ahicks51

I seem to recall these popping noises are caused by tendons moving over hard parts; when one straightens out a limb, the tendon shifts over a bit of bone or whatever, and "snaps" into place. If they purchased from a breeder, they should probably call and see if it's characteristic of the breed. If they didn't buy from someone, they should probably check with their vet to see if it's normal for mastiffs.

If there are bad teeth, it may cause pain with eating. So, yes- bad teeth can be the cause of anorexia in dogs.

Happens all the time 'round here when the dogs "discover" the water bowl and try to fill up... and up. Helps to break their concentration if they've been drinking too long. If there's no food coming up (which could indicate the onset of megaesophagus), I wouldn't be concerned at all.

Canned pumpkin and yogurt are often suggested. If these don't work and there's no underlying medical cause, try beet pulp. It works here with our hounds, and I've sent samples to several people who have similar results. Find a feed and seed store that has beet pulp (pellet or shredded); it'll run about $10 for 50 pounds. Add ~1 tablespoon or so to each meal; folding it in with peanut butter to make it edible is strongly suggested. Works great. If you can't find any locally, drop me a line (I don't think you can send PMs yet) and I'll send you a box with just enough to try it. Good luck!

Staphylococci ("staph") are ubiquitous. They live on your skin, in your nose, and elsewhere. Because ~6 billion people and untold billions of animals are given antibiotics (in the case of animals, sometimes for no better reason than to help them grow faster), sometimes resistant strains form. Unfortunately, the place one takes a sick animal is to a place where people work with other sick animals, encouraging the spread. Of course, if someone is a carrier (in their nose, on their skin, etc.), and they work out at the gym and you then subsequently use the gym equipment, you can bring home the bacteria. Normally they do nothing. But under certain conditions involving immune problems or genetic issues (including defective genes for immunity), these bacteria may decide to colonize a host. If resistant to a variety of antibiotics, these can be difficult to treat. Perhaps the only "good" side is that many of these functions for antibiotic resistance or immunity take up energy that could otherwise be spent proliferating. Instead of treatment with systemic (oral or injectable) antibiotics, the case is being made to treat with creams and lotions that can allow a much higher concentration of the antibiotic- or to use bacteriocidal compounds which kill the bacteria directly- some advantages of treating bacteria that colonize the skin, versus internal infections.

If you don't have any VetWrap handy, get a 12-pack of kid's socks, and put one of those on. Then use some 1/4" waterproof tape about 1" down from the top, wrapping it below the dewclaw (for the front leg, anyway) or therabouts. Then fold down the edge of the sock to cover the tape, and tape it again. Not too tight- don't want to impede circulation. Change sock daily. The nice thing is that it breathes well.

Urea has been popular in recent years. I've seen some of it bagged and sold under some weird, tortuous chemical name ("Hey! That's just urea!"), and it's no different than what comes out in urine- other than that it's highly concentrated, of course.

Your buddy's degree in Street Pharmacology has expired. From: http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/P5587.htm Potassium Bromide (7758-02-3) Known carcinogen: No Anticipated as a carcinogen: No IARC category: None From: http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~russ/MSDS/potassium_bromide.html Carcinogenicity: CAS# 7758-02-3: Not listed by ACGIH, IARC, NIOSH, NTP, or OSHA. As to why it's not used in humans: From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_bromide "Medical and Veterinary The anticonvulsant properties of potassium bromide were first noted by Sir Charles Locock at a meeting of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society in 1857. Bromide can be regarded as the first effective medication for epilepsy. At the time, it was commonly thought that epilepsy was caused by masturbation. Locock noted that bromide calmed sexual excitement and thought this was responsible for his success in treating seizures. There would not be a better drug for epilepsy until phenobarbital in 1912. It was often said the British Army laced the soldiers' tea with bromide to quell sexual arousal, however this is likely to be an urban legend and similar stories were also told about a number of substances.[1] Potassium bromide is used to treat epilepsy in dogs, either as first-line treatment or in addition to phenobarbital when the seizures are not adequately controlled with phenobarbital alone. Use of bromide in cats is limited because it carries a substantial risk of causing lung inflammation (pneumonitis) in this species. Potassium bromide is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in humans to control seizures. In Germany it continues to be approved for use as an antiepileptic drug for humans, particularly children and adolescents. These indications include severe forms of generalized tonic-clonic seizures, early-childhood-related Grand-Mal-seizures, and also severe myoclonic seizures during childhood. Adults who have reacted positively to the drug during childhood/adolescence may continue treatment. KBr is sold under the brand name Dibro-Be mono® (RX-only). When used for proper indications it shows promising results. The drug has almost complete bioavailability and an extremely long half-life of 6 weeks. One tablet contains 850 mg of potassium bromide. Potassium bromide is not known to interfere with the absorption or excretion of any other anticonvulsant. The therapeutic index is very small for bromide. As with other antiepileptics, sometimes even therapeutic doses give rise to intoxication. Often indistinguishable from 'expected' side-effects, these include: * Loss of appetite, nausea/emesis, lethargy, propensity to sleep during the daytime, depression, loss of concentration and memory, confusion, headache, and * Bromism (central reactions reaching from somnolence to coma, cachexia, exicosis, loss of reflexes or pathologic reflexes, clonic seizures, tremor, ataxia, loss of neural sensitivity, paresis, papillar edema of the eyes, abnormal speech, cerebral edema, delirium, aggressiveness, psychoses) * Acne-form dermatitis and other forms of skin disease may also be seen, as well as mucous hypersecretion in the lungs. Asthma and rhinitis may worsen. Rarely, tongue disorder, aphten, bad breath, and obstipation occur." In a nutshell, because it's already been discovered (and therefore unpatentable), no drug company is willing to come forward and spend the big bucks on safety testing to market the stuff for use in humans. The concerns with respect to carcinogenicity may be either purely synthetic, or they may have been thinking about potassium bromATE, or perhaps other salts of bromine- some of which are suspected of being carcinogens.

