New Greyhound Adjustment

[Guest ParamagicFF]

Hello!

 

4 Days ago my lady and I became the parents of the sweetest greyhound in the world named Amber. Amber is just under two years old and came to us from a rescue agency after not being competitive enough to race at the track. We met several greyhounds at the agency a few weeks ago and she definitely picked us. She came up to us and snuggled and stayed by our side the entire time we met other dogs so we knew she was the one. Since she's come to our home, she has been incredibly sweet, laid back, calm and friendly. She is still hesitant with stairs and needs help coming down (we have two sets she must climb), but is otherwise adapting well!

 

However this afternoon she seems to be unwell. She was in her crate for about 2 hours while I was running an errand and initially when I came back she appeared fine. We went for a walk, she went potty, but became ill when we came back in. She vomited a large volume of mostly digested food, followed by 3 more smaller episodes of vomiting over the next several hours and one more large episode. She has also lost the desire to play, eat treats or dinner. She went for one more walk but on it she just kept flopping down on the ground and laying down. Could this be from stress due to the separation earlier? We've been doing alone training in her crate without any negative reactions from her, however this was the first extended period of her being alone.

 

Help! We love our sweet girl and want to make sure this is just a temporary phase because of adjustment. I know that's a wall of text and I appreciate all who take the time to read!

 

-Steven

[Guest DogNewbie]

Have you called your vet or adoption group?

[MaryJane]

Greyhounds can get stressed out when they are new to a home. The routines are different, the people are different, and the place where they sleep is different. All this can cause uncertainty in a new greyhound. Vomiting once might not be very concerning but, vomiting multiple times along with not wanting to walk could be a signal that there is something else going on. Was it hot where you are - greyhounds do not do well in the humidity and heat and they can get overheated and if this happens, would require medical intervention - is she panting?

 

One of the symptoms of bloat (torsion) is vomiting and doing neck stretching and there may be some extension of the abdominal area. This would also require quick medical intervention.

 

edited to add -- there is also a canine flu going around so it would be helpful if you identified where you are located.

Edited May 26, 2015 by MaryJane

[bradymom]

This is what I would do, I am sure others will have other ideas.

• Vet visit. When I adopted Brady a wellness visit was required.

`What is worrisome to me is that Amber laid down on her last walk, I am wondering if she is in pain (I am not a vet).

• Dog Food. How much are you feeding her and are you feeding the same food as the group you adopted her from?
  How many cups and kind.
• Could she have eaten or swallowed something she should not like a toy or small object.

 

Brady is a tennis ball hoarder and he chews so hard that he breaks the balls. When I first adopted him he swallowed a half ball without my knowing. Saw fuzzy things in his poop, could not figure out what it was and then a day later he vomited it up. I was very lucky and learned that as soon as he punctures a tennis ball it is mine.

 

• I would shorten her walks and activities until her tummy settles and really check her poops for firmness and if you see any foreign objects.
• Most importantly make sure that she drinks, check her gums for color, you can gently gums and see how long it takes for print to disappear. I don't know where you are but with the heat of summer, humidity and her vomiting I would be concerned about dehydration.
• I would not feed her anything tonight or in the morning to give her tummy time to recover and then I would feed boiled skinless chicken and rice or pasta tomorrow night.

Congratulations and welcome to GT... Cant wait to see pictures..

 

Debbie

[Guest ParamagicFF]

I did call the adoption agency and the director told me about the warning signs to look for and tips for assessing her condition. We are new pet owners so do not have an established vet, we had planned to make phone calls tomorrow to schedule our first check up. We live in central Virginia. Although it was warm today, our walks have been short. She has not been panting and has had plenty of water to drink. Her gums have good color and her capillary refill time is good. There is no neck stretching or abdominal distention. She did not withdraw in pain with pressure to the abdomen. Although sleepy, she is alert to her name being called. She will sit her head up and her ears are on patrol. It's not that she can't get up and do things, just seems like shes not interested in doing things.

