DofSweetPotatos

This concludes "Penis Watch 2009" You know, it even happened on an election day. I betcha you could have put your updates on the CNN ticker.

Deb, it could also be an infection in his prepuce, happened to yardman once. If he did retract it before, he may again. Poor guy Thankfully it's not too cold out, although, being colder might help it retract

Welcome, watch both GA & TBH for the up coming special events being planed. I'm sworn to secrecy, but the regular attendees know what the events that we have over the next couple of months. They are always a great time with the pups. Hope to see you their.

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Meryn, If it was Final Gift that is doing the cremation, you'll be surprised at how quickly his ashes come back. We had both Penny and Gus's within 72 hours. Also, if you get an envelope from Final Gift in the mail, open it in private. I made the mistake of opening it in a public place and turned into a mess. It's nothing bad, just very touching. Our vet charges for the final visit. They do it at the time of the visit. I hate it, but they have been burned quite a bit. I'm sure, as a steady client, if I said I can't pay now, they'd bill me.

Meryn, I cry as I read this. Tarmac leaves behind a huge void, as he made such an impression on everyone he met. I'll look to the sky tonight and see a new bright star. The heavens are richer for having him there and I am richer for having known him. In friendship and sympathy, kerri

Hey Meryn, Gus was on Gabapentin too. He became really twitchy and withdrawn while on it. I'm not sure, it could be the tramadol too, high doses of tramadol can cause personality changes, becoming withdrawn, and hallucinations. It's so hard to know, because they just can't tell us. Wishing you guys much peace. Give Tarmac scritches from us.

This is something I posted back in June. I'm not trying to scare you at all, but just letting you know, that even managed, there are scary consequences. Battle is now 13 years old and is 15 months post-unilateral tie back. He's doing wonderfully and is enjoying a normal active lifestyle, minus his free swimming in the bay.

So good to see Tarmac today. Big hugs.

QM. Run free. I'm not sure what everyone is saying. I never had a problem walking the QM. So sorry Jen.

Robin, I am so sorry. I was honored to meet Loca (and share a snuggle or two with her) I can't begin to imagine the pain you are feeling. My thoughts are with you. kerri (under Mark's name)

Battle had LP. We knew he did and thought that we could manage it, after all, he was a couple of months shy of 12 and you know, surgery can be risky. So, we ordered a portable oxygen bottle and rigged up a muzzle into a doggie sized non-rebreather mask. We thought this would be a solution while we investigated treatments. We had 1 really humid day, kept him inside in the AC. Had to go with him to an appointment. Started the car ran the AC and got it cooled down. Took Battle outside to the car (less than a minute) and started driving and noticed he was wheezing. Got to our appointment, from the car into air conditioning. (less than a minute) and his wheezing was worse. Within 5 minutes he was near a total collapse and was in distress. Thankfully the vet was only a few minutes away, by the time we got him there, his gums were dusky, and that was with oxygen on him. The vet was able to stabilize him. Needless to say the decision for a tie back was made for us. Battle underwent a unilateral tie back and came through with flying colors. We went to a surgeon who, is board certified and specializes in reconstructive surgery, he had done many tie backs and had done them on a greyhound or two. He openly shared his triumphs and tragedies of doing a tiebacks. He was honest and open with us regarding outcomes. I will say, seeing Battle in distress from his laryngeal collapse was very scary for both of us. Moreover, I'd rather not see him suffocate to death, which is what would have happened if we didn't do the surgery. Good luck with your friend. I hope their pup is ok.

Good luck to you and Harley.

Did you get a printed estimate from your vet regarding the dental? Not all vets perform the same procedures for dentals. Meaning, some vets intubate, some vets don't. Some vets use isoflurane , propofol and some use something else (the name is slipping my mind) Different anesthesias have different costs. What kind of blood work is being done? Are there x-rays? Yardman had a $220 dental done (before we knew better) he had 10 teeth removed. The vet that did that dental, did not intubate and did not remove all of the roots from his gums. he ended up with a very painful dry socket. I think overall, your best bet so that your grey is safe, is intubation and tech monitoring during the procedure. BP cuffs, EKG and pulse ox is nice, but if no one is watching it, it's not going to make a difference. A live tech watching and monitoring your pup is better than any equiptment IMHO. So, having a tech in addition to the vet doing the procedure will also raise costs, because man hours costs money. Just remember, ask for an estimate, ask how the procedure is done, and ask for a tour of the surgery suite. Your vet should be willing to do that to keep you comfortable and secure that your pup is in good hands. Good luck to you. oh, Yardman has since had other dentals done (the $600 - $1000 ones) in which they did x-rays and did remove a couple of teeth. The x-rays showed that Yardman has many roots left in his mouth where there are no teeth. Poor guy. Our vet that did the second and subsequent dentals has removed more teeth (he has 4 left) They always intubate, monitor bp, etc. It's a 1 vet 1- 2 tech procedure. They also use I think sevoflurane or isoflurane/propofol. (I can't remember) Some of what they use is reversible (IIRC). I think it's domitor?

