GreyhoundGuru87
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Posts posted by GreyhoundGuru87
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On 12/27/2019 at 11:02 AM, greysmom said:
Looks like a little but of acne?? Just like humans get. Use some warm compresses, and maybe some astringent acne treatment.
Agree! Looks like acne to me. Let us know how it progresses.
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Thank you for posting the link. I am so torn with what to do for our one greyhound who is allergic to just about everything. We had to switch him to a limited ingredient, grain-free diet earlier this year and he has never been better (not itchy, no more stomach upset / inflammation), etc. Nonethless, as others have mentioned ...I would prefer not risking anything when it comes to my grey. #atalossforwhatisbest
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I'm hoping you've landed on the idea that you're looking at allergies based on something more than your dog being a picky eater? Loosing weight? Poor stool quality? Itching/skin issues?
If your vet hasn't found anything medical of concern, picky eating on it's own isn't necessarily something that needs to be fixed. We teach dogs to be picky eaters, just like we teach toddlers.
If you are seeing physical symptoms (beyond the questionable allergy test results), a hydrolyzed/prescription diet is probably going to be the best place to start in ruling out what is really causing the issues. Fortunately, there are many choices where you should not have to worry about DCM/taurine concerns.
Please don't rely on blood or saliva tests for determining food allergies. They tend to give many false positives, which can complicate your life unduly.
Instead, work with your vet on conducting an elimination diet and rechallenge using a prescription hypoallergenic food. That is the only way to accurately identify food allergies in dogs.
Thank you for everyone's thought, expertise and input. Yes, the allergy testing was a result of other symptoms outside of just picky eating (i.e. vomiting, refusal to eat anything for several meals, ear infection). We are currently doing an "elimination diet" and so far, have had good results. Turns out our hound is HIGHLY allergic to all milk and dairy products - his results were "off the charts." His stomach issues, coupled with the fact that he was getting some plain yogurt with his antibiotics appears to have really irritated his stomach lining. In addition, we found that after review of everything he eats, his glucosamine contained "dried cheese" in the ingredient listing (chewable supplement). We have switched his kibble, and we are going through the "transition" phase (a bit of loose stool) and he is doing MUCH better. He will be getting some stomach medication to help ease the stomach upset for a few days and then moving forward, we are going to use a limited ingredient diet and adjust what he eats. Hopefully this will be the end of a lengthy trial and error process for him.
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Good Evening,
As some of you may already be aware, we have been struggling with "picky" eating habits with our 5-year old hound. After much testing, and trial and error our vet opted to complete a Food Allergen Panel to determine what allergies our guy might have. The test results were as follows:
- Milk +++ (Very High Allergy Indicated)
- Beet Pulp +++
- Other Noted + Allergens were: Pinto Beans, Potato (White), Flaxseed, Rice, Fish Mix, Turkey, Venison, Soybean, Oats, Kangaroo, Rabbit
- Borderline potential to have a future allergic tendency were noted to be Duck and Chicken (recommended that we avoid these two proteins)
Note this was done via IDEXX Lab Allergen Panel Test (Food): Canine
Nonetheless, we will be making some DRASTIC diet changes (no more cottage cheese - or any cheese, no more Fish Oil, etc.). but my husband and I are now at a loss of what we can feed him to be sure he feels good, and gets a good amount of nutrients. Any thoughts?
Thank you!!
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Renny does something similar this time of year, not being interested on his meals or only eating part and leaving the rest. (He's 80lb but I can count every single rib on him, wish I could put a couple pounds on him!) Anyway, after much testing and trial and error over the last two years we've chalked it up to some unspecific seasonal allergy that exists spring and summer. Fall and winter he has no issue and inhales his food (but still gains no weight. Weirdo). Maybe something similar is going on here?