 

After calling the adoption group I am more reassured that this could be stress related, but still want opinions from experienced greyhound owners if any of you have seen delayed SA symptoms such as this.

 

-We did not feed her the same thing she ate at the rescue. We are feeding her Iams in the green bag (we read these forums before we joined). We feed her two cups in the AM, and two cups in the evening. Both times some water is added to soften the food as directed by the adoption group.

-She has also had some greenies dental treats and peanut butter in her Kong. Both of which she has had since being with us.

-Her stools had been great, though on her last one today there was a small amount of loose stool at the end.

-This morning she did chew a video game controlled cord in half. There were no missing pieces, I would be highly surprised if she swallowed anything.

 

Thanks for all the input so far and I welcome more. We plan to be active on this community so you will definitely get pics!

 

-Steven

Edited May 27, 2015 by ParamagicFF

[Time4ANap]

4 Cups daily may be too much food if she is on the smaller side. If that's the case, it may be a tummy ache.

 

Our 80 lb + boy eats less than 4 cups of a different food daily. If you know what her weight is, double check the IAMS bag and make sure of the amount she should have daily. Her racing weight should be listed on Greyhound Data so you can get some idea of her weight there.

 

I'm basing this guess on the females typically being much smaller than males, especially if just off the track near racing weight.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

i would hold off on the Greenies. They can be hard on the stomach, esp. if she is already feeling sick.

[Guest ParamagicFF]

i would hold off on the Greenies. They can be hard on the stomach, esp. if she is already feeling sick.

 

I never knew that, thanks! Maybe we should break them in half or something? My girlfriend's mom swears by them so we got them too. Should they be more of a weekly thing instead of daily?

 

4 Cups daily may be too much food if she is on the smaller side. If that's the case, it may be a tummy ache.

 

Our 80 lb + boy eats less than 4 cups of a different food daily. If you know what her weight is, double check the IAMS bag and make sure of the amount she should have daily. Her racing weight should be listed on Greyhound Data so you can get some idea of her weight there.

 

I'm basing this guess on the females typically being much smaller than males, especially if just off the track near racing weight.

 

I will double check the bag. She is definitely a smaller female, so I may have been a little generous with the food. That coupled with a steady stream of treats for stair training and some PB could be the cause. Maybe it just took a few days of eating extra for it to bother her tummy?

 

I think we're going to hold off on breakfast tomorrow, but put a small amount of frozen PB in her kong tomorrow and see how she does. Unfortunately she has to be crated during the daytime about 7-8 days a month so we've been trying to prepare her for it with the alone training. I work as a Firefighter and am gone for 24 hours every 3rd day, and when that day lands Monday through Friday she has to be crated until me girlfriend gets home from work. Fortunately we have a friend who will be walking her in the middle of the day on those days. I hate leaving her feeling sick tomorrow! Amber has definitely stolen our hearts very quickly.

 

-Steven

[Time4ANap]

I just looked at the IAMS web page. The various "green bags" have different feeding instructions each, but depending which variation you are feeding, she may be getting 1- 2 cups too much food per day if she is the typical 50 - 60 lb female. Add the Greenies and Peanut butter on top of that, and my guess is she is having some tummy distress.

 

If she ate dinner, it sounds like a good portion of it came up. If she is hungry in the morning but stil showing the symptoms you noted, I would feed some bland food. Search "bland diet" here on GT. There are variations, but it is usually boiled chicken and over-cooked rice or over-cooked pasta mixed together.

 

You may even be able to fast her for breakfast, and start her back on several much smaller portions of the kibble starting in the afternoon and evening" 1/2 cup lunch, 1/2 cup dinner then return to normal feeding the next day. If there is no apparent distress in the morning, I would probably go back to the kibble. No treats until her other symptoms resolve.

