greytlucy

Hope to encourage you a bit by saying we just went through this with my younger dog. He started being "off" just a bit back in Feb. Mostly attitude and the just the very slightest lameness in his right front leg. It came and went. And eventually came back and stayed. I took him in almost a month ago now. Full work up: blood work, urinalysis, tick tests, valley fever tests, xrays. Everything came back clean. We did start him on metacam and he perked right up and the limp went away. I had the accupuncture/homeopathic vet look over everything and check him out last time she was here as well. She agreed bloodwork, tests, xrays all look good but thinks there could be something coming from one of the vertebrae at the base of his neck causing the lameness. After ten days on the pain meds, I cut him back adn then took him off them completely on friday night. So far so good. I'm goign to take him in in a couple weeks for new xrays just to be sure nothing has changed. He does have some sort of dense spot on his leg bone that both vets say looks clean and not like OS but both agree independently of each other it's good to check again to be sure it's not something in VERY early stage and hasn't changed. I'll have them shoot his neck and chest at the same time to see if we can find anythign going on anywhere else. So far, off the pain meds he's back to himself and showing not a bit of lameness. Seems so far like it's some kind of oddball thing that we may never really have an answer for. Hope your dog has similar results and a month from now it's all ogone away.

I"ve been treating Pannus in one of my dogs for....I think it's at least six years now? Ive lost track. It's really not a big deal. She gets a drop of cyclosporine in each eye in the AM and a drop of neopolydex in each eye in the PM. We see the ophthamalogist once a year now to check for changes(the first couple years we went twice a year but there's been no changes the last several so we go less). We're in AZ also. The main concern you might want to think about is sunlight. Mine won't wear the doggles so I'm careful about how much time she spends in the sun. That's about the only thing though. The drops aren't expensive either. Like I said, not really a big deal once treated. She's 13 now and it hasn't gotten any worse since she was first diagnosed years ago(actually her eyes improved dramatically in the first 18 mos and have held steady since)

Our vet sent us to the ophthlamologist who diagnosed/confirmed pannus. No scraping involved. We see her about every 9 mos and have for the past 5 years or so. We use NeoPolyDex and Cyclosporine daily. I definitely recommend involving a specialist.

Aw, Stephanie, I'm sorry. I, too, remember very well when Nelly and your family found each other. Hard to believe 7 years have passed since then. I know there's a huge hole in your heart. I hope you can find comfort in knowing what a wonderful home you've given her and all those pups. Much sympathy to you and your husband. Godspeed, Nelly

We did twice a week for four weeks during the induction period and then moved to every 4-6 weeks. I've been able to tell just by watching when it's time for another one.

Hi and Welcome from Chandler! I've got two beasties myself: Ziggy, 7, and Lucy, 12. COngrats on the soon to be marriage!

You think North America has a long way to go? Seriously? Maybe you haven't traveled to other parts of the world much but really...companion animals here, for how desparate it can seem at times, have it pretty well compared to many other places on the planet....

For what it's worth, I adopted my puppy from a greyhound VET. Many here at GT are now familiar with Dr. Heather Weir in Colorado from the fundraising Claudia has done for her...at the time Dr. Weir didn't yet have the Almost Home for Hounds facility. in any case she had a litter of pups she needed to place and as a vet herself weighed the early spay/neuter vs the risk of placing the pups in homes and having to trust those home to take care of this at a later point. She insisted all to all of us that took a pup from this litter(I believe there were 6-8 pups, so long now I don't remember the exact numb er) that she would do the spay/neuter herself before sending/placing the dog to us. I understand the debate about the early spay/neuter but I also completely understand why rescue groups of all types take this stand. If this issue is this important with you, you're probably better off not adopting through a rescue or adoption group but working with a breeder directly.

