GreytNut

I use a small dog biscuit with the end dipped in cream cheese. Press the pill into the divet on the end. Yum! Down it goes. No messy fingers, either. This is for a small pill, of course. Larger pills generally get wrapped in cheese slices or hot dogs. In our house, all you have to do is say "Medicine" and two greyhounds come running at full tilt.

As you probably know, Millicent lost her battle with lung cancer yesterday evening at the young age of 50. She had so much living left to do, but her poor body just couldn't take it anymore. While I never met Millicent face-to-face, I was fortunate to have been able to briefly call her a friend. When DH and I were casting about helplessly for places to move, she suggested her town of Hendersonville, NC and gave us a wealth of information on the place. She let us know that if we came out there, we would already have friends and possibly jobs waiting for us. She had a list of pet-friendly rentals that would allow us to keep our greys. While we didn't end up there, I did remember her kindness. When I heard that she was ill and afraid, I wanted to give that kindness back. We became friends through phone and e-mail, and I sorely regret not having been able to visit her or to provide more support. Surely a visit and a hug would have meant a lot more to her than a bunch of care packages haphazardly cobbled together with whatever I could come up with. Too late, too late. This was a lady who truly loved animals and gave till it hurt. She extended that kindness to people, event those she didn't know. I've never understood why people like that are prematurely yanked away from the world, when the world so desperately needs them.... Yet I'm relieved for her. She was in constant, unrelenting pain. Those last few months were very hard. As lovely as a sudden miracle would have been, it was not to be and it was time for her to shed that pain-wracked shell. So how did Millicent touch your life, in whatever ways, however small? Did she perhaps help one of your greys? She touched so, so many lives in her brief time here, and it's amazing how many people who never met her in person loved her so much.... Please share!

Another indispensable book for new greyhound owners is "Adopting the Retired Racing Greyhound" by Cynthia Branigan. You can find it at Amazon.com. My greys would argue that the single most important item for a greyhound is a soft, fluffy, cushy bed. The bigger, softer and snugglier, the better. Argus had never been in a home before, but 10 minutes after he walked through the front door he discovered his bed. He settled into it with a big happy sigh and was out like a light. Welcome to the wonderful world of greyhounds!

Though she didn't get to stay with you long, I bet Casino packed a lot of enjoyment into those four happy months. Thank you for giving her a home.

Oh, no! I didn't know Pretty had osteo. I'm sorry you lost her, but glad you had the privilege of knowing her.

The vet I had back in California definitely overcharged. I shopped around a little and found that he charged DOUBLE for many procedures when compared to other local veterinarians. I took my dogs to him anyway because he was the only vet in the area who was experienced with greyhounds and whom I trusted with their care. I gritted my teeth, paid the exorbitant charges and just told myself, "Well, at least he knows what he's doing." Haven't taken any of my pets to the vet here yet. I suspect it'll be a lot cheaper... especially if I end up getting hired by a clinic I've applied at and can get treatments and medicines for my animals at cost.

My boy Argus is one of his 9,191 babies. They look so much alike it's eerie. Very sad to hear of his passing.

I feel your pain. I too am what is referred to as a "gamer widow." Currently experiencing withdrawal tremors. Must... have... GreyTalk....

