Rickiesmom

Beau is looking really great - of course he's one of the most handsome boys there is to begin with!

I do, in fact we are in the process of this with Arlie, however, not as an adjunct to surgery. In our case the vet flushed the abcess and Arlie is on antibiotics - initially Clavamox but as that didn't seem to be doing the job, we switched today to Baytril. I wish I had had the presence of mind to request a culture, which I will definitely do if there isn't significant improvement at the recheck on Wednesday. Arlie is also on Metacam for pain-relief / anti-inflammation. Tramadol also an option for pain control if needed. Good luck with Peace - these things are miserable on their own, let alone on top of recovery from surgery. As a sidebar, if you need something to stop licking, I learned about and got a product today called DermiCare. It makes bitter apple seem luscious.

Rickie recently had a very bad foot infection, with one toe being particularly badly affected. The top layer of skin has peeled off on the sides of that toe. This afternoon when I went to change the sock on his foot, I noticed the black pad material was coming off on the front part of the toe. We went to the vet to have it trimmed off, and they have now bandaged the foot as well. We go back for a bandage change on Tuesday. The vet said she was concerned about whether a new hard covering would form on the bottom of that toe. Has anyone had experience with this? Does it grow back? If yes, how does that process go? If not, what have you had to do to compensate, e.g., therapaw boot for walking, that sort of thing. Thank you for your help.

Poor Gunny - hope the antibiotics do the trick!

I am so sorry your girl is gone.

Just got back from the vet - Arlie's infected anal gland opened up again so they needed to flush it out. Vet also changed her antibiotic from Clavamox to Baytril and put Arlie on Metacam for pain and anti-inflammatory support. Good news!! The path report came in and the cells are consistent with an abcess - just what we were hoping, but did not want to count on until confirmed. Once Arlie's problems back there are fully cleared up the vet will check again to ensure there is no remaining mass, but for now we are in the clear. Thank you for your support - between Rickie and Arlie we've certainly needed a lot of it lately! PS: If your vet doesn't routinely do a rectal exam during the annual physical, I would suggest asking for it. I did a lot of reading about this cancer while waiting for the path report, and as is so often the case, it is usually quite far along by the time it's detected, and it tends to metastasize fairly aggressively, so doing a routine check is a very good idea.

My vet also prefers Interceptor - safer and effective against more parasites as your vet has said. I've used Interceptor for years on several dogs and never had a bad experience.

Have your vet do a needle biopsy, then you'll know what it is and what to do next. Hope it's just a fat lump!

I thought the Tramadol dosing was roughly 50 mg per 30 - 35 lbs, so yes, 3 - 4 sounds like a lot. There is also frequency to consider - it can be given every 8h, but using the lower dosing protocol (100 mg in your case, or 2 pills). Disclaimer: not a vet, just had to give it to my dogs for different issues, and the foregoing seemed to be the norm.

My greyhound girlie Arlie developed an absessed anal gland last week (Tuesday). It was flushed and she has been on Clavamox. Tonight was the recheck. The appointment tonight was with my regular vet and he said he felt a mass in the right anal gland. Best case it's an absess that can be dealt with via lancing and cleaning. Not thrilling for Arlie, but better than the alternative. If it's a mass, then we will schedule surgery right away, but unfortunately this is an aggressive form of cancer that tends to spread - even with radiation and chemo, the prognosis is not great. Vet did a needle biopsy - we should have the results Monday, at latest Tuesday. If it is a tumour, we know it has developed since Arlie's annual checkup in May, because the same vet did a rectal exam at that time and there was nothing there. While hoping for the best, I want to prepare for the worst. If you have had any experience with this kind of tumour, I would so appreciate it if you would share. Thank you. Arlie will be 8 years old in November.

Poor Conner and poor you. I hope he does OK on the reduced Pred and that starts to alleviate the behaviour. Will be watching for updates and thinking of your sweet boy.

I am so sorry. Please don't feel guilty - you did the kindest thing for Bradley, and will hold him close in your memory forever.

That is such a relief! Hope Dr Couto concurs / has additional suggestions for maintaining or improving Goldie's joint health.

Robin that is just fantastic news - you must feel like celebrating!!!

Just checking in, hoping for good news.

Your experience is not unlike one we have just been through with my Rickie: Rickie's foot saga Our vet recommended keeping the foot exposed to air for healing. In order to achieve this I bitter-apple the heck out of the foot on both sides several times per day. You could, as we did with Rickie, vetwrap a sock over it at night to stop licking (assuming your boy won't take the sock off - Rickie is pretty docile that way). One thing that we have been doing for him that seems to help is we give the foot twice-daily soaks in epsom salts for 20 minutes or so. To keep it simple I soak a cloth in the epsom salt solution, wrap the foot in that, and then cover with press-n-seal and a towel. No muss no fuss. Hope Sagan heals quickly and without further incident!

A bite-not collar might be a good idea - she can still nudge around the area with a muzzle. Keeping a collar on a dog is harder on you than the dog because it looks (and probably is) somewhat uncomfortable, but in the long run, is way, way easier on the dog than repairing torn stitches / infections from licking. Maybe you could use a muzzle (with cup) at times when she has someone with her who can interrupt any attention she is trying to pay to the incision, and the collar at night or other times when no one is with her.

Quick update. The swelling is almost gone, and for the first time since this started, Rickie hopped up onto the bed during the wee hours to cuddle up for the rest of the night. Made my heart glad! Almost afraid to say it "out loud" but it looks like he's turned the corner - we'll now depend on the remaining meds to make sure this nasty thing really "gets gone" and continue to soak and clean his paw until the skin on his toe heals and the remaining swelling is gone. We need him moving again to rebuild muscle (which he has been losing even in this short time). Under normal conditions, in addition to lots of walking he is on a maintenance program at the canine wellness centre where he gets laser treatments and time on the underwater treadmill (we were just starting to get him used to higher water as a transition to the actual swimming pool). When he's ready we'll step up his sessions to get him back into shape. Thank you again for your advice, support and well wishes - they all helped in practical and intangible ways.

Sending prayers her vet can see her early today and is able to help Goldie. Will be watching for updates.

3/4 of his normal kibble down the hatch; pill down in liverwurst, no problem. We are a happy household tonight. Thank you for asking and to Ekko for beaming "eat your dinner" thoughts to Rickie!

Godspeed Woody. My heart goes out to all who are missing you deeply.

A long wait, in which to spoil and love your girl. We will be praying with you for a benign path report.

No clue. My theory is that because we've had an extended garbage strike here (since June 22) there is a lot more nasty bacteria floating around, and somehow Rickie picked some up. Vet said they'd had a very similar case to Rickie's at the clinic this week, and this was his thinking as well. It would only take a pin-prick injury with a contaminated object to inject the bacteria into his foot. Thankfully, a strike settlement has been reached and we should be back to normal city services some time next week. Note: this is not to say there is garbage all over the place - people have been variously storing it, getting private services to pickup, or hauling it to temporary dumpsites in nearby parks But the park dumpsites are horrible, some buildings have temporary dumpsters that are leaking, etc., so just in general, the city is much dirtier, even if you can't see it, than usual.

Back from the vet's. He was pleased with the improvement in Rickie's foot vs. the report from the e-vet. He recommended we drop the Tramadol and the Baytril and stay on the Clindamycin and Metacam. Though he believes the Clindamycin has a role in Rickie's poor appetite, he thinks removing one antibiotic and the sedative effect of the Tramadol may help. So that's what we'll do. He wasn't ready to prescribe anything for Rickie's stomach since Rickie's weight is still holding, but is fine with the Pepcid. It sounds like appetite stimulants would also be an option, but not yet. The "blister" is the skin on the toe starting to slough off, and you can see that more clearly now as a larger area is affected. It is indeed part of the healing process. It looks pretty sore and we will continue the epsom salt soaks and gentle cleaning. Arlie goes in on Thursday for an unrelated reason, and so I can re-open any of the above with him then if warranted. For now I am just hoping Rickie will eat tonight.

I did. Disappointing because I was sure that's what did the trick last night - he ate then without any coercion at all. In reading about the antibiotics he's on, I found out that some antacids and other meds can block Baytril. These include Sulcrafate as well as "Other supplements or medications which have zinc, iron, magnesium, or aluminum in them..." I don't know what famotidine is. Does anyone know enough about drug chemistry to know if there might be an interaction here? I will also ask my vet today.