Renny is an extremely food motivated hound, making his lack of appetite all the more puzzling. This may sound dumb, but we've actually trained him that he'll get a cookie if he finishes his meal. We walk over, very obviously check his bowl, exclaim, "good boy!!!!!!" in the most excited voice we can, and loudly drop a cookie in the metal bowl. If he doesn't eat, we hold up the cookie for him to see, tell him to finish his dinner, and then wait (and sometimes walk away and come back a few minutes later). Why the cookie is oh-so-much-better, I'll never know, but it works and I've stopped questioning it lol
We've tried Pepcid, Claritin, Zyrtec, and Prednisone with no effect (the last one landed him an emergency vet visit after plummeting 9lb in as many days, please be very careful if your vet suggests this because some greys are sensitive). This year, since it's now started up again I'm giving benadryl a go, which just might be working but is still early days. Crossing my fingers it works, but the cookie method makes a good backup!
Edit: I should mention that Renny also has a bit of a cough/sniffle to go with it which pointed us down the allergy route. That may not be applicable here though
If you don't mind my asking - how long does Remy usually act like this in the Springtime? We were wondering about allergy-related or seasonal behavior as well. I have tried the "cookie after dinner" thing but he hasn't quite picked up on it as well as I had hoped. He is currently taking a Pepcid daily (20 mg). He doesn't have a cough or anything but we do notice that his eating does seem to go with the season sometimes.
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When was his last fecal test done? I would suspect some sort of parasite infestation or giardia.
He just might not be hungry. Maybe for him his current weight is too heavy for him. Stop trying to feed him so much. Sometimes less is best.
also, doxycycline usually does their tummy in. there are other antibiotics that will not have such strong effects on the stomach. dare i say second opinion and maybe recommend a week of plain boiled chicken and rice? you can cook an entire chicken(cut it up and remove the skin) in a stock pot of rice. debone the chicken and the stuff is amazing. no dog seems to turn their nose up to home made chicken and rice. just shred or chop the chicken, mix in and nuke for a tad prior to serving. when he is hungry he will eat, i am not recommending probiotics or pecid ac, but doxy is pretty strong stuff. generally to clean up the cut it's FLAGYL or TYLAN powder prescribed here in the states.
Thank you to everyone for their insight(s). Overall, he seems to be doing better this past day. He still does not want to eat in the mornings; however, by about 10 AM, he seems to get his appetite back for the most part. Yesterday, he gobbled down his usual amount of food but did not really want anything to eat until mid-afternoon.
He did have a fecal exam in January and everything was good but we are planning to run another one at his follow-up appointment in a week just to be sure. One thing noted by "tbhounds" may be spot on... we do notice that when he reaches his "top / ideal" weight he does seem to taper his eating quite a bit. I have never had a dog that self regulated so this would be new to me!
Cleptogrey - I actually do have him taking a probiotic as I know how hard Antibiotics can be on their system. I will ask the vet about the other medication options - I am not 100% sure why doxycycline was chosen. I am hesitant to go to another vet as this in particular knows our grey's history and works directly with the adoption agency that we got him from. However, I really appreciate your insights... all of the advice counts and is helpful!
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Here is the Complete Urine Analysis Lab Result:
This was a mid-day urine sample, taken around 3:30 PM - was given a meal prior to the lab around 2:00 PM; however, water intake for the previous 24 hours was noted to be decreased (which could directly impact the urine analysis results).
- Collection: Free Catch
- Color: Dark Yellow
- Clarity: Clear
- Specific Gravity: >1.050
- pH: 7.0
- LEU: 25 Leu/µL
- PRO: 30 mg/dL
- GLU: Negative
- KET: Negative
- UBG: 8 mg/dL
- BIL: 3 mg/dL
- BLD: 10 Ery/µL
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Check the ingredients on the food to see if there have been any changes. An unannounced formula changed caused my girl to go picky which then caused a whole chain of other issues.
If he’s been on the same food for a while it is completely possible that he doesn’t like it any more. Is there a different flavor of the same product line you could try?
Lila goes though phases where she won’t eat from her bowl, but will greedily eat the same meal off a paper plate. She’s a weirdo, but it’s worth a try.
I checked on the dog food that we are currently feeding (Nutro Ultra Adult Dry Dog Food) and it has recently undergone a packaging change but I confirmed that none of the ingredients have changed. I have tried a few different options and occasionally he will show interest and eat a few bites; but then after a bit will walk away and turn it down. It is very sporadic.
