SmolAliens

Another happy update: Giant's been off the carprofen for 4 days now. Yesterday my partner took him on his first 10-minute walk around the complex and he loved it--and he passed right out for much longer than usual after they got home No limping after so far, which is awesome. I'm siding with the radiologist at AVS who thinks there may not even be a fracture and that the limp may have been a sprain or ligament issue. We'll have to see as time goes on and we work him up to longer walks/possibly even running around in a fenced area after several weeks. Definitely want to take it slow to avoid re-injury, but I'm super hopeful after seeing him improve this much!

Good news yesterday! Ortho had a look at Giant's leg and said everything looks great. Their radiologist isn't even certain if the bone is fractured, and says it is just slightly arthritic. It's possible there could be an old injury which has long since fused already, and the limp was caused by a ligament issue or sprain. We're weaning off of the carprofen to see how he responds before we move forward--if the limp returns we will go back to AVS for x-rays and further examination, otherwise if he seems good we will be able to slowly work him up to short walks

Printing myself a copy of this now! We may end up needing it, apparently GPAG's last batch of hounds all got those super-hooks...

That's so good to hear! Looks like we will be going on Wednesday. I'm hopeful for a good prognosis

Decent news this weekend--the rescue is going to cover part of the cost for imaging. We are going to bring Giant to Affiliated Veterinary Specialists in Maitland as they are a bit less expensive but have great ortho docs there. The doc who reviewed his first 2 x-rays says that the fracture looks 'quiet' so it could just be an older break that healed wrong and just needs pain management instead of surgery. Will keep y'all posted as to what they say.

Well, no real way to be sure I've got the worms yet, but it's more likely I'm reacting to a new medication so at least there's that. As for our gentle Giant, BluePearl got back to us with estimates for further imaging and surgery. Just a little sticker-shocked, but we still have Frankie's Friends to help out and the rescue is looking into it as well. In the meantime, he's doing pretty well on the NSAID, not limping, just a little weak when trying to sit down. We'll have to see if the vets out in Tampa think he can keep using NSAIDs or if he needs the surgery.

I'm sure he will be, considering he's an RN...

Haha, for sure. Yeah, I'm okay...just praying if it is hooks they're not resistant to the *human* meds...

Okay, and now for something completely different... I've been the one doing most of Giant's potty breaks as my partner is squeamish about ...he wears gloves to do, it, I do not. I thought I washed up well enough after coming back in, but apparently not as I developed a rash on my back where I scratched it the other day and it could be hookworm larvae! In *my* body!! Going to the doc today to see what's going on while we wait for more news from Tampa on possible surgery. This is turning into *quite* the saga...

Hey y'all, we just got the radiologist's report. His third tarsal had a slab fracture but the issue is that it's healing incorrectly and fusing to the second tarsal. Recommended for surgery to fuse the joint. Anyone else have their grey go through this type of surgery? Would fusion limit Giant's ability to walk or run long-term?

Oh, Cletus! You make my day with these chikken posts <3

We have this issue with Giant, our new FL hound. Apparently the kennels here are using a horse dewormer called Quest, which doesn't seem to be very effective anymore (and is not recommended due to the danger of overdosing dogs). We have the moxidectin from our new vet but I'm going to keep an eye on things as I have my doubts it'll improve the situation if they're this resistant.

Our vet gave us a sample of Nexgard to try once Giant's due again since he got his flea/tick/worm stuff a day before we got him. Also Heartgard for heartworm. Anyone have success with these or should we look into switching to Bravecto?

Thank you. Depending on how things go with BluePearl and whether or not we can get funding from their charitable program we will likely keep pushing with the rescue. We may never know where the fault really lies here but the reality is that Giant is our dog and we will do whatever it takes to get him healthy, even if it means paying OOP. We've been down this road with a couple of guinea pigs and specialty care for them can quickly run into the thousands...for a pet who will live up to 3 times longer I think we are more than prepared to try just as hard

Thank you for the recommendation. Luckily it is a pretty straightforward fracture so we are hoping BluePearl can review the radiographs and go from there. If it were a more complex case I'd be calling up specialists in a heartbeat but we've had great experiences having other pets with specific care needs/differences treated at BP. According to my partner's research it would likely only need one screw, maybe not even that. He *is* putting weight on the leg again now that his pain is controlled but I worry about the joint setting improperly again. We could be having deja vu in a few weeks or months if he tweaks it out again without further treatment. That seems to be the mistake everyone else has made with him...and I find it pretty unfair to doom him to a life of only walking 50 feet from our front door and back for bathroom breaks since that seems to be a possibility.

