Osteo Thread V

[Guest jenbush123]

Thoughts/prayers for Jenny (MP's Sally) - she is having amputation of right rear leg today due to osteo. Started limping about 2 weeks ago and has not put weight on the leg for at least a week, but has been getting around so hoping she will make it successfully through surgery and be able to enjoy life as a 3 legged hound.

[MaryJane]

Thoughts/prayers for Jenny (MP's Sally) - she is having amputation of right rear leg today due to osteo. Started limping about 2 weeks ago and has not put weight on the leg for at least a week, but has been getting around so hoping she will make it successfully through surgery and be able to enjoy life as a 3 legged hound.

 

Prayers for your girl to have a successful surgery and to recover quickly.

[RaineysMom]

I have posted so much here about Joe's battle with osteo. It seems right that I should share some good news. While I still cry for Joe almost daily, I have decided to open my heart to a little girl hound named Cuja. Here is a link to her introduction thread:

 

http://forum.greytal...a-gabe-red-hot/

 

Jane

Congratulations! So happy to hear this news!

 

congrats!!!

 

Wow, go Pinky, Gia, Lucy, Twiggy and anyone else surviving in this battle!

I don't know that its okay to post but Guinness Xavier in Arizona was diagnosed with some form of cancer and it was advanced enough that they sent him on yesterday. It was a hard day on Facebook.

Hug your pups!!!! I am loving on my two very much!!!!!

Nice to see you too Kristin!

Who is going to GPA Wisconsin Gala on October 13th?????!!!!!!!!!

 

we'll be there

 

sorry to hear about Guinness, is that Amanda's Guinness??

 

Jane, I am so, so happy that Cuja is there with you now. She sounds like a great little girl!

 

Pinky, keep it up, pretty girl! I'm glad you had such a good time at the reunion!

 

Twiggy & I will be going to the GPA-WI reunion on the 13th. Johanna, I hope to see you there! It will be Twiggy's 4th Gala, and her 2nd as a tripod. She may even repeat her historic Radar Run! Fastest greyhound on 3 legs (so far as I'm aware, anyway ). Gala will be 3 days shy of her 14-month ampuversary and 8 days before her 8th birthday, so it will definitely be a party for us. (And yes Kristin, her birthday is the 21st, so that day will be a milestone for both Pinky and Twiggy).

 

I am so grateful for each day that I have with Twiggy. I know so many, many people and their hounds (both here on GT and locally) who haven't been as fortunate as we have, and deserve to have had our good fortune. My heart truly goes out to each of you who have lost and continue to grieve your losses.

 

looking forward to seeing you and Twiggy too! she kicked Nube's BUTT last year in the RR.

 

Oh DARN I wish I could make it up! I'll be in Schaumburg, IL until the 12th for work, but then I have to be home that night for our group's trivia night, and I just wouldn't be able to turn back around and drive to WI the next morning. Guess everyone is just going to have to be there next year! I'd love it if Pinky and Twiggy could run with each other!

 

we live just a few miles south of there! you should come by while you're in town to get your greyhound fix!

 

Thoughts/prayers for Jenny (MP's Sally) - she is having amputation of right rear leg today due to osteo. Started limping about 2 weeks ago and has not put weight on the leg for at least a week, but has been getting around so hoping she will make it successfully through surgery and be able to enjoy life as a 3 legged hound.

 

Prayers for your girl to have a successful surgery and to recover quickly.

 

sending MANY prayers ! :hope

[Guest jenbush123]

Thoughts/prayers for Jenny (MP's Sally) - she is having amputation of right rear leg today due to osteo. Started limping about 2 weeks ago and has not put weight on the leg for at least a week, but has been getting around so hoping she will make it successfully through surgery and be able to enjoy life as a 3 legged hound.

 

Thanks everyone - just heard from vet that she made it through surgery well and is awake and moving in the ICU. More updates tomorrow morning unless anything unexpected occurs between now and then.

