LoveMyGrey

Thank you so much!!

Wow, thank you everyone for all the advice!! Coco did hold "it" until I came home (9 hours after eating and 6 hours after I left). She has never had an accident in the house. She seemed perfectly normal, came to greet me when I walked in wagging tail (she can't be crated). She and the "security" dog went outside - no hesitation and she did all her business and even sniffed around! We came in and I fed her and she ate it all perfectly and now she is chewing on her antler and seems fine. Greyaholic - thank you so much for all your info. I have never heard of a spook before but most of what you are saying sounds just like Coco. Do you have any suggestions for when we go out of town? I will write down in detail her routine for her care giver (this time my dad - God help him), but I didn't know if you had any suggestions of things to make that weekend easier on her.

Thank you both for your replies! I can't say for sure what spooked her last night, but even 3 hours after breakfast this morning she still will not go outside - won't get off her bed actually. I hate that this is happening and don't quite understand it either since I have had her for 6 months and even as a new pup she didn't do this. I have read the thread Greyaholic posted and tried the calming signal (my rendition must not have been very good as she didn't move)! I will have her Thyroid and probably the adrenal function tested the next time we visit the vet, unless she doesn't get better soon! Thanks again!

Hi! I have had Coco a little over 6 months. She came to us with hookworms which we hope we have eradicated now! Ever since she has been with us and our 2 smaller pups, she is minimally active (which I know is a trait of the retired racers). Any deviation to her routine upsets her to where she will not eat and/or go outside. Ex: she was ready to go out last night, but my husband knelt down just outside the door for a second and that scared her and she wouldn't move off her bed for 2 hours even though I know she had to use the bathroom. I used to think she was getting too hungry overnight which caused some of this, but I have started feeding her 1/2 a cup of food about 9PM and that stopped the grumbly tummy issue. She will have days where she seldom gets off her bed. Then she may have a day or several where she will play for 5 minutes then lay back down for the rest of the day. I have taken her for walks and runs but that seems to make it worse the next day - she seems to like and enjoy the walks but even in our yard any odd noise, person talking, dog barking, anything scares her and she pulls to go back inside where she may not want to leave again, ever! Also, I took her for a meet and greet about a month ago and I'm not sure if it was sensory overload with the dogs and people, but if another grey got near her she would snap and growl - none of the others were acting this way. She hates to ride in the car so I try not to subject her to it anymore than I have to, which is sad as she can go with me to work everyday if she wants. She used to go outside by herself but in the last month will only go with my 8lb rat terrier (which I call her security dog) and now it is taking me about 5 minutes the majority of the time to get her off the deck. Her poop seems to have firmed up for the most part so that is a plus, but I just don't know how to help her. I see other greys online running, playing, roaching, and stuff and mine does none of that. I'm wondering if it is depression or an adrenal fatigue issue. Does anyone have any thoughts? We have our first trip coming in about a month for a long weekend and I have someone coming in to take care of her, but I worry that she will not eat or move while we are gone. I am truly at a loss as to what to do! I give her lots and lots of praise and love and she is not food motivated at all which makes getting her to do anything difficult at best! Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions as I am completely out of them!

I am thinking of switching my 4 year old girl to raw or dehydrated food. There seem to be a lot of options now so I'm curious what you feed your pup and, if raw, how much do you feed a day? Having never fed raw and with no directions I want to make sure I feed the proper amount. I see The Honest Kitchen makes a dehydrated meal base that you just add protein, has anyone tried this? It seems like a good option to make sure she gets all the vitamins and minerals she needs. Is there any protein I should not feed? I'm guessing beef would probably be the cheapest one but I am open to options! Thanks for your advice!

NeylasMom, you are correct! Did wonders for Coco, thankfully! Her bloodworm came back good, but we are still waiting for the pancreas test. I'm sure its fine, but nerve wracking!! Thanks!

Greytxpctations thank you! My girl is only 62lbs and was a little more lethargic than normal too. The Drontal Plus I was given was in pill form and I was to give 1.5 pills per dose. I ended up taking her to the vet who gave her a shot of Cerenia for the nausea which helped greatly. Within 2 hours she was drinking water again and I gave her half her dinner later which she ate. They also gave her fluids subcutaneously to help with her slight dehydration. I was giving her liquid Pyrantel but thought I would try this way to hopefully speed up the worming process. I'm thinking I will now just go back to plain Pyrantel instead as this episode was very traumatic for her. Thank you all for your posts, I was really worried I had poisoned the poor pup!!

Thanks everyone! I was giving Pyrantel every two weeks, all that did was cause her stool to become a bit runny. In an effort to get rid of these worms sooner than later I tried the Drontel and Advantage Multi. This is the first time giving her either medication so I gave her the Drontel with her full breakfast and about 3 hours later applied the Advantage. I was really hoping the Advantage would work since it kills the eggs and larvae but she was restless from the time it was applied until she started throwing up. About 5 hours after the last incident I gave her a few morsels of dry food soaked in water as she was not drinking, she reluctantly ate it all. Then kept wanting to go out to eat grass. The threw up about 10:45 and it was all grass. It's now morning and she still feels bad will not drink and has thrown up pink/red bile twice. I'm calling the vet as I don't want her to get deyhdrated and maybe they can give her something to calm her tummy. I know she is uncomfortable as she will only lay on her tummy and not her sides. LaFlaca that link worked perfectly. I think I'll go back to the Pyrantel only every 2 weeks since that seems to be the only one that works for all the hooks without all the other stuff!! Thanks again everyone!

