onrushpam

Race dogs in FL get DHLPP, Rabies and Bordatella yearly. The racing secretary keeps track of it and sends the vet down to the kennels each week to vaccinate the "due" dogs. We get the paperwork on almost all the dogs in our adoption program. Everything is well documented as to the date and what vaccs were given. Every now and then we have paperwork problems on dogs that come into JCKC from other tracks and their paperwork never makes the trip. So, we do get a few dogs with no paperwork. That probably happens once per 100 dogs.

Lynn, not Pam... Arthritis is a joint disease. Osteosarcoma generally involves the long bones or shoulder somewhere along their length. Chondrosarcoma is far more rare, but occurs from time to time... the only time I've seen it in a greyhound, it was in the rib cartilage.... ugly stuff. Lynn

We've given Imizol (Imidocarb) to a lot of dogs. The first one we did reacted with the GSOD. After that, we learned to change needles from drawup to injection and none of the others have even noticed it. We've not had any throw up or have any other noticeable side effects. In most cases, we have seen improvement of symptoms within 24 hours. But, in a few cases, where the dogs were terribly debilitated, it has been slow going on the improvement front. I have a very ill dog right now. My big Al has several symptoms that led us to suspect tick disease. We did a full titer panel, including all the "off brand" varieties of Erlichia (we live next to a farm with a lot of horses). All came back negative! Damn it! I was HOPING something would show positive, so we'd know what is wrong with my Big Al. He's going down hill fast and we have NO idea what the problem is.

Awww.... I just saw this... He sounds so much like my grumpy old fart, Isaac... and looks like him, too! Hugs to you and Ken.

I'm just now seeing this... We dealt with a badly injured dog (100s of sutures) who was leaking protein like crazy! Her entire body was oozing. First, we brought her home, put her in an X-pen and stayed with her round the clock. Just getting her out of the vet clinic made a HUGE difference! Second, we ground up high-protein kibble (Nutro High Energy) in the food processor and mixed it with High Protein Canned food and water, to make a thick gruel. We sat with her and offered little handfuls of it. She would eat it out of our hands. This was an around-the-clock deal for several days. One of us was with her 24 hours, sleeping beside her, offering food and water whenever she woke. Also, she had a Fentanyl patch, which helped with the pain a lot. But, it also killed her desire to eat. So, we took it off after the first day and went with lesser pain meds. I truly believe she would've died had we left her at the vet clinic. Having her at home, with 24 hour care, made a HUGE difference. Of course, I don't know your situation... your experience with medical issues... or your dog's current prognosis. You need to trust your vet. But, you also need to trust your instincts with your dog. With ours, we KNEW she needed to be home and we were willing to commit to 24 hour care. And, we took her back to the vet for daily checkups the first few days. Our vet told us he thought she would die and was amazed she lived. I think she would've died, had we left her at the clinic. Just my experience... don't take it as gospel...

Yes on the Metacam!

Not an e-vet emergency... Given your description, it may reduce (go back in place) on its own. You can try to encourage it by gently pulling out on the end of the toe. Don't force anything, just try to stretch the tendons/ligaments out a bit to allow it to go back into place on its own. Give her some buffered aspirin (the coated kind if you can get it)... adult dose. Ice it (no more than 20 minutes per hour) if she will tolerate it. (Ice in a baggie in a towel wrapped around the foot, or stand her in a bucket of ice water if she will tolerate it.)

I've always bought propolis, the oil of lavender and the 100% natural aloe gel at our local organic food/health food co-op.

I've never used propolis as a food supplement, but it is part of the formula for an amazing wound healing treatment... A friend who is into AKC conformation shows told me about this when one of our dogs had a bad three-corner wound that required several sutures. It worked amazingly well. The wound healed with NO scar and the hair grew back completely over it. I've since used it many times on wounds of various types. (I've never put it on an open wound... don't think that would be a good idea.) I mix the 'GLOP' up in a little pyrex prep bowl or custard cup... Start with a tablespoon or so of aloe gel. (It's best if you can scrape the fresh stuff from aloe leaves, but I've also used the bottled kind (from the health food market).) Add: The contents of 1 propolis capsule (open it and dump the contents into the gel) The contents of one Vitamin E capsule (puncture and squirt it into the gel) 1-3 drops oil of lavendar (available at the health food market) Mix this all up and smear on the wound. It dries fairly quickly, so isn't too messy. I've refrigerated it and used a few times a day, but always make a new batch each day. I would think this might also help with corns! I never thought of it before, but it's worth a try. Smear it on and cover with a baby sock?

Several years ago, our Amy (at the bridge) dislocated her toe playing in the pasture. We went inside and I called the vet. As we were preparing to depart, she sat down on the rug, stuck her foot in her mouth, and put her own toe back in place! We've had many dislocations, because our dogs run hard in lure coursing and just free running in our pasture. Some have resolved on their own (rarely). There are a number of treatments, but few vets know how to perform them. Since the dislocation has been reduced (toe back in place) and your dog doesn't normally run hard, I'd say take a wait and see approach. Leash walk for a few weeks to allow it time to heal. If it dislocates again, check with your vet re: options.

The Chlorhexiderm shampoo really does work... There's another one that has the same active ingredients, but also some "soothing" stuff in it. I told Lucy about it because I had a cocker spaniel with terrible chronic staph... She had round after round of antibiotics and was on prednisone for it. A 'fill-in' vet at our regular vet clinic told me about the shampoo. We tried it and before long, our cocker was off all meds! If you can't bathe the dog every other day, you can also get the Chlorhexiderm Wound Flush and just squirt it on every other day in between baths. You may need to dilute it, because it will REALLY dry out the skin. Just dilute it 50/50 with sterile water (boil the water, let it cool, then mix).

