IAMs

We let Maya go to the bridge on October 30th. Since then, we've learned that her body was succumbing to an aggressive form of gastrointestinal lymphoma. In true Maya fashion, she never let us know how bad things truly were. Since we said goodbye, we've cried a lot of tears and shared a lot of stories. I keep trying to write my memories down here on GT, but I find that I can't bring myself to do it yet. I feel like it's me saying she's really gone. It'll happen in time, but not yet. However, I've looked through many pictures, and I keep coming back to these. They're from one of our walks in early September. We were about 3/4 of the way through the trail. She found a comfy spot and laid down to rest for a bit. (This was common Maya behavior... it always gave all of us a chance to stop and catch our breath.) I hope y'all enjoy four of my favorite pictures of my sweet girl, Maya. She's gone from this world... but she'll never be forgotten! Run free, sweet Maya! -Joel

Sending good thoughts your way. -Joel

I'm so sorry for you loss... not just Lulu, but Malcolm, as well. It's never easy to lose a grey (as my wife and I are experiencing now), but to lose two... I can't imagine the pain. Time will heal the wounds, and time will also bring a flood of memories. Cherish the memories as they come to you. Write them down in a journal so that you can reflect on them and smile. Know that you were a great dad for them, and they cherished their time with you. If it wasn't for you, they never would have found each other! You are in my thoughts. -Joel

I'm so very sorry for your loss. There are no words to help you heal only time will do that. -Joel

Sending positive thoughts to Molly as you near the surgery. -Joel

It's with a very heavy heart that I post this. We let our sweet girl, Maya, go to the bridge on Oct. 30th. I'll write more later as I did after Gwen's passing. Right now, it's just too hard. Run free, Sweet Maya. Run free! -Joel

I will update more later tomorrow or even this weekend. But for now, I just wanted to let y'all know that we're about to let Maya go and be with Gwennie and Aztec at the bridge. Thank you for all your support. -Joel

Thank you, everyone. I know Leigh and I are struggling quite a bit today, but Maya seems to be taking everything in stride... it's just another day. She's laying on the bed next to me... sleeping the day away like normal. Meanwhile, I'm finding that my first grade team at work is amazing. I had a substitute for yesterday while Maya went in for her exam. I called last night to put in for a substitute for today and tomorrow, and I apologized because I don't have any lesson plans available. On top of that, our report cards are to go home today, and I hadn't prepped them yet. (I was planning on doing that this morning when I went in to school.... which never happened.) My team stepped up and has prepped lesson plans for my substitute for today and tomorrow, and they're prepared to do the same for Thursday and Friday. Also, they got the report cards all set to go home. I just got off the phone with them, and I thanked them profusely Their support is amazing. I couldn't do this without them. I'll probably post again tomorrow once we hear from the surgery team and learn what's going on within Maya's intestine. Keep the warm thoughts flowing. Love to y'all! -Joel

I wanted to post an update on our sweetie, Maya. We went to Texas A&M Teaching Hospital today, and the news isn't good. They ran all kinds of tests, ranging from new blood work to another ultrasound. (They said one of their highest/best ultrasound specialists was there today, so they fit her in.) Her blood work shows that her protein levels are very low. Basically, something is stopping her from getting the nourishment from her food that she should be. That explains why she's been having such issues going to the bathroom, losing weight, etc. The vet isn't sure what the reason is. The suggestion is to do an exploratory surgery around her intestines to find out what it is that is affecting her digestive system. It's nothing hard/solid that we'd see on an x-ray. Instead, it's some soft tissue that is around her intestines. They drew some samples and are sending off to test for pythium, but those results won't be known for 2-3 weeks. Unfortunately, she may not have that long. So we'll return to A&M and Maya will be admitted for surgery on Wednesday morning at 7:30. There are three possible outcomes. 1) They are able to determine what is behind her condition and we can treat for the illness. 2) They are able to determine what is behind her condition, but we can't treat the illness, and we have to let her go. 3) They can't determine what is behind her condition and we have to let her go. The vet didn't sugarcoat anything. She said that if we do nothing, she's going to die, and quickly. She said that because Maya is still active and alert, it's a good sign. But still, we're not holding our breath. So there's the update. It's not good. Please be thinking of Maya tonight, tomorrow, and Wednesday as she goes in for surgery. The next few days are not going to be easy. Thanks to everyone in advance. -Joel