I'd need two votes too: One fawn One black

A year ago I lost my heart kitty. Sapphire was born under a trailer and my grandma saved the litter from being drowned by the mama cat’s owner, who didn’t want kittens but couldn’t be bothered to spay her. All the kittens were running around playing except for one tiny female, who cowered in the basket and was afraid to come out. I said, “I want that one!” That was when I was seven years old. I called her Sapphire because she was born with amazingly blue eyes. Of course, the minute she started answering to it her eyes began to turn yellow, so she was just “Sapphy.” We grew up together. She followed me everywhere and yowled when she was locked out of my bedroom (my parents wouldn’t let her sleep with me because of the fleas). When I turned 18 and moved out on my own, she came with me. My roomie said she had never seen a cat and a human so attached to each other. She thought it was pretty weird. Advantage came out, fleas were banished, and for the first time Sapphy finally got to sleep in the bed. She purred nonstop, even in her sleep. When DH moved in, she peed on his pillow just to let him know who really “owned” me. Eventually, once she realized she wasn’t being replaced, she relented and decided she liked him after all. We shared a symbiotic brain. I always understood what she was saying. She was part-Siamese and very vocal, and she had a vast repertoire of meows, chirps, squeaks, murps, purrs, howls and yowls. She might as well have been speaking English to me. I know she understood what I said to her. She would pat my arm when she wanted attention. She insisted on grooming my eyebrows. She would capture bugs, then hold them with her paw and cry for me to dispatch them for her because she never quite got the knack of hunting. She liked to share popcorn. Whenever I popped a bag, she sat patiently at my feet, waiting for her share. I called it Sapphy’s Popcorn Tax. She was always vibrantly healthy and never got sick. At 19 years old, her fur was still sleek and glossy and she showed no signs of slowing down. When she was almost 21, she suddenly started having accidents everywhere and losing weight. She drank mass quantities of water. The vet diagnosed her with kidney failure. I went deeply into debt trying to make her better. Every week she went back to the vet for more tests to monitor her progress, and I learned how to give her subcutaneous fluids twice a day. She seemed to understand that I was doing it for her own good, and she never fought. She would stand still and let me put this huge 18-gauge needle into her without so much as a peep, if only I would pet her while the fluids went in. Then one day I came home and there was vomit everywhere. I found Sapphy lying in a puddle of her own urine. She woke up and realized that she was covered in pee. She was mortified and made the most pitiful howl I ever heard. I bathed her, and she was skin and bones. There was nothing left of her. The next day I took her to the vet. It was the hardest thing in the world. I wasn’t sure I was making the right decision until all of a sudden I realized that she was purring and kneading my shoulder. She never, ever purred at the vet’s office. She knew what was going on, and was cool with it. Usually I had to pry her off me to get her on the exam table. Not this time. She jumped onto the table and sat down. She looked the vet right in the eye and waited, and he didn’t even have to restrain her to administer the shot. She purred right to the end. I still feel like I’m missing part of myself. Still can’t make a bag of popcorn without instinctively dropping a few pieces, even though she’s not there to eat them up. Still feel her tucked under my chin at night. I love my greys and my Oriental kitties, but it’s not the same. We can’t read each other’s minds. My heart is still broken. Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to do her justice.

Trauma Life, by Young Living. It's very expensive (like $46 a bottle!) but supposedly works like magic. You rub a couple drops between your hands, then massage their ears with it and rub the leftover oil off along their spine. I just ordered a bottle and it smells wonderful. Haven't had a chance to use it on Argus yet, so will have to post once we've had a t-storm. Linky: Young Living Essential Oils

I think that is a lovely idea. A beautiful living garden that you can enjoy is a wonderful tribute. When my Sapphire kitty, whom I grew up with, died last August at the age of 20 I did have her cremated and got her ashes back in a little cedar box. But every time I look at the box I think of her last days, and her sickness, and how hard it was to make the decision to put her to sleep, which leads to wondering if I made the right decision.... I'll probably bury the box, or scatter the ashes, or put it away somewhere because it makes me sad. When we get to our new house, I think we'll plant a little garden for her much like yours, and maybe have her portrait done from a picture taken in happier days. It might also help bring closure for you to have a little memorial service. Light some candles, set out a picture of Shazam and maybe a favorite toy or blanket, and tell her how much you love her and say goodbye to her. That will give you a chance to say to her now what you weren't able to then. Your flower garden will be a great comfort for you and a place where you can celebrate and remember her life, not her death. Those ashes are not your Shazam. She is in your heart.

We feed both dogs 2 cups of Canidae per feeding, twice a day. Argus is 80 lbs and Raven is only 65, but we feed them the same amount because Raven loses weight so easily. We add a teaspoon of parsley to morning and evening meals, and a dollop of plain nonfat yogurt and a little low-sodium vegetable juice to the evening meal. Both greys were a mess when they came to us, and their coats and general conditions have vastly improved since we put them on the Canidae. The yogurt helps reduce gaseous emissions, and the parsley seems to cut down on the grass eating/puking habit.

Our greys very rarely bark--something has to really work them up. Argus will bark if a stranger comes up to the house and he doesn't like the look of them. Raven will sometimes bark when playing, but mostly she is silent... except for the occasional burp.