GreytNut

January 28, 2022. He was such a good boy. Safe even with little critters like small birds. Even at the end he was sweet and snuggly. Nothing bothered him. He wasn't very bright (we laughed with him but also kinda at him...) but he had a huge heart and a happy smile. He was so grateful for a home to enjoy his senior years.

We lost Penguin to osteo.

Assuming it's legal where you are, CBD (cannabidiol) may be of significant relief. It's not only for humans. It can be used for pets. You would want to consult with your veterinarian and with the vendor regarding the type of product and dosage for your greyhound.

That sucks. The vet said she once managed to keep a dog with IMHA alive for 2 weeks at the owner's insistance. She felt that it was 2 weeks too long. It's horrifying that the immune system can just spontaneously decide to eat all of an animal's red blood cells. Poor Q went from happy to dying in no time, just like Little Girl. Penguin is hanging in there. I think it helped that he was able to be with Q at the end and wasn't left anxiously waiting for his buddy to come home. He whimpered a little today and has been extra clingy but he also enjoyed some cuddling and watching the fish aquariums. He'll be OK with time. If it had been the other way around Q would probably not fare as well.

We suddenly lost Q. He had only been home for a couple of months. He stopped eating, became listless and his skin felt hot. We were concerned enough to take him to the vet if he wasn't better by morning, but when he peed brown urine we took him to the emergency vet. His skin and the whites of his eyes had turned yellow and his gums were pale. It was something we'd never heard of called IMHA (Immune Modulated Hemolytic Anemia). His immune system had suddenly gone bonkers and was slaughtering red blood cells by the billions. His liver and kidneys were shutting down and he was so weak from anemia that he just lay down on the floor at the vet's office and didn't move even though he was getting poked like a pincushion. They had a terrible time getting a blood sample because his veins had collapsed. When we got his blood tests back the vet suggested at least one blood transfusion but probably several more, immunosuppressive drugs, antibiotics in case it was caused by a tick-borne disease, blood thinners and fluids. However the chance of survival given his poor condition was very, very slim and she didn't think that even such aggressive treatment would realistically buy him more than a day. I looked at my dog lying miserably on the floor staring off into space and made the decision to let him go. His veins had already further deteriorated and they had to resort to using his jugular to euthanize him. The only other option was a heart stick. Poor Q Bert. This is a sample of his blood on a slide, watery thin on one side and coagulated on the other. It's the result of too few living blood cells left overall, with bunches of exploded blood cells glued together in clots. As someone with an interest in herpetology and venom toxinology, I recognized it on sight. The same thing happens when blood reacts to hemotoxic venom from vipers like rattlesnakes. In this case our local rattlesnake population is still underground for winter, so it was something from inside Q. Maybe genetic, maybe an infection, maybe a response to cancer like hemangiosarcoma. We don't know. Penguin was with his brother and stood by him. He understood what happened. He knew Q was very sick and we gave him a chance to say goodbye at the end. It seemed to be of comfort to both of them to have him there. They were very close and Q was dependent on Penguin for moral support. Q was a snuggly boy who loved nothing better than to cuddle on the couch or in bed with his humans. It didn't matter how much or how little room there was. He viewed it as a game of Tetris, fitting himself into whatever configuration was necessary for maximum dog-to-human contact. He wasn't here long but we sure loved him. Both hounds were about 8 when we adopted them and we knew that's an age when things can start to go sideways (especially with cancer) but we don't regret adopting Q or Penguin. They were bounces who needed to be a package deal and deserved to be loved whether it was a few months or several years. Hopefully Penguin will be with us for a long time, with his little brother watching him from afar.

Aventurine - Ave or Ava Carnelian - Carny? Morganite - Morgan Tiger Eye - Tiger Rose Quartz - Rose Snowflake Obsidian - Snowflake Azurite - Azure Selenite - Selena Sunstone - Sunny Agate - Aggie I named a foster Jasper. He was a big red boy.

This is an old thread but it's worth bringing back up. I prefer to use slip leads for walking, specifically Mendota 1/2" slip leads with a leather stop. The stop keeps the loop from hanging loose or falling off when slack, and if they try to back out of it the slip lead will tighten as much as it needs to. I had a spook named Raven who was nicknamed "The Rubber Dog." She could pop out of even a snug martingale collar like it was nothing. She wriggled out of a 5 point Roman harness in 3 seconds flat. The only thing she could not escape was a slip lead.

Ah, more comes out. The family who surrendered them said that Penguin was not safe with children. This made me go, "Say what?! That dude is a big squishy marshmallow." The only time I have witnessed Penguin utter even a murmur of discontent was when Q stepped over him. Penguin is the boss man and he doesn't like having his subordinate stand or step over him. This is normal canine behavior. And all he did was grumble like a grumpy codger telling that darned kid to get off his lawn. It would appear that he had the audacity to complain at an 18 month old toddler crawling all over him. That's not a bad dog. In fact I think both he and Q have the makings of therapy dogs, particularly Penguin if I can get them obedience trained. He has a gentleness, serenity and a natural charisma that draws people straight to him. Q will easily learn new commands. Penguin is a little slower and I might have a harder time teaching him but I think he can learn given time and patience. Both are food motivated so that's an advantage. Got to find my clicker. They passed their initial cat tests with flying colors but I decided to wait until they'd settled in a bit and their true colors started to peek out before I introduced them to the resident cats. Last night we brought out Bailey, the elderly Russian blue who loves him some greyhounds. Dogs were muzzled at first. He sat on my lap on the couch and didn't budge when Penguin came over. Penguin gently sniffed him and then licked his head before moving on. Bailey hissed at Q when he approached. Q showed a lot more interest in the cat and Bailey had his number. He is not high prey though. He's easily distracted from the cat and seems to want to play more than eat. Still, he reached over and tried to ever-so-covertly nip Bailey just to see what kind of reaction he would get. The reaction was immediate, brutal and involved the use of claws. I think Q got the memo. I wouldn't leave him alone with a cat at this point but Q is certainly cat correctable. As for Penguin, a cat could do a tap dance on his head and he wouldn't care. This is Bailey with "his" greyhound Finn. We also found collars for them. One actually has penguins on it and guess who gets it? It may look a bit strange on him in the summer when temps top 100F but.... The other will look smashing on Q. I also thought this collar would look great but DH thought it was too busy. It is busy, but I still think it would look great on either of them.