I thought I'd put this up here just to let everyone know what's going on as our next step. (You can see a past post here. It's the very thorough writeup that my wife posted a couple weeks ago). I talked to our vet last night and we've decided to go see an internist at Texas A&M. Her feeling (and mine, too) is that the internist may better be able to guide us towards our next step... whether that is a biopsy (cutting an incision and removing a small piece of the material that is near Maya's intestines), a laparoscopy (cutting a much smaller incision and using a tiny camera to view the material near the intestines), or something else that hasn't been suggested yet. I just wanted to post the update. Once we have an appointment time, we'll let y'all know what's going on. Thanks for the continued thoughts and good wishes! -Joel

The last time we did this (we do this too often by the way ) we were instructed to refrigerate if the sample would not get to the vet in under two hours. They give us a nice container with a scoop attached to it. The cap screws on tightly and I just set it on the shelf in the fridge. I also use non-latex gloves that I have in the kitchen for when I work with jalapenos or other hot peppers.

Hey everyone, Joel and I have been stalling, we've reached a point where a biopsy has been recommended for Maya and neither of us want to do that to our little girl. Below is just a synopsis of what her condition is and what we've tried so far. I guess we're just looking to hear from folks that have gone through the same thing and how the recovery was. I think we'll do it soon so she can heal while it's still too hot outside and be all set for camping season once it cools down. Previous posts on this topic can be found here http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/299770-good-poop-bad-poop-what-on-earth-was-that-poop/, here http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/299927-food-changes-have-begun/, and here http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/300775-update-on-mayas-stool-issues/. Maya's Condition: Maya has always had soft stool. When we adopted her in 2004 (18 mo) we found that Science Diet Sensitive Stomach yielded the best results (not great but acceptable) out of many other brands. Probably within the last 6 mo her stool has become worse. Usually the first poo of the day is the best with any additional poos being the consistency of chocolate milk. She is now just over 10 yrs and is quite lethargic, developing arthritis, has a dull coat, and is very skinny. We believe she is not getting the nutrition she needs out of her food and are assuming this is the cause for the previously listed conditions minus the arthritis. Steps taken so far: 1) Stool: tested for parasites and came back negative 2) Diet: We tried to change her diet and tried all of the vet options (about 5 different types) and also the Iams green bag because so many on here have had luck. None of these options yielded firmer poop. 3) Ultrasound: An ultrasound was performed and a portion of the small intestine was observed to be inflamed. 4) Urine Test: Histoplasmosis is common in this area so we tested for it as that was an easy/non-invasive test to perform. Results were negative. What's Next?: 5) Biopsy: This is the next recommended step in an attempt to diagnose the cause of the inflamed small intestine. The portion that is inflamed lies smack dab in the middle of the digestive system and a biopsy is recommended to access this area over other methods. We are stalling. This test is going to cause her a lot of pain. Maya has a low tolerance for pain and I fear a long road to recovery from the incision. Thanks for listening.......... leigh

First of all, I wanted to say thank you to everyone for your suggestions and concern for Maya as she's been going through some bathroom/stool issues. (Here's the original post.) My wife took her to the vet for an ultrasound this morning. Thankfully, they didn't have to put her under. Instead, they were able to do the ultrasound while she laid on her side. When they were ready to check another area, they were able to roll her over. What they found was a small inflamed area of her small intestine. My wife described it as a middle point right between the small and large intestines. (We searched for the exact word, but couldn't find it.) We're starting with a urine test. She's checking for evidence of histoplasmosis. If there's no evidence of histoplasmosis, I guess we'll just wait and see. My concern was cancer... which is a possibility, but it is low down on the list. Again, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone. The people on this board are great greyt. I appreciate you all!! And Maya does, too. (Just for smiles, here's one of my favorite pictures of Maya from just a few days ago.) -Joel

