Zoolady

I guess it will have to be muzzle time at least when Blue goes out. Maybe the girls won't do it if he doesn't start a hole. With the feral cats I wonder if they could have hookworms and give it to the greys. We do preventatives for hooks but they are so nasty here. Last time it took two rounds of meds to get rid of them. It's been a long time though since they had them. Thank you for all your input. It is very much appreciated.

We have three greyhounds and they are fabulous. For a while thoug, Blue has been digging a hole and then eating dirt from the hole. The girls will participate but Blue is the main hole starter. We have been trying different foods to see if that helped and we also put them on Dinovite that we have for Walter (Mama was a 130 pound English mastiff and Daddy a 40 pound hound dog). Walter does not eat dirt. We have a feral cat population in the neighborhood and have seen cats and kittens in the yard. I'm wondering if they are going after places the cats may have relieved themselves in. We tried putting poop in the hold and covering but they just dig another I don't know if there is any solution to this other than muzzles but thought I would ask if anyone else deals with this or has found a way to discourage it..

I will let you all know how the appointment goes on the 19th. I'm looking forward to it knowing what's happening out there in GT land.

I also heard it depends on how many specialists there are available in your area. Here we have specialists that do oncology, orthopedics, heart, kidney and even one that all they do is eye surgery like cataracts, etc. Like Feisty49 says, Adirondacks, not so much.

Thanks tbhounds. That's encouraging. Gainesville is about 315 miles. We're north of Miami a little and Gainesville is around the top of the state. I was wondering if all have a blood tinged drool after all those extractions or does that stop by the time they go home? Is your vet one with regular hours or a 24/7 hospital?

Scott saw a former customer that was in need of his services again. She works at a local vet's office and she said many interesting things. I called the office the next day and they positively answered all my questions and they have all the fancy equipment. She was very nice, patient and really tried to help and put my fears at ease. I got to thinking about dentistry. Do I really need someone super trained? We're not doing implants, bone grafts, crowns, etc. So I decided to at least get a second opinion and Babe has an appointment on July 19. They do their dentals early in the morning so she would come home the same day. I'm not sure I'm totally comfortable with that but at least I am exploring another possibility. I did google Animal Medical Center and a lot of different vet office came up. There is one in Ft. Lauderdale but I'm not sure that's what carronstar meant.

Thank you so much everyone for your input, suggestions and advice. I feel in a better position understanding some things now. DofSweetPotatos wished us luck and I had to smile. I'm not whining but I will share what's been happening. Our washing machine had to be replaced. Shortly after that my husband had a partially detached retina that was reattached with laser surgery. A week into the healing process the retina detached in another spot, same eye. He had to have the more invasive surgery with the buckle/band put behind the eye to hold everything in place. Then Babe somehow hurt herself outside and came in with a leg wound that meant bandage changes every few days and weeks in a cone. Then both Scott and I were having stomach issues for a while. It turned out our refrigerator was over 40 degrees and although cold, not cold enough so everything was spoiling slowly. Didn't taste bad but was turned. Freezer was okay. Thankfully it was under an extended warranty so on June 2, I called. The repairman said he knew it was a thermostat sensor or mother board so he would order them and only have to make one stop. One of the parts was back ordered so that was a further delay. Eating take out and frozen foods amazingly does get tiresome. Anyhow,, he came out and "fixed" it. Well, in a day the temperature was still bad. They said they would refund the purchase price with a gift card that we were to use at the store we got the first one. So we did that and had our delivery. They will reimburse for spoiled food too. In the meantime we had all this food to throw away. Scott put stuff like pickles, olives, etc. down the disposal. We went to the store to get some food for the new refrigerator. While we were out, I had a load of wash going. There was a clog in the line and the washer vomited pieces of pickles and olives all over the garage and water backed up into the garage and into the kitchen sink and overflowed an inch of water on the floor. Thankfully our kitchen is sunken down so it didn't go all over the house. A neighbor has a big shop vac and helped clean up and clear the line with plunger and vac which took about an hour. Two days later we discovered the new refrigerator wasn't going down cold enough so they offered to send a repairman or replace. They brought another one out and the delivery guy wasn't very nice. He gave me an argument that our thermometers were wrong. He didn't want to exchange it and called his boss. He was told to exchange it. Anyhow, it took a while but this one seems to be fine with the display and thermometers finally agreeing. The box has to be under 40 and it is 34. Nice and cold. Last week our microwave overheated and smelled like hot wires. Scott took it outside to the driveway and that was the end of that microwave. When he got back inside, we looked at each other and what started as a chuckle turned into laughter, a high five and a what can you do attitude. Sigh. We were able to replace the microwave yesterday. Oh, I forgot about the part where his truck threw a timing belt, blew a gasket and is in the shop having half the engine replaced. Covered by warranty but not the rental. He's driving a van instead of his pickup and it's been almost two weeks and the truck still isn't ready. They had to order parts. So that's about it from this little section of paradise.

