calif_chaz

I am in such shock that I have lost maggie. She was 10 1/2, super healthy and active, always bouncing around. this morning breakfast as usual, maybe 1 1/2 hr later she was panting a little. seemed a little restless so i made vet appt for this afternoon. she went out to potty and one hind quarter was really shaking as she squatted. came in and laid down, got up and the whole hind quarters shaking so bad she almost collapsed. She went over to one of the dog beds, laid down flat out on her side. a few minutes later she gave a couple of long howls, I ran over and she was not breathing. she was just gone. I am at a loss as to what happend but seems like maybe a clot? I am just devasted~she was my velcro girl and walking buddy. Has anyone had something like these symptoms happen?

Sam was back at the vet the 30th for more blood work which came back fine. ( clotting panel after several days of vit K). No swollen joins, no limited range of movement, no fever. Hematoma area completely resolved. spine examined and ok. Only things were a tenderness in right rear leg when extended in range of movement examination and sadly even more corns. This poor dog is a "corn farm", no pun intended. Vet suspects arthritis in right rear hip and has put Sam on rimadyl for several days and we will check back with him at that time. Sam is definitely more comfortable, from less corns or rimadyl who knows. But does seem more active now. Next step would be x-ray of that right hip. He is such a good boy and I hope doesn't have to go back to the vet for awhile. he just shakes head to tail there. Thanks for all your input~~I am amazed at the amount of knowledge and expertise so many of you have!

So very sorry, Becky, for your loss of Eagle who brought our Sam (York) to us. Run fast and free, Eagle. Joy and Charlie

As always, GTers have given me some good advice and things to think on. Maybe the weird septic joint and hematoma are totally unrelated but I just can't help feeling there is some underlying connection for two such unusual things. I also never thought about a thing he has always gotten every so often, a small dark pink spot on his belly or chest which eventually fades away. Usually only one spot, maybe two but separate, light or dark pink, size of maybe tip of my little finger or even size of a nickel. Never bothered him, but now I am rethinking that. Petechiael? Will definitely mention that to vet monday as well as a full tick panel being run. Other than the pain Sam had with the joint and his corns he is still his usual self and eating like the little piggie he always has been. Again, many thanks for all your advice and suggestions! About 2 years ago he had the full thyroid panel run. he had weight loss, hairless belly and chest, balding thighs, rather withdrawn and lethargic. he has definitely improved on his meds and gets blood recheck every 6 months.

My poor Sam already is hypothyroid (takes meds for it), the bad nails of SLO, and is a regular corn sufferer. But now something new and concerning has started. Early November he quite suddenly develped a very painful, swollen jointon left front leg, the lower one (think ankle) on a front leg. Had no limping beforehand. This turned out to be a case of septic arthritis. No sign of injury, skin break, bite. Treated and resolved with draining, saline flush and antibiotics. Now maybe 5 weeks later he again very suddenly developed a hematoma on upper right front shoulder area. I noticed it when I petted him, about 3 inches across and very squishy. Vet did needle aspiration and drew out blood. Did cbc and test for von willibrand which were ok. Put Sam on vit k for 2 weeks and a return on 12/30 for blood tests again. This is a dog who is very literally a couch potato and neither of these things were caused by any sort of trauma. He does not run in the yard or do anything physical which could cause this. Lives a "quiet" life with two retired people. I am wondering if a good idea to h ave a full tick panel run to check babesia, etc. I would really appreciate any thoughts and/or experiences you have had with TBD.

Very glad Idol is on the mend!

Maggie is ok if her rear is sniffed, but she will not tolerate a dog sniffing her face! never bites but sounds rather cujo-like.

Our Sam suffers from corns, actually for the past few years. We are very fortunate to have found a great vet who hulls them, after viewing the "how-to" from Grassmere. This has been a wonderful thing for Sam's comfort and our peace of mind. Our vet is Dr. Coon at Haven Lake Animal Hosp in Milford, DE. He is training others of his vet staff to do the hulling as well.

We use sand on our deck that the dogs must cross to go in and out and the stairs leading from the deck to the yard. Out two, well, one in particular, always come flying up the stairs and over the deck to the slider doors and the only time they have slipped or fallen was way back in the beginning before we got the sand down. We buy a big bag of sandbox sand at lowes or home depot (very cheap fix) and keep it in a covered container right by the sliders so we can apply always before they go out on the icy days.

I see nothing but love here.

When Sam had his partial toe amp the vet wanted air to get to it after the first few days. Sam is a huge licker even when there is nothing going on. We were able to monitor him a lot during the day but at night we finally put his therapaw boot on very loosely. that way it got more air than a wrap but kept him from licking it. sock didn't work, he just ended up with a soggy sock and foot. Hopefully Beth will continue on the mend and will be trotting around like before very soon.

Sam has corns fairly often and my vet has started hulling them beautifully after going to the Grassmere Hosp website and seeing how it is done. Very painless, non-invasive with no anesthesia or numbing necessary. I was so pleased that my vet (who is terrific) was open to learning this procedure and trying it. I wish the darn corns could be gotten rid of permanently but since they can't we will just make periodic trips to have them hulled. It has to happen often enough that I would not consider sedating Sam.

