HopeForHounds

Jake has had cellulitis a few times as a result of tick disease. I would be doing a tick test, although having said that Jake's were neg. It took us almost 2 years to figure out what was going on. He had intermettent lameness, swelling and fevers with no obvious injury. Keep an eye on his leg, it can swell to scary proportions.

Jake has had many oops incidents due to his LS. As Derek said that's caused by the nerve damage in the lower spine. Jake was embarassed at first but once he got used to me calmly picking it up and telling him it was no big deal I guess he figured it really wasn't a problem. Now he'll often come to me and when I ask if he wants to go out he looks over to the oops mess as if to say "can you clean that up?" I have noticed that instead of going twice a day, he goes more often but smaller amounts. That's due to the nerve problems fromt he LS. I recently added a 3rd gabapenten and he hasn't had an accident for a few days.

Diane I'm so very sorry. I'm so glad I was there when Grace chose you, and that I had my camera handy to capture the moment. Godspeed pretty Grace go be a PITA with the rest of the Divas.

Good news, now you have something to treat. Praying he responds and is back to normal in no time.

It was such a shock to see your facebook post this morning Joanne. I'm so very sorry Godspeed Skylar! You go girl! I know Peanut loves a playmate so find her and have fun!

FWIW Jake had an PCR Tick test for the usual ones when he first became a blood donor. A year or so later he began to have rotating lameness with swelling and fever. We spent a fortune trying to figure this out with no luck, many, many tests and antibiotics for the suspected infections. After the episodes became more frequent and he suddenly was lame in two back legs our vet was in a panic. We opted to treat him as if he had tick disease, and lo and behold within 10 days of doxycyclin we had a new dog. Since TBD's are almost unheard of here in our area our vet didn't give a very high dose so Jake did have one relapse a few months later. One more 8 week course of doxy and he hasn't had another. Our vet firmly believes he had one of the rarer forms of ehrlichia. What I'm getting at is that a negative tick test in a sick dog doesn't always mean they don't have a TBD, they just don't have the TBD they tested for.

Welcome from Canada. You have beautiful pups!

Like so many others I don't have adequate words. I'm so very, very sorry. Godspeed Riddick

Way to go Symbra! Deanna she looks great. If I remember correctly Miss Nellie roached pretty much after returning home after her amp. I know she jumped right up onto her couch. Know Symbra is in my prayers for a complete recovery. to you all.

So happy to see this post after Chase was already home. Wow I sure wish I could get a dental for even close to that. Jet's is going to set us back over $850 not including his blood work. We had to delay his dental due to Peanut's sudden medical issues. Thank God for my second ....or I guess it's my 3rd job.

Jake was diagnosed with LS a few months ago. Our vet would consider the depo medrol shots but has concerns about them for Jake and after hearing her out we opted not to use steroids unless necessary. Her concern is that Jake already has a compromised immune system and steroids suppress your immnue system. Plus the shot isn't reversable so if he had any issues from it, we'd be screwed. If we do need to use steroids in the future we would start with prednisone. Right now Jake is getting Cartrophen shots (similar to Adequan) every 3 - 4 weeks for his hips since he does have arthritis. These help him almost immediately, he stands totally straight within 36 hours of getting a shot. He also gets AntiFlam by Omega Alpha. It was recommended by a friend who raises racing greyhounds and he said his kennel would be lost without it. It's herbal and it's for horses, there is a pet version but after talking to a company rep I opted to go with the horse version. We now own a litre of the stuff! After a bad spell in December, when we had the discussion about the depo medrol, we decided to put Jake on Gabapenten. What a difference! He does great on 2 100mg caps a day. I do add a 3rd one at the 3 week point of his shots, that is discontinued the day after the shot. I am hoping that once winter, the enemy of Senior dogs with issues, is over we can start having some very short walks to help him regain some strength.

