Rickiesmom

I am so, so sorry.

I was feeding Acana, and although the hounds seemed to thrive on it, out of caution I switched to Royal Canin Senior for one, and Royal Canin Large Breed Joint & Coat for the other. Both dogs like the food, and the most striking thing to me is how much smaller and firmer their poops are on the new food. For anyone considering the Large Breed food, the kibble, at least for the joint and coat food, is about 1" x 1" x 1/4". If that seems too big for your hound, maybe consider the Medium breed size instead. Edited for clarity.

I am so sorry to hear that. I used to read her blog. RIP to a funny, caring, hard working woman.

The most recent Tripawds newsletter included a piece on how to search for clinical trials. It provides a link to the AVMA search page. There is an OSA trial going on in New York that is recruiting. Note there are two ways of searching - using the form that appears on the page associated with this link or you can choose "Search all Studies" above the form, which takes you to a page where you can select filters. I preferred that one.

A friend sent me a list of vet hospitals participating in the Aratana trial (not exactly the same vaccine as Dr Mason's). Posting it here for you and anyone else for whom it may be timely: Southern Arizona Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center, Tucson, Ariz. Veterinary Cancer Group of Los Angeles, Culver City, Calif. SAGE Centers for Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Care, Campbell, Calif. Veterinary Specialty Hospital by ETHOS, San Diego, Calif. VRCC Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Hospital, Englewood, Colo. Veterinary Cancer Center, Norwalk, Conn. Southeast Veterinary Oncology and Internal Medicine, Jacksonville, Fla. Blue Pearl Specialty + Emergency Pet Hospital, Tampa, Fla. MedVet Medical & Cancer Centers for Pets, Carmel, Ind. Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Blue Pearl Specialty + Emergency Pet Hospital, Overland Park, Kans. New England Veterinary Oncology Group, Waltham, Mass. Blue Pearl Specialty + Emergency Pet Hospital, Southfield, Mich. Oradell Animal Hospital, Paramus, N.J. VCA Veterinary Care Animal Hospital and Referral Center, Albuquerque, N.M Katonah Bedford Veterinary Center, Bedford Hills, N.Y. MedVet Medical & Cancer Centers for Pets – Columbus, Worthington, Ohio Veterinary Cancer & Surgery Specialists, Milwaukie, Ore. Hope Veterinary Specialists, Malvern, Penn. Upstate Veterinary Specialists, Greenville, S.C. Sugar Land Veterinary Specialists and Emergency Care, Sugar Land, Tex. Veterinary Specialist of North Texas, Ft. Worth, Tex. The LifeCentre, Springfield, Va. Bridge Animal Referral Center, Edmonds, Wash. Wisconsin Veterinary Referral Center, Waukesha, Wis.

For what it's worth, my best experiences with oncology have been at a veterinary teaching hospital. Not only was the oncology centre fantastic, but there is a campus of board certified specialists to deal with whatever comes up. If you have one near you, that may be an option to consider as well. Also, there is a vaccine currently in trial, or has been recently, the trial may now be closed, not sure. Admission requires completion of chemo, but please look into it - perhaps under Ginny's particular and exigent circumstances she might qualify on compassionate grounds. Dr Nicola Mason at UPenn would be a good place to start. There are also post-chemo protocols intended to delay or slow down the progress of mets. Your new oncologist or Dr. Couto whom you have dealt with already should be able to advise in general, as well as whether any of those would be worth pursuing. Finally, there is increasing evidence that dogs who develop infections at the amputation site have longer survival times, sometimes years. While Ginny hasn't had an infection her immune system has certainly been engaged, and that may help her too. ETA: I would wait for the opinion of another oncologist at a different clinic before accepting the opinion of your current one as definitive. Which you are doing by having this consult, but please try not to take that advice to heart before an independent consult.

It hurts my heart to look at that leg and think of what she and you all have been through with this. That the wound has been clean, no doubt thanks to your diligent care, is truly a blessing. it is so good to know that Ginny is almost healed. A good rehab practitioner will help if she doesn't start weight bearing once it is established there is no medical reason for it. Thank you so much for the update, please do keep us posted.

About 2 weeks have passed - hoping so much that your Ginny's healing has continued without further setback. Please update us when you have a moment.

