phall

So sorry you are going through this. My boy, Star, has and continues to be treated for colitis/IBD. We believe it, too, started with a prolonged and severe hookworm infestation. After trying many, many over the counter foods including several that are listed above, and probiotics, none worked for Star. Unfortunately the only food he handles is prescription W/D kibble with canned I/D, with some cooked pasta and chicken. We went through a couple of years with Star on metronidazole, sulfasalazine, Pepcid, and another prescription (can't remember the name and I don't have it with me right now). Even through that, he had flare ups sometimes caused by stress and sometimes for no reason we could figure out. Fast forward to today - about 3.5 years since we brought him home and we realized his problem - Star continues to be on the same diet. He is on a maintenance dose of metronidazole and Pepcid, but does not need the other meds unless he has a flare up. He hasn't had a flare up in about a year. I tell you all this because I know it can be so hard to go through this with your greyhound. Hang in there.

My 11 year old girl, Faye, has been diagnosed with a form osteo - MLO (multilobular tumor) on her skull just above one eye. After removal of the lump, tests, scans, etc. we have decided against surgery as it would be a major surgery with removal of some bone and possibly her eye. We have also decided against radiation. The oncologist has recommended metronomic therapy and has prescribed citoxan and piroxicam medications. The possible side effects are nausea and UTI/urinary tract inflammation. Has anyone used these meds on their greyhound? If so, did your greyhound tolerate them okay? Faye is not sick or uncomfortable in any way right now and I really don't want to treat her with meds that will make her sick. I'm really torn between just letting her be for the time she has left (it could be very slow moving) or treating her with these meds. I'd love to hear the experiences of others. Thanks so much. Pat Hall

Thanks so much for your thoughts on this. I'll be talking with my behaviorist tomorrow about the next step with Star. Since his issues are definitely situational (vet buildings or brick buildings with glass doors), I want to discuss the alternative of a different short term aa drug rather than the daily sertraline. Thanks again - I appreciate the input and advice. Pat

I'm looking for experience anyone may have with using Sertraline (Zoloft) on their greyhound. Here's the background why: Last May my male greyhound, Star, was injured pretty badly with an object impaling into his side about 4 inches. He had stitches and a drain and in time he healed well physically. However, since that happened he has an extreme phobia of our vet clinic and has generalized it to all buildings that look similar to our vet building. He panics when we get anywhere near such a building. I've been working with him over the last 4-5 months to slowly desensitize Star but have not been able to make much progress. As a result, Im working with a well-regarded veterinary behaviorist. We are trying different medications on Star to see if we can find the right one for him that will allow me to be able to work with him re: desensitization/counterconditioning. We tried clonidine but that did not help and in fact made Star very restless. We discontinued that and tried him on buspirone. That didnt seem to help too much either, and then he had an interaction with the metronidazole that Star takes for his colitis, causing him to be very irritable. While on it he lunged at and actually tried to bite my husband. Because of this my husband and I are very hesitant to continue to try out more medications. Star is an edgy type of dog anyhow and it seems as though medications just increase that edginess. The biting incident really unsettled my husband and he really doesnt want anything like that to happen again. (Since we have taken him off of all medications, he is now back to his usual social self so it's apparent that the medications did affect him.) However, my veterinary behaviorist wants us to try Star on Sertraline (Zoloft). He says that he has never seen sertraline cause aggression and thinks its a mistake for us not to try it with Star. Has anyone used Sertraline on a greyhound and if so, have you ever seen that it could cause increased aggression? Im a bit torn as I saw online from Drs. Foster and Smith that sertraline can cause stomach upset (a consideration with Star's colitis issues) and even though is sometimes used to treat aggression, in some dogs it can increase aggression. I mentioned this to my vet behaviorist and he said in his experience of over 25 years he has not seen a case where sertraline increased aggression, so I'm getting conflicting reports. I have a call into my regular vet to talk this over with her as well, but wanted to see if anyone here has any experience with this. Thanks in advance. Pat Hall

