Experienced Grey Owners

[XTRAWLD]

I'd say I get more comfortable with every injury that comes along. Especially if it is a repeat type of injury and I know how to handle it, don't sweat it treat it at home type of deal.

 

If I really don't know what to do and the dog is in distress I make the call to go. I fortunately haven't had to visit an e-vet, and the only time we really had to go for an emergency, I called our regular vet and he stayed open for us since it happened later in the day during the "closing" hours. I do tend to wait and let time pass to see if it improves before making a call as well. However, you know what they always say - better safe than sorry.

[cleptogrey]

i call my vet and tell him exactly what happened. either he tells me to come in for staples or exactly what to do.i.e.- felix skinned his pastern area down to the tendons, it was really gross and he was pretty sore and swollen. i washed it as told, bandaged it and kept him off of it since that was about it. but the washing instructions were different than the standard irrigation w/ saline- hydrogen peroxide was used so the skin would grow from the inside out- basically the same treatment as wound care. one doesn't want skin buds to close the area. for cut pads- it's 2 weeks if you stitch them or wait, the paw needs to be bandaged either way and the dog will chew the extra ridge of skin down and tidy up the slash when healed. holes when your pup is nailed on the back- staples do make the 6+ week healing process faster. but anything that has a flap i bring him in for staples. annie healed at the farm or track on her own- she has a nasty 3"diamond shaped scar on her side. i usually wait until the morning w/ a problem but i do know if something is life threatening my vet does not use an answering service- he picks up the phone!

[3DogNite]

i hate to admit this:

 

when lazer collapsed in August, I gave him CPR, he revived.

He came around so well that my first thought was ",,should I take him to the vet????

i KNOW,, can you even believe that!!!

 

I have had greyhounds for 15 years. and unfortunatly or fortunately I have seen some pretty crazy things.

I carry a significant first aid kit EVERYWHERE i go with the dogs and my friends call ME before they take their

dogs in. i have no background in medicine. My mom was a nurse, and I have had basic first aid/cpr training.

 

Where I lack in experience ~ my heart and "little voice" takes over and helps me thru most any situation.

 

I find i am extremely calm in emergencies. I LOOSE it a couple hours later, when i'm on my own, re-thinking thru

whatever just happened.

[Tallgreydogmom]

I have some extra medicine I have collected over time (up to date, not expired). I keep a record of what the medicine was prescribed for. I also ask the vet to tell me what the medicine is used for when he prescribes it and make notes.

 

I would take everyone to the vet when we first started with greyhounds. After a few years I noticed I was purchasing medicine that I already had. One gains experience and insight as time goes on. You have to go thru the learning stage to get to be experienced stage. A vet visit is always good for piece of mind even if you think you have it figured out.

[philospher77]

Just last night, I had a bit of a scare with Katie. Around 10, I hear her suddenly start coughing... this loud, sharp, harsh cough. She'd been perfectly normal before that. She came in to where I was, still coughing, pausing occasionally to do a dry heave, tail tucked. My first thought was, if this were a person, I'd be thinking that they swallowed something wrong. In which case, as long as they can breathe, you just wait it out. On the other hand, she was obviously in distress, and I did wait what felt like about 10 minutes, but who can really tell at those times? , and it didn't seem to be getting any better. So I called up the e-vet, to find out that their fee for being seen (excluding any additional treatments) was a whopping $50. So I figured it was worth that to get her seen, and if something was partially obstructing the airway, they could handle it or tell me to just let it resolve on its own. Of course, Katie does NOT like going out at that time of night, and it generally takes some gentle coaxing to get her off her bed once I put her collar on her anyway. And I didn't want to be tugging on her neck with her coughing like that, so I picked her up off her bed. And it appears that between her rolling on her side, and my picking her up, whatever was bothering her got shifted, because she just stopped coughing at that point. Which put me back into the dilemma... the reason I was bringing her in seemed to have vanished, but I'd already told them I was coming. I went ahead and brought her in, just because of the suddeness and violence of the onset and the stopping, in case there were going to be lingering problems. Plus, I think that my vet charges more for an office visit! She's fine, we discussed what it might have been, I said that I thought it was most likely something that was irritating her throat, we discussed some things to keep an eye out for, and, with Katie being such a chow hound, how to tell if she ever swallows something that is causing a blockage or sharp and pointy, we came back home, everyone went to sleep, and she is feeling fine this morning.

