Rickiesmom

We will be thinking of Quilty tomorrow, and sending prayers for a straightforward, quick procedure, clean margins, and a sassy girl waking up and asking what has been going on while she was out, so she can decide if she approves.

Jaynie seems much better. She walked with a bit of pulling (OK, in the great scheme of things this isn't good, but it's a good sign in context). She ate her dinner, though wouldn't go to her feeder - but served while she was lying on a dog bed was acceptable. She seems to want to sleep a lot, which isn't a worry at the moment - she was given pain meds at the clinic, and has been through a lot. Tomorrow, if she eats breakfast I'll see if she'll take a piece of one of the several dehydrated beef treats we have just gotten. And maybe, between meals, also see if she and Arlie want to spend some time in the backyard. (I tried this today - Arlie tore around, Jaynie took out the sweet peas on the garden fence trying to get her muzzle off. They were going to seed anyway. ) In sum, she's better than she's been, but not back to the Jaynie of the weekend before the dental. As long as she keeps improving a little every day, I am happy, though I miss my "real" Jaynie.

Just spoke with the clinic - they said Jaynie ate the food (rice and boiled beef) I brought in last evening (vet stopped in to see her at 1am and it was gone). They actually went out to the grocery store across the street this morning and got more which they cooked and gave her - vet called and said she devoured it. And also that she whined a little when he was petting her (she does this - it's a happy thing). So the fluids and meds she's on, together with time seem to be helping and I'll be able to bring her home later today. The bloodwork they repeated yesterday all came back fine also. I'll know better once I have her home and can observe her myself, but she certainly sounds much better than yesterday. Thank you all for the good thoughts.

Godspeed beautiful Heart. My condolences to her mom and all who loved her.

Jaynie has barely been eating, or drinking, even today. This AM after breakfast (such as it was) I put her in the (very cushy) crate with a light blanket over her. Hours later she hadn't moved. When I took her out before going to the vet awhile ago, she peed and it was orange, probably because of the no drinking. They have admitted her and will put her on fluids overnight. Apparently one of the things that can happen with anaesthetic, even if the dog is fasted, is some acid reflux. If this happens and the acid sits in the esophagus it can cause quite a bad burn, even an ulcer. The only way to confirm this is to scope the dog, which obviously we aren't going to do. Instead the vet will treat Jaynie as if this is what happened, and give her an acid suppressant, sulcrate, and a pain med (can't recall which, but not an NSAID). They are also going to rerun a few blood tests, just to be sure there is nothing new going on there. I'm going to take up some rice and boiled hamburger, as well as some of the beef-based kibble she likes, in case they can get her to eat. In answer to someone's question, yes, they did give her ACE as well as valium-ketomine [that probably isn't exactly the right name]. Vet said in future, no ACE and they would use something else which is lighter and wears off faster instead of the valium stuff. Poor little girlie. This is certainly not how we wanted her new life to start!

Jaynie had a routine dental yesterday. No extractions, just scale and polish. The clinic kept in touch during the day as it took her longer to recover from the anaesthetic (i.e., get up and moving) than they expected. Eventually she got there though, and when I picked her up she was pretty perky, and she wolfed down dinner. Today is another story - she didn't want a very tempting breakfast, and has been lethargic all day. She will go for walks, then flakes out. She ate some of dinner tonight, but not all, even though it was filled with special good stuff. I am going to call the clinic in the morning and no doubt they'll want to see her. But in the meantime.... How concerned should I be? She's scheduled for additional dental work in a couple of weeks, and her spay will have to be scheduled after that. Right now, because I don't know if reactions are cumulative, I am afraid to have her under anaesthetic again. Your thoughts / experiences? Edited to add: we've also had a few pee accidents in the house today, which we did not have prior to.

I have used Flexadin, which I think is the same thing, on my whippet who had carpal fusion surgery in 2004. It has helped him.

Your angels are staying near you when you need them. You are bonded forever.

What a pretty girl!

New update: the damage to the canine is such that the vet thinks she should have a root canal. This needs to be done by a specialist rather than the regular clinic. And we agreed it therefore made sense to let the specialist do the gum procedure as well. So we have an appointment for Sep 28th first thing in the morning to see the specialist, and it's likely the procedures will be done the same day. Both Rickie and Arlie have been to this specialist and I love her - she's very, very good - Jaynie will be in good hands.

Vet just called. He described Jaynie as "delightful" No extractions required YAY! What he is going to do this get one more view of the canine (thinks it's OK but doesn't want any surprises). Hopefully it looks OK. Also, where there is the recession over the molars, he is going to do a surgery to basically correct and hopefully arrest the recession. At the same time an antibiotic time-release "pod" (my word, not his) will be placed inside to deal, over about 1 month, with any bacteria that is up under the gumline. I am SO happy she isn't going to have to lose any teeth, at least not yet. And we take good care of doggie teeth at home, so with luck she won't need another dental or related treatment for quite some time. He said they should be done in another hour or so, and will call again then. Good girl Jaynie!