Ok, I'm not a vet, but am speaking from experience. Yardman has dry crumbly nails and hyperkeratosis of his feet. He had a huge behavior change several years ago. We did thyroid tests, blood tests, you name it, we did it. Everything was normal for a greyhound. After exhausting everything, the vet suggested a low dose of Soloxine, temporary, just to see if it made a difference. It did! Even after supplementing with the Soloxine, his bloodwork continued to stay just about where it was prior to introducing the Soloxine. While it may seem like it's not his thyroid, it may indeed actually be. Trying a thyroid med for a short period of time may not be a bad idea. It will take a few days to a few weeks to notice a change in behavior and health, but it may happen. Just be sure to monitor bloodwork while doing this. His nails could be auto-immune related. Yes, SLO should have nail loss, however, my Yardman grows SLO nails and yet loses them only if I manage to quick one while trimming or through trauma of some sort. For nail and skin health, we started supplementing with Fish oil, Vitamin B complex and Vitamin e and CoQ10. The EFA's can help the nails and skin support healthy growth. It takes weeks to see the difference. Here's hoping your pup begins to feel better.

Rocky was in the kennel for a long time IIRC. I would try crate training him and weaning him from it, that might be easiest. Battle too was a later in life adopted one, and we dealt with somewhat of the same scenario (somewhat) Also, if you can. Try to pick up a pattern. Battle here is our "pee-er" When we brought him home i kept finding a mystery pee if I was gone for more than 6 hours, but sometimes two or three. I had to triple and quadruple clean the pee area, because who ever it was at the time would go right to the same spot, time and time again. So, what we did was set up an expen area for him (the kitchen - easy peasy clean up there) and off we went. Sure enough, it was him. We found out after 4 days of doing the same thing. Eventually, to break him of wanting to pee on his chosen spot, since he always went to the same area, we fed him on the (clean) pee spot and eventually moved him back to where the others eat. We also managed to watch a "hold" pattern for him. Eventually we determined that he has a 5 hour hold. We also found that even if we walked him 20 minutes before leaving, we would have to take him out again within 5 - 10 minutes before walking out the door. Something anxiety related, I'm sure, because if he didn't go out, we would more often than not come home to pee. Sometimes he can go for 7hours or so if we really get him empty, and that was walking pee, walk pee, walk pee walk very long pee and empty. It's a tough situation to figure out the pattern, but once you do, you can alter it. You just have to get into their mind before they decide they want to go. So like Batmom said, if you can figure out the pattern, try to subtract some time from it and get him out before that pee thought comes along. Good luck and we'll be keeping our fingers crossed for you. To help try to determine a pattern, try making a cage card. It's a simple chart hours along the top, days down the side and just note the times of pee and mark inside the house or out. Even if you're gone for 4 or 5 hours and come home to pee, just mark the paper at your time of discovery and note if it's warm or cold. (Warm means it just happened- maybe from excitement of you coming home) Just by doing that, you might see something emerge. Keep us posted.

Oh, and to reiterate DonnaDoodle, be very careful with prednisone.

Yes, Dr Roger Clemmons is a huge help! Battle was diagnosed with DM this summer. He's now using a wheelie chair and still has some use of his back end. However, his tailwag is going away. He was able to hold it up, but now it just goes out like a rudder with no motion. We did the MRI, Nerve conduction and EMG and this was the final diagnosis. There is a cocktail of meds/supplements that have helped him plateau, i think, i hope. The cocktail is liquid from West Labs in Florida. The vets I saw did not want to agree to DM either, but after looking at the results of all of the tests and his HX of LP, it was the final diagnosis. the neurologists did say that they are starting to see DM in other breeds, just not with the prominence seen in GSD's. There is a Flash Test for DM that only is for GSDs. It's a genetic test. There is a really good website for GSDs that explains the disease, it's progress and options. The website's a little odd but once you get into it, the information is there to glean. Here's a link to Jack Flash's signs of DM page. Kerri using Mark's account

Awww Missile, I would probably the keep clean / emt gel let heal on its own path. But, if any hanging skin check with the vet. Missile needs more cookies before, during and after the vet visit. And Battle recommends the below prescription. Give 3 cookies every hour that your awake, then set the alarm for the over night for every 4 hours to get 6 cookies. Soft ones would be nice, and not too big, ones that don't crumble into a million pieces. You know the good ones over their.

Lots of hugs. Speech less Chrissy.

Brian, Couldn't have said it better myself. Their is always something to do during a search.

Thank you. As you can see I'd do any thing for my little P. You can just hear her saying, " ahhh yes, now thats a better view from up here. Hay, hay, everybody look at ME ME only ME."

Be Brave Sprite!