 

If the cost to see the vet had been the 150+ I am more commonly quoted, I probably would have stayed home once she stopped coughing. But at 50... it was worth it for the peace of mind.

[sobesmom]

This is an interesting discussion! I really love hearing all your insights and experience.

 

I "WILL" concede one thing though - I shouldn't have expected the vet to just give me antibiotics over the phone... that was a bit much to ask on my part. It seemed logical to me at the time, though! I don't worry about "super-bugs" though. In 6 years and 15 greys, my own and fosters, I think I've given antibiotics twice. I'm not a pill-pusher. I'm sure dogs "could" develop a resistance to antibiotics if they were given frequently, among a large population, but I really don't see it happening soon.

 

BTW- Diana's beercan sized wound, is now the size of my pinky nail. The large flap of skin (the circle) fell away, but new skin grew in very quickly. And - how weird is this - the new skin has ALL the brindle stripes of the original! I just assumed brand new skin would have brand new hair or none at all, and would look like a big scar. Nope, it'll be totally un-noticable in another week!

[tbhounds]

Glad the wound is healing. Just wanted to mention that the super bugs ARE here already. Every human hospital and vet clinic is seeing MRSA on a regular basis.

[silverfish]

 

 

Still I decided to wait. There was no way to stitch it. I called my vet to ask for a precautionary course of antibiotics, they said no. I said, I'd bring her in if needed.

 

We've made a point to keep it clean, keep her from licking TOO much, and after 2 weeks, it's the size of a dime. Healing very nicely. I couldn't find a way to bandage, or cover, that wouldn't incite her to go after it, so we left it alone, and watched.

 

If there had been ANY sign of distress from her, or any sign of infection, she'd have been at the vet IMMEDIATELY.

 

'Scuse me, but there almost certainly was a way to stitch it! Over the ribcage the skin stretches apart and gapes when they cut through it, but it also stretches back nicely too!

 

I'm sorry, but I can't agree that it was the right thing to do to leave an open wound two inches long, which turns into a hole the size of the bottom of a beer can. Sometimes it has to be done if it's in a place where isn't enough skin, but an open, granulating wound is open to all kinds of infection and if you think your dog wasn't hurting, I'm surprised. I'm not surprised the vets didn't hand over antibiotics, but you've already come back and covered that.

 

IMHO, while it wasn't an emergency, I'd certainly have wanted to get it looked at, probably cleaned and stitched, certainly covered. When Ranger ripped himself up in three places a couple of months back (ribcage 4 + inches, thigh, 4 inches, and under his tail near the top, 2 inches) all three wounds were cleaned, stitched and covered with sticky dressings with non-stick pads in them. Not one of the dressings peeled until they were almost ready to be removed, so it certainly can be done in those locations!

 

Not meaning to sound harsh or judgemental, this is just my personal opinion, but if I don't give it, newbies reading this and wondering about themselves and their own dog might think there is a 100% consensus on GT to leave wounds like this, and there isn't.

 

My point is - sometimes you learn to wait it out. The hard part is figuring out when you "know enough" to do so. I expected EVERY DAY to come home and regret my choice, and have to go to the vet feeling like a jerk.

 

When do you really LEARN how to make that call?? I'm learning...

 

Yes, sometimes you do learn to wait it out, and there are things I don't rush them in for that I probably would have rushed them in for once.

 

I've had greyhounds since 1993, and animals pretty much all my life, so I'm not an amateur, but having worked with vets for six years (and having a nurse for a mother), I've seen when things go wrong, and it does influence my thinking. I'd personally rather take them in unnecessarily than not take them in when they did need it.

