Burpdog

I remember walking my friend's mare who was in colic. Vet said "don't let her lay down" and my friend ran next door to horse people to get a shot of something to give her. I am walking this mare and thinking "right, if she wants to lay down I am going to stop her?" Fortunately I kept her walking and shot worked and she was ok. It is a frightening experience.

I think Sentinel is Interceptor with flea protection. Interesting posts on the GH L about Revolution today. Making sense why it has the highest adverse reactions of all the hw meds.

The first Dane that bloated was in a stress situation as I had moved and she was in a kennel during the day instead of having free roam of the house. She was in torsion and 2 vets misdiagnosed her in 2 days. When I finally got to "good vet", I was given a 30% chance of her surviving as her kidneys had shut down. I had to help a little with surgery as there were no vet techs at night. It was a most horrible experience. There was NO bloat in any of her pedigree. I remember writing a short article for the Dane newspaper about it. Pride goeth before the fall as is said. With the second Dane, bloat was in the line and with her Addison's I made the decision if she ever did bloat, I would send her off. There was a very slim chance of her making it through the surgery. When you see them fill up and look like they have swallowed a watermelon, you know there is a ton of gas in there. Burp was tubed twice and there was a lot of gas. All of the vets in the clinic thought he was in torsion from the xrays. Because of Burp's extensive medical problems, I told them to tube him only--no surgery. Tubing did work fortunately. How I lifted him into my station wagon that night still amazes me. I don't know how it is now, but at the time my first dane bloated, the vet told me the tie down of the stomach was not as successful in dogs as it was in cattle. There are varying opinions on what causes bloat. In my opinion, it could be soy (why take the chance--it's easy to avoid?) and most definetely stress. Because my first Dane never bloated again, I feel the change in food and feeding from a raised feeder certainly helped.

Sending my sympathy

If you do a search in the food section, you will find many, many threads. Since my Great Dane bloated in 1970, I have used raised feeders at my vet's suggestion. I stopped feeding a food with soy. She never bloated again and for 20+ years was the only Dane that had bloated only once that I knew of. Since then there have been a few. The Purdue study is skewed in my opinion because they used show dogs--high stress and almost all are fed from raised feeders (helps not breaking down the pasterns). The second Dane of mine bloated on 1/4 can of pedigree dog food. She was in a medical crisis from her Addison's and a trip from FL to TX. I sent her to the bridge the day after I got here. Burp bloated after being kenneled for a week while I was on vacation. They gave him 1/2 his heart medicine. In addition he appeared to have been bitten by spiders (a very gross story about his shoulder). He was tubed and came out of it. I changed nothing (food, nor feeder) and for the next 6 months did not have a recurrance. Stress seems to contribute to bloat. When talking to my vet, he said I could be right as he remembered a Cocker in for boarding that bloated! Stress can come from many sources. Running is one, a trip to the vet, etc. There have been a few NGA greys that went into bloat. I have not heard of one in years on this board. AKC greys bloat more than NGA greys. They are much more deep chested. Keep in mind that NGA greys are fed a combination of kibble and raw. Possibly that helps. I remember talking with Sissy Harrington of Solid Gold and she told me how she went to Europe to find out about bloat (Danes were her breed) back in the 60s or 70s. They didn't know what she was talking about. They were not feeding kibble at that time--all raw diet. I think if you look at the incidences of bloat in the States, you will find a huge spike after kibble was introduced and we were told feeding table scraps were a no no. So, what I do: No running one hour before and two hours after eating Raised feeder No soy products No feeding right before a car ride, especially to the vet. I feed after they calm down when returning.

Sending lots of positive thoughts!

Sending tail prayers

Usually several months.

With Boggles, Marilyn had to change the protein source many times. There was a period where rabbit worked, then venison, etc. Have you emailed her? She has a lot of experience.

Sending many prayers.

3 days of immodium doesn't seem excessive to me. Have you tried fiber caps? Or just sprinkling metamucil on his food? Have you tried boiled meat only? Has he had any allergy tests?