Thanks, everyone, for your advice. I expect Faye will try to scratch it as it heals as she's an "ear/eye rubber" anyhow. She often paws her ears and eyes when she's laying down. I think I'll take the e-collar they give me, but cut it way back as tbhounds suggested. And I'll pick up some large non-stick band-aids to try as well. Thanks, Walliered, for offering to mail you your blow up collar. I just heard that a friend has one, so I can borrow hers. Thanks again, everyone, for your help. Pat

My 11 year old girl, Faye, will be having some surgery on Thursday to remove a small lump above one eye. She will be coming home with an e-collar. I hate those things, and Faye is a spook so this will be especialy difficult for her. Does anyone have any ideas on alternatives to the e-collar that will prevent her from scratching/rubbing the incision with her foot? As mentioned, the incision is just above one eye. Thanks for any suggestions. Pat Hall Ayer, MA

I use a Thundershirt on my girl, Joey, and it doesn't take away the anxiousness or fear, but it does take the edge off a bit - enough that I think it's worth using it. I leave it on Joey for as long as storms are predicted, but if it's hot I make sure to keep the AC on. If that's not possible I wouldn't leave it on your grey if you're not home. Good luck.

Thanks for the recommendations, Krissn333, XTRWLD, and KF_in_Georgia. My vet has done some manipulations with her head and neck on two separate visits but didn't get any response of discomfort. I will talk with her more about this when I bring Joey in tomorrow. Once I see the x-ray result, chiro visit may be in order! Thanks for letting me know it worked for you.

My girl, Joey, who will be six in August, has been limping on one front leg when she first gets up from resting/napping. Once she gets moving around, she walks it off and seems to be okay. However, over the last few months the limp has gotten progressively more severe - meaning more severe when she first gets up. But even so it still stops once she starts moving around a bit. I do notice an occasional "hitch" when she trots. She's been to the vets and we can't find any place on her leg that is sore, swollen, or causes pain. Joey has been on two weeks of Rimadyl and Tramadol, along with rest, and it had no affect what so ever. She goes in for x-rays tomorrow. Of course we're worried about osteo. But has anyone else had such symptoms with their grey? If so, what was the diagnosis?

The shy and spooky greys have always been near to my heart. I've had several over the years and each one is very different in how long it takes them to make any progress. Your description of being "shut down" is exactly what many of these dogs are when they first go home. One of mine spent the first 4 months here upstairs in the corner of the bedroom. I made her come down to go out for bathroom duties but besides that, I gave her plenty of time to adjust and learn to trust us. I'd go up and talk with her or just be near her - at first she didn't like that, but eventually began to get used to my presence. Gradually she began to venture downstairs with us. It took a long time, but she finally became comfortable with us and became a wonderful girl with us. But only with us. The rewards of working with these dogs is immense but it does take a lot of time and patience, and much love. Good luck with your new girl! P.S. a book that I recommend is Help for Your Fearful Dog by Nicole Wilde.

My vet charges a prescription fee but in certain circumstances. If one of my dogs has had a major treatment and I want to get the medications for less (Walmart), they don't charge me the prescription fee. However, if I want to get medications for regular stuff elsewhere, they do charge the fee but only $5.

My boy, Star, with colitis, has been on W/D kibble, mixed with some I/D canned, with cooked chicken and pasta added. He gets metronidazole daily. This is the only thing that works for him - after 3 1/2 years. Thankfully, he's thriving. My girl, Joey, has a very sensitive digestive system. I did not want her on W/D and/or I/D, even though she did well on it, if I could help it so talked with a veterinary nutritionist about her. The nutritionist did some research for me on foods (after completing an extensive questionnaire on Joey) and suggested I try Purina Pro Plan grain free. That has been the perfect food for her - she hasn't had a problem since and it's been almost a year. Good luck in finding what works best for your boy.