Maya is our 10 year old girl, and it seems like we just can't get her healthy. When we adopted Maya back in 2004, she didn't have good poops. The adoption group was feeding her Nutro Lamb and Rice, but they said that she might do better on a better diet. We started feeding a mixture of Nutro and Science Diet Sensitive Stomach, and her poops became much better. Eventually, we phased out the Nutro and were very happy. Her poops weren't knock-your-socks-off amazing, but compared to what she was having, we were very happy. Almost two years ago, when we adopted Ashe, we started doing a 50/50 blend of SDSS and Blue Basics. We also started adding Blue stews as a topper. We added the Blue because 1) we wanted a little extra nutrition for Ashe, as he was only 7 months old when we adopted him, and 2) Maya really liked the Blue. Neither Maya nor Ashe was negatively affected by the addition of the Blue. In fact, my memory is that her poops improved as we phased it in gradually. Everything was going great. Several months ago (probably 6-8 months ago, to be honest), she started having issues with her poops. Her first poop of the day was great. Her second was a bit mushy. Her third (and other poops after in the morning) were terrible... chocolate milkshake terrible (if that gives you any idea of what we're seeing). We figured that, with time, she would work through whatever was ailing her. We pulled back on the Blue and added white rice, boiled chicken, mashed potatoes, plain yogurt... of course, not all at the same time. We kept things bland as we tried to help her work through her tummy issues. They just haven't gone away. We tried Fortiflora on her food, as well as Metronidazole (250mg antibiotic twice daily). Neither of them did anything to help her out. Our vet has wondered if we could be looking at a developing food allergy, so we tried some bland prescription foods: Hills Science Diet i/d Gastrointestinal Health, Gastrointestinal Lo Fat (Innova, maybe?), and Iams Intestinal Plus. We also tried regular Iams (in the green bag) as we've read a lot of great reviews on here. Nothing works. We're dealing with the same issues as always. And poor Maya is being a trooper as we try to work through this. Add to this the fact that she's dealing with her corns (for which we use Therapaw booties) and general walking issues/joint pain issues (possible arthritis?). Our vet, whom we trust to the ends of the Earth, is torn between what we should try next. The first idea idea is to try a hypoallergenic food. Again, this would be the natural thought if we are truly dealing with a developing food allergy. The second idea is to have Maya undergo an ultrasound (most likely anesthetized) to see if there are any issues that are visible within. I'm at a loss. I know it sounds crazy, but I feel like my girl is fading away. I know she's 10. I know she's aging. But she's still spunky. She still enjoys spurts of playing outside. She still gets excited to go for ANY car ride... especially if it involves a tent and sleeping under the stars! She still gets up on the bed and plays with me when I put my hands under the covers and lift up under her paws. She's my girl... I'll do whatever I can for her. Has anyone experienced anything like this? Do you have ANY advice on which route you'd take if Maya was your pup? We're leaning towards the ultrasound. Something in my gut tells me that, after all the diet changes we've tried and the non-results that we're seeing, we're not looking at something diet related. I'll take any and all advice you can give. I thank you in advance, and so does Maya. -Joel

I'm so sorry for your loss, but I'm so happy for Murphy's gain. You gave him something that his heart longed for... love. Run free, Sweet Murphy!! -Joel

Thanks. I should have said this. We just lucked out and found our way into an all-greyhound class. -Joel

Like Krissy said above, training a solid foundation started happening right away in our house. When we adopted Maya, we enrolled in an all-greyhound training class with Mary Waugh Swindell. It was THE BEST THING we could have done! She understood greyhound physiology, and she understood dog training extremely well. Not only did she understand training, but she did a great job teaching us how to interact with Maya. All this is to say that I truly recommend getting into training classes... whether or not they're all-greyhound isn't the issue. The classes are there so that you and your dog learn how to interact. I can't recommend this enough! If I were you, I'd contact the local adoption groups and see if they can recommend a trainer or two. Okay, on to my suggestion. Maya would be in a sound sleep and, if one of us made a sudden move, she would snap awake and growl, bark, and/or snap her teeth. I'm not talking about being on the bed... I'm talking about just walking by her while she slept on her bed on the floor. I'm not sure if it was our trainer or not, but someone mentioned wadding up small balls of paper and throwing them at her while she was asleep. If she "snapped to attention" when being woken up, she'd see there wasn't any danger and quickly mellow out. We used the crumpled paper balls for a while and she'd snap awake, as expected. After a while, she stopped snapping. It was as though she was thinking, "Oh... it's just another one of those stupid balls of paper." We started sitting on the floor a few feet from her while she slept and gently throwing the balls at her. She'd wake up, look at us, and put her head back down. Over weeks, we slowly inched closer. Eventually, we were able to let our hands (and voices, giving an auditory clue) be the thing that was waking her up... and she wouldn't snap. It was a LONG process, but it worked for us. Give it a try, and hopefully it'll work for you, too. -Joel