June 26 & 27, 2007 Yesterday was a hot one! Winslow still hates that mat. Hates the neck cooler too. The only thing he wants is ice in a bowl and, of course, his beloved fan (fondly referred to as "Fannie"). He licks the ice for a few minutes and that seems to help more than anything. I have tried a wet towel and misting him with water. He doesn't want any of it. So, he gets ice and the fan.. I just try things until he says it's helping. All of this because the house got up to 77 yesterday. You know, I'm from Arizona. I freeze every summer because Mr. Menopause over here thinks it's hot. Today is better. He's not hot, and because he's going swimming today, he won't get hot. His swimming lesson is at 11:00. Right now, he's on the bed, Fannie is going full blast and he's happy. I'm hoping his weight has stabilized. I'll weigh him today. I've been feeding him more food and have added 1egg, 2sardines, and 1/4c. whole yogurt (not at the same time). He loves the extras. He doesn't look like he's gaining, but I just want him to stabilize and find that balance. Next Tuesday is his oncology check up with chest xray. He's not having any symptoms or problems, but you know, I'm still really nervous. Glynis Good news! He gained .8 lbs in 1 week. That's about the same rate that he was losing it. More food and dropping the swimming to once a week seems to be the answer. I think maybe I just gave him too much swimming to start. I'll watch the weight and see about swimming more later. He had a good swim today. Now, sleeping for the rest of the day. Glynis

The unknown and young dogs who never stepped foot on a track (I can think of two on this board right away) is why a genetic pedigree is necessary. One cannot, nor should, take away hope. Again, the truth. Obviously, what they are telling the patients is not the truth! It seems to me they are ill advised or not advised. I would document these cases and make a journal and email to Ohio State and ask them to comment. Or, perhaps another approach? What then? One of my first painful experiences in dogs was when my Great Dane's brother came down with lymphoma at age two. I was devestated. As the breeder told me, "you have to take the bad with the good". It's a comment I've remembered many, many times over the past 10 years. That was back in 1970, so dogs have been getting cancer for probably as long as they have been around.

This is why I say "false hope". When people are distraught, talking with the vet or oncologist, what they come away with is the longest amount of time that was mentioned. I don't think people should be not given hope, that is why I would say 14 months is the average and it could be shorter and it could be longer. For instance, Max is at 30 months now (his cancer has returned and pain managed). I think facts should be given and what is. What is -- is that some dogs die at 4 months and some can go 4 years. Perhaps I am not conveying what I think well. I think people should be told the truth. Anything less, for instance if a vet tells them the dog can go 4 years, without telling them it could be 4 months, that is false hope. If I had a dog that was a possible amp candidate, and I did choose that avenue, I would of course hope for the longest possible outcome. However, I do know the possibility of the shortest. Many people who choose to amputate and do chemo must hold on to hope and believe -- otherwise, what is the point of going through it all?

Don't be angry, be determined to find a cure! No, and people should not be given false hope. They should be given facts when faced with the difficult decision of what to do. The facts are the average is still 14 months. Yes, their dog can live 4 years but can also be gone in 4 months. Overuse is not an issue assuming the sire is sound. Whether he is or not, that is the question. In my opinion, the over breeding is done and lack of soundness is there, because there seems to be no criteria for pooling traits, rather going on one single dog's performance. Were I breeding greyhounds, I would be hard pressed to find a greyhound sire to breed to based on pedigree. They are all a hodge podge -- or at least the ones I've looked at. A genetic pedigree would be very interesting. Can disease be spread over the entire breed? Of course. Look what happened to Dobes and VWD. Traced to one very popular sire. This is also the danger of out crossing instead of line breeding. I believe genetic pedigress are definetely needed in the study of cancers in greyhounds.

Sending prayers

Bordatella is one I do get for my guys. The shot is a yearly thing and the up the nose is 6 months.

Consider a ramp if she cannot do stairs. You can build one (ok, maybe not you but someone ) with minimal cost out of lumber.

The average of 14 months has not changed. Some live 4 months, some 2+ years. AKC greys do not get osteo as much as NGA greys, but they do bloat much more often.

I know for the spreadsheet I sent him, tatoos were included and I believe he is doing some kind of research that does correlate to racing, as he also wanted the number of races. Unfortunately, GH Data does not list all the races, so unless the owner knows, it's difficult to come up with the actual number. I told him I was ready to do the second spreadsheet I need forms filled out!

I'd email Ohio State even though you are in the UK and see what they say

Sending lots of prayers!

He shouldn't still be puking. I'd call the vet.

Dr. Couto mentioned this last year in Louisville in his talk and said it was promising and I think he is doing a study on it. There is a yahoo group: Artimisinin I see the link was already mentioned