 

Maybe that's just me.

 

 

 

This might not be the popular opinion here but, I have to agree with your vet. It would be completely irresponsible of them to dispense a medication without seeing the pet first.

If your hound had a reaction to the medication guess who would be liable? What about pain meds? Sad to say- they need to protect themselves -- maybe because I live in NJ but, here you have to always watch your back.

I also feel it would be wrong for your adoption rep to have given you meds. Bottom line- she/he is not a vet and shouldn't be dispensing prescription drugs. I know we are only talking about antibiotics but, one- they are being over used creating "super bugs" and two- only certain antibiotics are appropriate for certain organisms/infections.

I agree that you can't run to the vet every time your hound sneezes but, I don't think most pet owners are qualified to make that decision.

 

Agreed

[Yamaha_gurl]

I might be the odd one out, but when I adopted Bella I started a medical fund for her. Lack of $ or lazyness will never get in the way of getting her proper vet care. I'm not too sure what other reasons everyone has to "wait it out".

 

Maybe my above comments have to do with Bella being my first dog, maybe it's cause I don't have kids...I dunno, she's just everything to me.

[kudzu]

Yamaha_gurl, you aren't the only one & it doesn't apply to just having a first dog. We've had a couple of appts recently that I know others either would not have made at all or would have waited out. In both cases I caught things very, very early. Happily, both ended up costing much less than I had anticipated. Unlike you though I have not started a medical fund. I'm not that disciplined so I've gone the insurance route for the new dogs.

 

Still, there are some things I feel confident I can handle so do not take the dog to the vet for those things. Some wounds fall into that category. Some do not. When I am in doubt it's off to the vet.

[Guest KennelMom]

I might be the odd one out, but when I adopted Bella I started a medical fund for her. Lack of $ or lazyness will never get in the way of getting her proper vet care. I'm not too sure what other reasons everyone has to "wait it out".

 

Maybe my above comments have to do with Bella being my first dog, maybe it's cause I don't have kids...I dunno, she's just everything to me.

 

 

I think you need to take a step back. Rushing to the vet over every little boo-boo does not mean you love your dog more or are a better owner. I've been there, done that as a novice owner. I'll put the many, many, MANY THOUSANDS of dollars we spend on our dogs EVERY YEAR up against your "medical fund." Treating minor/moderate issues at home has nothing to do with laziness or lack of funds. It has to do with something just not needing to see a vet because it can be treated at home. Not sure why that's a foreign concept.

 

And, as I pointed out, some vets will do more harm than good...like the one that wanted to put Diva through an unnecessary surgery to chop off her ear over something that healed just fine with no major intervention. Don't confuse ignorance about what needs to be treated by a vet with loving your dog "bunches and bunches."

Edited December 14, 2011 by KennelMom

[silverfish]

 

And, as I pointed out, some vets will do more harm than good...like the one that wanted to put Diva through an unnecessary surgery to chop off her ear over something that healed just fine with no major intervention. Don't confuse ignorance about what needs to be treated by a vet with loving your dog "bunches and bunches."

 

Certainly there are times when you need to be informed, and question what your vet is suggesting.

 

It's worked both ways for us; there have been times when I've listened, assessed, and said 'no', like when my vet wanted to amputate Jim's toe instead of excising a tumour and sending it off to the lab. It healed fine, and the tumour never returned or spread. Could have gone the other way, but to me it looked like he could get it off and he did. I think it was a combination of him being over-cautious and not wanted to cost us an arm and a leg, toe amputation being possibly quicker and easier long term than having to carefully remove a tumour from a difficult place and maybe still having to amputate down the road a way.

 

On the other hand, the same vet caused the death of two of my dogs through inaction, and not wanting to push the bill up. I was a much less experienced person then, and it took me a while to insist on a referral each time, and each time it was too late. You live and learn. You start off green, learn quite a bit, think you know a lot, and come to realise that not only don't YOU know as much as you thought, but neither does your vet. There are times to call in a specialist.

