DesertFox

OMG how awful! So very sorry!

I am so sorry!

OMG I'm so sorry! Godspeed Stepper...

Thanks! ... it's been a rough couple of weeks

I had to take Sammy in today for his vaccinations, and since i was there I had the vet look at his eyes, as I've noticed a dark patch starting to grow from the corner of both his eyes and was a bit worried about it. We did corneal stain. Diagonosis is Pannus. We also did a tear test which came out OK. No ulcerations or anything else He's been started on Optimmune Ointment once a day and Prednisolone Acetate 1% drops twice a day. We're supposed to go back for a recheck in 10 days at which point they may elminate the ointment and decrease the drops to 1 time a day. Unfortunatly I got the one vet at the practice I cannot stand, so my questions were brushed off. She made it sound like once we get "into remission" things will be OK. Apparently this hasn't progressed too far, which is good, however, doesn't this require care for the rest of his life? She made it sound like we will reach a stage where nothing has to be done beyond just monitoring it. I'm a bit confused and was hoping some of you with pannus experience can give me a few tips. Thanks.

I am so sorry... Goodspeed Ember...

So sorry for your loss Godspeed Klem...

I am so sorry for your loss Godspeed Festus...

Run free sweetheart

Smiley was my first greyhound. DH and I had wanted to add another dog to our house. DH had grown up with farm mutts, and I came from a family that had hearding dogs (Border Collies, Aussie and GSD's). Somehow through some homework and long discussions we settled on a greyhound. Not a bad choice, we had ex -racehorses so why not and ex-racedog? The adoption group I work with is one that picks the dogs that suit your lifestyle and other pets in the home, they then call you and give you your choices. It's like a long term blind date. The adoption coordinator called gave me my choices but told me flat out "take Smiley, he'll be the best dog you will ever have." I took her at her word. She was right. The moment he stepped into the room on the night we picked him up, he looked me in the eye, walked up to me and leaned. I was totally smitten. He rode home in the back seat of a Camaro, and not long afterward we got a bigger truck just so he's have room to stretch out his legs. He endured car shows, car club house parties, teenage pet sitters (who did god only knows what to my house ... he never did tell), and lastly a kitten that was convinced Smiley was some long lost relative. He was my constant companion as my DH travels 4 nights a week most weeks of the year. He kept me company when I was sick, he cuddled with me on cold nights, he was the reason I got Sammy, so he's have a greyhound buddy to hang with while I was at work. I could write a hundered things about him, but mostly I've had dogs come and go in my life, I loved them all but I've never had one touch me as deeply as he did. He had a way of looking at you like he was reading your very soul. The thought of waking up tomorrow to a world without him is an unbearable thought, yet I know it is a reality I have to face. I'll miss you buddy, find some of the other new angels like Bones, Emmy, Andy, and TigerPower... have a good time. I'll see you on the flip side.

Things went downhill very quickly this afternoon. Thank you all for reading the saga. Smiley has crossed the bridge. The sunshine has left my life...

Last night he was disappointed that i took the otehr hound and the pom on a walk and he couldn't go. DH stayed with him and got him to eat an extra serving or Chicken pasta and rice. This mroning he wasn't interested in food, and didn't really act like he wanted to get up. DH got him to eat some satin balls for lunch. His hind legs are back to swelling and he doesn't want to use his left one at all. He acts very depressed. This is not a good thing.

Thanks Kristen! I'll be looking into the EVO food I've heard of it but never seen it on the shelves here. I got the recipie for Satin balls and will be giving those a try as well.