The most interesting thing to me is that they feel this is a relatively new problem, so are looking at what may have changed in the last few years. While a common factor seems to be inclusion of peas/lentils/potatoes they are looking at other factors including changes in the sources of ingredients. Barring a sudden breakthrough, figuring out the root ccause is going to take some time. In the meantime, it does seem prudent to move to a food produced by a company that meets WSAVA guidelines.

It sounds like the damage process has run its course, and healing has begun, however slowly. You are good and loving hound parents for staying the course and keeping her spirits up with things she enjoys. Please update this thread anytime, without waiting for a prompt. Many of us have had hounds, often more than one, who have been through chemo, sometimes with complications, and we care about Ginny. And also understand how exhausting and discouraging it can be at times to deal with it all on a daily basis.

How is Ginny's leg? Do you have everything you need in the way of harnesses to help you help her get up and move about? I wanted to PM you but you don't have enough posts.

I am so sorry. You did all you could for her, and it gave you more precious quality time together, though not nearly all you had hoped for. Rest in peace sweetheart, you were truly, deeply loved.

Cletus you are just the sweetest, funniest dog ever

Your tribute and photos are beautiful. Especially love the one of River on a picnic table, looking entirely relaxed, like it was the most normal thing. I am so sorry your lovely and perfect girl had to leave, and for the shock and grief of her sudden departure. My thoughts are with you both.

I am so sorry - it was my initial worry but then things seemed to be improving. I hope the oncology clinic is covering treatment costs for Ginny's leg (they certainly should) and that healing progresses without further complication. Sending healing thoughts and gentle kisses to your girlie.

Glad there is improvement - the IV catheters sound like a very good idea. Gentle hugs to your girlie.

Hoping the leg is clearing up and Ginny feels better.

Thank you for the well wishes, I agree about hoping the steroid/rehab combination works. I didn't mention it explicitly above, but Vonnie's lameness is in the left front. We saw an orthopedic specialist / surgeon with an excellent reputation and, bonus, greyhound experience. We were referred by the neuro specialist at the same hospital, whose MRI ruled out cervical disc causes, as well as osteo and nerve sheath tumour, but did observe the biceps tendon issue, along with a couple of related things. The MRI was interpreted by a radiology specialist so I think the bases are pretty well covered.

Vonnie has been diagnosed via MRI with "proximal left bicipital tendonopathy with marginal fraying and lateral proliferative tissue". The tendon is irritated and unlikely to get better on its own, even with rest and rehab. The non-invasive options are stem cell therapy / PRP (platelet rich plasma) or a steroid shot (this surgeon prefers depomedrol for this type of injury). We will try the non-invasive route first, probably the depo shot as surgeon's experience is that stem cell / PRP is not very effective for this injury. We will also do rehab. Depending on how that goes, next step could be arthroscopic surgery to sever the biceps tendon. According to the surgeon, this relieves pain and does not materially affect gait. Recovery is 4 - 6 weeks of rest, and rehab following that is recommended. While cartilage degeneration is a known side effect of steroid shots, Vonnie is almost 10.5 and the degradation is slow enough that she wouldn't be affected in the short to mid-term. My thinking is to give that a try, so that she is comfortable and mobile during the warmer weather, and defer surgery, if we do that at all, until winter when keeping her quiet during recovery won't be a big deal since she won't want to be out in the cold much anyway. If anyone has experience with any of the therapies, including the surgery, I would be very grateful if you would share. Thank you! ETA: I did do a search in H&M, most recent post on the subject is from 5 years ago. The treatment information in those threads is consistent with what I was told and one hound had a consult at Angell. Vet we saw is familiar with their work and in fact copied an article published by their staff on this subject. However, none of the posts included any experience with the surgical option.

Hope things are going better for your girlie today.

I've never had this happen. I'd take her back to the oncologist, or to an emerg centre that has oncology among its specialties (probably on call on the weekend) to get an opinion. My concern would be whether or not any of the chemo agent had leaked at the site. If that happened, then it needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. ETA: cold packs might help, wrapped in a dishtowel or similar, and applied for as long as she'll let you, up to 10 minutes.

Trevor, you are well loved and very missed. Happy bridge birthday sweet boy

She is just lovely

Great gifts you got there Cletus! Hippie Chick

I am so sorry your Zelda is gone, no matter how long they are with us, it is never, ever long enough.