We took Maya to the vet yesterday for a leg issue. While we were there, our vet asked how her stools have been. We told her that we're still having one good poop in the morning, and the rest go downhill from there. So... we're now going to try to see if we can figure out a better diet for her (and Ashe, too). We're starting with Hill's Prescription i/d Gastrointestinal Health dog food (as well as an anti-inflammatory for her leg). This is a starting point, but we're hoping for good results. We'll still be adding basics to her food, like boiled chicken, white rice, potatoes, and some other basics. We're keeping our fingers crossed (especially since she willingly ate it last night!!!), but we know this is the first step in a potentially LONG journey! -Joel

We bought Ashe's harness through 2 Hounds Design. It was a complete game changer! We had lots of issues with him bouncing, tugging, pulling, sprinting, etc. After putting the harness on him and clipping his leash to the front of the harness, it felt like we were in control during his walks... for the first time ever. If he started to move towards something, we simply turned the other way and he was guided to turn with us... without putting strain on his neck. Then, once he had turned, we could attempt whatever we were doing again. This continued until he learned to calmly approach a wide range of situations. Now that his walking has improved, we clip the leash to the top of the harness (above his back/shoulders) and he does well. It's like having the harness on just reminds him to behave a bit better. -Joel

Ashe loves fresh and cooked vegetables. He'll try just about any vegetable that we offer him... and sometimes some that we don't offer... -Joel

I'll have to search for elimination diet to learn about it. My wife is thinking that you go ingredient by ingredient in the food and slowly eliminate one, then the next, then the next, until you find the magic cure. Is this right? Beet pulp? I've never heard of that before. Is it literally beets? If so, I'm not sure Maya would go for it. She eats the white rice and potatoes just fine. Sweet potatoes aren't a favorite. She is definitely NOT a vegetable dog. We'll give the white rice and boiled chopped meat a try. Would you just stay with chicken as a starter? Also, for giardia, would that show up in a stool sample? Just curious if that's something that the vet would notice, or would it be glossed over while looking for parasites. I know it's not a worm parasite, but wouldn't it still show up? (Sorry I'm not more knowledgeable on this stuff.). I'll stop by the vet tomorrow to get her opinions on the panacur. Thanks everyone!! -Joel

We've tried that, too… probably three times in the past year. You can probably guess the result. Keep the ideas coming! We're willing to try anything! -Joel

Maya (our 10 year old brindle bullet) has been having TERRIBLE (can I emphasize that more?) poops for a couple months. The first one of the day is usually good... and then we go downhill from there. Her second and third poop of the day are usually runny mush. A couple weeks ago, we had some poops (pardon the analogy) that were more similar to chocolate milk than poop. Yeah... TERRIBLE!!!!! We haven't made any changes to her diet. For years, she's been on Science Diet Sensitive Stomach. When we adopted Ashe a year and a half ago, we slowly added in Blue Basics until we were at a 50/50 mix. Everything we going great. But over the last few months, it's just gotten worse and worse. So we eliminated the Blue Basics and went back to 100% SDSS, but we're still having the same types of problems. We've added white rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes... all the things that we know of that are to firm things up. We've tried probiotics, too, but nothing seems to settle her tummy down. We've taken stool samples to the vet, and the tests have come back clear... no parasites. The vet's suggestion is that we may need to go to a prescription food to see if we can firm things up. Does anyone have food suggestions, or ANYTHING else that might help us out? Thanks in advance!! -Joel

Same as those above... just checking in to see how your pup is doing. -Joel

Thanks. After reading all the comments, I'm fairly certain that it's just bruise... but I'll take a look at her legs tonight when I get home. -Joel