 

Good luck. Hope this helps.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

I learned about greenies being hard on the tummy the hard way--with a grey with a sensitive tummy. My vet told me to stay away from them for her. I would think one or two per week would probably be okay, but I would get a basic, biscuit type treat for general use. I get "Blue Dog" treatsfor my pups, but they are locally made and probably aren't available where you are.

 

Also, when you are rewarding her for doing something, you don't need to give a big treat. For dogs it is the number that seems to count, not the size of the treat. A 1/4 sq in treat is just as good as a 1 sq in treat (and easier on the pocket book). Small pieces of cheese work well or you can buy "training" treats.

[MaryJane]

I would not fast her as the empty tummy can cause her to vomit bile especially if she gets stressed. Give her a small amount of food.

[GeorgeofNE]

If you're a new dog owner, you really shouldn't take the wait and see route when a dog goes from seemingly perfectly fine to vomiting multiple times. You need to take a sick dog to the vet.

 

The behavior you're describing is not a normal "uncomplicated vomit." She could have ingested something when you weren't looking. She could have a raging case of worms. It need not be complicated finding a vet. Ask a neighbor, as the adoption group. I'm sure there are many good vets near you. Hopefully by the time you read this she's feeling much better, but if she were my dog, I'd have taken her in already.

[Guest ParamagicFF]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Amber woke up spry as ever to the sound of my alarm this morning with happy snuggles! We fed her a small serving of food and she evacuated without difficulty this morning. She even took the stairs better than she has been. She seemed to be back to 100%.

 

I believe when I was told to feed her two cups of food, the person must have meant over the course of the day. I misunderstood as I told them I would be feeding her twice a day.

[NeylasMom]

2 cups twice a day is about what I'd feed an active male, a female would get closer to 1 1/2 cups 2x/day, but it's really difficult to give any prescribed amount since it depends on the food you're feeding, how many other treats and snacks she's getting and how active you both are. The best thing to do is look at how she looks (you should see tips of her hip bones and a faint outline of 2-3 ribs) and how her stool is.

 

I would not feed Greenies btw. They can cause impactions and other less serious digestive issues. Bully sticks and Himalayan chews are my preferred options for giving the dogs something to chew on, with the added bonus that they last much longer.

 

On that note, I would continue to watch your girl closely. I wouldn't rule out something being in her stomach that she needs to get out. I've seen several dogs eat large inappropriate items (a pair of gloves in one case, the top third of a large kong swallowed whole in another) that didn't make a reappearance until about 2 months post ingestion, with both dogs having periods of digestive upset on and off during that time.

[bradymom]

I am so glad Amber is back to her affectionate self!

[Time4ANap]

Good to hear that she is better. Sounds like the Greenies combined with a little too much food had her tummy upset from everything you posted.

[GreytTerp]

Glad to hear Amber is feeling better! We can't do any of the dental treats with our guy, as he doesn't chew them, and they do not seem to break down in his stomach...and they just get vomited back up. We also do IAMS green bag, but we do 3 cups per day total for our 74 lb male. I know I don't feel great when I eat too much, and I'd imagine our dogs can feel the same way! I'll also second the possibility of something foreign bobbing around in her stomach. Our guy unknowingly (at least to us and our vet and the x-ray machine) ingested 3 squeakers, which remained in his stomach for almost 4 months before he finally vomited 2 of them up and passed the 3rd. He was throwing up almost regularly, but it was on an empty stomach and bileous in his case. Worms are not at all uncommon, and it can take several rounds of deworming to get them all. Hope Amber continues to feel happy and spry in her new home with you!

[Guest ParamagicFF]

Thanks for all of the support! We are very lucky to have found a community that is as much about being a good dog parent as we want to be! Amber still seems to be feeling well and is behaving sweetly. It even seems like she is settling in a bit better as she seems a little more curious around the house. I believe it was definitely an over feeding issue. We're scaling back to 1 cup at each meal (twice a day) and scaling back on the treats. On that note, are there any treats you all would suggest that are widely available? Are pieces of milk bone and the like acceptable to mix with PB for her Kong? Are there any good Dental treats or chewy treats that are easy on the belly?