[Charlies_Dad]

Great to hear that Jenny made it through surgery! I hope she heals quickly and our thoughts are with you.

[MachosMom]

Sending positive vibes for continued good updates and great recovery for Jenny!

[tbhounds]

Thoughts/prayers for Jenny (MP's Sally) - she is having amputation of right rear leg today due to osteo. Started limping about 2 weeks ago and has not put weight on the leg for at least a week, but has been getting around so hoping she will make it successfully through surgery and be able to enjoy life as a 3 legged hound.

 

Thanks everyone - just heard from vet that she made it through surgery well and is awake and moving in the ICU. More updates tomorrow morning unless anything unexpected occurs between now and then.

Remember Amicar

[Guest patterpaws]

I'm so glad Jenny is doing well so far! Hope she heals quickly!

[Guest jenbush123]

Jenny is coming home today (Yeay!)

 

I'm sure we will get a lot of information from the vet when we pick her up - but any expeirence around things we should expect, how much we should walk her, how long we should make sure she stays on her leash when she goes outside for potty (versus free - and possibly trying to run, etc.). Should we keep her separated from the other animals (2 greys, 4 cats), so they don't bump in to her, startle her, etc.?

[greysmom]

In our experience, Dude was off-leash from the minute he came home. We simply couldn't keep up with him, even three legged and four days following major surgery! The first thing he did was run to his spot in the backyard and poop!

 

We did keep his support harness on him for several weeks - until he learned to manage to stairs by himself - and we kept his outdoor time mostly quiet, but we totally let Dude tell us what he was ready for and what he could tolerate. It's really incredible how fast and completely they adjust to losing a leg. FYI, they do have to move faster to keep up their momentum with only three legs. Trying to slow them down is actually counter-productive.

 

He came home to four other hounds so we did try and separate them for a while. That didn't work well in our situation. And really, once everyone had sniffed him over *really* well, no one treated him any differently than before.

[Charlies_Dad]

Jenny is coming home today (Yeay!)

 

I'm sure we will get a lot of information from the vet when we pick her up - but any expeirence around things we should expect, how much we should walk her, how long we should make sure she stays on her leash when she goes outside for potty (versus free - and possibly trying to run, etc.). Should we keep her separated from the other animals (2 greys, 4 cats), so they don't bump in to her, startle her, etc.?

 

So glad to read Jenny is coming home!

 

For Charlie, we were lucky and got loaned a harness from a fellow GT'er. It came in very handy for the first few days and we only kept it on him when going outside. Essentially we guided him but really he was guiding us. Now he was a high leg amputee so that makes it easier I believe. As for your other pups, yes you do want to make sure she is not bumped/knocked around too much as you ideally don't want her to fall and tear any stitching. If your other pups are really excitable, then you may want to keep them separated, we did not have to do this however our other two Greys were not overly active, Charlie was the active one. You will find that Jenny will find her own way of doing things, just be there to help guide her and make sure she does not get into trouble initially.

[krissn333]

Pinky lost a rear leg...harness wasn't really beneficial to us. I used a big beach towel under her tuck to help support her hind end. The biggest thing I had to do for her in those first days was help her lay down. She could get up with just a little bit of assistance from me, and then I'd get the towel under her to head outside. It was hard to keep up with her so I was basically jogging around my muddy yard in November

 

She will try to do more than you're ready for her to do...try not to have a heart attack Pinky hopped up on "her" couch the morning after she came home. That's where she wanted to be!

[BauersMom]

Here is a video of Berkeley three days after his amp. His first day home was pretty similar.

 

For the most part, we kept him on leash because he wanted to do more than he really could. Like lift his leg to pee. He tried that several times before he realized that uh, two legs was not enough to stand on!!

 

We did not keep him separated from the other two, and he did fine. If I had a rambunctious youngster, I might have - Berkeley was the crazy one.

[TwiggysMom]

I'm so glad Jenny came through her surgery well and is back at home!

