ahicks51

Seen it before- even 8 hours or so after a meal. It's weird, but they never seemed sick at the time, nor did they fall ill later.

Naw. Lived through it, AND found it fascinating. With humans, the autoimmune assault is probably due to structural mimicry; several of the proteins put off by the causative organism have a tiny little amino acid sequence that looks just like the same amino acid sequence of the body's collagen. Once the body is sensitized to the bacterial proteins, it attacks them- along with the collagen, which- to the antibodies- looks just the same. The collagen of the intestines becomes ulcerated and "leaky," causing IBD; if the collagen of the spine is involved, it results in ankylosing spondylitis; if the collagen of the joints is involved, it becomes arthritis. (With rheumatoid arthritis, it's probably Proteus mirabilis, a fairly common critter that causes urinary tract infections. With IBD and AS, it's probably Klebsiella pneumoniae, which lives harmlessly in the gut- but causes disease if it gets into the lungs, or into the bloodstream. The trick is to get the bacteria to knock it off. With klebsiella, the answer is to stop consuming starch, as the causative proteins are involved in starch digestion. The veterinary ramifications of these human problems are uncertain, as I have been assured by the best veterinary gastroenterologists that- except for one breed- dogs do not get Crohn's. Whether other forms of IBD are caused by this particular sensitization is beyond me.

That's fantastic news. Out of curiosity, is she on any steroids to reduce swelling and potential compression of the spine, or are those not necessary?

*rummage* *rummage* Hmmm. Corticosteroid-induced myopathy. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/313842-overview More frequent with fluorinated corticosteroids than the non-fluorinated ones (the latter containing prednisone), but it can still happen. I wonder if it also happens with dogs.

Foxtails?

Yeah; from the description provided, it's what happens after acute exertion, resulting in "blood" (actually digested blood products) being removed by the kidneys. It should be immediately apparent upon urination, and it's an acute thing that follows exertion.

Do you have access to the urine dipstick tests? They run about $28 for a bottle of 100 on eBay or whatever, and cover about 10 different factors- including specific gravity. They're the same test your vet uses, although they may use a machine to read them rather than eyeballing them.

There could also be something embedded in the roof of the mouth. A longshot, and a tough one to check if he won't let you take a close look at the teeth, but something else on the list of things to do.

The exoskeleton of most (all?) starfish is comprised of calcium carbonate- limestone. That alone should be safe. I can't think of anything off the top of my head that could otherwise be a problem.

When the time remaining on that first video is between :20 and :10, you can see how he's compensating for that left rear leg by the tail swinging to the left, but barely to the right, with each stride. It deviates from the midline much more to the left than to the right. Does he prefer sleeping on one side over the other? Is there a chance he's just lying on one side for so long that one leg or the other is going to sleep?

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a good way to knock back a number of pests; I've never worked with the ones specific to flies, so I can't speak intelligently to them other than to say- give it a whirl, but following the instructions to the letter is likely to be very important. Moreover, many of these guys do best when there are high numbers of pests to control. We have these huge Chilean hybrid mesquite trees in the yard, and when spring comes, along with the flowers arrive huge numbers of flies. It's irritating as all get-out, but last year I got one of those add-water-and-wait flytraps. I was astounded at the mass of flies the thing caught.

His opinion seems to be that of the company in their literature: http://www.nutramaxlabs.com/products/anima...namarin_faq.asp Are other brands the equivalent to Denamarin? While other S-Adenosylmethionine and silybin products for humans are available individually in health food stores and over-the-counter in pharmacies, there can be a significant variance in product quality and tablet strengths. Denamarin’s active ingredients individually have been shown to be safe and effective for both dogs and cats in published research studies and have been combined in a single easy-to-administer tablet. Denamarin also contains a specific silybin shown to provide better bioavailability in dogs compared to the standardized milk thistle commonly available in health food stores and over-the-counter in pharmacies. Since one of the actives in Denamarin is SAMe and that is made from methionine, should I give my pet methionine? Administration of methionine is not recommended. Providing high levels of methionine to pets with liver compromise may not increase the production of natural SAMe and has been shown in some cases to increase liver damage. I'm just not that familiar with the product; is it prescription-only, or...?

I tried it twice; cost me $200, and there was no perceptible difference. However, I believe it does work for many people and animals. Just not me under those circumstances.

Single studies may be interesting, but they rarely "count" as evidence. Normally one waits until a bunch of studies come through, and then someone does a study on THOSE studies (a meta-study) to see what a bunch of smart people have to say about it. The reviews on glucosamine are generally positive.

Gift card, and/or donation to the charity of her choice. Sounds like a responsible, determined person.

I'm not even sure they *sleep*. I mean, yeah- a lot of the time they're lying there with their eyes closed, but if I get up- zoom! They're awake, expecting food. But if Minerva is *sleeping*, I can give her a shove- and the eyes don't even open. Total down-time (quality carpet time or bed-time) is probably 22-1/2 hours a day.

Aside from the bandage on his leg, he looks great. I'm glad the combination of diet and medication has stuck some weight on him!

You wouldn't think there'd be skeeters in Phoenix, but the same way they screwed up the relatively allergy-free environment by bringing in all the plants that spread pollen, the greened-up pools are now breeding grounds for skeeters. In the woods, you may be fairly safe; they're probably living on critters that are not reservoirs for the parasite. It's when they start feeding on infected dogs and cats that the problem begins. Of course, if the hills are alive with feral cats, then- back to square one.

Note that a vet without board certification should know their limitations, and defer to someone with greater training and experience if needs be. We took Minerva in to another vet for a second opinion about a lower canine extraction after she chipped it, and the vet asked her coworker if she'd be willing to do it. She suggested taking Minerva to another vet- a dental specialist, one whose reputation I already knew very well- as the root of that tooth is so big, and greyhound jaws apparently so fragile. Tricky stuff = board certification. If you have the money = board certification. Routine stuff or matters for which the financial outlay is otherwise too great = whatever DVM with which you are comfortable, based on experience, reputation, and facilities at hand.

Do you have cause to believe that your dogs were exposed to another dog with bordetella?

Which vet? If it gets stranger and they're not too familiar with greyhounds, take him to Yocham in Phoenix. No appointments, just walk-ins. (And howdy from Chandler/Gilbert Roads, BTW!)

Research papers, in my experience, are glib at best when it comes to unintended consequences of the proposed treatment venue. Hopefully the pup will do okay.

I'm pretty sure antifreeze is ethylene glycol. Poly-ethylene glycol is not toxic and is actually used in foods as a softening agent--like cookies that remain soft in the package. That's exactly it. Ethylene glycol is very different chemically from its polymer, polyethylene glycol. Ethylene is an explosive gas. Polymerized, it makes a nice milk jug (polyethylene). Properties change radically with polymerization.

Provided they can find a doctor that is willing to administer it, go for it.

You can check through PubMed. A cursory search shows there are good data to support osteoarthritis is improved with glucosamine- but rheumatoid arthritis, not so much. Which makes sense, as RA is an autoimmune disorder, while OA seems to be mechanical in origin.