What are his teeth like? I just adopted a girl from the Canidrome. They say she is in the beginning of kidney disease that's why she is being so picky. Kidney food tastes terrible.
But her teeth were HORRIBLE. We did a dental, she lost 24 teeth and now eats like there's no tomorrow. Even that crappy kidney diet food.
Congratulations on getting a new girl! That's awesome. His teeth are actually PERFECT and brushed often. He has no issues with that area, and I did have the vet check that out on Monday (just to be sure). I am so confused with this guy... sometimes he'll eat, and other times not. But lately, he seems to be more than uninterested.
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OK, I've been there before 3 or 4 times, and twice with it being the start of Chronic Renal Failure with varying survival times from 4 weeks to 18 months post dx.
I, think for whatever reason, your dog may be feeling nauseous and so an anti-nausea medication could be given. He may have a very sore gut with spasms, so something like Buscopan could help. What's underlying could be a parasite burden, or it may be something more sinister which only special tests can reveal.
One other 'obvious' thing comes to mind: When you are feeding the boiled chicken, you really must remove the fatty skin from it, lest it trigger Pancreatitis?
Thank you for the insight. The vet was pretty confident this isn't renal failure at this point based on his other labs (SDMA was normal, no anemia, no weight loss, not drinking an excessive amount). Do you have a recommendation on what special tests could / should be run to confirm anything else? I will look into the Buscopan (I have never heard of this before).
I am removing the fat skin from the chicken. We did run labs to ensure pancreatitis was not occurring, unfortunately his actual lab work isn't telling us very much as everything seems to be "okay." He WILL eat, just won't eat what I offer. Usually, the go-to ends on beef and/or chicken.
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Hello Everyone,
First of all - I apologize for the long post. I want to get as much detail out there as I can in effort to get some insightful advice from other fellow Greyhound Lovers. A couple of weeks ago, our 5-year old male greyhound started to refuse his food. He has never been one to go completely crazy over food - but this was different in that he was completely refusing to eat and walking away when he heard me going to get his bowl ready.
We have tried everything including:
- Switching bags of food (in case there was something wrong with the current bag)
- Putting a topper on his food (canned food, etc.)
- Wetting food down with warm water
- Heating up the food in the microwave
- Taking food away after 15 minutes and trying again at the next feeding
- Adding cheese sprinkled on top of his food
Occasionally, one of the above would work; however, it was hit or miss. Sometimes he'd eat a little bit if it was mixed with the right ingredient, sometimes he'd eat a treat, sometimes nothing. For a bit, I figured he was just being a picky eater; however, going more than 1-2 meals did not seem to be just that. Then, over the course of a few days they only thing he would eat was chicken / beef with rice. Please note, he has not lost any weight and is at a healthy 79.5 lbs, no diarrhea, energy level normal - still loves "walkies," etc. Nonetheless, we brought him into the veterinarian on 3/25/2019 as I also noticed that due to his decreased appetite he also wasn’t drinking as much (but was still drinking). The vet completed a full blood chemistry panel, CBC and Urine Analysis.
The results to be noted were as follows (everything else looked fairly normal):
- Slightly elevated Creatinine (2.0 mg/dL) – although this greyhound has always had a somewhat “higher” Creatinine level.
- Elevated BUN (35 mg/dL)
- Specific Urine Gravity >1.050, Clarity Clear, pH 7.0
Given his decreased water intake prior to the urine test, the vet felt as though the urine gravity wasn’t overly remarkable. We also completed an SDMA and he is well within the ideal reference range at 9µg/dL – no indication of kidney or renal failure. Provided the results of the labs, and the facts that our greyhound is acting otherwise normal, we were not able to derive a conclusion as to what may be going on. The vet opted to treat with doxycycline twice per day to see if he starts to feel better, indicating he may have some bacterial infection in his digestive system.
