Question For Those Who Have Had Hounds With Os

[Guest tricolorhounds]

I lost my Bonkers on Dec 17th. He had hind end pain that was unmanagable. His loss is significant in our home, his personality was HUGE! Plus, he was a very noisy hound, now our home is silent.

 

Savannah:

 

Sept 23rd... we returned home from a Greyhound event to find that Savannah had ripped off a toenail on her left front foot. We stopped the bleeding, wrapped her foot in gauze to keep it clean and put her thera-paw on. Because her balance was now off, she "wobbled" in the front as she walked. After a couple of days, I took her bandage off but she still "wobbled" in the front, thought it might be some pain in the toe as she had done a good job of ripping the whole nail off. (I say "wobbled" because there was never a classic "limp," I'd never seen her hold either leg up. She showed no signs of pain, not reactive to touch, no signs of injury, no swelling, bumps, bruises etc so we took a wait and see attitude.

 

I should add that Savannah had a severly broken hock, track injury from 2005 and in 2008 she broke her heel bone on the same leg. Her recovery each time exceeded 6 months. Because she spent so much time casted, she has never used her right rear leg properly... she prefered to hop on her back left leg.

 

We made a senior trip to the Vet in late November... 12 yr old Savannah with her wobble, 11 yr old Bonkers with hind end weakness and 18 yr old Simba the cat who was losing weight. Our Vet thought Savannah's problem was her nail as it was not growing back properly. We left with a round of antibiotics.

 

Then on the night of December 13, she was tossing a stuffy around the living room and suddenly stepped wrong and lifted her right front leg in pain. I knew... I knew it was bad. My heart broke. Within the next couple of days you could see swelling at the wrist joint (Distal Radius.) I spoke with the Vet and confirmed the worst.

 

Because of her age and the previous limb breaks, she would not be a candidate for amp. We've decided on a course of pain management, Rimadyl and Tramadol.

 

Savannah is a very stoic Greyhound... I don't think she even made a peep back when she broke her heel. There are no outwardly signs of pain other than her the limp when she walks, though she still walks on it. There is no pain to the touch. She's eating although she's decided that kibble is unaccepable.

 

Now to my question(s)... She has always greeted me at the door when I come home, but the last couple of days she's barely moved when I've come in. I'll generally go sit down with her for a bit, then get her meds and some breakfast. I was starting to think that her pain was getting worse and she was getting more reluctant to move... that was until yesterday afternoon when we had a new boarder arrive. She was up and running around like her normal happy-go-lucky, crazy self. That's when the thought came over me... I wonder if she is grieving over Bonky, she just seems more sad than in physical pain. They'd been together for 7 years.

 

Have you ever had a hound that grieved after the loss of a housemate? How did their behavior change? How do you help them? In our case, she has 4 other housemates and is very close to our other female.

 

In regard to the OS, how can you tell, especially in a very stoic dog that their pain has increased?

 

In the meantime, I'm doing my best to spoil my baby girl rotten.

 

Thanks for reading this far...

 

Lynnet and Savannah

 

... and a picture of my beautiful girl

 

[4My2Greys]

I'm so sorry to about your loss of Bonkers and Savannah's diagnosis. Yes, animals can and do grieve and show it in different ways. One sign of physical pain I know of that dogs will exhibit is panting. You mention having her on Tramadol and Rimadyl, talk to your vet and get her on Gabapentin too. I've thankfully never had one with OS, but from what I've read from others' experiences it has made the biggest difference in pain management. I do have one on it though for another pain related issue and it is very inexpensive.

[tbhounds]

I'm so sorry to about your loss of Bonkers and Savannah's diagnosis. Yes, animals can and do grieve and show it in different ways. One sign of physical pain I know of that dogs will exhibit is panting. You mention having her on Tramadol and Rimadyl, talk to your vet and get her on Gabapentin too. I've thankfully never had one with OS, but from what I've read from others' experiences it has made the biggest difference in pain management. I do have one on it though for another pain related issue and it is very inexpensive.

Good advice-definetly get her started on gabapentin. Sorry you are going through a bad patch-she's an incredibly beautiful girl. Spoil her rotten!

(Btw-check the thyroid on your kitty).

[Guest tricolorhounds]

Good advice-definetly get her started on gabapentin. Sorry you are going through a bad patch-she's an incredibly beautiful girl. Spoil her rotten!

(Btw-check the thyroid on your kitty).

Kitty has been on tapazole for a couple of years... we're increasing his dose again.

[dante2zoe]

I lost Dante to OS in June. I had no clue he had it until his leg broke. My 15 YO whippet was so lost without him that he declined rapidly (he had other health conditions) and died 3 weeks later. Zoe, the remaining girl of my original pack of 3, went into a tailspin. She was obviously depressed. She ate and took walks and did what was expected of her, but her zest for life (of which she had TONS) was gone. She laid around, usually in another room by herself, and rarely engaged with Goose and Maverick (bonded littermates). I brought home another grey a month after I lost Indy; a senior like Zoe. She was the deciding factor and met/approved him before I brought him home. That helped her tremendously and they bonded very quickly. I lost her 2.5 months after bringing Brady home. He was a mess - in less than a year, he had lost his original home and pack, was in a couple foster homes and then found a place where he was happy, only to lose his pack mate. Thankfully, 6 weeks later, he is coming out of it and has decided that I am not so bad after all.

 

So, in my experience, OS dogs can mask all kinds of pain (we had no swelling, no unusual limping (he had a corn on the same foot/leg) and no change in activity level) and dogs can become really depressed with the loss of a pack mate.

 

I am so very sorry you are going through all of this and hope things even out for you. Hugs to your beautiful girl.

