DaisyDoodle

The vet would have administered the chemo where the bandage was. Please don't wait until Monday to call the vet/a vet. Call first thing this morning. The chemo agent may have affected a clotting factor and may be causing internal bleeding. If that's the case you really can't wait 2-3 days to have it checked. I may be wrong, as I'm not a vet or physician, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Donna

Hugs to you Michelle. Would you post the pic of Bailey and the ray on the beach? I've always thought that that was such a cool pic. Give your new niece a kiss from all of us.

How is that sweet girl of yours today? ETA LOVE those piccies, BTW.

I've had my Daisy for a little over two years and she had a patch on her hip like that for about a year. We're pretty sure that it was caused by a food allergy. It wasn't bare the entire time, but what little fur was left was yellow, and I finally removed the yellow fur (she's white) w a shedding blade this time last year.

I should clarify that I don't think there is anything wrong w Dr. Couto's research. I support it, hope to be able to get a copy of the technical version of the paper, and also support Hope for Hounds. It's just that I worry that people are beginning to shy away from getting greyhounds because they fear osteo. Overuse is not an issue assuming the sire is sound. Whether he is or not, that is the question. In my opinion, the over breeding is done and lack of soundness is there, because there seems to be no criteria for pooling traits, rather going on one single dog's performance. Were I breeding greyhounds, I would be hard pressed to find a greyhound sire to breed to based on pedigree. They are all a hodge podge -- or at least the ones I've looked at. A genetic pedigree would be very interesting. Can disease be spread over the entire breed? Of course. Look what happened to Dobes and VWD. Traced to one very popular sire. This is also the danger of out crossing instead of line breeding. I believe genetic pedigress are definetely needed in the study of cancers in greyhounds. I guess my concern is that since cancer in general is often an age-related disease, that offspring and grand-offspring might be born before the sire shows any indication of cancer. Perhaps it would be interesting to examine any info available on the causes of death of the top ten sires each year for the last couple of decades and see if any of them (and perhaps their parents) may have died of cancer.

A couple of thoughts...first of all...let me say, CANCER SUCKS!!! No doubt about it. My CoCo was one who died with (but perhaps not from) a non-osteo cancer, lymphoma...along w degenerative myelopathy.... ...out of the mouth/keyboard of a semi-retired statistician...(who once worked as an epidemiologist in a cancer program) We all have to die of something (people or GHs) which is to say, from an epidemiological perspective, GHs may be more likely to die from cancer because they are much less likely than other dogs to die from something else. Eg...obesity-related diseases, non-vaccination-related diseases, getting run over by cars because they have idiot humans, being killed in a dog fight because their human is an especially cruel idiot,,, you get the picture. Being put down at an early age because their breed was over-bred and now has a genetic anamoly (think hip displasia in Rotties, degenerative myelopathy in GSDs, etc). Here's a human example (in this case compare historical time periods in humans to different dog breeds at a single time)....In the early 20th century, humans were much more likely to die at a young age of a contageous, acute disease...influenza, etc. If you took 100 people born in 1900, lots died early in life (lets say 30) of some acute illness... so there were only 70 left to died of chronic diseases like heart disease(n=30), cancer(n=30), dementia (n=10)...etc... [This is a GROSS oversimplification, but I hope it makes the point] Today, far fewer children die of these acute, contageous illnesses.. so, let's say 25 of those 30 now live to adulthood to die of something else and half die of cancer...Has the cancer rate gone up? Now 42 or 43 peopole per 100 die of cancer instead of 30. Yes, the cancer rate goes up but it's _because_ the death rate from influenza, etc. has gone down. So, it may be true that greyhounds are more prone to cancer than other breeds, but we do have to consider WHAT the other breeds are dying from. Regarding osteo in AKC dogs...the only one I know of is Vinnie (here on GT), and he died from osteo at the very tender age of 17 months. The one thing about NGA GH genealogy that has made me wonder lately is the (possible) over-use of a single sire. If one male can father 3-4000 puppies (Molotov, Fortress*) and he carries a gene for osteo, what does that do to the breed??? (Is this the same type of problem we're seeing in the other over-bred breeds, like Rotties, goldens etc??) It seems to me that the gene pool is being unnecessarily narrowed by using these few supposedly super dogs, at least some of whom were stud dogs for an especially long period of time because of a very early career-ending injury (how many were broken legs????). I'm a statistician, not a geneticist, but it is my hope that the race owner/breeders have seen the osteo data and have begun to wonder the same as I have. If this rambling rant doesn't make sense, please let me know. I'm so long-winded that I've tried to cut myself short but may have left out stuff that makes my post make sense.

I think the spots on the skin seem like they might get darker in the summer, like freckles or a suntan.

Daisy doing post-bath zoomies. I thought the devil-dog eyes were appropriate. More to follow if I actually got this right!!!!! OMG-I think it worked.

Maybe she's seen the commercials about saving the birds from the oil spill. I wouldn't use it on a dog though

Daisy had UTI and crystals and lots of itching and chewing. It was food issues. She's on prescription venison and potato (DD) diet. It's expensive but seems to agree w her.

Rather than using an OTC remedy, I would definitely contact your vet first. Your pup has a compromised immune system given the cancer and chemotherapy. This results in dogs being much more suseptable (sp??) to infections, etc. Also, if it is something contagious, your other dogs, or you yourself, could catch it, depending on what it is.