We feed raw. This prevents buildup in the first place. Secondly, an enzymatic toothpaste such as Petrodex can make a big difference. When you buy it, throw away the brush it comes with or use it to clean your BBQ grill or whatever: it's too stiff, and too big. Buy a child's size toothbrush, as soft as they come. Use that to clean the teeth; fit it sideways (bristles pointing down) to get it in the cheek, then rotate to get the bristles against the teeth to get the molars. We combine a regular nail-trim and brushing as part of a general maintenance thing. Afterwards, there's a treat. Our fosters get the same treatment; we've been lucky not to ever have had any "screamers" that minded their feet being manipulated. It's part of being alpha: the pack will submit to grooming at any time, for any duration, to one who is alpha. Minerva is so good about it that just bringing out the nail clippers puts her in a sphinx position, ready for grooming! For a dog that otherwise won't lay down on command, that's pretty good. Tooth brushing used to be weekly; we've gotten lax. If the teeth were bad, we'd just bump that up to biweekly, or Monday-Wednesday-Friday, or (if really bad) every day. Note that really bad breath may not be a function of calculus or other readily reparable oral hygiene issues so much as infections (oral and nasal).

You might ask Dr. Suzanne Stack, over in Yuma, if there's any prepared wisdom she can impart. I also seem to recall an email list for problems specific to greyhounds; if a query is placed on the list, the collective wisdom can be composed and prepared for publication (web or hard copy). I'll offer up my own skills as an editor and writer to compile any such information. I can put it on the web, or I can prepare a document. I just need to have the right bits to, er, write! Offhand, does anyone have the most recent edition of "Care...Racing Greyhound" and, if so, what does that fine text have to say?

Old myth about strychnine, back from the days when people moved their VWs out from under hippie pads for fear of flightless hippies jumping out of windows. Strychnine is not found in ergot. Strychnine comes primarily from seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica. From Alexander Shulgin, PhD in pharmacology: "But [ergot and LSD] come from totally unrelated plants; there has never been a report of strychnine and an ergot alkaloid co-existing in a single species." Hopefully there is a sample of vomitus available for analysis by a lab; it's a straightforward test, at which point the police can be involved as an intentional poisoning should be taken very seriously.

Sure sounds like strychnine poisoning. From Wikipedia: "Strychnine poisoning in animals Strychnine poisoning in animals occurs usually from ingestion of baits designed for use against rodents (especially gophers and moles) and coyotes. Rodent baits are commonly available over-the-counter, but coyote baits are illegal in the United States. However, since 1990 in the United States most baits containing strychnine have been replaced with zinc phosphide baits.[3] The most common domestic animal to be affected is the dog, either through accidental ingestion or intentional poisoning. An approximate lethal dose for a dog is 0.75 mg per kg body weight.[4] For a 0.3% strychnine bait, five grams of bait could be enough to kill a 20 kilogram dog. The onset of symptoms is 10 to 120 minutes after ingestion.[4] Symptoms include seizures, a "sawhorse" stance, and opisthotonus (rigid extension of all four limbs). Death is usually secondary to respiratory paralysis. Treatment is by detoxification using activated charcoal, pentobarbital for the symptoms, and artificial respiration for apnea." Here's the Merck Veterinary page on the subject: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.js...m/bc/213700.htm What part of the country are you in?