The group I adopted a greyhound puppy from at 9 weeks would not release him to me unless he was neutered first. I discussed with them that I preferred to wait but they wouldn't budge no matter what contract, etc I offered up. I can understand where they come from and given the overpopulation of pets in general am not entirely sure I disagree with them. My dog is now 7, he hasnt had any major health issues. He is on thyroid meds but I doubt that's related to early neuter. He IS very long, lean, and lanky which apparenlty is typical for a dog neutered early.

Oh Carol, I'm sorry to read of your loss. Like Diane, I thought Nevada would just live forever. I'm sorry to have never had the opportunity to have met her. Words can't fill the hole in your heart but do know we're thinking of you and sending you lots of hugs and sympathy. Godspeed, Nevada

I'm sorry for your loss. She was beautiful and looks so happy in that picture. Godspeed, Kia

I had a terrbile time keeping weight on Ziggy when he was young. He was diagnosed as hypothyroid around 18mos old and once he started on the drugs the weight improved quickly. He was diagnosed with allergies a few months later as well....the vet explained teh two(thyroid issues and allergies) often went hand in hand. Once we got the allergy issues sorted out he really filled out to a proper weight with a shiny coat. He was young when all this went on so it was surely a combination of age, thyroid and allergy. He's been on the thyroid meds for seven years now and hasn't had any weight issues - heavy or light - since.

Lucy has a heart murmur. A vet first mentioned it to me about 5 years ago(she's now almost twelve). We did go to the cardiologist and had a full workup. It's a fairly minor one and the workup was expensive but worth it to know exactly what we're dealing with and to have baselines to watch as she gets older. I have her rechecked every couple years(especially if a dental is going to be done). So far nothing has changed and she's never had to take any meds for it. So...I'd definitely have it checked out but wouldn't panic about it. Good luck!

we give drops before feeding. After as many years as we've been doing it we now have a Pavlov response...as soon as the drop bottles come out so does the drooling. At the eye doctors when they put drops on there she always starts drooling and we have to explain she needs something to eat after the drops(a cookie makes her happy to). It only took a week or so to get her used to the idea of the drops...be quick and confident and don't make a big deal out of it.

Get her to an opthamologist. If your vet can't diagnose the issue, he/she wont' ahve experience treating it. My dog only sees the specialist for her eyes...we were referred there by our general vet when she recognized what was going on as Pannus. She prefers to refer out then treat herself which is fine by us, we love the ophtalmologist. We've had really good results with the treatments for over 5 years now. The specialist knows exactly how to treat and what to look for...you won't be sorry. Good luck!

Now that we've been on them a few months we go about 6 weeks between injections(just had one this afternoon actually). I could tell it was time again as she was starting to move a little more stiffly and starting to hang out by herself in the back bedroom...when she's feeling good she's always out with us. My vet told me to expect 3-6 weeks ebtween injections....I've also used Adequan with one of my horses in the past and same thing with him...I could tell by watching when it was time for another...

I've used Rimadyl with both dogs for short term pain relief with no issues. I've also used Metacam and generally prefer to use that first as my vet tells me it's a bit easier on the dogs. I have an almost 12 year old with arthritis issues that were getting pretty bad...I started her on Adequan in the early fall to see if it would do anything before we went to daily pain meds. I've been really happy with results we're seeing in her so far and I haven't had to give her any regular pain meds since we've started it( I did give her some metacam when she slipped and fell on our tile a few weeks ago to make sure she wasn't sore afterwards but that was just a one day thing and I haven't done any regular dosing of any pain meds with her). I'm goign to start her on accupuncture in the new year as well now that the Adequan seems to have helped her. I'm sure eventually we'll have to use the pain meds and when that time comes we will to keep her comfortable as long as we can but I definitely wanted to try some other options first to see if we could avoid taxing her system before we needed to....

