Good Thoughts For Riley

[ShantisMom]

Well I guess it is good to know what it is and how to deal with it. LP. Don't know much on that. But I do know you can thank Riley for AC! We will think good thought for Riley. Some day we will get back out there and play with your handsome boys again!

[RileysLegacy]

I wanted to ask those of you familiar with LP a question that I forgot to ask the vet. Riley and I usually have a little "singing" session at some point in the day. I sing to him and he joins in with rooing/barking. Not longer than a minute or two. Should I stop doing this? His favorite song is Happy Birthday, btw. The neighbors are probably wondering how we can have a birthday at our house every day

 

Jenny, please come visit us soon!! There is so much to catch up on!!

[DofSweetPotatos]

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.

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.

Edited September 11, 2009 by DofSweetPotatos

[krissn333]

Lucy I'm not sure about the singing. Sutra roos & barks for his cookies when I leave the house for the day, or when he wants something from me. He also barks when I get home His bark is not any different than it always has been, so, I would say (and this is my totally un-professional opinion) that as long as he doesn't sound like he's "losing his voice" it's probably okay

[krissn333]

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.

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.

 

See, THAT is what scares me about this whole thing...not knowing if the case will STAY mild or if all of a sudden it will take a turn for the worse. I never want to see that happen. Hearing stories similar to Battle's almost make me want to opt for surgery right away, but then I'd be a worried mess AFTER the surgery-worried he'd get AP And God forbid something happens when I'm not home (DBF would have no idea what to do other than to call me) or worse, when no one is home

[HJsM]

HJsMom - how much zantac?

 

Sorry....just catching up with this thread...I just give one regular pill during the times when he seems to be a little more distressed (warmer more humid days).

 

How we manage it...hmmmmmmm...great question 'cause this whole thread has caused me to think hard on this.

 

I've been avoiding going the surgery path. I probably WILL NOT be able to avoid it after this year. I term it "mild" but this summer HAS been hard on Howie. There were a couple of days where his wheezing might have bumped him up to the SERIOUS category rather than the mild. We had 105 degree days PLUS humidity here and even yard turn outs were hard for him.

 

Meanwhile, I keep the boy COOL. I live in the air-conditioned capital of the world so there is a window unit in every room in my house. I have beds situated at the COOLEST spots and I keep lots of cold water out. That is the main thing - to keep him as COOL as possible.

 

The problem is that Howie is like Riley: he loves his walks, his car rides, his play time in the yard and at the park...we've REALLY REALLY had to cut back on all this ..I'm not liking it for his sake but that is the price we pay for aging pets.

 

The good news is that when he IS kept cool and calm, you wouldn't even know he has any problems. The Zantacs DO help (for whatever reason that may be) and THANK GOODNESS we are coming up on October when we will go back to 73 degree days.

 

Again, I will have to deal with it next year, but that'll give me time to save up money and choose the best vet/surgeon to do the surgery.

[Sorcha]

I give Howie a Prilosec or a Zantac (really any of those are ok) and that HELPS him when his mild LP is bothering him.

 

Worth a try for now. Can't hurt, might help until you figure out next steps.

 

Yes thank you Lynn, that's very helpful. I was going to PM you to ask what you do to manage Howie's problem. What dosage of Prilosec do you give him? Just one pill? (I take that for a stomach problem that I have).

 

At this point I'd assume Sutra's case is mild, but my worst nightmare would be to find out he's having a hard time breathing and would need to be rushed to the evet.

 

He's not an overly active dog...he's 11. We take walks on occasion, but most of the time he just wants to wander around the back yard. He does run with Ace sometimes, and plays bitey-face with Skimmie in the house.

 

Lucy I'll be interested to see if the a/c makes an impact on Riley's breathing. As I said before, the house was about 77 degrees and Sutra was doing the hard breathing all the time. I turned the air back on so it's about 73 degrees and the heavy breathing has decreased - such a relief! He didn't seem bothered by it at all, but, it had me worried!

 

I'm at work right now so I just called DBF to ask him to write down any periods of heavy breathing (and what he was doing when it started) and note any times he makes that noise. I'm looking for patterns so I can help avoid situations that will cause him to flare up.

 

Regarding the air conditioning, my greyhound has LP and keeping her cool makes a world of difference. I also have a box fan that is pointed right at her dog bed.

