What To Ask At The Vet

[Booker_Aye]

This morning Henry the AKC Hound started limping on his right rear leg. He was fine when he went to sleep last night, and at first I thought he might have injured his leg jumping out of bed. But in my experience with my diva hounds, after a limp or two they are fine. Henry has still not put weight on that leg after two walks today, so I scheduled a vet's appointment for him in the morning. My vet is good, but not particularly greyhound savvy. What should she be looking for? Naturally what I fear most is that Henry might have pain due to osteo...

[a_daerr]

AKC hounds do not have a high prevalence of osteo, like the retired racers do. But of course, there is always a possibility it could be anything. My bet is a sprain or soft tissue injury. I'd probably ask for an x-ray and anti-inflammatories/pain meds.

[Booker_Aye]

Oh, I am so glad to hear that! Thank you! I will definitely sleep better tonight.

 

I have Metacam at home from a previous incident with one of the hounds. I called the vet, and they said Henry could have it tonight with his dinner, so hopefully that will help him a bit.

[a_daerr]

Feel better soon, Henry.

[Booker_Aye]

Thanks! I wish I were at home already so that I could give him his pain med, poor doggie. He is just as cheerful and boisterous as ever, though.

[vjgrey]

I'd definitely get X-rays. They shouldn't be expensive (paid less than $200 for Diamond's here in DC last week), will hopefully give you peace of mind and may help with a diagnosis.

[Booker_Aye]

Well, I feel like the world's biggest idiot, and a neglectful parent, to boot. On Monday night (the night before Henry pulled up lame) I found that he was bleeding from rear right leg when I saw splotches of blood on the floor. So I wahed the affected foot and applied pressure until the bleeding stopped, and promptly forgot about it completely. So there I am this morning, tell the vet that I have NO IDEA what could have happened. She checks his leg from foot to hip, manipoulating all of his joints, and worried because the Metacam from the nighyt before didn't assuage his pain. But Henry is perfecttly fine with her manipulati0ons and doesn't mind anything that she is doing. Then she starts to examine his paw, and sees the cut in his pad from Monday night. It is a deep slice, and it is really badly infected -- it even smells terrible, which is what led her to it. And she tells me that these heal better if they are seen IMMEDIATELY for surgery, which is not appropriate at this point. So imagine how I felt! Henry got his foot cleaned, had a laser treatment which will hopefully improve his ability to granulate, and then the foot was packed with antibiotics and wrapped in a lovely tiger stripe vet wrap that matches his tiger collar. He also got an antibiotic injection and will be taking Metacam for 4-5 days at night, and an antibiotic in the morning. Thy wanted to see him again tomorrow, but it was not possible for me, so it will have to be Friday morning, when I can punt my caseload. And Henry was SUCH a good patient. Now he is home, wearing a BiteNot collar, just in case he thought of licking or deconstructing his bandage whiloe I am away, and he cannot get the bandage wet, so he has a medipaw with a tie and velcros at the wrist and knee for when he goes out in the yard; no walks with Kimba and Fred. Henry is being so good, and I feel like a true moron. A forgetful moron.

 

To make matters worse, while we were at the vet, a couple came in with a little brindle girl, so very, very thin, that I thought she must have just been rescued. But it turned out that I knew these people, and I knew that greyhound. It was meeting her, Gracie, and her brother greyhound Ace, that introduced me to the wonderful world of greyhounds in 2004, I believe; had I not met Ace and Gracie, I would never have known what wonderful companions greys can be. Gracie, who was now 14 years old, had come to the vet for her last journey. Her mom and I shared a heartful hug; Gracie's beautiful big brown eyes were so gentle and sweet, and I was in tears. Go in peace, beautiful Gracie girl.

[Charlies_Dad]

I am glad that it was nothing really serious for Henry! Hope his foot heals quickly.

 

I'm sorry to read about Gracie's passing. So very sad when they leave us no matter the age.

[4My2Greys]

Reading about Gracie made me so sad for her family.

[EllenEveBaz]

How comforting it must have been for Gracie's family to see you with one of your hounds, and know that Gracie helped in your first introduction to greys.

 

Hoping that Henry heals quickly. Most of us have made worse mistakes.