Coco gets some white blobs on his eyes now and again; they change position over time. The vet says they're cholesterol deposits, and that it is unrelated to diet. Originally we tried thyroid meds, but that didn't do anything for the eyes. I *think* they are more prevalent when I use more beef heart than poultry; I've not taken a scientific approach to determining this, but it would argue that there IS a dietary aspect as beef has ~2x the amount of cholesterol as poultry.

No coughing with exertion, right? You might consider taking a slightly more scientific approach, and measuring the pulse at set periods after the walk, and see how his recovery rate improves over time. For example, measure it one minute after you get him home and inside, then in another 5 minutes. Chart it, and see if it improves over time as his stamina improves. Although it's not normally difficult to find the pulse on a greyhound, it's *really* tough to miss the femoral artery (about the size of a pencil!) down inside the groin. I can post some images if it'll be helpful. Just time it for 15 or 30 seconds, quadruple or double it (respectively) to get the rate per minute, and write it down. Repeat in 5 minutes. Use for comparison!

Von Hanson's has 40# cases of chicken necks for $18. Von Hanson's Meats & Spirits 2390 N Alma School Rd Chandler, AZ 85224 (480) 917-2525 Much less expensive than turkey necks (which they also have), and the bones are much smaller. They're also fattier, so feel free to discard some of the excess skin to cut that back. While it is true that the chicken necks don't allow for quite so much chewing as turkey necks, it is important to note that removing carbohydrate-rich kibble from the diet and replacing it with RMB will greatly reduce the amount of tartar formed. Dogs don't have the teeth, the gut, or the biochemistry that requires lots of vegetable matter- which is one reason many perform so poorly on corn, wheat, rice, and other inexpensive vegetable fillers. There is no dietary requirement for carbohydrates in the canine, and the large quantities provided in many brands of kibble may not be good for them. In greyhounds, this works out to poorly formed stool and rotten mouths. So- while not as good as turkey (too much chicken can be bad- same as overdoing any component of feed), the chicken necks will get the job done. Also note Von Hanson's has 60# cases of beef heart at $.99/pound. If you just want to try a few chunks to see if they like it, let me know!

Don't expect to get your hounds' nails as short as "normal" dogs, either. So long as there's space between the nail and the floor when they're standing, things are good. But seriously- the quick should be far enough back that a quick "shave" with the clippers won't hurt. Take off the end 1mm or so, and you're good. The white ring in the center will indicate the proximity to the quick.

If you're worried about hurting them with the clippers, then just shave off the very tip. It'll get them used to you handling their feet, and if you reward them afterwards, they quickly learn to associate their manicure with a treat. Once both you and the hounds are comfortable with the procedure, you can take bigger steps towards keeping their nails in line. Some would quibble the above diagram isn't much like that for greyhounds (the angle at which the nail is cut for "normal" dogs seems very shallow in comparison to what greyhounds seem to do better with), but it's a good start.

Didn't want to hijack the thread about Noza. One of the recommended emergency treatments for stroke and heart attack is to take an aspirin as soon as the symptoms are apparent. Provided one can recognize this in a dog, is it recommended for canines as well? If so, what dose?

Is there anything visible when you open the mouth and examine the tongue and throat?

Almost forgot- the one thing our hounds will lick the bowl clean for is beef blood, and there's always plenty of that with beef heart. If raw food doesn't churn your stomach, a mix of your supplement + blood would work quite well.

Fold into peanut butter. Put in Kong, or just smear on the side of the bowl with a meal.

I've been wondering about that myself. Coco has perfect teeth, but the four front, middle, bottom all have that appearance. Doesn't seem to suffer for it, and the vet never said anything about it. Hopefully someone here knows the relevance, and whether it causes any pain or discomfort.

How was the ALP? Any other blood values out of whack? Any chance he was run particularly hard the day or so before the test? That can put ALT out of whack, too.

Also on the dehydration- what was the determining factor? Greyhounds have a hematocrit that is substantially higher than that of other dogs. In humans, an elevated hematocrit can imply dehydration- less fluid in the blood = higher red cell count, indicating dehydration (or, for extreme athletes, blood doping). The "dehydration" could be normal.

Conditional approval for Merial's canine melanoma vaccine. This is a therapeutic vaccine, not prevention- which means if your dog had or has melanoma, this vaccine is for them.