I'm a little fuzzy on the timeline here, maybe I need more coffee....But, this red spot just occurred recently, right? I think it's a coincidence, or due to the skin being exposed, rather than being due to the patch. The brand name (and the "authorized generic"--ie the same thing as the brand, but sold more cheaply) do have a well in the middle, but the well is rectangular, like the patch. Also, the entire surface has adhesive on it and the drug will seep out of the well and mix w the adhesive, so either a reaction to the adhesive or drug should have been in a larger, basically rectangular area. What can sometimes occur is that the skin under the patch is not completely clean and can develop a little colony of organisms that irritate the skin, so if it happened right around the time the patch came off, that's a possibility. My guess is that the skin got irritated from the patch removal, then was exposed to something else that took hold since the patch was removed. In reading about ringworm (which, BTW, is a fungal infection), it talks about fur coming off easily at the involved site, so that sounds like a possibility. As I am not a vet or human medical professional, please talk to your vet and find out what it could be. It would be nice if you could e-mail the pics to the vets office if they'd let you do that. One tangential (sp??) thing--when removing the patch and/or cleaning the skin after removal, folks might want to wear rubber gloves. If there is any drug left you might absorb it yourself by handling the patch or the goo that is coming off the skin. While a person's stomach will destroy the drug (which is why it's not given in pill form), the mucous membranes (nose, mouth, and eyes too) will absorb the drug if you happen to touch them, and faster than dry skin. So, at a minimum, wash up really well right after handling the patch, but don't use alcohol or other solvents because they push the drug through the skin faster.

Here's another cart manufacturer in western Massachusetts. I think some folks w GHs have used this company otherwise I don't know how I would have heard about it. http://www.eddieswheels.com/ I got to the link below from the Eddie's Wheels web site. They gave a free cart to a vet that rescued this pup. The vet's office is in Havana, FL which is not very far from OnRushPam's home. I'll check to see if Pam knows them, to see how the cart works. http://www.winteranimalhospital.com/brutus.htm FWIW, hope Alan feels better soon, DD

Feel better soon little man. DD

I am praying to all of our two- and four-legged angels for a miracle. Barring that, I hope you all have a quiet, peace-filled last day together with the most special, beautiful girl in the world. Skittle-Dittle Knick-Knack Fruitbat we are all going to miss you so very very very much, :weep Donna

Hope you're feeling better Cody. This is _not_ the way to distract your mama!! I hope you and your daddy are all better soon, DD

Thinking lots and lots of healthy puppy pink-lipstick kiss thoughts for the Fruitbat!! Hope you're feeling well soon Skittlebaby. Be a good dog for your mama, be nice to all the vets and get well soon!!

Ditto what longdogs said with a couple of more details and questions. Heat--you don't want a dog to get overheated w the patch on because heat will increase the drug delivery rate and could possibly cause an overdose. So, don't put Sophie in extra-warm pajamas or anything like that. I'd use a T shirt to keep her away from the patch and/or surgery site, but nothing heavier. Don't leave her lay out in the sun too long, etc. Watch her temp also to make sure she doesn't run a fever. Keep an eye out for lethargy and slow respiration, which are signs of overdose. If you have a really hard time waking her, call the vet. Panting, on the other hand, could be a sign of pain (not enough drug in the system for the moment) or possibly of nausea, as fentanyl can cause that as well. Since they had put the first patch on Sophie on Tuesday and it's only supposed to last three days (on humans anyway), then her system was probably pretty much out of it when they removed the old one. When it comes time to remove the last patch, I'd suggest you just leave it on until the adhesive gives up its grip. If you do want/need to remove it, use something oily; don't use alcohol as it can drive more drug into the skin if there is any drug left. Question for Longdog--which pain drug were you speaking about that can block the fentanyl? Narcan (naltrexone) is used to reverse the effects of fentanyl (and should be used immediately by a vet if an overdose is suspected, along w removeal of the patch), but otherwise my local expert can't think of any drug that can block the absorption of fentanyl.

Lucky was quite overweight after Cosmo died (Lucky used to take the uneaten gourmet food I'd offer Cos to try to keep weight on her), and so Lucky blew out her ACL about 3 months later (a complete tear). In Aug/Sept '04 it cost about $900 to redo Lucky's knee. At the time, the vet told me that there are several ways to repair the ACL, and the choice was primarily based on what the vet was familiar with. Since then, my neighbor's grand-dog had a partial tear and had it repaired before it totally let go. That dog had a shorter recovery time than Lucky (we had to leash walk Lucky for about 4 months, vs ~1m for the other dog). $4-7,000 sounds like an awful lot of money. I'd ask what technique they want to use, and why it's so much. Unless the vet wants hazard pay for working on the Fruit Bat, I don't know why it would be so high.

$400 sounds a little extreme, but markets/prices differ widely. If the procedure involves anesthesia, then the price might be a bit higher. Would the vet teach you how to do the flushing procedure, or is it an internal flushing w a tube or needle inserted in a wound? A simple bandage change shouldn't cost much more than a regular office visit. Are you going to your regular vet or to an emergency clinic? One thing you want to check is whether the bandaging is too tight. Feel the paw on the unbandaged leg to see how warm it is. Then feel the pads on the other paw; it should be around the same temperature. If it is much cooler, then the bandage is likely too tight and is cutting off the blood supply to the foot. This can result in tissue death, which can, in extreme circumstances, result in an amputation. It appears that you are in the UK, is that correct? I'm asking because by knowing where you are we can give you better advice about prices. Also, you may find that there are GT members who live nearby who can give you specific local advice about the best greyhound knowledgeable vet, etc. Donna

Oh, Jay, I'm so sorry. D

Donna

I'm so very sorry DeVon. Gentle hugs to you and your pack. Donna