I have a nearly 12 y. o. that also has a minor heart murmur. She's never had great teeth and back in the spring we had to do soemthign about it. As mentioned above we were starting to see elevated kidney values as a result of the build up in her mouth. I was nervous about a dental but we had really had to have one done...so we carefully planned and worked with our vet to make it as safe as possible. First we did an updated echocardiogram(we do these every two years anyway to make sure it's not getting worse). We also started her on a round of ATB's. She did a month of these before the dental(normal is less but vet wanted to be sure to get all infection out of her mouth and to see if that would help bring down kidney values which it did). Vet gave her fluids before, during and after procedure. We also went ahead and pulled all the teeth that were really bad. She had ten pulled so this was a big procedure. She came home with another round of ATB's She was really woozy afterwards and this dental seemed to have affected her more than others but she still came through fine. She had all those teeth pulled so that certainly contributed to her recovery process(pain pills along with ATBs the first days). Since her mouth has been in really great condition. We brush with the Petrodex chicken stuff as well as we were using Oxyfresh for a while(I'm not convinced that actually does anything though). I also encourage her to chew in the evenings. If your dog has tooth issues i'd definitely recommend having it addressed now. I'm glad we did as I know had we hadn't that the issues from the bad mouth would have caused all kinds of problems anyhow. Hopefully we won't be doing anymore dentals as we're trying really hard to keep the teeth that are left happy and healthy but she's never had a great mouth and teeth so we'll see... good luck!

yes, exactly what we're experiencing. I didn't realize though that the affects would actually go away with the treatments, I originally was under the impression that the progress would be stopped by the drops but what the doctor was originally seeing would always be there. Like I said, I'm pleased of course that this is the case. I'm also pleased that whenever I take Lucy in she always checks Ziggy as well as part of the office visit(I can't leave him alone at home so he comes along as moral support). This means should anything develop(so far at 7 nothing has) it'll be caught really early since we're in twice a year...

Just wondering what those that are treating are using and what the results have been? We started our dog on NeoPolydex and Cyclosporine both about 4 1/2 years ago. She's been getting daily drops of both since. During the checkups in the first 18-24 mos the ophtlamologist was seeing improvements to the point that for the last couple years she's seen no signs of Pannus in the eyes. We just had another checkup today which again confirmed there's no signs of it(though starting to show some age related cataracts). I have to admit I'm always surprised to hear this as I didn't know it could actually go away. I've been really happy we've seen such good results over the years. Is this typical?

We started Lucy on these about 4 months ago. She's 11(12 in March) and also has been having issues with arthritis in her hips and weak back end. I wanted to give the Adequan a shot before we looked at daily pain meds for her. We've been really pleased with the results as well. I can get about 5 weeks between shots since the induction period. I can see a real difference in her from earlier this summer. Now that we've got the Adequan routine down I want to get her started on accupuncture as well after the 1st of the year...I'm hoping we can keep her off the pain meds for at least another year or two.

Having been through this with one of my dogs...my suggestion is have the allergy testing done. Switch to a food that contains nothing he's allergic to(you get a list of foods that will match his needs with the allergy tests). Remove what environmental allergens you can from his environment. Some allergens you can't do a lot about...but removing the ones you can goes a long way...Supplement with EFA's. Your vet should be familiar with the testing regiment and can help with the food and supplements. The allergy lab will also develop shots specific to your dogs allergies if needed(we didn't need to do this ourselves). Doing this we now only have a severe reaction in June when the bermuda grass comes up here....baths and benedryl help get him through that period. The rest of the year he has no issues now. IT's been six years since we addressed this...the test was $400 but worth it to quickly get a handle on what was making him so miserable(bright red skin, raw feet, huge bald spots, terrible itching). Good luck!

Lucy got annual bloodwork until she was 8, since she's had twice a year bloodwork at least(some years maybe a time or two more if something was going on). Ziggy gets annual unless something seems to be going on with him. He's 6 now. Once he's 8 I'll go to twice a year as well. I usually pay around $90 which includes a full thyroid panel. I have done the tick panel adn VF panels in the past but don't remember what they cost...the $150 sounds like it would be a pretty decent price for everything though.

wishing Darcy an uneventful and quick recovery. Hugs to all of you

I'm sorry. Godspeed, Scooter