Following administration of the Doxycycline, our greyhound started eating well (1 – 1.25 cups of kibble mixed with chicken and/or boiled beef) twice per day for subsequent three days. In addition, his water intake went back to normal. Then just last night and this morning his appetite was diminishing again. This morning, the only thing he would eat is the beef. He pushes the kibble away with his nose. I would typically let him go hungry but with the antibiotic I wanted to be sure to get something in his tummy so that he doesn’t end up getting nauseous.
My questions for the group are:
- Do you think he is just being picky now that he has gotten chicken and beef? It seems like an abrupt halt on the kibble and he used to eat that just fine.
- Do you have any other thoughts, given his labs, of what may be going on?
- Any recommendations of what to feed him?
- Any other advice? I am at my wits end trying to figure this guy out – and I think he knows it 😊
Thank you in advance for your help!
Kashi
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I echo all of the comments above - check for Hookworm and any other parasites. The best fecal test to run is called an Intestinal Parasite Exam Antigen. I also recommend doing the + Ova test with the fecal exam to check for anything else such as Giardiasis (giardia). Any of these things could cause the frequent bathroom runs, vomiting, lethargy, etc. Best of luck!!
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I think given what you have outlined, trying medication may be a good next step and would recommend you talk with you vet. Our boy grey had separation anxiety when we first got him and similar to you, we had tried everything. Nonetheless, despite our best efforts he would continually pee in his crate when we were gone. The vet did not want that to become a "normal" behavior; therefore, recommended we try Trazadone once per day when planning to leave him alone. After one week I can tell you that both my husband and I were so relived! As someone mentioned above, it is not a "cure-all" and behavior and alone training need to continue, but the meds helped him to take the edge off his anxiety and actually focus on his Kong and the Treats.
Good Luck! I am glad to hear you are not giving up on him!
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Good Afternoon Greyhound Friends!
I wanted to ask a quick question about Greyhound to Greyhound behavior. We have had our boy for close to a year and a half and overall, everything is going wonderfully and he has really done well adapting to his retired life in our home. He gets along with small dogs, non-greyhound dogs, and other greyhounds; however, I do have one question -
Sometimes, when we are at Greyhound Events he will growl and/or air-snap at other greyhounds -- especially if the other grey approaches him "nose to nose." I am just curious what other people's experience is with this. We have a foster girl that will also do this OCCASIONALLY; however, she is newly off the track and still not really confident with her surroundings. Again, most of the time our boy is just fine and when not on a leash, only growls if his space is invaded when he's sleeping (which is understandable).
Thanks for any insight!! We appreciate it.
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Are there rules to signing up for this? I try, and it displays a message that I need to sign-in. Then, I sign-in and the process starts all over and asks me to sign-in again. Thoughts? Would love to participate if I am able / eligible. Thanks!
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Just an FYI - I attempted to order an XL in the Sage Color today and was told that color has been discontinued
They only have three colors left in the 44" size recommended for Greyhounds. They are 50% off right now....https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3307+1+32475+23384&pcatid=23384
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this is interesting, I wonder if Zeke would do better after the first couple of doses? With just the 25mg he's fine with it on an as-needed basis but seriously thinking about daily. Sorry to hijack!
If you think he needs it daily, talk to your vet (unless you already have) and give it a try. One thing my husband and I have learned with Greys that are truly anxious is that they will become much more happy when they are not focusing on things out of their control. Similar to people, anxiety isn't "created" on purpose, some just have it. Our big guy gained weight and really became a happy retired dog with anxiety meds. (Note: I am not saying meds are the answer to everything, but sometimes it is what they need to help them through a stressful scenario or life event).
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Our guy takes 100 mg of Trazodone, as needed for anxiety. It was originally prescribed to him as he had separation anxiety that was not improving with alone training, etc. We used the medication along with behavioral training to help him get over the initial uncontrolled anxiety and it worked great! One thing I would note is that the first and second time you give the meds, the greys will appear to be more influenced. Our grey was very sleepy and "out of it" as some of you had noted. However, the vet said that is normal for the first few administrations. Now, it just simply takes the edge off when needed - he is otherwise 100% normal and happy.
