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BauersMom

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    Attack Of The Yellowjacket

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    We just had a rather horrifying experience out in the yard... one dog stuck her nose in a yellowjacket's nest in the ground. You can imagine what happened next. Luckily I was out there with them but I couldn't pull the little :censored off of them fast enough! Everyone's got at least one bite. :(

     

    Two questions:

    1) Should I just go ahead and give some benadryl "just in case"? Two of the dogs are seniors, and I'd rather not give them anything they don't need... but at the same time, they got it worse than the youngin'. :(

     

    2) Anyone ever had experience in getting RID of an underground yellowjacket's nest (possibly nests)? I've been finding this little holes in our yard, and until tonight didn't realize what they were... we have at least a half dozen possible nests in the yard (probably not all of the active... but still).

     

    Hopefully that's the end of the excitement for tonight.

    Dislocated Toe?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted · Edited by BauersMom

    There was some good advice in this thread from a while ago: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php?showtopic=170595&hl=

     

    The longer you can let her rehab the toe, the better. Typically, Ivy's been splinted or soft wrapped for a minimum 4 weeks, then we leash walk for a little bit after that. In fact, after this last dislocation, she's been leash walked only for about 3 months. So far, no more dislocations (we were at once a month before :blink: )

     

    It's not uncommon for the dog to go under to reset the toe - all four times, Ivy had to be sedated. Hers were all pretty nasty, too.

    Grr - The Stella Toe

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Okay I am back at the office and Stella is still at the vets :(

     

    My vet said 'is this what it looked like when you took her yesterday' yes. She said it is clearly not in place and she can't believe they said it was okay. So as I figured she wants to x ray to make sure it isn't fractured if it is not then she needs to sedate to reset as it is strongly out of place and has been for at least a full day.

     

    I am really annoyed about the vet from yesterday.

     

    Plus my face is frozen from the dentist :lol which isn't doing much to improve my mood.

     

    I know a toe isn't a big deal compared to the serious stuff so many are facing so forgive my whining please, I just don't like to see my girly in pain and I also am just annoyed that I took her to a vet, stressed her out and subjected her to some extra pain yesterday all for nothing.

     

    Well, a little bitty toe can cause a lot of problems - been there, done that... to the total of $1000. :lol

     

    Anyway, sounds like your vet has a good game plan. Don't know what planet the other vet was on though! I would definitely make sure they wrap her this time and leash walk only for a while. Her ligaments are probably good and stretched out, and it'll take some time before she's out of the danger of redislocating it (been there and done that too!).

     

    Good luck.

    Oscar

    in Remembrance

    Posted

    I loved the Oscar stories, especially because he reminded me so much of my angel Bauer - those gorgeous fawn boys always tug on the heart strings.

     

    I'm so sorry. Godspeed Oscar. :(

    Grr - The Stella Toe

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    I've been in that situation and have done both the waiting game until the vet opened AND the e-vet.

     

    The time with the e-vet the toe healed much better and faster... less overall swelling and I think that's because she wasn't left all night long with a dislocated toe.

     

    The time we left it, it was very swollen and never really healed well... lots of scar tissue and the toe still sorta looks funny.

     

    Not saying that's what's going to happen with Stella, but that was my experience. And I would go the e-vet route again.

     

    (None of her toes ever went back without sedation and manipulation, btw)

    Questions Regarding Hypothyroidism

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    I know we discussed things earlier in PMs but don't completely rule out hypothyroidism yet. The bloodwork for me was also normal for a Greyhound but it doesn't mean that he couldn't be hypothyroid. Not every dog with hypothyroidism has an elevated TSH. One of the biggest things that I see as a difference between your hound and so many others that I read about on GT that are diagnosed is that your hound actually has signs that could be attributable to hypothyroidism. The derm vet should have been able to give you a pretty good opinion on if that was likely or not.

     

     

    I AGREE. I would not rule out hypothyroid and would keep him on the meds to see how he does. If it the meds work, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY!!!!!

     

    Well, it DOES matter what the numbers say, to a point.

     

    I could give any healthy dog a supplement of soloxine and probably see improvement in hair growth, stamina... because that's what the drug does. But why give a dog not hypothyroid something it doesn't need?

