Augie Went Back To The Vet Again For His Infected Hock

[Guest avadogner]

Hi Greytalk Friends,

We just came home after our visit with Augie's new vet. While I was in the hospital and recovering, Augie spent two weeks with the amazing staff at McGregor Greyhound Welfare. We only board our babies there since they know greys best and our boarding fees help them care for more retired racers. For those who missed our other thread. On Mar 1st, Augie went out side for about 10 minutes and came back in the dog door limping and unable to put his left rear foot down. Within a couple hours, the leg at the hock swelled up and bruised terribly. So the DH and loaded him in the Pilot and went to the ER Vet. Clinic. After 4 hours, $400 bill and lots of worry, we were told it was a soft tissue injury and sent home on Tramadol and Carafate. On the 3rd we took Augie in to board at McG. Melony and the wonderful ladies there disagreed with the diagnosis and asked to take him to the vet they use and most of the kennels at the track use. We said "anything he needs, do it". They took him to the WONDERFUL Kelly Animal Clinic to Dr. Pelham. Two of the three Drs are greyhound parents and they have care for all the McG dogs for minimum cost. They sedated him and tapped the joint (drained some of the fluid in the joint) The area on his leg looks like a golf ball is under the skin. They found white blood cells and bacteria in the fluid and put him two antibiotics and continued the tramadol. He stayed at McG for 14 days to keep him off it and let me recover enough to take care of him. We are now a month out and he is walking on the leg, the bruising is gone and the swelling has reduced. It is still obviously swollen and his antibiotics will be finished tomorrow.

 

My mom helped me take him an hour away to the Kelly Vet Clinic for follow up. I absolutely loved the staff and Dr. Pelham. They are all grey people and understand how grey parents feel about their hounds. Melony and joke they have also "drank the Kool Aid". They were all so incredible nice. We met their clinic grey Angel who is allowed to walk around as she pleases instead of being crated. My vet has a clinic grey but every time I see Megan she is crated. Our vet is very good but he is semiretired and only works 2 days a week. Dr Pelham spent 30 minutes with us answering all my questions, went over the xrays with me (I'm a former pediatric ER and NICU RN and know how to read xrays pretty well) and was extremely knowledgable about greys.

 

We compared his sedated set of Xrays taken 2 wks post injury to the ones done the day of in ther vet ER and guess what? The ER vet totally missed the effusion in one of the bones at the hock. I noticed it right off. The bone looks moth eaten which is either a crushed bone or the horrific dreaded osteosarcoma. I immediately freaked out but he reassured me that he feels very sure it is a break. Augie retired last May even though he placed 1st and 4th in his last two races. He was placed at McGregor in the end of July and we adopted him the end of August. Dr. Pelham thinks this may be the injury that ended his career and the newly healed bone may have rebroken since it was so fragile. Just to be safe and sure, we are going to see the Orthopedic Vet to get a consult. The joint fluid didn't culture out but Dr. Pelham saw leukocytes and neutrophils and bacteria cells when he looked at on slide immediately post tap. We are continuing the Keflex, Cipro and Tramadol for another 2 weeks.

 

Between our two ailing hounds, we have spent $1200 on the dogs in 6 wks. I was anticipating another big vet bill based off how long he spent with us. I also asked them to trim his nails up. In the end, he only charged me for the tramadol since he wrote prescriptions for the antibiotics. He did not charge me any consult or follow fees!!!!! I nearly cried I was so incredibly grateful. Melony has told me this office is really serious about helping greys and they show it! My normal vet charges me $15 to clip nails. He explained to me that a couple of the kennels at the track don't give the dogs the medical attention and disease prevention they need so to encourage more people to adopt these greys they really try to give the grey parent's discounts on vet care. I went ahead and transfered Augie's care to Dr. Pelham and he will be our vet from here on out. In the end the only charges he charged me for were the meds. No charge for the consult, the time aswering my questions and the nail trim. It was so incredibly kind of him. Even when they did the sedation, xrays, draining the joint, lab charges and meds (on the visit 2 wks ago) the bill was only $320! Some may worry that "i get what I pay for" but as a medical professional, I could tell this vet knows greys and is providing excellent care. I don't care if it's an hour away each way, I will take all my babies and future babies to him.

 

We will be calling first thing Monday morning to make Augie's Ortho Consult appt. I am terrified of the "big O" but I am going to hope that is just a rebreak of an old injury. Hopefully since he has had a full workup and 2 sets of Xrays done, it won't be too expensive. Please say a little prayer for my boy that it's just a rebreak. He turned 5 in on Dec. 23 so he's still pretty young. I know Osteo can happen anytime but I'm trying to think positive. Please say a little prayer for my big goofball.

-ava and augie's mum

[Guest june]

Sending prayers and good thoughts your way.

june

[Houndtime]

Good thoughts for your boy from central New Jersey.

[XTRAWLD]

Thanks for the follow up. What an amazing vet staff you have found. We could all only be so lucky!

[Batmom]

Oh my word. Hope you can get to the bottom of things quickly and get your sweet boy on the road to complete recovery!

[sabrina]

Sorry for Augie's problem, I hope it isnt the evil thing.