Blue was at the vet's for his yearly exam and rabies shot. His vet is knows our girl Babe who has the dental issue so we used Blue's appt to also discuss Babe. There are no heart issues in any of our greys that we are aware of. Babe has not had bloodwork in quite a while. I don't know when the radiology would be done but wouldn't they have to do it before just to see where all the roots are going?

Blue's appointment went well. I did what you suggested about asking for second best. She said to make sure whoever does it has had extensive dental training and is "boarded" and not just a regular vet because Babe's peridontal disease is so bad.. She had two suggestions. One is a fellow north of us who has a very large reputation and has written many books on canine dentals. I rejected him simply because of someone I know told me a long time ago about her experience with him which didn't go well. I believe she had a root canal done with a crown for her big dog and then something happened and she ended up getting either a gold or titanium tooth and something happened again. Her first bill was around $7,000 and by the time she finished it was around $10,000. Definitely too risky for our wallet. The next person she suggested was a woman that does big dentals at different facilities. Our vet told me the places the woman goes to and the closest one is where Ben had his chemo done and is also a big 24 hour hospital. She was so sweet and asked me if that would be okay and that some people can't go back. It was a loving place for Ben and the only vet he wagged his tail all the way in. They really loved on him a lot. Anyhow, she offered to call her and get the estimate for us and her schedule. Our vet also said she would talk to one of the head guys at their place and see what could be done. Here is the breakdown of the estimate. Usually they do low and high too but this is just one on the high side. Preanesthetic profile 113.21 Preanesthetic ECG IVS 80.86 Comprehensive dental with anesthetic 501.09 Included items: Catheterization/cephalic Anesthesia/inhalation/general Cardiorespiratory monitoring Initial fluid therapy Ventilator/initial/1 hour Fluid thermo support/warmer Dental radiology / full mouth Dental cleaning/routine Dental cleaning/polish Dentistry fluoride treatment Medications are not included Dental extraction single root (12) 341.04 Dental extraction double root (12) 582.60 Dental extraction triple root (4) 302.36 Dental carnasial extraction (4) 455.64 Dental extraction canine (2) 227.26 Post op antibiotic is not included Post op pain med is not included Total $2,604.06 She called me about ten minutes after we left. She was able to get a $400 discount on the estimate which was amazing and she called the other vet and left a message. She will call me Monday or Tuesday after she speaks with the other outside dentist.

Thank you all. Extremely helpful. Today we are taking in Blue for his rabies shot and heart worm yearly so will get a print out of the estimate. Maybe their prices are higher too because they are a 24/7 hospital and never close.

I've been looking in this forum and have learned I need to ask about Amicar but so far the costs I've seen are way below our estimate. Babe has very bad teeth and is at the point a dental is a must. She will lose most of her teeth and need some flaps. The blood work will be done. The vet that will be doing it has been in practice many years and has been focusing mainly on dentistry for the past three years. The vet's office is state of the art and they have a ventilator and use some kind of blanket that helps control temperature and other stuff I can't remember. I'm 100% confident in the team. They say it will take two to three hours. The estimate a couple months ago was $2,200 and he looked at her the other day and now we're up to $2,600. Her insurance does not cover dentals. The best they can do for us is a 5% discount and a year instead of six months on Care Credit. For many reasons, one giant expense after another, it's just not financially possible to spend that kind of money right now. I don't really want anyone else to do it as I'd never forgive myself if something bad happened to her. It is just so frustrating. We have four dogs and two cats completely covered by insurance so that alone is a big wallet chunk. We've done dentals before but none were this expensive. My question is, has anyone had to spend that kind of money on a dental? Do I need to adjust my perspective?