Hope this helps!
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**UPDATE** Apollo is doing fantastic! today we left him with free roam of the living room and kitchen, at first when I left he was whining and barking , I set him up with his blankets and toys and muzzled him and put a thundervest on him which I bought with the new crate last night, originally I didnt have the crate out in the living room, however after once incident involving a tv being knocked over and destroyed I proceeded home and moved his new crate into the living room and left he door open, I took the now dead Tv to the trash and went back in, made sure nothing was in range for him to get to and turned the music back on for him and headed back to work, since moving the crate out to the living room he has been amazing!! Silent as a church mouse, he was laying on the couch and fell asleep and there are a few whines here and there but overall he is doing great!! Im so proud of our boy! I will continue to work with him doing alone training and Lisa is doing great with the training to she read Ill be Home Soon and we picked up a lot from it! I think this is a major step to defeating the Seperation Anxiety Monster!!!
That's awesome! Sounds similar to our experience as well. We had to find the right space, with the right setup and once Keeper figured it out and was comfortable he was good to go. One thing to note is that you may still encounter an off day here and there - don't get too upset, they usually snap back into their routine quickly.
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I would like to start off by simply saying, I understand your concern 100% and I empathize with you. My husband and I adopted our first greyhound (not our first dog) last September. We had a similar experience in that he adapted quickly to our home and lifestyle; however, struggled with separation anxiety. Here is what happened with us, and how we ended up handling the situation:
Keeper (our dog's name) was fine for the first few days alone, but by the end of the week he started to get upset and was shredding his blankets in his crate. Then one day, he also broke out of his crate (although I did not have any reinforcements on it and he just simply slipped out of it). Following the "break out" we opted to let him have free-roam of our living room with a muzzle on. We set up a webcam and could see how upset he was getting. The anxiety continued to progress into him soiling on the rug within minutes of us leaving. Within a week, we brought him to the vet and had them run a urinary culture and we found that he had a UTI. We treated the UTI, and things appeared to be getting better; although, Keeper never did relax when he had free roam of the living room. He would howl, shake and exponentially grow more anxious as the day went on. We tried DAP, Music Playing, Kongs, Busy-Toys, etc. Just about everything but he just didn't seem to like being able to roam as much as we thought he would.
With that, the adoption agency recommended crating him again (but in a different area of the house), to see if he was any better now that he had gotten used to the house (and us) more. I am surprised to report that once we started crating again Keeper's anxiety decreased dramatically. He was one of the few greys that "broke" out of his crate simply because he was simply anxious, not because he wanted to get out. In effort to continue with the positive events, both our vet and agency recommended Keeper go on an 'as-needed' anxiety medication until he learned that we always came back. We gave him the medication about an hour before we would leave and it helped him to be calm throughout our time away. Within one month, we weaned off the med and he has been great ever since. Please don't get me wrong - I am not saying medication is the answer to everything but sometimes when animals panic they are unable to learn or figure anything else out other than that they are scared. Anxiety medication should only be used if everything else has been attempted and it appears that the animal may injure themself.
Keeper now crates himself when we leave for work and he sleeps most of the day (we still have the webcam setup). We still run a radio with soft classical music and I give him a treat before I walk out the door. When I get home I do not make a big fuss, I just open the crate and take him to potty.
The last few things I want to note (based on our experience) are that the first few days / weeks aren't exactly the best ways to identify the dogs overall behavior. They are scared and not sure why their "job" at the track was taken away and why all of sudden they are alone. I know it is frustrating and it may be worth a trip to your vet again to see what options you might have to help Apollo adjust. We have found that when Keeper doesn't feel good, he doesn't want to be left alone (which is common for pack-dogs); therefore, a combination of things overtime really seemed to help him out. Time being one of the main factors in our success.
Good luck to you!!!
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Hey All! I am happy to report that 24 hours after the administration of the topical Advantage Multi, my grey is doing so so MUCH better. He has his normal appetite and energy levels back. I think his tummy was just upset with the meds and the stress from the vet.