 

We don't go to that vet anymore. I'd rather spend too much than not enough, as I know from personal and very bitter experience.

[Batmom]

I think having a fund so you don't *have* to wait for $ reasons is a GREAT idea. Means you can decide what to do based on the problem at hand .

 

I also think there is a lot of inaccurate info on the internet about what you can/can't stitch when, whether things need to be open to the air or not, etc. Some of the worst such info comes from supposedly experienced animal owners and places like GH-L. Enough to drive a person nuts!

 

In a few too many decades of life with dogs, I've only had a vet tell me s/he couldn't/didn't want to stitch something twice. First time, I said, "Let's try it anyways." Put a couple staples in, wound over a joint healed beautifully in @ 6 days. Second time, I believed it and chose to wrap with SSD instead. Deep wound, took longer but did heal. I believe that one could have been stitched too but live and learn, right?

[Guest barkdogs]

Allistair had a similar injury in the dog park. a friend who is a vet (dentistry specialist) said it would probably be fine. I put a t-shirt on him and it healed just fine.

[Brindles]

Treating minor/moderate issues at home has nothing to do with laziness or lack of funds. It has to do with something just not needing to see a vet because it can be treated at home. Not sure why that's a foreign concept.

This.

 

I've had an emergency fund for my dogs since day one. I've spent thousands of dollars at the vet. But mine only go when it's necessary. Just because there's a DVM after their name doesn't mean they know what's best for my dog. Or that they're even capable of doing what's best for my dog. I spent two years working with rotation upon rotation of 4th year vet students and I wouldn't let a single one of them treat my dogs now that they've graduated. Not a one. It took nine months and four (count 'em, four!) vets to clear up recurring ear infections in my Great Pyrenees, and his growth was stunted as a result. I've got plenty more stories like that. To say I've lost faith in veterinarians is an understatement. There are very few that I trust anymore. If it can be treated at home, it's getting treated at home.

[carronstar]

I try to ignore my neurotic "oh, no, something is wrong with my dog" reaction 90% of the time. When she got a completely mysterious 50 cent piece sized hole in her lower leg during a walk, I took her inside cleaned it, even put EMT gel on it and sent a photo to my own vet asking if I should rush her to the evet .for stitches .. before I took her to the evet. He said yes based on the photo but then said after that it would have granulated and healed fine without the stitches, just taken longer. When she was attacked by another dog and her throat was open just above her jugular, I screamed like a stuck pig and off we raced to the evet. When Aquitaine woke me up at 4:30 am last Sunday to poop, and then couldn't settle I actually thought, albeit very briefly, about it. Then I realized that I was truly unhappy with the way she felt on the leash, and that her tummy seemed tighter than usual. I thought briefly about the fact that the base visit to the evet here in NYC is $1,500 then checked my credit card availabilities and thanked heaven for the fact that I have insurance and took her for one more quick walk to see if another poop would perk her up. It didn't so off we went to the evet. Needless to say, I am so very happy that we did this.

 

With my first girl Scarlett, there was a dog that was constantly ripping her skin on her neck open. I worked it out with my vet that I would clean it, put on Neosporin and butterfly bandage it. He said that he knew if I felt he needed to see it that I would be on his doorstep in the morning when the practice opened.

 

I had a great vet when I was growing up and we were breeding and showing poodles. He talked to me, he taught me -- every 7 year old needs to know how to thread a tube into a newborn pups stomach to feed it, right? -- and he did his level best to talk me out of my love for giant breed dogs. He said they don't live long enough and I wouldn't be able to handle that well. Okay, so he had a point on that one. But, I have my giant dog and for as stinky as they are, the bad days are paid for by the good days. Is it sane to live with a dog breed that I wake up every morning wondering if this will be the day that I lose her, probably not. Is it worth it, absolutely.

Edited December 14, 2011 by carronstar

[tbhounds]

I might be the odd one out, but when I adopted Bella I started a medical fund for her. Lack of $ or lazyness will never get in the way of getting her proper vet care. I'm not too sure what other reasons everyone has to "wait it out".