How is Sammi doing today? Jake has nerve issues in his back end plus arthritis in his hips. We started him on Cartrophen shots (similar to adequan) in October and he does well on them, but they are for the arthritis. He's been on meloxacam for quite a while, but his whole back end was sinking,and he does knuckle off and on. That seems to be from nerves in his spine being affected. In December on the advice of Dr Shelley Lake we started him on Gabapenten, and what a difference. So much so that he has now successfully managed to go a full 4 weeks between shots rather than the less desireable 3 weeks. He walks with a very different gait now, he rolls his hips and stomps his feet down BUT his is fully mobile and actually bounds out and back in with glee. I once in a while hear a foot drag on the slider door frame, but don't see the knuckling at all now. Yay for Gabapentin. I don't know if this would help Sammi, but it's worth discussing with your vet.

You have no idea how adorable. My memories of her make me smile.

Carla, Silver was an amazing boy who gave you such love. How like him to do things on his own terms. I'm so sorry though that he had to leave at all. I find some comfort that your big boy was there to meet my little girl, your FTH crush. She loved big brindle boys and her reminds me of our Jake. Godspeed magnificent Silver, you were loved beyond measure.

This makes me sad, Zoe was one of my very favourite little dogs. The name Brick Butt was given to Zoe by Alisha in 2007. I had stopped by her booth at Sandy Paws and handed her to Alisha so I could shop for Peanut's coming home collar. When I chose the collar Alisha handed Zoe back to me with an oomph and said "here you take little Miss Brick Butt, she's heavy!" I don't have any pictures from that year as I stored them somewhere other than photobucket and they deleted them But I do have these from SP 2008 Zoe and Brian Suzie Q's DH With Suzie and with her Auntie Laura Godspeed little Miss, you will be missed for the big dog you are.

Oh that picture is so good to see. On wetting of the bread - no just flatten it out, you know what white bread is like when you squish it right? It just molds the way you want it. Sometimes if I flavour the bread with peanut butter or gravy he just scarfs it down. So, I may have found a way to pill him without sticking my fingers in his mouth. Grandy says you have to bring Squirt over for a real visit soon.

Hang in there Jason. Toby has the best medical team. He is in my prayers that he can beat this.

I didn't see this, but I'm glad to see Bumper is home and you guys are doing okay. I know this was rough, but really was necessary so stop beating yourself up. I'm interested to see how Bumper does once his pad heals and he's walking on it properly again. No comment on the pee catching, but the image had me Derek, I can't get pills into Jake by putting them in tasty things, even pill pockets. He falls for it once, but once only. We've had to pill him many, many times with usually 3 capsules at least twice a day or more even. I found a way that works, well for us anyway. Since trying to get capsules or small pills down his throat so they would stay down, I actually feared I'd lose a finger. I had pill pockets so I put the pills in it and shoved the entire package down the hatch. It worked! Then we ran out so I made my own "package" using a piece of bread. Tear off a small piece, I start with a quarter of a slice with the crust removed. Flatten it out, then place the pills or caps on one end, leaving a space to seal it. Fold the bread over and squish the edges closed, then squish it in your hand to make it as small as you can. Then, down the hatch! Hugs to Bumper and to you. :bighug Prayers for a quick and uneventful healing.

You have my prayers and good thoughts. This pulls at my heartstrings as the losing weight was Peanut's first symptom. We didn't do an ex-ray as she had fluid in her belly and that would only have shown shadows. We did the ultrasound, cost about $380.00, pretty good for around here. Praying that Aladdin's issue is something really simple and easy to fix. to you

I'm so pleased to read that Zuki is doing so well on the CoQ10. Dr Radcliffe is speaking at Sandy Paws again. I'm planning on taking better notes this year, he has so many great, well researched suggestions.

Happy Birthday Larry! Look for my Peanut, she just arrived and she loves birthdays!

Becki I'm so very sorry. Godspeed Max

How's he doing today Judy?

Thank you everyone for the support, kind words, flowers and messages. You have no idea how much it all means to me. I got the call this morning that our baby is ready to come home. I'm hoping that will help me. I have asked a friend to make a special pottery urn that will house both Foxy and Peanut's ashes.

I'm praying you get an answer today. Hugs to Raz.