Thank you. He has had no seizure activity since starting the Keppra, thank goodness. We have a few options for vets in the area but for now we are looking at having BluePearl in Tampa check out the x-rays. I know there’s another group of specialists closer to us but BP has the Frankie’s Friends program to help with costs and they do see greyhounds (the Frankie in the program’s name was also a retired racer).

We did get in touch with them and they are bringing this issue to the board as we speak. Not sure how far we will get with that as they are a smaller organization but partner is pushing for it. I feel horrible about it all but yeah, they did seem to drop the ball on it. The funny thing is, after Giant was brought into the rescue from the track they noticed something in the leg was off when he arrived, and had a vet prescribe him Tramadol...which lowers the seizure threshold. So he had a grand mal, and foster (who is a vet tech themselves) remarked that she may have seen him have petit mal seizures prior to that and didn't realize it, so university vet Dxed him with epilepsy and took him off Tramadol to put him on seizure meds. Apparently the leg seemed to get better during all of this but ~48-72 hours before he was to be driven to our home something happened and he started being bothered again, but this was ignored. So A, he has the leg issue which was never properly diagnosed or treated, and B, he may not even be epileptic. Ugh. Praying this all works out for everyone and we can all be on good terms again.

We have settled in with Giant over the weekend and he is a fantastic boy We knew what we were getting into re: special needs due to his epilepsy, but little did we know that the plot would thicken as soon as we had him home with us. He was refusing to put weight on the right hind leg, and I knew from the foster that there was some kind of little grumble in there but I was under the assumption it was muscular. Nope! We brought him to a local vet for an x-ray and he has a small tarsal slab fracture in the leg which set up a bit awkwardly and has extra bone growing over it. We are assuming this happened during his final (and only) race at Sanford Orlando on 4/26--he had a good career prior to this but crashed into a bunch of dogs during the race and was immediately retired. I'm a bit miffed that nobody seemed to notice he broke a bone, but at least we know now. He is on carprofen for now and it seems to be helping with pain. He is putting weight on the leg inconsistently--sometimes when we go out for potty breaks he is so excited to walk but he ends up hopping on the left leg in order to go fast (and I am not trying to make him walk quickly either!). The plan was to keep him on the NSAID and rest/no long walks for 2 weeks but my partner did some research on this kind of fracture and he thinks we should seek out a second opinion to see if he may need surgery. He is going to call a specialist vet today and have them take a peek at the x-rays. If he does need it, it should be a fairly simple fix and we have the ability to get some financial assistance through a program with that vet. If anyone else has experience with this kind of leg injury please let me know. Aside from all of this he is adjusting fantastically to our home and his behavior is amazing with both us and the cats, which is awesome. We just want to do what is best for him so that he can enjoy his retirement to the fullest--he is barely 4 years old so he certainly deserves it.

Works for us--we are pretty set in our routines over here so we're hoping he figures it out over time. Good to know on the cat treats. I guess I'll have to hit up Costco soon for those...I clicker-train my eldest cat as he's very responsive to it (and it's great mental stimulation). Maybe someday I can get the two of them to learn together

Thank you for the kind advice :) I spent about two hours with him at the meet and greet and he is very chill, but I'm sure the adjustment to the new home will be a bit stressful for him. Luckily our cats will not be totally new to him, as his foster mom has 3. We will be spending the whole weekend with him and doing a little bit of separation training tomorrow/Sunday.

Definitely going to pick up Milk Bones. Luckily I have an Instant Pot so plain chicken is really easy for me to whip up too.

Thank you! What kind of treats do you recommend? I was going to hold off until tomorrow but I realize now I should probably pick some up to use when he meets the cats. We had massive storms in Orlando last night so the raincoat idea came up. Cooling coat sounds like a better idea now that you mention it!

Interested to hear your take on Flying Big Giant.

Giant arrives to our place on Friday. I've spent the last few days picking up all of his supplies. He will come with his leash/collar, muzzle, and all necessary documents/records along with the remaining medication he takes. We have picked up: Crate w/mat and small water bowl Foam bed Bowls Food Poop bags/dispenser Travel water dispenser Nail clippers Several toys (will be grabbing a KONG as well) Rubber brush Baby wipes I know we also need to pick up a raincoat (because Florida) and possibly boots. Is there anything else I should have in the house before he gets here?

Anyone know if the regular Kirkland chicken/rice/veg food is made by Blue, or is it just the Nature's Domain grain-free?