We removed the dewclaws on the Amy puppies... (Well, the vet did... LynnM and I TRIED to do it, but quickly decided we couldn't do it). I'm sorry we did it. I've since become convinced the dogs actually DO use them... Maybe not so much on the track, but certainly when running in the field. Yes, they are a pain to trim and sometimes do cause injuries in lure coursing. But, if I ever have baby puppies again, they'll keep their dewclaws.

The only worms you will actually see in stool are tapes... all others are too small to see... Tapes are no big deal. But, you have to treat them specifically. Ivermectin based wormers don't do anything for tapes. So, you have to get Droncit or Cesticid or Cestex (all the same thing)... Do NOT pay for Drontal Plus! If your dog is already on heartworm meds which also cover hooks/whips/rounds, there is no need to treat for those.

My big Al has done that all his life. He's 90+ pounds and makes a LOUD KERPLUNK on our hardwood floors. (He prefers the floor to any of the bazillion dog beds or couches he could choose!)

We're hauling 7 dogs up to GPA-Atlanta tomorrow... I set the totebag full of extra collars/leashes by the back door, so we wouldn't forget it at o-dark-thirty in the morning. For some weird reason, there was a brand new hedgehog stuffy in the bag! Isaac grabbed it and took off for his bed. When I called him to eat his dinner, he brought the hedgehog (with the tag still on it) back and laid it by his bowl, so it would be handy when he finished eating! He's still carrying his new baby around with him everywhere and telling all the youngsters to leave it alone! He wanted to take it outside, but I wouldn't let him.

Yep! He doesn't need jammies this time of year... but he REALLY liked the ones GTers sent him last winter! BTW, Isaac turned 12 in March. He's the last survivor of his litter. He's AKC registered (though his grandma was a NGA dog). He's been with us since he was 11 weeks old.

Oh, and Isaac is REALLY enjoying the big box of BurpDogs that arrived yesterday!!! It takes him some time to eat one, because he doesn't have many teeth and has a hole in the side of his face (it never closed after his cancer surgery). But, he manages JUST FINE!

A year ago, Isaac was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. A few months later, he had a squamous cell carcinoma in his mouth. A couple of months ago, I thought his time was up, but it turned out to be an infection, rather than a return of the cancer. Our vet is amazed! Nobody dreamed Isaac would still be with us a year after his CHF diagnosis, nevermind with the cancer added in. At first, our vet razzed me about the "Isaac stew" I cook every weekend. But, Isaac is the shiniest, healthiest sick dog you'll ever see! He's a little wobbly, and sleeps most of the time. (He drags his bed outside so he can lay in the HEAT!) For those with "infirm" dogs who need to maintain weight and can have little/no salt, here is "Isaac Stew"... 10 lb chicken leg/thigh quarters divided between 2 crockpots and cooked 24 hours. Remove the bones and smush them up (they'll be very soft). Put the chicken, the smushed bones and all the following into a BIG stockpot and cook until veggies are done: 5 lbs cheap ground beef (high fat) 2 lbs sliced squash (yellow and/or zucchini) 1 lb chopped carrot 1 lb chopped spinach 2 big cans diced tomatoes Sometimes I use fresh veg, sometimes frozen. I freeze this in big Glad or Ziplock containers. He gets 1.5 Cups of stew and 1 cup of softened high calorie kibble (Nutro High Energy), twice per day. Also a multi-vitamin and Vitamin E. for my Isaac boy!

A severe dislocation can be MUCH more difficult to heal than an outright broken toe. We're currently trying to save the same toe on one of our youngsters. He had surgery to repair the tendons/ligaments a couple of months ago and just recently returned to moderate exercise. (He is allowed out alone, not with other dogs and only in our smallish dog yard, not in the big paddock.) It's not looking good. He will probably lose the toe eventually. :-( My first choice, with such a young dog, given your location, would be to take him to Dr. Radcliffe in Wheeling, WV. If it can be fixed, Dr. Radcliffe will do it. If he doesn't think the prognosis is good, he will recommend amputation. Your friends might be able to have their vet contact Dr. Radcliffe and discuss it before making the trip up there.

OMG! I can't believe Sport is gone! Poor Marilyn... how hard this must be for her...

All the pups at the bridge must've been bored and needing a pink princess to liven up the place! I'm betting Loriann and Bart have already had their ears cleaned! I'm gonna really miss the Skittle stories! Many hugs to Devon and Amber!

OK... I'm a supporter... and I can NEVER get this to work! It just tells me the file exceeds size limits... I can resize them, but it would be so nice to have the "automatic" part! Please enlighten me!

Goodbye my friend... I will do what I can to help your sweet lady hold steady without you... It won't be easy for her and I'd like to kick your ass for leaving her! But, I know you didn't want to go... We will all miss you terribly... I am selfishly sad, because I have lost one of the very few people I always knew I could call on in times of great need. I will try my best now to do what I always knew you would do for me... Every time you left with our doggies, I said the same thing, "PLEASE, BE SAFE!!!" You are forever safe now... I know you are running like the wind, with your beloved doggies... Wait for us, friend... we will join you soon... I know you are there, at the bridge, looking over all of us... I just felt a big ol' Bob V bear hug!!!

Awww! I am SO sorry, Jay!!! Pretty was a very lucky hound to have found you! It was SOOO cool that you had her and Cody together!

One of the pups we raised was colored like that... We called him Dipstick!