vsrenard

My 14.5-year-old has had her second episode of fecal incontinence. The first episode was unclear, but yesterday, I saw her tail go up and her sphincter strain to poo. It was not an episode of poo just falling out. We are fine with just cleaning up after here, if that;s what needs to happen. But I am wondering what others have experienced. Zola is a senior, with hind end weakness. Her muscle tone is better than average for her age, but she still collapses. We take her out twice a week--she refuses to go any more frequently. She is regularly on Soloxine, Benazepril, Rimaldy, and Proin, with Tramadol as needed. I have looked into water therapy for her hind end and will take her in next week. Is there anything I am missing? We would rather clean up after her than put her in a diaper at present. Thanks, Vanitha

That is a beautiful tribute. I am so sorry for your loss, but am glad he came to you for his forever home.

Good idea. Not sure what he's on, but will ask my sis.

Thank you all! Very relieving to hear. I don't know what to do with these creatures who hunt? My hounds are civilized kibble-and-ground turkey eating dogs, thank you very much. Dog might get more chlorhexidine wash tonight though, Zombie rat!!!!

I am watching my sister's little dachsund X terrier. He just killed a zombie rat and would not let go of his prize easily. The thing looks sickly and diseased. Dog is fully vaxx'd and has no wounds, open or otherwise, from his asinine move,. Do I need to worry or do something emergently? The internet says no, on average, but the internet has a lot of idiots on it. Thanks for any help. This is a last straw for me today.

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No advice, just thinking about you.

Thinking of you and Chase. His letters always brought a smile to my face. Thank you for sharing him.

I am so sorry for your loss. Hugs to you and yours.

Your babies are beautiful, human and hound. Welcome back!

Ok, will do. I know many greys have heart murmurs as they age (well, everyone does, but greys more so?) but I am not sure about how that affects anesthesia safety. I am not sure Zola's blood pressure is as bad as they think. I gave taken her to two vets for this: my local one, who had pretty dated equipment and terrible setup re: white coat syndrome, and her old vet who has better tech and setup. With the later, her blood pressure seemed normal. We are going back to old vet (an hour away) next week. I did ask (new vet) about along term antibiotics but he seemed hesitant because he's worried it might mask symptoms from other else that crops up. I will ask old vet that too. Also reached out to my adoption group and the head guy, pretty savvy, told me pretty much what you are all telling me. He does use a particular board-certified vet dentist, so I have that resource now too. Will update when I know more, and thank you all!

Thanks for the advice everyone. Zola is absolutely not a candidate for anesthesia (she failed her pre-dental checkup two years ago). She absolutely refuses to eat anything too hard, and she's never taken to raw food. When she was younger, she enjoyed bones a lot, and that helped her teeth immeasurably, but she won't touch them now. I had no idea there were board-certified dentists, or hospitals for high risk patients, so thank you all for that! I will go investigate some more. Pfft, Jen, since Zola had an arthritis flare-up and collapsed when I was on travel this year, we've decided no more vacations. It's just too stressful for me to be away from her.

Our rescue group promotes dental cleaning by a vet who doesn't use anesthesia. Over the years I've done a good amount of research on this and have learned why such a cleaning is insufficient and not appropriate for dogs who can undergo an anesthetic cleaning safely. My problem now is that my oldest dog, Zola, has terribly infected gums. I have tried to get her teeth cleaned for several years now but she is never cleared for surgery because she has heart murmur and hypertension issues. Despite daily brushings, rinses, and gels (as well as me scaling her teeth the best I can at home), her mouth is a sewer-smelling, plaque-ridden mess. In a case like this, would a no-anesthetic cleaning be better than what we have? Are there safety concerns? I have spoken to my vet about it and she is of the leave it be mentality, but I want more opinions. Thanks in advance! Vanitha

So sad. His posts had a quirky humor to them that always made me smile.

He's gorgeous, such a sweet face. Nice work.

My senior girl, Zola, is 13.5 years old and has had arthritis in her hind for many years. It's mostly manifested as shaky back legs and a limp if she does too much. She's a pretty feisty girl (!!) but she's pretty good about regulating her own activity when the pain is more than she can handle so I don't restrict her activities too often. Last week, she had a couple of days where she was clearly feeling some pain and was slow (no specific activity or injury to point to), and we gave her some tramadol. A couple of days alter, she apparently lost her ability to use her back legs (I was out of town). She could hop on and off couches, if there was carpet under her feet, but was wary of walking on the hardwood floors and could not walk the mild incline in our backyard to pee/poo and had to be carried. Vet palpated her spine and found soreness in her mid-lumbar region. Her blood panels and urine labs are normal. No x-rays done, but she had normal response to pulling her legs back into place when he manipulated them to awkward positions. He noted she was stoic with her pain (she is) but that she was definitely in discomfort when he moved her legs around. He suspects she strained something and prescribed rimadyl and tramadol. Five days later, she can kind of walk in the house (but still avoids the hardwood floors, and is shaky even on the carpet), and is able to walk the mild incline for her turnouts. But she clearly doesn't want to move, and hangs out on the sofa 23.5 hours of the day. She's lost her playful energy but she is still alert and interested in what's going on around her (when she's not tranqu'd by the meds). Her appetite is not normal but she is eating about 1/2-3/4 of her usual amount. How long do I give her for marked improvement before I should worry? She seemed to get a lot better in the first 48 hours after the meds, but is now in a plateau. Should I back off the meds and see how she does? I have a call into the vet but am also looking for any personal experience/advice. Thank you, Vanitha

My heart hurts to read this. I always looked forward to pictures of the sassy Sequoia. Run free, beautiful girl.

I am so sorry for your loss. Your tribute to Monty was simply beautiful. He looks a lot like my Zola.

Aaron!!

Thank you.

My 12-year-old, Zola, went in for a dental yesterday. In the routine course of pre-op examination, the vet found an arrhythmia in Zola's heart. No murmur was detected. Zola has been to the vet regularly, including two weeks ago, and they've never heard this before. They did X-rays, an EKG and an abdominal ultrasound, with the following results: 1. The arrhythmia is ventricular; she has premature ventricular contraction. 2. Her heart rate was ~200 bpm. 3. The ultrasound revealed a homogeneous spleen (which was an area of possible concern). 4. Her heart and spleen are both on the large end of normal for greyhounds. The vet has prescribed sotalol, and no strenuous activity. My questions are: 1. Is an echo indicated? What will it tell me? 2. Are there any specific questions I should be asking my vet? I am definitely talking to vet and cardiologist and am not looking to supplant that here, am just interested in hearing anyone else's experiences with this. Thank you, Vanitha

I am so sorry for both of your losses. Jilly Bean was one of my first loves here. she will be missed.

I am so sorry. You and your family are in my thoughts.

Thank you. Jey, I appreciate the details. I'm reluctant to go to the vet without a clear idea of what want to know. This helps. Thank you.

Why vet, Jey? Is there anything specifically I should be worried about?