I kinda think it was. They lost their home at the same time we lost our hounds sooooo....

Q, Lord of the Couch. Man, that thing has seen better days. The couch, I mean. The dog is most definitely fine.

They are really relaxing. It's like they've lived here forever and own the place. Penguin just plops his butt wherever he is most in the way. He has trouble understanding the concept of moving out of the way to avoid accidents, mayhem and toppling humans too. He doesn't know which direction to go so he stands there frozen like a deer in the headlights until you physically move him where he needs to be. He's ever so sweet and gentle but not the brighter of the pair. Those eyes could melt butter though. Q has become Lord of the Couch, though he only gets up on it when I invite him up with me or he sees that I am about to sit down. He no longer worries about having his babies up there as long as 1) I am present to keep him company and 2) they are where he can keep a watchful eye on them. He is the brains of the pair and you can bet that if any trouble occurs he was the instigator. He pulled a My Pillow that I dearly loved out of the laundry basket and gutted it, spraying memory foam like snowflakes all over the house. Then he sat at ground zero of the blizzard covered with the evidence of his crime and grinned with pride. He didn't even try to blame it on the cats. The SA has improved but it's not gone. Q can now handle us being home but in a different part of the house. When he thinks we've completely left the house he still bays. Once he really gets going Penguin cannot help but join in rooing and you can hear them from outer space. Hoping to get some snow zoomie pics tomorrow. The weather was inhumane for a while. With Penguin it may be more like coerced snow hops than zoomies but we'll take what we can get. He is losing weight but he's got a way to go yet before he really feels like running.

I will give it the old college try catching Q on video rounding up his babies because it's adorable. He doesn't do it... well, on cue *groan*. The very first time he did it I was asleep and DH told me what had happened. We have dead fleas. Victory! Penguin and Q both were entranced by the fish at first but quickly got used to them. Every so often something exciting happens in a tank and they tune in to watch the action. They seem to regard the fish as curiosities but don't show any signs of wanting to turn them into sushi. We have a few very aggressive and toothy specimens who would quickly dissuade them if they were unlucky enough to somehow get their noses into the tank. No one wants an Arowana or a Red Devil attached to his face.

I keep thinking of Ps and Qs too. We have fleas! Dog fleas aren't normally a thing in South Dakota. It gets way below zero in the winter and they can't survive it. My guess is that they either came from TN (where their family had moved to) with fleas or they picked them up in the greyhound hauler the group hired to retrieve them along with a group of dogs from WV. I only noticed them because I saw one dart through Penguin's white hair while petting him. Then another. That prompted a quick application of Frontline to both boys. We don't need fleas in the house, on them and the cats or on highly allergic me. I have a single flea bite on my foot and it's the size of an Eggo waffle.

They seem to be settling right in. Q's separation anxiety is improving. He also LOVES snow. Penguin shocked me in that I don't think he looks very plump in photos either. But when I saw him in person he looked a bit like a Labrador retriever with a greyhound head grafted on. It's OK. He's already losing weight. DH chases him around the yard, which is what I did with Tiny. This gets Q going and he joins in the fun playing the "Catch the Penguin" game. Penguin enjoys having so much attention but after just a few seconds he's huffing and puffing and you can almost hear him saying, "OK, that's enough, guys. Really, that's enough." Q solved a dilemma he had, which was how to join me on the couch when he can't relax without his stuffie "babies." He gets a baby, puts in on my lap for safekeeping and goes back for the other one. He plops it into my lap as well. Then he hops up and reaches over to retrieve his babies. I am flattered that he trusts me to hold his babies for him. Penguin doesn't get up on the couch. He lies close by, just chilling and watching me with those giant peepers. Not sure if he physically cannot climb up or if it's just not something he does. But he seems content just to be close.

...but you might get what you need. We recently lost Finn and Lora. The house was empty and depressing. We asked the adoption coordinator for a young single hound that could live alone. Enter Q and Penguin, 2 senior boys who were bounced when their family had kids. They are completely Super Glued together and were not to be separated. Alrighty then. DH was frustrated at first but our adoption coordinator has great instincts and they were cat safe so I said, "Sure, let's roll with it." DH's frustration turned to mush when he met them. Penguin is a huge white boy with a brindle patch on his eye and speckles on his ears. He is super fat. He doesn't gasp for breath like Tiny did when he first came home, but he's certainly fluffy. We had to postpone dog door training because the poor dude got stuck. He has enormous soulful Gable Dodge eyes and is quiet, sweet and gentle. He exudes serenity. Q is a big black lean machine with a few snowflakes. He is sweet and a bit insecure. He follows Penguin wherever he goes and has stuffed animals that he cuddles. He doesn't play with them. He just cuddles them and he can't sleep without his dollies. He has a bit of SA but it's getting better. Sometimes the boys snuggle together and it's enough to make you all squishy. They snore and fart like a couple of old men.