 

to you both

[45MPHK9]

Thinking good thoughts for your Augie, Alicia.

[JJNg]

Sending good thoughts for Augie. : FWIW, osteo would be very unlikely in one of the small bones of the hock. And based on the description of the original injury (came in non-weight bearing after zoomies in the yard, bruising and swelling that came up within the first few hours, still non-weight bearing after the first few days), I was actually suspicious of a fracture when reading through your original thread. But it was late the night before your surgery before I read it, so I didn't respond since I wasn't sure you'd even see it. Anyway, hope you have a good report from your ortho consult!

[heartdogs]

Lots of good thoughts for your boy, you've had enough problems!

[cleptogrey]

sending white lights. as to the commute to this wonderful clinic/vet...DO IT! i have traveled between 35-50 minutes(snow, rainy washouts, w/ baby in tow, 7 am appointments before office hrs, etc) to get to my trusty vet over the past 30+years. it's worth the commute when you find someone excellent!

[juliemac]

Hugs to you, and prayers that Augie heals completely in the next few weeks. from his bone re-break, that is.

 

Sounds like you've got a great new primary doctor -- CONGRATULATIONS! When things calm down, may I suggest you continue looking for an emergency vet that is closer to you? Unfortunately, we all need to plan for those true emergencies where an hour drive is just not an option (Riley has taught me that).

 

hugs ... and we're looking forward to hearing the great news that Auggie is fully healed and doing zoomies again!

[Charlies_Dad]

Good thoughts for you and Augie. I hope it's not the dreaded 'C' and will be waiting for an update.

[Guest Gingergrey]

Sending out prayers for your sweet Augie to heal quickly.

[Guest HHHounds]

Sounds like you have found the right vet! Continuing to send prayers for both you and Augie's recovery...

[DesiRayMom]

Finding a good vet you feel you can truly trust is a real blessing. Wishing all the best for your precious Augie.

 

By the way.....how are YOU feeling? Besides worrying about Augie, that is. Also, hugs to Ava, hope her pain meds

are still keeping her comfy.

[Remolacha]

hoping it's just a break! Sounds like Augie has a great vet

[RedFawnMom]

Sending positive thoughts for Augie. It doesn't sound like a typical osteo presentation, so we'll be keeping our fingers/paws crossed for good news.

[Guest greytkidsmom]

How wonderful that you found such a caring vet.

Hope your consult goes well.

[Guest Stripeyfan]

OMG, poor Augie! Sending tons of prayers that this is just a break. And hugs for you too - how are you doing?

[greytpups]

Hoping it's something that can be treated and Augie will be good as new soon.

[Guest avadogner]

Finding a good vet you feel you can truly trust is a real blessing. Wishing all the best for your precious Augie.

 

By the way.....how are YOU feeling? Besides worrying about Augie, that is. Also, hugs to Ava, hope her pain meds

are still keeping her comfy.

 

 

 

Thank you so much for asking about. i continue to be touched by how kind and thoughtful strangers on GT can be. Your not strangers anymore as we chat but it's very kind to be concerned for me. I continue to heal well from the surgery. It's slow going due to my multiple issues. Seeing my furbabies feeling better is the best medicine of all. I had a rough night last night due to another kidney stone. I didnt go to sleep until 9 am. When i woke up at 4pm both my sweet hounds were in their bedroom dog beds. They tend to prefer the living room since we have stairs to climb to get to the bedroom. So sweet to open my eyes and see them both in their bedroom beds at the same time. I'm so blessed with my furbabies.

 

My Daddy continues to refuse to get help for his addiction. He declined the intervention and attempts to convince him to seek help. It breaks my heart but we have had to go the tough love route and refuse to enable him and watch him continue on this path. His attitude is he doesnt have a problem and we should take him as he is or not take him at all. He never even called me during my recent surgery. I have been really close to my Dad and this just shows me how bad his problem is. My mom has given him 2 months to take accountability for his multiple addiction problems and when we gave him a choice of his family or the computer he refused to give it up. We will need to move since my parents own our home. They bought it as a remodel and flip and we moved in to be ideal tenants. We helped with work and were patient with the remodel process. It let us have a bigger house in a top notch neighborhood for less money. We have been here 5 years as we were trying to wait out the ailing home sales market. Moving and finding a new home that lets us have our greys will be a challenge. My beloved DH is bit of a pack rat and we have so much stuff to move. My mum is taking the home they lived in and my dad is getting this home. We will get through it though.

 

I'll keep y'all posted on how it all goes.

-ava and augie's mum

[Guest Greyglo]

Adding our prayers from here...

[kudzu]

Heal quickly, Auggiee. Until then, please be a good boy. Let your human momma sleep, recoup & heal. Heaven knows it sounds she'll be needing every ounce of her strength.

 

Hope Auggie is and again in no time. Adding a cheery, get well soon bouquet of for his mom.

[Guest avadogner]

Thank you! Just having a place to vent is such a help! I appreciate y'all putting up with my drama.

-alicia

[Guest FullMetalFrank]

I am sorry you've got so much on your plate right now... Sending my prayers for Augie, and Ava, and you and your family, too!