Our Sam had a growth in the first joint of his weight bearing toe on his right hind foot. It was causing him a lot of discomfort, rather like a bad corn but it wasn't one. As a last result our vet removed the first knuckle and the results were terrific. Once he healed (and the hardest thing was keeping him from licking constantly) he gets around just like before. He does wear a therapaw boot on that foot a lot of the time because he still gets regular corns but the partial toe removal has caused no problems. Very glad we had it done.

What about critters coming in? We always have squirrels bouncing around on the deck and actually had to get rid of the bird feeders because we had a opossum family move in under the deck and raccoons sitting along the fence at night. Our lot backs up to a wooded area.

Two years ago we had what we thought was a corn on Sam's left hind foot, weight bearing toe. It bothered him more and more until he always held that foot up and did not like putting weight on it. Finally decided for a toe amp (to first joint) and so glad we did. it was a keratinized (sp?) growth so it was not going to go away or able to be hulled. He has had no problems since with using the foot. the recovery was uneventful except that the biggest pain was dealing with his licking (he is a big licker even on good days!). We finally used a loose therapaw boot at night to keep him from licking and durng the day we are lucky enough to be home and able to monitor so the to could be open to the air which is what the vet wanted. I am definitely glad we made this decision and have had no problems from it.

I have really enjoyed hearing from everyone and now knowing about the other "non-walkers" out there. So I guess I will just not worry about if Sam is getting his exercise~he is at a great weight and it seems just does not like walking all that much (since we got him 6 years ago), and especially in bad weather. It is hard because Maggie (9) would go walking enthusiastically at the north pole and supplements the walks with zoomies in the back yard. The only time Sam runs is when he is chasing maggie through the house. : ) He is a very laid back, mellow hound and I think that is about it. We've had similar problems with our Shane. He loves to go for walks, but he slows way down after while, sometimes within a couple blocks! X-rays don't show a problem, but his back hips have become progressingly skewed. We're having an MRI tomorrow to answer that very question, of how much and what kind of exercise. If he has a disk problem or something like that, getting him into swimming or walking too hard would be a bad thing. I'll let you know what we find, if anything. Meanwhile, you have my sympathies! It's very confusing, especially when he does zoomies in the back yard just fine! But apparently there can be a movement problme at one gait or speed of movement and not at others. Thanks. I'll be curious to hear if anything shows up with the MRI.

Yes. he goes out for potty runs like clockwork, and is very excited, bouncing, jumping, etc for car rides. I have to laugh at your girl and Sam, maybe they just think it should be 70 degrees, perfect humidity, etc in their life. but, hey, I guess I do too. ; )

Just wondering if anyone else has a hound who really does not care much for walks. We have had Sam for over 6 years, since 2 yrs old, and even then was the slowest walker we had ever seen. Thought he just wasn't up to it but he has pretty much kept that level of "enthusiasm" for years. Now that it has gotten so darn cold and windy he has started going outside to wait on the deck when we get his things to get him ready for a walk. After a few minutes, and when one of us leaves with the other hound, he comes back in, looks around and lays down on one of the beds quite happy with himself. I can just hear him saying to himself, well, I got by them again! He is perfectly healthy, recent check ups all ok, etc. I guess my question is do we just let him happily skip the walks or push him. When he does go he is like towing a car behind us. The other dog is VERY into her walks, at the usual time, it is can we go, can we go, etc. She loves them and needs them.

Good thoughts for you and Ekko.

glad the girls are home and this is behind all of you.

We buy Sam's niacinamide at Walmart~they order it for us and it is about $5 a bottle. It is different than the niacin definitely. Get his fish oil caps (1000mg) at BJ's can't remember the cost but it is reasonable. He used to lick his feet a lot but does not do it much anymore. when he has had a nail come off I give him a rimadyl one time and it gets him past that first hurting and does not need more after that usually. He does use therapaw boots on a foot that is bothering him much. Good luck!

They did 2 chest films because of the trachea irritation/cough~did not want to overlook lung problem. What area are you suggesting ultra-sound?

Thanks for all the thoughts on this. I am hoping the meds will fix whatever, but definitely still thinking if they don't I will talk to him about the cushings test.

Yes, he did. I guess one thing that is really concerning me was his comment both yesterday and today how bad the urine smelled. And I am sure, being a vet, he has smelled his share of bad! At this point he seems really puzzled too. I am just hoping the meds take care of whatever it is. Meant to add would a possibility of cushings show up with the blood panel that was done or would it have to be a different test?

I sure would appreciate any thoughts, input from g-ters. Sam is hypothyroid and has been on thyrozine now for almost a year and has a good thyroid level. He has nail problems and is on the fish oil, niacinamide for that as well. Over the last two months he has less energy, and has lost 4 lbs altho he is eating his usual diet without any problem. He is always enthused to go for rides and for walks but poops out early on. He used to run and prance in the house but now just walks where he once ran. He only runs if he thinks a ride is involved. He has just had a physical with blood panel and everything is beautifully normal. The vet did comment yesterday and again today that his urine which we brought in for analysis, really smelled bad but no bacteria or crystals. He put Sam on clavimox for 10 days to see if any improvement. He has a trachea irritation which they feel is probably allergy. He eats 1 3/4 cups of Iams twice a day with a spoon of wellness canned in the am and part of a scrambled egg with a little cheese in the pm. If there is no improvement with the clavimox then the vet said might do an absorption study. Sam turns 8 in May and has been with us since Aug. 04. We are just stumped, and concerned and would really appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.