Thank you for the info, I wasn't aware of the revision. The copy I saw said that it was revised July 2018 see this link http://prisongreyhounds.org/Hookworm%207-2018.pdf. LaFlaca I tried your link but it requires log in information. Thank you both! Luckily she has not been sick since the third time, I don't think I'll feed her much this evening.

I just started my pup on the prison protocol today as I know many others have done with success. I gave her Drontal Plus with breakfast this morning (about 6:30) and about 3 hours later gave her the Advantage Multi. I then ran out to to store for about an hour - we have a camera on the living room where she stays and I noticed she would not settle down like she usually does after we leave, she was pacing from the front window to the back door. I came straight home and took her out thinking she had to "go" maybe but all she did was urinate a little. Then she wanted to play and proceeded to jump around for a few moments (on leash) and we went inside. Shortly there after she threw up on her bed, then she threw up on her bed again, then she threw up on the rug. All in about 30-45 minutes and all reasonable amounts. In the 2 months I've had her, she have never thrown up. Does anyone have any ideas if it was the Drontal or the Advantage Multi? Because I gave them both roughly at the same time as directed, I don't know which one caused it. Has anyone else had this issue while doing this regime? If the Drontal was in her for about 5 hours was that long enough to do any good? Any help will be appreciated!

Thank you all for the great suggestions, we are not in a hurry to get another car so I am going to research all of these vehicles! Thank you again so much!!

I've been looking at the Sante Fe's. My mom has one that she will never part with!! That is definitely in the running! Thanks!

Oh I love the pictures, Sweep obviously loves "her" car!! I had forgotten about the Subaru's. I'll look into those as well!! Thanks guys

Thanks for the suggestions. I, like Remolacha, do not have kids so I kinda bypassed the whole mini van idea! I may have to reconsider after reading everyone's comments! Thanks so much everyone. I see RobinW has a Matrix, we used to have a VW GTI and we loved that car, since it is a hatchback with seats that fold down how do you think that would work?

Just looking to get opinions on what you think the best vehicle is for greyhounds. We currently have one pup but may at some point in the future get another (they are kind of addicting!). I currently have a sedan and my husband has a 4 door full size pickup which we have been using. We have looked at Jeep Wranglers and we like those but we are still trying to decide. Any input from current dog owners will be appreciated along with any thoughts why a Wrangler wouldn't be best. Thanks in advance!

Luckily I do not currently have any itchy allergy pups. I do have a pup that is allergic to chicken, so I stopped feeding her chicken and turkey and she seems better. Here is another thought, my mom had a dog that was allergic to the grass and need periodic cortisone shots to help with the itching. Her yard was not treated and the pup didn't go anywhere that had grass which had been treated with any chemicals. My new grey, Coco, also is having better poops now that she is almost completely off chicken and is eating lamb. Good luck I know it is annoying for Lola and you!!

Thanks guys!! I appreciate all the advice. I have Drontal Plus but can't find the Advantage Multi locally so I will get a Rx for it and have it filled online. That protocol seems to be what works!! Once I get her transitioned over the the lamb I don't plan on changing the food and I'll get some of the carrots that were suggested. Thanks again for all the help!

Thank you guys for the advice, I will check out those links! When we got Coco from the rescue I asked what food they had been feeding her and I was told "whatever was donated", so I just picked a food initially. But as the weeks went by and her poop didn't improve at all, I thought it was possible she may have a chicken allergy, so I thought if that was the case I should try her on lamb. I will give her the pyrantel today as I know she needs to be rid of those nasty worms!! We're gonna get'em!! Thank you both again!!

I'm new to this forum (and greyhounds) and have learned a lot from all the great posts here, but I do have some additional questions. We adopted Coco about 6 weeks ago and she was hookworm positive (shocking). The group we adopted from gave her a dose of Pyrantel the day we picked her up and instructed us to give her 4ml every 2 weeks. I have been doing just that, but her poop tends to get worse for a day or two after the treatment, is this normal? She has only had 1 good, pick up able poop since we have had her. I do my best to pick it all up, but it really is impossible as it mostly comes out as a soft serve plop! I've read that Panacur and Drontal don't really do the job, plus the hookworm ingredient in Drontal is Pyrantel. The vet is telling me that I need to give her 6ml of Pyrantel based on her 62lb weight. I don't want to overdose her as it seems her tummy might be sensitive. We give her Sentinel for heartworms/hookworms. Any thoughts? I was feeding her Whole Earth Farms Chicken and Rice and I am slowly transitioning to Merrick Lamb and Sweet Potato, I'm only up to about 1/4 Merrick per feeding. I am thinking she could have an issue with chicken so I thought I would change her protein source to see if that makes a difference. She eats whatever I put in front of her without issue. I have been giving her a good quality probiotic and digestive enzymes and this week I have started her on 8 gentleman, a chinese medicine supplement that is mixed with her food. I read in a forum 8 gents helped another grey with very loose stools. This morning she woke us up early and my husband took her out. She urinated but didn't immediately poop, he waited and she eventually pooped but about the same time her tummy started making all sorts of gurgling noises and she started eating grass. She came back in and started putting everything (including her blanket) in her mouth as if she was starving. Her tummy was still going so I only fed her half her normal breakfast and she has settled down on her bed and the tummy seems quiet. I feed her 1.5 cups of food about 6:30am and again about 4:00pm. She is such a great girl, but to me she seems to be taking a bit to become comfortable on our walks (or anytime we leave the house or yard). She used to freeze every few yards, now it is a good bit better and I'm so proud of her, so hopefully this is getting better. Any help or suggestions about our situation will be very appreciated!