Thanks Batmom. The swelling has subsided somewhat I can see defination in his hind legs again, but they are still puffy, but I'm guessing with as swollen as they were it's ghoing to take a while. The bruising has continued up his belly but no swelling to go with it. He still has issues getting up on his own, and the unfortunate side effect of the pred. is increased water intake which means he can't go for more than 2 hours without a trip outside. Whe've had a few accidents, and I have to give him a bath tonight. Once he's up he's stable, it's like he just lacks the strength to get up. I've managed to get him to eat by boiling a chicken quarter and serving it with 2 cups of cooked pasta. He loves it. I'm adding rice to the mix now, and have gotten him to drink an Ensure (Vanilla) but he looks like an escapee from a concentration camp. DH will be taking him to the vet's tomorrow to give them an update and see where we go from here. If anyone as any idea on how to get more calories into him I'm very willing to listen. Thanks

Smiley, slept good last night. He let us help him get up and go out to do his business. He was feeling very independent he walked arund the yard a bit and even went back in the door on his own. The swelling has receded back off his belly and the leg that was swollen the worst has come down especailly in the hip and thigh areas. He didn't want to eat at 5AM so I didn't push the issue, he's never been much of a morning guy. He did eat all his breakfast at 8:30, so I'm not to worried. We got the antibiotics from the vet this morning and started him on those. The vet said we should encourage him to walk on his own. So we are getting him up every few hours whether he wants it or not. The vet is still pushing an ultrasound($500 just for the mobile unit to show up, not including diagonistic), DH and I are backing away from that. IF this is some sort of weird bacterial infection then an ultrasound won't show us anything, if this is some sort of cancer (unlikely becasue of x-ray and blood test results) then we're just going to make him comfortable until we know it's time. I feel bad because I want to do everything I can for Smiley, but the realist in me says that my vet wants to play with an ultrasound, and in the long run anything I get from it won't be useful to my current situtation. Thanks for asking about him everyone! I have some hope now.

Thank you Batmom.. I needed that... it's nice to know someone who's never met me can take a moment for some kindness. The vet called with the blood results apparently Smiley is borderline anemic which is a big change from 3 weeks ago when his red cell count was slightly higher than the norm (but still with in "acceptable" standards). No other major changes were evident. They have doubled his predizone dosage and he's going on antibiotics tomorrow morning. He's going to get a mobile ultrasound in on Monday. I give the vet some credit for caring. The office closed at 7PM he called us after 8PM. Smiley got his 8PM ice packs, then got up went and out to do his business for the night. He then walked himself to the pantry and demanded his nightly greenie a ritual that has been going on since I adopted him over 4 years ago. This is the first time in a week he's even had an interest in that. After that he walked to the baby gate wanting to go upstairs to our room. I had to burst his bubble on that one so he walked to a dog bed and waited for me to help him lay down. Greenie was enjoyed and he has settle down with his gaurd kitten for the night. He's trying, I hope it means there's a ray of hope.

The swelling is back and getting worse moving up his belly. The vet is still waiting on blood test results to compare the to a full panel including tick fever and Valley fever that was done three weeks ago when Smiley had a nasty cough (those results were pretty good), but he thinks the swelling is related to a blood autoimmune disorder, and the cough he had (it went away) the hind end lameness and the swelling are all symptoms of it and possibly something more serious. He found so suspicious white spots on the chest x-ray he took. We've been referred to a specialist he want's us to go have an ultrasound done. The bad new is that there really isn't anything good that can come of it. Currently he seems comfortable and has even walked a bit on his own. He's doing his business outside and help us get him moving, he does seem really tired DH and I have decided to wait and see the test results, but this are not looking good at the moment. So now I wonder when enough is enough, I'm not a quitter, but Smiley puts the spark on for me when I walk into the room but doesn't do much for DH. If you include the vet $$ for the cough I'm well over $1,000 in vet bills for the last 30 days and have 0 in the way of answers. Do I put him through more tests? There's only 2 ways those tests can go1) cancer or something equally bad and fatal or 2) no obivious answer which leaves me at square one. I'm getting a bit jaded by vets that love to use clinical terms so I can ask "ok so in english what does this mean and what can we do?", and the referrals to "partner specilists vets" at insert name here places (2 in 5 days). It's not really the $$ it the fact that I think they KNOW, what's going on but would rather not be the ones to say "well this is it, I'm sorry". This sucks Thank you to anyone who's read this. I think I need a hug.