 

Everyone else is right, They often try to do more than you are ready for. They also try to do more than they are ready for sometimes. Twiggy would at seem to forget that she didn't have her leg anymore. She would stand up, and then start listing to her left. I'd sort of shift her weight to rebalance her to her new center of balance, and then she'd be OK.

 

If you have stairs, make sure to block them off so that she doesn't get the idea of trying to run up (or even more importantly, down). Twiggy did that to me, once too - I nearly had a heart attack!

 

I would also recommend making a chart of her meds. As I'm sure you've found, there are a lot of meds, and different dosing schedules for each of them.

 

She should be feeling better every day. If you feel like she is backsliding, call the surgeon's office. Complications aren't common, but infections can happen, and it is best to get on top of them (learned that the hard way!).

 

Hope she (and you!) are doing well!

[krissn333]

Hope everyone is doing well!

 

Pinky slid on my tile today...no Bambi on ice moves or anything and she seems perfectly fine, but, I still feel bad. I had mopped the floor and there was a spot that was still wet that I didn't notice before I let the pups back inside. Thank goodness she's fine or I'd be worried sick

[RaineysMom]

poor Pinky! Hope she's doing ok.

 

how's everyone else doing?

[Guest jenbush123]

Jenny is doing well - she has decided she is done with her recovery period and wants to go on walks with her two brothers (although very short) and not be on a leash in the backyard to go potty. She started refusing to walk on her leash about 3 days ago for potty breaks so we have been letting her go free and she has been good so far. Healing is going well and should have stitches out next week. Only thing that doesn't seem great is eating - she is really only eating once a day and maybe 1/2 or her food then - guessing this might be due to meds she is on, but will speak to doc about it next week.

[KF_in_Georgia]

I'm glad Jenny is doing well, but the food-thing can be worrying.

 

Did the vet advise you to use Pepcid? Famotidine (the generic): give a 10mg pill about 30-40 minutes before mealtime, then meal, then meds. One advantage to doing it in this order is that you aren't giving pills that are hard on her stomach and then finding that she won't eat anything to protect her from the meds. But it's important to get the food into her so the pills won't upset her stomach and make her even more reluctant to eat, and it's important to get the pills into her on time to keep on top of the pain. (And I hate that the dogs don't understand "If you take this pill, you'll feel better.")

 

Sometimes food smells more attractive if you warm it a little (or add warm water to her kibble). The juice from a can of tuna appears to be really tempting.

 

I've got two dogs taking meds, and they aren't taking them on the same schedule. (Breakfast is fine. After that, it's a little screwy.) Everyone gets a normal cup-and-a-half of kibble at breakfast. For the rest of the day, they're getting a half-cup or even just a quarter-cup of kibble in front of the meds. It still totals up to the right amount (so that no one's getting fat), but it's the only way I can make sure meals and meds match up properly. (Even a dog not getting meds at a particular time will get some kibble.) I used a Google calendar to set up the schedule: I could set an "appointment" for a pill and tell Google to repeat that for 10 days; set another "appointment" for a different pill/different time and repeat that for 14 days. The Google calendar is set to provide "pop-up" reminders and it's synced to my phone. The phone beeps, I look at and it says "2 Doxycycline" or "1 Pentoxyfillene" and I know what I'm supposed to be giving the girl. (The boy's reminders are a different color.) But I found the hard way that both my dogs do badly if they get pills without the underlying cushion of food, and that my normally food-obsessed pups will turn up their noses at good stuff if their stomachs are upset.

[Guest jenbush123]

What did everyone use to keep their dogs from licking their stitches? Jenny has started licking the last couple days and her first stitch is missing (although no blood or drainage - so just watching it for now).

[krissn333]

Pinky was bandaged until she got her staples removed, so I'm afraid I'm not much help...

[joejoesmom]

What did everyone use to keep their dogs from licking their stitches? Jenny has started licking the last couple days and her first stitch is missing (although no blood or drainage - so just watching it for now).