 

Maybe my above comments have to do with Bella being my first dog, maybe it's cause I don't have kids...I dunno, she's just everything to me.

 

 

I think you need to take a step back. Rushing to the vet over every little boo-boo does not mean you love your dog more or are a better owner. I've been there, done that as a novice owner. I'll put the many, many, MANY THOUSANDS of dollars we spend on our dogs EVERY YEAR up against your "medical fund." Treating minor/moderate issues at home has nothing to do with laziness or lack of funds. It has to do with something just not needing to see a vet because it can be treated at home. Not sure why that's a foreign concept.

 

And, as I pointed out, some vets will do more harm than good...like the one that wanted to put Diva through an unnecessary surgery to chop off her ear over something that healed just fine with no major intervention. Don't confuse ignorance about what needs to be treated by a vet with loving your dog "bunches and bunches."

Ouch--that's a bit rough. Perhaps this poster hit a nerve but, I think you took it a bit harshly. She is entitled to her opinion. If you saw some of things that I see everyday that should have been addressed immediately and wasn't-ugh-septic bite wounds, badly half broken legs casted with duct tape, infected ear margins because the owner decided to crop his pits ears with a scissor.... I'm by no means arguing with the fact that some medical situtations can't be treated by the layman or shouldn't and some vets are a bit too aggressive with treatment ie running expensive tests, diagnostics...but, I'm not sure why one would slam another for taking precautions and getting a DVM's opinion.

I wish a had a medical fund set-up for my hounds.

[Guest KennelMom]

I might be the odd one out, but when I adopted Bella I started a medical fund for her. Lack of $ or lazyness will never get in the way of getting her proper vet care. I'm not too sure what other reasons everyone has to "wait it out".

 

Maybe my above comments have to do with Bella being my first dog, maybe it's cause I don't have kids...I dunno, she's just everything to me.

 

 

I think you need to take a step back. Rushing to the vet over every little boo-boo does not mean you love your dog more or are a better owner. I've been there, done that as a novice owner. I'll put the many, many, MANY THOUSANDS of dollars we spend on our dogs EVERY YEAR up against your "medical fund." Treating minor/moderate issues at home has nothing to do with laziness or lack of funds. It has to do with something just not needing to see a vet because it can be treated at home. Not sure why that's a foreign concept.

 

And, as I pointed out, some vets will do more harm than good...like the one that wanted to put Diva through an unnecessary surgery to chop off her ear over something that healed just fine with no major intervention. Don't confuse ignorance about what needs to be treated by a vet with loving your dog "bunches and bunches."

Ouch--that's a bit rough. Perhaps this poster hit a nerve but, I think you took it a bit harshly. She is entitled to her opinion. If you saw some of things that I see everyday that should have been addressed immediately and wasn't-ugh-septic bite wounds, badly half broken legs casted with duct tape, infected ear margins because the owner decided to crop his pits ears with a scissor.... I'm by no means arguing with the fact that some medical situtations can't be treated by the layman or shouldn't and some vets are a bit too aggressive with treatment ie running expensive tests, diagnostics...but, I'm not sure why one would slam another for taking precautions and getting a DVM's opinion.

I wish a had a medical fund set-up for my hounds.

 

She's entitled to her opinion and I never said she wasn't, but she didn't put any qualifications on her statements like you are. So, yeah, gonna take offense to it b/c I think offense (or at least judgement) was passive-aggressively intended. Like I said, she shouldn't confuse ignorance of not knowing what needs to be seen by a vet with not loving one's dog.

[Guest benfrench]

I tend to avoid taking mine to the Vet if at all possible. He goes in for his checkup and shots but beyond that unless there is something seriously wrong no. My mother's last grey went in for a teeth cleaning and one thing led to another and a few weeks later she crossed the bridge due to sudden kidney failure. I don't remeber all of the circumstances but it was all related.