For those still reading this saga thanks (it keeps me calm writing about it); I iced the legs approx. every 2 hours for 15- 20 minutes a session. By the evening, DH and I could see some improvment. His attitude was improving too. He was alert and when we took him outside for business he would try to walk on his own once outside (we didn't let him take more than a step or two). He was picky about dinner, turning his nose up at his normal food, so we boiled a chicken quarter and I served it to him bit by bit. This morning he's really awake, and I even got a tail wag for the first time in days, still a little picky about food. Setteld for more cooked hamburger and a hotdog. At this point whatever he'll eat is OK with me. I iced his legs at 5am they looked painful as I didn't get up in th middle of the ngiht to do it. Just iced them again at 8:30, they look a ton better! We'll be going to the vet shortly, but I think he just injured himself trying to walk without us rather than anything more sinister. Thanks for reading, this week has been an emotional rollercoaster for me, DH and Smiley too.

We iced his legs for @ 15 minutes, after a lot of inspection his "bad" leg is the swollen one and the hock on the good one is swollen. Until the vet opens tomorrow AM we going to treat this as an injury rather than something else. The good news, the ice helped. His hock is looking almost normal, but the skin is purple (bruised I assume). The ice also helped bring down the swelling in his other leg. We saw a little difference right after we took the ice packs off, then we went out for 2 hours and came back to the legs looking quite a bit better. He is currently being iced again. If he were a horse I'd be giving him Phenylbutazone, but I'm out of my league with a dog. I've never seen anything like this. He fianlly flinched when I was touching his bad leg just before I started the 2nd round of ice. It's the first time he's acted like he's noticed me touching that leg in since this all began, I am taking that as a good sign. The bad news is he's not really intrested in food. We wound up cooking some hamburger with a diced up slice of bacon (for added smell) and he finally ate that. I know it's probably not the best thing in the world for him, but he's lost 6 pounds in 3 weeks, so eating something is beter than eating nothing. We'll be trying boiled chicken and rice for dinner.

Oh No! Not another one You and I are in the same boat on the oppsite ends of town. Prayers for Isis.

Setback: This morning both hind legs are swollen. He seems very tired and shows little interest in anything. I got him to drink some water. H doesn't want ot use his back end at all. We're towel walking him at the moment to get him outside to pee, and then DH and I gently pick him up to lay him down, as once "standing" he can't seem to get down on his own. Somehow I have a feeling this isnt' a good sign. Not how I wanted to start 2009

So sorry

Update: The meds are working. He still has issues gettig up on his own, but once underway he seems fairly stable. Added bonus, the Pred has increased his appetite (which has NEVER been good). I think my boy is on the mend! GREYTALKERS ROCK!

Thanks for all the responses! I got maybe 2 hours of sleep last night and headed to work thinking it may be the last time i saw my best buddy. DH and I had already talked and if was the C word, amputation of a hing leg on dog pushing 11 y/o with arthritis in both hind legs wasn't a realistic idea. Happliy the x-rays were clear on both hind legs and spine The vet thinks he somehow got knocked over or bumped into something the wrong way so there's inflamation in the spine. Dumbed down for my education It means apparently he can't really feel one of his back legs at the moment. He's been put on Predisone 2x's a day for 5 days and then once a day for another 10. We were also given the number to a neurologist if he doesn't show improvement in a few days, I am somewhat amazed she didn't push a MRI Donna, Thanks for the number I'm going to give him a few days to see how things go but acupuncture is something that did cross my mind once i found out what the issue appeared to be. Jen, I'm going t look up Dr. Stack's work. while LS was not mentioned by the vet, would that be something that would show on an X-ray or do you need a MRI for that? Once again thanks everyone!

Thanks for the replies Kristen and Batmom! I've been reading up on Ranger while sitting here I'm so sorry this had to happen to him ...right now I'm scared to death, and fully expecting my worst fears to come true. For now he's sitting on one of his beds and just had a happy snack of biscuits. I'd go to the e-vet but basically the reply I got from them was "we'd be happy to see him and stabalize him until you can see your normal vet in the morning". Not much use to me as he seems pretty stable at the moment (when he's lying down anyway).