Congratulations! I'm so glad you have Mr. Spock. I would do the same as someone else mentioned - revert to baby-gating him in your bedroom for a while. One of my previous greys was like this. I let him out his crate after a month or so, and began baby-gating him in one room. He did fine so I gave him free run after a few weeks of baby gating. He didn't destroy anything but would poop/pee in the house. I went back to baby-gating in a room and he was okay. It took a number of months (3-4) before he could handle free run of the house. Good luck! Can't wait to meet him at a GA walk (once it warms up!).

I believe Greyhound Friends (in Hopkinton, MA) has some in their onsite store. You can call and ask - 508-435-5969.

Thanks, Brie. I hadn't thought of that, it's a great idea. I will do that.

Thanks for the quick responses to this. I appreciate it. XTRWLD - by severely, I mean he puts weight on it but really, really limps when he does. He doesn't hold the leg up, but as soon as he puts any weight on it he limps very markedly. He does walk it off, so it's not as severe as it could be. Saffron - yes - I've checked for injury to the paw and for a corn, and am watching closely for swelling and heat (none of which have appeared). Thanks so much for these suggestions. Star is an active boy. His mantra is why walk when you can run, but I'm really hoping he just pulled something in one of his laps around the yard and just needs some time to heal.

My boy, Star, who is almost 5, has started limping pretty severely on a front leg, but pretty much only when he first gets up and starts walking around. This happens especially if he's been active earlier in the day or evening - running in the yard, taking long walks with me, etc. Once he's been up and walking around a bit, the limp goes away. He still runs in the yard regularly at full speed, so it doesn't seem to be affecting his activity level (once he's been up and about for a little while, he is quiet when he first gets up when it's obviously bothering him.) This has been going on for about a week now. I'm trying to keep him quiet to see if that helps. If it continues much longer, we'll visit the vet. Anyone had experience with something similar? Pat

One of my first greys, years ago, did the same thing. I tried everything to get her out - nothing worked. So, since she was very good in the house with no accidents, I decided to stop forcing her and let her decide if she wanted to go out. This worked out perfectly. Over the years she was with us (she passed at age 12) she never had an accident in the house. Some nights at bedtime, she'd go out but most nights she would not, and she slept all through the night. She's the only one of the seven I've had since that was that way, but for her it worked well. Good luck.

I have Pets Best and it's been great. I have 3 greys on it and pay it in full annually so get a 7% discount. I have just accident and illness coverage, but they offer wellness coverage as well. They've been great to deal with and reimburse quickly. I pay a little more because I want a low deductible - $100. When one of mine came down with HGE last spring, she spent 3 days at the E vet. Total bill was $1800. They paid a little over $1500. (the difference was deductible and some things covered at 80%).

Jordan, I'm so so sorry to hear this. My heart goes out to you. Sara, Toby, Tally, and Chick will all welcome Dandi with love.

I use Flys Off for dogs - purchased through Amazon and it works great for my dogs. The only disadvantage is the spray bottle is small so it goes quickly. But I buy several bottles at the beginning of the summer and lightly spray my three hounds before we walk, but just once a day.

I'm so so sorry.

I'm thinking of you and Zero. Keep us posted and give him a hug from me.

My girl, Chick, had this. (In Chick's case, she had it in conjunction with a tumor she had in her chest). I did the same things as you noted, except we didn't have any luck whatsoever getting her to keep the upper half of her body up on the couch or anything to keep her upright. I tried, but she just wouldn't cooperate. So, I focused on getting her to eat her meals slowly and in an elevated feeder. If, on some days, she wasn't interested in eating her full meal, I would give her smaller meals over the course of the day. Is Plummer doing okay with the front paws on the couch? Good luck as you go through this. Pat

Kris, I hope Cinder is better tonight and that it's not anything more serious than a muscle or sprain, etc. I'll be keeping you in my thoughts. Pat