I want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and words. We can truly feel the love, support and sense of loss that everyone has when one of our pups leaves this earth. The house is so quiet even with three still here. I had to put Ben's meds away as I kept reaching for them, not to mention his dish. I believe the other three know as they are very mopey. I'm sorry to see Gunner is a new member. This is the best place to be while dealing with this monster. FawnFan: Ben was not a big tail wagger, but I can share that every time we went to the oncologist's office, Ben got out of the car and his tail started wagging and would wag inside while he greeted everyone. They all loved him and even the office people wanted to know when he was there so they could come down, give scritches, kisses and say hello.

Ben has gone to The Bridge. He wasn't a candidate for radiation because of where the tumor and organs are so that was not an option. Now that he has deteriorated so much and has trouble standing, a long car trip would be questionable. His breathing has been getting more labored which may be from the cancer in his lungs. If the panting was from pain, we could have added one more drug but we felt we would be doing it for us to keep him here, not for him. Although he has been eating, going outside is more of a challenge every time he goes. His quality of life is poor and you can tell he was putting on a brave face. So this afternoon, everybody had McDonald's quarter pounders and loved their treats. Ben was delighted. The vet saw him two weeks ago and she was amazed at how big the tumor had gotten in such a short time and there was no muscle to speak of on the leg. He went to The Bridge very peacefully late this afternoon. They had a little bit of a difficult time getting a vein due to all the vein use during chemo but did manage to get one. The vet was so gentle and did a water flush and a drug and another flush and then the pink sleep. He never even flinched. It was so good to see him finally relax on the pile of blankets and the panting finally slowed and then stopped. He was at peace. I handled it well and only shed a tear here and there which is extremely unusual for me. I guess my head and heart were in true agreement that this was absolutely the best and kindest act of love we could possibly do for him. Run free sweet Ben. I'm sure our other Bridge kids met him and some GT buddies are showing him the best spots to chase squirrels and cats. We will miss him and love him forever.

Ben is still eating but his quality of life is negligible. He struggles to get up and you can tell he is uncomfortable. It breaks our hearts to see him try so hard but having his body not cooperate and shake while just trying to potty or poop. The look in his face has changed and it's like he is asking for help. He is putting on a brave face for us but it's not fair to keep him here when we know he is suffering. The tumor is like a giant grapefruit and his body twists to the right. We are afraid if he gets out of kilter and we are not here, he would scream for hours. Also, going down steps to outside and then the yard slants down, sometimes he struggles to walk as the yard isn't flat. He will potty and just look at you panting until you call him to come in and he has to move. We will see if he stabilizes tonight. Maybe it's just a bad couple of days although we feel his time is very near.

Yaay Ace. Time to breathe again. Update on Ben: He seems to be losing muscle mass in his legs and some in his body. He is not using the leg on the side of the tumor and drags his foot going up and down the two plus one step to outside. His "good" leg sometimes shakes supporting him when he pees. Today we gave him 300 mg of Gabapentin this morning, going to 900 a day today. He had his normal three this afternoon. He vomited tonight around 6:30 all this yellowish orangeish liquid and about 30% of his breakfast. The odor was very bad and he has been passing some evil farts the past couple days which we have been attributing to all the meds. Tonight Scott is making him rice. He is laying in bed now with his head up, panting. I don't know if any meds were in the vomit. He just tried to stand up and manged although a little shakey, laid back down and a minute later let out a little scream. He had a leg in a bad position and couldn't move it. Scott helped him and he is laying comfortable now although still panting. I should probably call the vet Monday unless he gets worse. The hospital is open 24 hours a day and is five minutes from the house.