[Charlies_Dad]

I am terribly sorry you and your sweet girl are going through this. I believe you can tell if your pup is either in pain or something is not right. If they start to act differently, then something is going on. For Osteo, it is very painful so getting ahead of any pain spikes and finding and keeping the right amount meds is key based on what I have read for those that went the palliative care route. I third the idea of Gabapentin, it can really help.

[Guest IrskasMom]

Savanah is so Beautiful :beatheart I am so sorry you are going through this . Hoping Things will ease up a bit.

[45MPHK9]

Lynnet, I'm so sorry that your beautiful Savannah is facing osteo. I agree that gabapentin is a great pain relief drug. It gave Bee Wiseman some relief for a while, but she left us eight weeks post diagnosis. She was quite stoic, but towards the end we noticed that she dragged her bad leg as she walked. She couldn't lift that leg anymore. That's when we knew it was time. We knew the meds (Gapapentin, Deramaxx, and Tramadol) weren't taking care of her pain. We let her go two days after seeing her drag that leg to spare her another day of pain.

 

Murray did mourn her loss. He was very clingy and stood at the door when Burke would leave for work in the morning. Murray was never a fan of going to work with Burke, but he didn't want to be alone. Our only solution to that issue was to adopt again. Holly came home about one month after Bee left.

 

Hugs to you and your gorgeous girl. Osteo is a cruel disease.

[Houndtime]

I am so sorry to read the diagnosis. Savannah is a beautiful girl. I can just wish her many pain free days to share with you. G-d bless.

[MP_the4pack]

I lost 3 of the original 4 pack in the last 2-3 yrs (all within a year starting Feb 2010). It has taken Opal almost the whole time to finally come back to her silly self. She is currently 8. It wasn't super noticeable as it occured, but recently I noticed her being more silly than usual, and thought that this is what she used to be like when I had Onyx, Pearl and Diamond.

 

So, they can grieve for a very long time.

[Guest BleuDog]

 

Just a possible tell-tale sign.....

 

My BleuDog, with OS, curled his toes when he was in pain...different feet, but I always knew when to up his pain meds, then no curled toes within 1/2 hour of more meds....He let me know when He was done playing the game of life....

 

Your Girl is BEAUTIFUL........

[cleptogrey]

yes, dogs do mourn. i have wittnessed it w/ both my welsh terrier and felix when emily lost her battle w/ osteo. both dogs looked as if they lost their best friend- which they did. willie stared at the floor. felix became more attached to me.

 

like 45MPHK9 it was a short battle- emily whinced a couple of times during the late summer when groomed, just went lame w/ her last good run on my bday that year- the very end of oct- and lost the battle the very 2nd of jan. i had requested that she be euthanized when she was under anestihesia for xrays in mid-dec if it was osteo. but i ended up using a refferal vet since my vet's xray machine was down and she would't do it. so, her pain was there,but she was one stoic girl. the middle of dec. the pain started to change, her muscle tone in her shoulder gone(that's where it was located) and her pain was unmanagable- of course just before new year's eve the decision was made. osteo/cancer stinks it's as simple as that.

Edited January 6, 2013 by cleptogrey

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

I agree with adding gabapentin. You may also be able to increase the amount of tramadol. I would also encourage you to find out the max dose and get the gabapentin now even if you don't start it. It always seems like a weekend or a nighttime when you suddenly need it.

[krissn333]

Ace is still mourning Pinky (we lost her November 19th). While the rest of our pack seems to have accepted the loss and moved on, Ace seems "off."

 

She eats and drinks and wags her tail, but not like she used to. It's most noticeable out in the yard. Ace and Pinky were playmates, and no one else plays with Ace. She seems to look for her a lot, she wants someone to chase her. She tries to entice Fritz, but, he will only play sometimes. Pinky was her shadow.

 

So, I'm sort of in the same boat and I don't have any advice there.

 

As far as pain, Sutra would pant if he was in pain, that was my best clue.

[Guest tricolorhounds]

Thank you for your replies...

 

I think what I was seeing was indeed grief. She has been a lot cheerier the last couple of days. Last Thursday we had to run some errands so we took her along for the ride. Getting to go out with us has always been one of her most favorite things, along with stopping at Starbucks for IceWater which of course we did also. We've been spoiling her as much as we can. It's still day to day as we watch the progression of horrible disease but we're hoping for many more... she is the Sunshine of my Life.

[MP_the4pack]

What about a playdate. Can you get one together with other greys? Do you have any that she particularly likes?

[TwiggysMom]

I don't have any additional advice, but I am so sorry for your loss of Bonkers and Savannah's osteo diagnosis. She is beautiful, and reminds me very much of one of my long-term fosters (who also had osteo).

 

I hope the med combo keeps her comfortable for a good while longer, and that she can move beyond her grief over Bonkers.

[Guest tricolorhounds]

Just a possible tell-tale sign.....

 

My BleuDog, with OS, curled his toes when he was in pain...different feet, but I always knew when to up his pain meds, then no curled toes within 1/2 hour of more meds....He let me know when He was done playing the game of life....

 

Your Girl is BEAUTIFUL........

I haven't noticed any curled toes yet but will keep my eyes open for it

[Guest tricolorhounds]

What about a playdate. Can you get one together with other greys? Do you have any that she particularly likes?

I'm afraid to let her get up and move around too much... it scares me to see her up and outside with her brothers even, I don't want anyone to bump into her.

 

Her best friends gone, Felicity, Copper and Bonkers. She is very close to our other female Tammy but they generally prefer to sleep next to each other rather than play.

[GeorgeofNE]

I'm SO sorry--

 

If she were mine, I would not let her live in pain even if she was "stoic" about it.

 

Hugs all around--