Jaynie's teeth by many standards are not in bad shape, but she does have some very noticeable gum recession here and there, and one either very worn or broken canine. The clinic will do x-rays to see how the bone looks, but they think she may need up to 4 teeth taken out, mostly big molars. They've been asked to call before doing any extractions. If they believe they are required I will ask for a referral to the nearby (and totally wonderful) dental specialist. She has helped me to keep teeth in Arlie's mouth, and I am hoping she'll be able to do the same with Jaynie. My little girl is also going to be microchipped which will make me feel much better.

I am so sorry you didn't have more time with your special girl.

She is gorgeous!! Congratulations on your new girlie!!

We have had a strict limit of two hounds. Made sense for all kinds of reasons. Until a certain young brood pointed out just how silly this was. Please welcome the lovely, playful, inquisitive former racer, and super-mom to a bunch of young Flying Stanleys – the beautimous Bart's Orchid call name Jane (now Jaynie) who arrived yesterday (Sep 10) in her forever home with us. This well traveled momma is welcomed by whippie Rickie, and Arlie who is thrilled to have another grey to play with. They have already done zoomies together in the backyard. (Goodbye what there is left of the lawn, forever.) Many thanks to Doug for loving her and taking such good care of her during the first part of her life. It shines through her. To Teddy for taking her in while she waited for plans to sort themselves out, and, maybe, for teaching her to expect treats while watching TV on the couch. (This would be the same Teddy who said "she's a tad plump" .) To Kim and Dianne who didn't hesitate when I asked if Jaynie could join their hounds' haul to PA, and who let me join them in welcoming the pups off the haul, and spending time in a greyhound home while their fosters were inspected and sent off to be spoiled. And to Kim again for inviting us to stay with her family and hounds so that Jane could rest in the company of other greys, and we could spend a wonderful, albeit short, time yakking it up together. We are thrilled and privileged to have this lovely, sweet, wonderful girlie with us. Knowing the here are pictures from Jane's arrival. Thank you Cathy from Keystone, you are a much better photographer than I will ever be. Here they come: Here they are: Jaynie, just off the hauler: Jaynie at Dianne's, enjoying some backyard time after the haul: Better of Jaynie (look at those sweet earsies): She was the best little traveler on the way back to Toronto - slept most of the way, even roached! She's settling in so well, a bit picky about food, but some natural, good quality beef stew food mixed with rice did the trick tonight. (It smelled better than what I'm eating.) We'll get the food thing figured out in time. We are overjoyed to have this sweetie in our family. (Edited to increase the original, tiny font size. That was like this. And again, to add another picture.)

You have wonderful memories of a good man and a dog you both loved, that live in your heart forever.

We are now over 24h without any vomiting - yay! Not wanting to mess with success, we'll take the same approach to food today as worked yesterday, including giving a pepcid shortly. Also, as Rickie slept with me most of the night, I can confirm he is getting rid of lots of the gas we saw on the x-rays. Makes a mom's heart go pitty-pat.

Callie's beauty is shining through your warm memories of her. I am so sorry for your loss of this very special girl.

Just to reassure everyone - we don't have a Swiffer, and nothing has changed in the home environment. My bet is on the bully stick(s) or, in second place, something they picked up at large, either bacterial or parasite (like Giardia). Thank you for the thought though - if we'd changed cleaners recently, it would be a good clue.

So far so good. Arlie finally pooped for the first time today during her pre-dinner walk and it was, for the most part firm. Rickie had his i/d breakfast and two i/d snacks through the day, all of which stayed down. He just had about 3/4 of a can for dinner and ate with gusto. I won't start to feel reassured until I know this is going to stay down, but the trend is promising at least. He's starting to look thin, and needs the calories.

Rickie seemed very keen while breakfast was being prepared, then hardly ate at all. I got him to eat a few pieces moistened canned i/d by hand feeding, but didn't force the issue. Hopefully having a little something in his tummy will feel good, and he'll keep it down. If that happens, I may try a bit more early this afternoon, i.e., more, but very small meals. Arlie on the other hand hoovered her food down, and the rest of Rickie's. I am going to start transitioning her back to her regular food, if only because it's a pain cleaning up the rice she sends far and wide while eating. Please keep my little boy in your thoughts. If he loses breakfast we'll head down to the e-vet. Will keep you posted.

Thanks both of you. I'll give the pepcid and then later try a small i/d only breakfast. If that doesn't stay down we'll go to the e-vet as my regular clinic doesn't open until Tuesday. It's so odd - the pattern has been, breakfast stays down, dinner doesn't. No idea what that might mean. We'll see what happens today.

Since Rickie threw up again last night, I was thinking of giving him some Pepcid today. We have some from another time but I have gone completely blank - do I have to give this to Rickie before meals and if so, how long ahead of time? For people the box says 1h before - is the same true for dogs?

Thanks Claudia. I thought everything was going better until Rickie threw up dinner a little while ago (and the metronidazole with it, presumably). Gave him some pepto bismol and will let things rest now overnight. Which will hopefully be uneventful for both of them.

Awww, Rose is just lovely, she has the sweetest face