Fortunately, his infestation was considered mild so we are hopeful this three month treatment plan will do the trick. He has not lost any weight, nor does he have any hair loss so hoping we caught it early enough. Fingers are crossed (tightly).
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If he comes into contact with other dogs *anywhere* you should do the da2pp (distemper, adenovirus-2, parainfluenza and parvovirus) and bordatella. It's also good in case of emergency kenneling/boarding, and natural emergencies. If you're questioning the need because you feel he's being over vaccinated, talk with your vet about running titers or delaying them several months.
With the rabies, did you get a rabies certificate from his kennel/track doctor? That should be sufficient proof if any animal control officers come to your door looking for proof of rabies. Just make sure the date on that slip of paper is a good one (otherwise you need the shot).
Agree 100% with the advice given above. The da2pp is something that should be given even if a dog may only come into contact with others on daily walks. I staggered out the vaccinations in our grey when we first got him and never had any issues.
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Good Morning All -
While I know this has been a topic multiple times, I have read through and am seeking advice on some of the common side-effects people have seen with de-worming meds. My grey is 4 years old, and has had hooks off and on since we adopted him approximately 7 months ago. He has had two fecal tests that were clear; however, last week he tested positive again. We took in a sample as he had a decreased appetite and typically that indicates that his tummy isn't feeling 100%. He is not a huge "food driven" grey but does usually have a decent appetite overall. On a typical day, he gets a mix of Nutro Ultra Dry and Canned Food.
Okay, fast-forward to today (Monday 05/21/18), Keeper went to the vet on Saturday (two days ago) and was administered and oral de-wormer in-house (unsure what the name of it is). Then, the vet I am working with has opted to replace his monthly preventative to Advantage Multi (he was taking Sentinel) for three months. He was given his first dose of the Advantage Multi yesterday. My question for everyone on here is:
1. Have your greys experienced a decreased appetite with hooks?
- (Mine has been eating, but not consistently and not enthusiastically. He has not wanted to eat his kibble, but will eat biscuits and baby food)
2. If yes, once treated - how long did it appear to take for them to have their appetite's back?
- I am wondering if maybe the suppressed appetite is simply because he doesn't feel well and that the meds are upsetting his tummy while they do their "magic" with the hooks.
Please know I have been in consistent contact with my vet, I am just reaching out to see what other's experience has been. My grey has been drinking, passing bowel movements and urinating normally. I did check his temp and have been watching that his gums stay healthy pink as well. Thanks to all for any insight!!
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Hi There -
I am very sorry for the loss of your sweet animal, my thoughts are with you. You did everything you could, and I am happy to hear you are more than likely going to adopt again.
Out of curiosity, did they run Soji's White Blood Cell count values? I am curious as we recently adopted a Grey out of FL who tested positive for hooks, but also had a low-grade infection that caused abnormal WBC levels. After much testing, and him proceeding to get very ill (vomiting, fever, lethargy), we ended up rushing to the ER and having a major exploratory surgery done to find that his Gallbladder had ruptured and he had sepsis (causing blood in the abdominal cavity). Thankfully, we were able to successfully remove the gallbladder and to date, he is getting healthier by the day.
Thinking of you!
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Our Grey had terrible gas and was eating a grain-free food. Someone else recommended switching to Nutro Ultra and since the switch, the smelly gas has disappeared. I would check the ingredients and try to see how many you can identify that may be contributing to the smell. Good Luck!
They only have three colors left in the 44" size recommended for Greyhounds. They are 50% off right now....
Rimadyl And Pepcid?
in Health and Medical discussion
Posted
Hi There,
Sorry to hear about what you and your pup are going through. I have had to give Rimadyl in the past with Pepcid as our guy had gastric issues and underwent a major surgery a few years back and the vet we worked with wanted him on both. We gave the Rimadyl in the morning and then the Pepcid one-hour before his later evening meal. This did seem to work well for him. We ended deciding to continue the Pepcid indefinitely (one per day one hour before the last meal of the day) for his gastric issues as he tends to have quite the sensitive stomach. Best of Luck!!!