 Their time was short. On 11/19/2015 She gained her wings and over The rainbow she went to Dog Bone Town. Surprised loved his walks, Scratching like a cat after his duty. He loved rolling in the snow, running in the snow And making snow angels. Surprise loved opening his Christmas Presents and would show others this by Tearing into the paper and shaking His squeaky toys with all his might. Most of all Surprise loved the beach Surprise loved digging deep in the sand and Laying in it. He loved the waves and the warm Salt air. He was my barker, my protector and The loving teacher to all of them. He was again joined by another young Sweet baby. Hashtag Pasadena. Showing her how to continue to dig Big holes into the ground they all had Shared.. She showed him how to bury bones. However way too soon, even at almost eleven, It was time for him to gain his wings and fly Over the rainbow to Dog Bone Town. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW7gIaRlrSQ (paste into browser to listen.) In honor and Dedicated with love to our Sweet Surprise. Surprise 2/22/2008-10/3/2018 ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ This is also dedicated To my friend up North, Mr. Bob who shared with us things concerning Snuggles and Surprise and Pasadena. I could never thank him enough for all he did for our Sweet Surprise and Snuggles and most of all his friendship.
  18. Husband takes 1 100 mg in mid morning for his osteoarthritis and also gets PT. BB in morning and bed time. It works for him.
  19. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/giardia-in-dogs
  20. You do not want to mess around with bumps and lumps. But the whining and barking all the time is just not right. Something is bothering him and he is trying to tell you the best that he can. What is bothering him may have nothing to do with the lumps and bumps, but may be something internal that you can not see. I would take him to the vet while the reason may be smaller than if you wait and the reason becomes so much bigger and more expensive. Please keep us posted. Best wishes to you both. Praying that it is not serious.
  21. Up date on your grey's lump and limping? hope things are fine now. 12 years old is greyt.
  22. I would make the trip to the neurologist at least once and explain to them before you get there, that they had to do a real good exam in one visit since you live so far away. Ask to talk to the neurologist, not the receptionist in your case. You could also consider some universities nearby if you have some nearby and call them to see if they could help you and your greyhound. There are so many things that can happen. I have had three greyhounds that had seizures for three different reasons. At least if you knew the cause, than the neurologist can work with your nearby vet or even a mobile vet if you have one in your area to help them treat your sweetie a little more precise. Prayers and hoping all goes well..
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