 

I don't remember if Jenny is a front leg or rear leg amputee. Here are suggestions for both:

 

Front leg amputee: take an appropriate size T-shirt--usually child large or adult small. Put head through the neck and one leg through an armhole. I would do this when the dog is lying down, then get them to stand to adjust it. Take two rubber bands. Use one to tighten up the neck so she can't trip on a dangling shirt. Use the other to tighten up the bottom of the shirt around her waist. This will usually keep the shirt down far enough that they don't try to loosen it up to be able to reach the incision. If the incision is weeping, you can stick some maxi-pads inside of the T-shirt. It sounds like Jenny is beyond this stage.

 

Rear leg amputee: take some appropriate sized boxer shorts. Put them on backwards so the tail goes through the fly. This is a pain at bathroom time, but works fairly well otherwise.

 

Both front and rear leg:

 

1) buy a stool cup for your plastic turn-out muzzle. Attach it with some zip ties. Trim and file the end of the zip ties so there is nothing rough on the outside of the muzzle. There are holes in the stool guard so the dog can still drink. You can also use some duct-tape on the outside of the muzzle, be sure to leave some small holes for drinking. This is nowhere near as permanent, but can get the job done. I don't like to leave a muzzle with a stool guard on my dog if I am not home. I worry about a dog choking if they happen to vomit something "chunky" (versus liquid-y). But of course I am a world-class worrier.

 

2) buy a Bite-Not type collar. You can also fashion one yourself from towels, duct tape and velcro.

 

http://www.bitenot.com/

 

3) Use a modified e-collar: With an e-collar, you need to tie it to a tag collar that is fitted to be tight or they will slip it right over their head. Don't use a martingale collar for this. Most e-collars aren't long enough for a greyhounds long nose -- especially since they can usually slide it down their neck so the base of it is near their shoulders. You can use the duct tape here to attach a piece of fairly stiff plastic to extend the e-collar. Be sure to extend it far enough so that there is no way your dog can use the edge of the e-collar to scratch the incision. This can do a lot of damage. This is my least favorite way of keeping a greyhound from licking but sometimes it is the only thing available.

 

There are also other collars that I have heard work with greyhounds. Perhaps someone else will chime in.

 

I do know of someone who used towels, duct tape and velcro to fashion a bitenot collar; and then used a regular e-collar attached to the head side of the bitenot collar. Her dog (rear leg amputee) was very agile and could reach the incision with a bitenot. This combination kept the e-collar from sliding down the neck and the bitenot reduced the neck flexibility enough that a standard e collar worked.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Jane

[Charlies_Dad]

Glad to hear Jenny is getting stubborn about walks, that shows she is healing! As for licking stitches, Jane (Joejoesmom) has the best suggestions. I hope Jane continues to do well and her appetite comes back. Those meds can definitely affect this.

[MachosMom]

No advice here- just wanted to say I am glad to hear Jenny is doing okay and hope it continues on the up and up!

[Zoolady]

Update on Ben: The last thing I think I posted was that after six chemo and Pamidronate treatments, we started the Palladia which he didn't do well on. They took him off for a few weeks and then we were going to start at a lower dosage and building him back up to 70 mg. Well, without the Palladia he blossomed. He got his zest for life back, playing, being first at the door when you come home and just had that sparkle back in his eyes that we hadn't seen since last year.

 

We gave him one more Pamidronate treatment at the end of September. We never see any change for the worse or better with the Pamidronate. He was put on Rimadyl in January for his "groin bleed" and we started weaning him off that too. We started one instead of two a day and then every other day and are now up to three days without and he hasn't missed a beat or changed or given any indication of being uncomfortable.

 

Oh, they did offer an alternative to the Palladia but we were sort of the mind set, seeing how well he was doing, of enough is enough.

 

Our plan is to get him completely drug and chemical free for two or three months and then re-xray and the vet is okay with reassessing at that time.

 

He will be eleven November 29 so for the time being, we are going to relax and enjoy each other and focus on his great quality of life for now.

[NeylasMom]

That is a fantastic update. Go Ben!!