Your Thoughts?

[Guest saltwaterron]

took riley to the vet and she said her heart still sounds good. i am concerned (or paranoid) about changes i see. she sleeps til noon every day..interest in food has tapered off (not treats though)..walks are getting shorter..does not like the heat as in the past...has lost about 5 lbs over the last month or so. could this be that she's just getting older..a combination of getting older and heart problems...

[3greytjoys]

How old is Riley now? Are her walks in cool, early mornings? Great that her heart still sounds good.

 

Heat often plays a large role in Greyhound appetite and behavior. If our hounds don't finish meals, we taper off treats to encourage eating their higher nutrient dense meals.

 

Our seniors do slow down, and sleep a bit more as they age. Two of our elder hounds have laryngeal paralysis (paralyzed throat flaps), so they are very sensitive about being in heat. Heavy panting swells the throat which makes it harder for them to breathe easily. LP makes them sound hoarse. We're careful to seek shady walks, and only walk in very early AM or dusk. Pavement/sidewalks can retain heat in evenings so we're careful about that burning their paws too.

 

One of our younger hounds usually refuses food in the mornings. Food is then refrigerated until dinner meal.

Edited June 12, 2013 by 3greytjoys

[krissy]

If you're really worried then best bet is to have a cardiac ultrasound done, especially if she's had one before and you have a comparison.

[Guest saltwaterron]

How old is Riley now? Are her walks in cool, early mornings? Great that her heart still sounds good.

 

Heat often plays a large role in Greyhound appetite and behavior. If our hounds don't finish meals, we taper off treats to encourage eating their higher nutrient dense meals.

 

Our seniors do slow down, and sleep a bit more as they age. Two of our elder hounds have laryngeal paralysis (paralyzed throat flaps), so they are very sensitive about being in heat. Heavy panting swells the throat which makes it harder for them to breathe easily. LP makes them sound hoarse. We're careful to seek shady walks, and only walk in very early AM or dusk. Pavement/sidewalks can retain heat in evenings so we're careful about that burning their paws too.

 

One of our younger hounds usually refuses food in the mornings. Food is then refrigerated until dinner meal.

 

riley will be 8 in august. adopted her when she was 3

[3DogNite]

my boy lazer has heart issues stemming from PLN and just turned 7- I can tell his off days but he definitely has more good days. Heat definitely affects him.

if I can see he has several days in a row that he doesn't feel good I really start to worry and its not paranoia you can tell. I always evaluate the food, medication, supplements, and end up adjusting some little part of the equation on my own.

if you really feel that there's been a significant change absolutely goes into the vet angel and get their opinion.

you don't want to mess around with issues with the heart!

Good luck

Edited June 12, 2013 by 3DogNite

[Guest saltwaterron]

my boy lazer has heart issues stemming from PLN and just turned 7- I can tell his off days but he definitely has more good days. Heat definitely affects him.

if I can see he has several days in a row that he doesn't feel good I really start to worry and its not paranoia you can tell. I always evaluate the food, medication, supplements, and end up adjusting some little part of the equation on my own.

if you really feel that there's been a significant change absolutely goes into the vet angel and get their opinion.

you don't want to mess around with issues with the heart!

Good luck

riley was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy....x-rays showed an enlarged heart..echocardiogram confirmed.....vet seems to think she is doing well, 2 yrs after discovery. she also reminded me that her condition could change over night.

[Guest Doggone]

Autumn (7), suffers terribly from the heat, would like to sleep later, and doesn't eat until around noon! Otherwise, she's fine.

She only came to me this past March, so I have no idea if she has always been like this or whether it's just age. Our weather is already getting brutally hot, so I take her out very early, just after sunrise. The only reason she deigns to get up is because she loves walks, but as soon as we return, she goes right back to sleep!

If I have to go out, I'll prepare her breakfast and she'll eat it sometime before I return (12-1pm). As the day goes on, her appetite gets better, but that may be because other than going out in the yard for quick potty breaks, she's in the cool A/C.

If the vet hadn't given her a clean bill of health, I'd be more concerned, but I attribute her behavior to getting older.

[Guest saltwaterron]

Autumn (7), suffers terribly from the heat, would like to sleep later, and doesn't eat until around noon! Otherwise, she's fine.

She only came to me this past March, so I have no idea if she has always been like this or whether it's just age. Our weather is already getting brutally hot, so I take her out very early, just after sunrise. The only reason she deigns to get up is because she loves walks, but as soon as we return, she goes right back to sleep!

If I have to go out, I'll prepare her breakfast and she'll eat it sometime before I return (12-1pm). As the day goes on, her appetite gets better, but that may be because other than going out in the yard for quick potty breaks, she's in the cool A/C.

If the vet hadn't given her a clean bill of health, I'd be more concerned, but I attribute her behavior to getting older.

thanks for the insight. always good to hear that other "parents" are experiencing similar things with their "children".

[XTRAWLD]

We've had our boy since he was 2.5 and he's now 10 and I have to admit he's aging, and I don't like it. We told him to stop but he won't listen.

 

I've noticed over the past couple of years more sleeping, more food refusal, tougher to get up after resting, etc. I really do think a lot of it is the aging process. He can't go for the same walks like he used to....he'd walk to the end of the earth and back, no matter how tired he was when he was young. We take that into account now and never push him. We do try to avoid long walks in the heat, only quick bathroom breaks when it is hot. He's got his own fan to blow cool air on him. He also enjoys spending time in the basement where it is cooler than upstairs, however he will stay where we stay, and if we are upstairs, he eventually trots up there to join us, and we try to make him as comfortable as possible.

 

The weather has been unstable lately, cool one day blazing hot the next and I think it messes with their system a lot. Once it gets steady, you should be able to notice a bit better of a pattern.

 

Keeping Riley in our thoughts. Just keep monitoring her and enjoy every minute Senior years can still be some of the greatest years!

[vjgrey]

Lucy has been showing similar symptoms. While she's always gone through phases of picky eating, she'd stopped eating completely - treats included. She's ALWAYS loved her treats, so that was the last straw for me.

 

After ordering a blood test (normal) and urinalysis (waiting for results), her vet referred her to a speciality center to get an updated EKG (a cardiologist diagnosed her a year ago with a mild heart murmur) and abdominal ultrasound. That appointment is tomorrow. In the meantime, she gave her sub-dermal fluids and an appetite stimulant.

 

Edited to add - Lucy will be six next month.

Edited June 12, 2013 by vjgrey