[grey8greys]

2 cups twice a day is about what I'd feed an active male, a female would get closer to 1 1/2 cups 2x/day, but it's really difficult to give any prescribed amount since it depends on the food you're feeding, how many other treats and snacks she's getting and how active you both are. The best thing to do is look at how she looks (you should see tips of her hip bones and a faint outline of 2-3 ribs) and how her stool is.

 

I would not feed Greenies btw. They can cause impactions and other less serious digestive issues. Bully sticks and Himalayan chews are my preferred options for giving the dogs something to chew on, with the added bonus that they last much longer.

 

 

 

On that note, I would continue to watch your girl closely. I wouldn't rule out something being in her stomach that she needs to get out. I've seen several dogs eat large inappropriate items (a pair of gloves in one case, the top third of a large kong swallowed whole in another) that didn't make a reappearance until about 2 months post ingestion, with both dogs having periods of digestive upset on and off during that time.

Edited May 29, 2015 by grey8greys

[grey8greys]

I was trying to qoute the post above but couldn't. Please do not feed Himalayan treats, dogfoodadvisor.com just posted a recall on these treats.

[NeylasMom]

I was trying to qoute the post above but couldn't. Please do not feed Himalayan treats, dogfoodadvisor.com just posted a recall on these treats.

It appears to be only one specific Petsmart lot:

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recall/himalayan-dog-chews-recall/

 

May be worth waiting a bit to make sure that's it, but I wouldn't cross them off the list permanently.

[GreytTerp]

We use the small dog Milkbones as little quick treats for when we babygate our guy to leave the house. He has some larger crunchy bones with hip and joint supplements. We've always liked the Trader Joe's biscuits.

 

As for dental treats, Hill's makes a T/D diet, where the pieces are large (it's actually food), but our vet had us using the pieces as individual treats. Our vet has since switched to a Royal Canine version of the same dental diet. They apparently have some texture that will work like dental floss (who knows for sure), but they are fully crunchable, and our guy tolerated them well as treats. You can get a big bag and keep it in the freezer to last a long time.

 

A third alternative that I do is to make some homemade dog biscuits, usually something easy in ball-form or smashable with a fork. I keep them in the freezer and just take out a handful or so at a time to keep in the fridge. I'm happy to share recipes for anyone interested

[Feisty49]

I was trying to qoute the post above but couldn't. Please do not feed Himalayan treats, dogfoodadvisor.com just posted a recall on these treats.

 

Want to toss out that while I don't know anything about this recall, I don't trust dogfoodadvisor.com regarding its rating of dog foods. The man who rates the food is a dentist, and though he claims assistance from people who have more animal-like credentials, personally, I think he's full of himself and his own words.

 

Feeding too much peanut butter can be an issue for some dogs and it's loaded with calories.

 

My girl Annie weighs 65-66 pounds. She's tall and long. She also puts on weight easily so I am conscious of calories. She is fed just under 1.5 cups of food twice a day plus a few treats. Except for Milk Bones, which I buy in the large size and let her have half of one once or twice a day, she gets Mother Hubbard's small-dog treats, which I break in half, or Nutro's itsy bitsy treats. She rather have 6 real small pieces so she can "find it" more often than 3 bigger ones, or at least that's what I tell myself. LOL She also gets about a tablespoon of peanut butter when she takes her pain pill. PB helps everything go down, don't 'cha know.

 

Isn't it wonderful when they pick you? Most if not all of us have had this experience at one time or another, and there's no way to ignore that pull. BTW, we need pictures of your pretty girl.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Feisty49

[Guest ParamagicFF]

Here is a picture I snapped of Amber after I got home from work this morning and had a fun play session with her. She has done wonderfully since the little scare the other day and has experienced many new things since then! Looks like she's ready to finish the weekend off right though!

 

[Feisty49]

She's beautiful....and yup, is doing it right.