     

    Bauer was diagnosed hypothyroid, and ended up dying shortly after of hemangiosarcoma. His numbers weren't super low, but we saw what we thought were some 'symptoms' - lethargy, etc. I can't help but think now that the low thyroid was only a symptom of the cancer - and while the soloxine made him feel bettern on some counts, it did nothing for the ACTUAL problem. Had we really paid attention to his numbers, instead of finding something that worked for some symptoms, we might have dug a little deeper and found the real cause.

     

    What I'm saying is that soloxine will cause certain results that will make people think it is "working". But that's NOT a real indication that the dog needs the medication in all cases. Which is why hypothyroidism is so difficult to diagnose and treat.

     

    I'd say in Monty's case, given everything, there's a good chance he is hypothyroid, but it always helps to rule out any other possibility.

     

     

    Not-so-happy Tail?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    If George is primarily whacking the tail on the crate (meaning that's where the damage is happening), buy some foam batting or padding at a craft store. They come in squares just about the right size to put up along the back walls of the crate - where the tail would hit. Hang them in the back sides of the crate - we used zip ties, poke a hole through the foam and zip tie to the wire crate. That helped tremendously!

     

    Don't mean to de-rail a thread I didn't start, but...

     

    Do you think the dog will leave the foam alone, or will he chew on it?

     

    Thanks

     

    Sure, there's always a chance they'll mess with anything in their crate.

     

    That said, neither of the two dogs that I had happy tail with did anything to the foam. In one case, I started with covering the the crate with a comforter, like this:

    IMG_3423.jpg

    It was sort of an experiment and it worked fine, so that may be an option if you think they'll mess with the foam.

     

    Basically, the theme of happy tail is protect the tail from further damage while it's healing. And sometimes that means gettin' creative. :lol

     

     

    Not-so-happy Tail?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    If George is primarily whacking the tail on the crate (meaning that's where the damage is happening), buy some foam batting or padding at a craft store. They come in squares just about the right size to put up along the back walls of the crate - where the tail would hit. Hang them in the back sides of the crate - we used zip ties, poke a hole through the foam and zip tie to the wire crate. That helped tremendously!

     

    I agree with above - the key is to keep the tail protected until it can heal. Most likely 2-3 weeks. I use pipe insulation, and white athletic tape and tape up the tail about 4-5" (on to the hair).

     

    Here's a good website describing the wrapping process (though I would use something other than just cotton): http://www.grassmere-animal-hospital.com/h...l_bandaging.htm

     

    Cancer Statistics

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    That's 58% of the cases reported died of cancer? Right?

     

    We need to know the sampling methods before we really know what context these numbers are in.

     

    Not saying they're off or wrong, but if this was a cancer survey and the people polled were ones affected by cancer, then the numbers will be skewed high. If it was a survey taken across all greyhound owners, then the numbers might be more accurate. I can't tell from just this though.

    4 Dislocated Toes Since January

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted · Edited by BauersMom

    I can see sand being easier on the toes, but since she came to us missing a toe I though maybe there might be some history there.

     

    My vet brought up the arthritis possibility today and gave us some options to think about - adequan, increasing her gluco/chrondroitin/MSM supplements, etc. She already favors her broken hock leg, so maybe that's the source of her 'unnatural gait' that's causing this?

    4 Dislocated Toes Since January

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    I guess one last avenue to look at would be some sort of collagen defect, although these are usually congenital and hereditary (think Marfan's in humans) and would have been symptomatic long ago.

     

    ETA, the best way to find a vet that is gifted in firing toes is to head to an upper-echelon track (Lincoln or Raynham if you're in New England) and ask around- trainers, track vet, etc.

     

    Lynn

     

    We've only had her since last fall, and within 2 months had dislocated her first toe. I will be up at the track for the Expo and will ask her trainer if this is status quo for her or something new. I doubt she has any sort of hereditary disease but maybe she's always had crappy toes. :rolleyes:

     

    I'll track down some of the Ligaplex too, worth trying. She's already on the standard gluco/chondroitin/MSM supplement.

     

    Since we have X-rays of all her feet, I'll ask the vet to see if we're dealing with any arthritis. This is the first repeat offender toe, as far as "problem" toes go.

     

    She's in a soft wrap now - the splints tend to really bother her.

     

     

    4 Dislocated Toes Since January

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    There are ways to tape toes for hard running dogs, but there's no reason for a pet dog to need that sort of thing for leash walking. If things were dislocating *that* easily, then there are much more serious issues going on. This sort of stuff primarily happens when a dog dislocates or injures one toe, then does some free running/tight cornering before they should and another toe dislocates, then another, then another. The only way to stop the cycle is to remove any toes that are beyond repair, splint/fire/rest any that were "once and done" or less severely compromised, and then leash walk only for a long, long, long time. I can't imagine what a bootie would do for a dislocated toe- if anything, it would encourage an even more unnatural posture/gait.

     

    Lynn

     

    She's 8 and a fairly slow pup! She's not tearing it up when she does this - the first time she was just walking from room to room, literally. I watched her turn the corner and then come up lame. The next two times she was running back in from a potty break and this last time she was doing some cornering - and this was about 3 weeks after her last splint came off and her first attempt at running since then (same toe as last time, though all previous times it was different toes).

     

    We're leashing walking now and we certainly can keep doing it for any length of time. We don't encourage her running at all, and in fact, she rarely does so it's not that hard.

     

    How do we/the vet determine which toes are beyond repair? We've had 3 different toes now on 2 different feet and she's already missing one toe. :blink: And how do I find someone who know how to 'fire' a toe? Heck, at this point, I'll drive to Auburn! :lol

     

     

    Each time she does it, the vet has to sedate her to re-set it. And she's in a splint for 3-4 weeks. She really does a number on her tootsies.

    I don't know what is going on but I agree there has to be some medical reason why the toes dislocate so frequently. Have you ever tried putting any of the toes back in place yourself? I have done this when Kiowa dislocated a toe and it took about 2 seconds and he's never had it pop out again. He just stood there and let me do it w/o a whimper. I know there are a few GTers who regularly pop their dogs toes back.

     

    I've tried. She screams like bloody murder and as far as I can tell the toe won't budge. The vet has done the same thing with no luck. The other thing that I've been told is fairly odd about this is the way she dislocates her toes are not like "common" dislocations. Like the toe dislocates OUT rather than UP out of the joint (I'm not sure if that's how the vet explained it though, I may be remembering this incorrectly - but it was something to that effect).

     

    Thanks for all the input.

     

    4 Dislocated Toes Since January

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Wow, how frustrating! I would also think there has to be some kind of underlying factor for it to just keep happening, although I don't really have any ideas. Where is Ivy from? Is there any chance she could have had valley fever? I know that it can sometimes compromise the bones, so much so, that it can even be mistaken for osteo, but I have no idea if this would be a ligament or a bone issue.... :grouphug

     

    Well, as far as I know, she only ever raced in New England. And all her x-rays came out clean - no signs of osteo or anything like that!

     

    It's beyond frustrating and I feel so bad for her. :(

    4 Dislocated Toes Since January

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted · Edited by BauersMom

    I'm at my wit's end. :(

     

    Ivy has had 4 dislocated toes in the last 5 months. Three on a front paw (one outside toe, two were the inside toe) and one on her back paw (outside toe). One time she did it inside the house, the rest have all been outside - sometimes she's playing, sometimes she's just trotting around the yard.

     

    She's missing a toe on the other front foot already.

     

    Each time she does it, the vet has to sedate her to re-set it. And she's in a splint for 3-4 weeks. She really does a number on her tootsies.

     

    At this point, all of her feet have been x-rayed and the vet can't find any cause for this to happen. Her nails aren't long, and I try to dremel them as short as I can each session (but when a paw is in a splint for 4 weeks, it's kinda hard to keep ahead of the game).

     

    We bought Therapaw booties, but of course tonight I didn't put them on and she dislocated another toe. They are rubbing parts of her feet raw, so I have a feeling they aren't fit right and so I need to have them resized. Maybe she'll just have to live in the therapaws?!?

     

    Has anyone dealt with this problem before? I can take one or two... but now we're on four dislocations so there's something wrong here.

    Tiffany Express

    in Remembrance

    Posted

    I'm so sorry Lisa. :(

     

    I remember how she used to whine if she wasn't getting enough pets at M&Gs. What a diva.

     

    I know Bauer's up there keeping her company. They're probably hunting down squirrels and having a ball. :f_red

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