[krissn333]

Sutra went to the vet yesterday and we talked about LP. At this point we feel any open mouth breathing he does is minimal, especially since I turned the a/c back on. He played in the yard today and panted like a normal dog (the rest of the pups were panting too). And he hasn't made that horky noise but once since we started talking about LP

 

I did ask though, IF Sutra's case ever gets to the point where he'd need surgery, if my vet does the surgery or if he'd prefer to refer us. He said he'd prefer to refer us to a vet across town who specifically specializes in SURGERY, and he's referred 4 LP cases there in the last year or so...all have had good outcomes ...so that's encouraging. I told him everything we'd talked about here and about what to do if he happens to have an attack. I have pred and I have some Acepromazine if I should ever need it. I also have some Xanax. I hope I never need to use them, but, it feels good to know that we have what we would need if he should ever have a bad attack.

 

Bad news is, his bloodwork showed that his pancreatitis may be flaring again So he's on a 2 week course of Clavamox to try to head it off before it starts really showing in his day to day life. I didn't want to just "wait and see" because by the time I'd see actual symptoms, he'd be sick and I'd rather avoid that.

 

Anyone else see the vet?

[Guest TBSFlame]

This is what Tessie died of. It was so scary to see her unable to breathe. She was foaming at the mouth and the rush to the e-vet was the longest ride I have ever taken. She had had several bad spells before this event. They had to put her under and tube her with oxygen. They could never get her oxygen levels in her blood up. She was fine and happy to see us when we came home to unable to breath the next moment. She was also bleeding. Something else may have been going on. She was so afraid of vets that is why we didn't do the surgery. I am not telling you this to scare you but to prepare you if it gets bad. I still see her looking at me with the fear in her eyes. If I had it to do over when it started to get worse I would do the tie-back. We managed Tessie fine for a couple of years. She was almost 13.

[RileysLegacy]

This is what Tessie died of. It was so scary to see her unable to breathe. She was foaming at the mouth and the rush to the e-vet was the longest ride I have ever taken. She had had several bad spells before this event. They had to put her under and tube her with oxygen. They could never get her oxygen levels in her blood up. She was fine and happy to see us when we came home to unable to breath the next moment. She was also bleeding. Something else may have been going on. She was so afraid of vets that is why we didn't do the surgery. I am not telling you this to scare you but to prepare you if it gets bad. I still see her looking at me with the fear in her eyes. If I had it to do over when it started to get worse I would do the tie-back. We managed Tessie fine for a couple of years. She was almost 13.

omg, this is so scary. I'm so sorry about Tessie. Thank you for posting her story. This, along with DofSweetPotatos' story, is making me re-think surgery. I dont think Ry's case is that severe yet, but I also don't want to take any chances. I want to do what is best for him, but I don't know what that is... this really sucks.

[RileysLegacy]

Does anyone else have thoughts on when the surgery should be done? Like how severe should the symptoms be?

 

I am sure it's b/c we now know what it is, but Riley seems to be panting so hard, all the time. Last night we went out for a walk after dark, only about 1/2 mile and slow, and he was scaring us. I put a wet towel under his belly and armpits when we got home, and then draped it around his neck and that seemed to help. But it couldn't have been more than 70 degrees.

[krissn333]

I hate to say it Lucy, but, I think if it were Sutra exhibiting those signs, I'd start seriously looking into surgery

 

Scary, I know, but I've read so many success stories about the surgery too - it could allow Riley to do all the things he loves again...

 

Edited September 15, 2009 by krissn333

[RileysLegacy]

That's what I've been thinking. I'm going to call my vet and see if she can give me contact info for the surgeon. I hate the thought of putting him through surgery, but if it will improve the quality of his life, then it is worth it.

[dmswartzfager]

We opted to do Frazzle surgery at the end of February. His loud breathing wasn't alarming to me at the time (though by the time he walked 30 feet in the 68 degree house, we could clearly hear him), but the idea that it would probably get worse with the summer heat and humidity scared me, and the last thing I wanted was for him to have a serious episode while we were out camping with the hounds. So we did the surgery maybe sooner than he absolutely needed, but I wanted to make sure he was completely healed and had the food thing worked out before we camped in April.

 

Here's Frazzle-Dazzle about five days post-surgery: