brindlehound91

I'm so sorry for all of the loss you have experienced, but it's promising to know that so many of your hounds had such long and happy lives! We have already reached out to the adoption agency where we got Enzo from and will be visiting them this weekend to see if we have a connection with any of their recent rescues. We had to jump through so many hoops to be able to get Enzo and I'm hoping things will be easier this time around. We're also going to meet with some Galgos from Save a Greyhound Espanol (SAGE) since we live so close to them.

Thank you all so much for the support, it is really helping our grieving process to know that there is such a great community of greyhound/sighthound owners out there. We would like to start the process of looking for another greyhound to fill this hole in our lives and hearts in the next 6 months. Our time with Enzo was much too short and we are absolutely prepared to pour all of our love into another beautiful greyhound in Enzo's honor.

We had to put Enzo down this evening Last night, he started panting (which we thought was a side effect of the pred) but then he also started shaking and could not sleep at all. We took him to the emergency vet this morning and the internal med vet said he had a fever and that his white blood cell count was VERY low which meant that either he had gotten some type of infection, or that he had an underlying infection that his suppressed immune system could not fight. We were going to start giving him an antibiotic, but by the time we went to pick him up, he had become unresponsive. The vet said we would have to take him somewhere for overnight IV treatment, but that there was a low chance he would bounce back from this. There is a huge hole in my heart right now, but I'm so happy that I was able to give him an amazing life for the past 2 years and I wouldn't have changed a thing. Thank you so much for all of your well wishes and advice.

Question for you: Did your boy have ascites when you started him on pred? If he did, how long did it take to see any change in the ascites? He's now had 6 doses of the pred, but we haven't really noticed any of the side effects yet besides slightly higher water intake.

Thanks for your response! The Dr hasn't recommended a hypoallergenic food yet, but I will ask about this. We will be going back in 2 weeks to get bloodwork done to check his protein and albumin levels to see if he's responding to the prednisolone. I'm glad they drained half of his fluid (4 liters came out!) because now he seems much more comfortable/lively on our walks.

Update: After going to the Internal Medicine Vet, she ordered a host of new tests done which included a liver function test, urinalysis, fecal analysis, x-rays of his heart, and assessment of his GI health. The results of the tests show that his total protein level has dropped from 5.5 to 3.9 and albumin has dropped from 2.0 to 1.5. The urinalysis shows that he's losing protein through his pee and the bile acid test shows that he's not properly absorbing protein from his food, so she isn't sure what the underlying cause of the protein loss is since the ultrasound showed that his kidneys and liver looked normal. GI tract is actually healthier than 1 month ago. IM specialist decided it's possible that he's experiencing inflammation at a cellular level that has not yet resulted in a change to the structure of his organs and she is going to start him on a high dose of prednisolone for 2 weeks (I know budesonide seems to be the preferred steroid due to less side-effects, but she wants to start with pred) and she will drain half of his fluid today since he is not comfortable walking/laying down. Trying to stay positive about this seeing as a lot of the similar types of cases I've found on the greytalk forums haven't ended up with good outcomes. I'm glad that he's still acting like his normal self and that he's still a young boy, so I have hope that his body can handle/overcome this.

Thank you for sharing your experience, I'm so sorry for your loss We're going to consult with an Internal Medicine specialist on Monday and I'll ask about liver function tests.

Hello, My 3 year old boy Enzo developed Ascites about 1 month ago out of nowhere a few days after his yearly checkup. His swollen belly was initially accompanied by diarrhea, excessive drinking of water, and some vomiting which made us think he was sick. A few days later, his belly went back to a normal size and his eating/pooping/peeing habits went back to normal as well. About 1 week later his swollen belly came back. As soon as we noticed his swollen belly, we took him to the vet where they took a sample of the fluid and his blood. Blood tests came back mostly normal, but his Total Protein was at 5.5 (which seems to be in the normal range for greyhounds?) and his Albumin was at 2.0. The fluid was clear and did not indicate any inflammation. The vet recommended an ultrasound and to add boiled boneless skinless chicken to his meals. The results of the ultrasound came back normal. His liver was within normal limits for size, shape, and echogenicity and the rest of his organs (including his heart) were within normal limits. The vet started him on a course of Denamarin (to rule out liver disease), doxycycline (to rule out an infection), and a diuretic (to help manage the fluid). We just finished the course of Denamarin and Doxycycline and his Ascites has remained the same as it was when it first started. We have now scheduled a CT scan to see if something can be picked up that the ultrasound missed (blood clot perhaps?). I have been scouring the internet looking for another case of a greyhound owner who has experienced something similar and my search brought me here where I found a few threads talking about PLE which was a symptom of IBD. The ultrasound of his small intestine showed mild increased fluid within a few intestinal loops, but the wall layering and thickness throughout it was otherwise normal. We are scratching our heads over here trying to figure out the underlying cause of his Ascites and I would appreciate any responses from people who have experienced something similar or could give me advice. Thank you!