Vet

[Guest makalataylor]

Hey everyone.

 

I am new, and just adopted a retired greyhound this past weekend. I am looking for information on Grey savvy vets near Valley, AL or within an hour of Atlanta, GA.

 

I am just concerned with finding a vet that is familiar with their blood levels and anesthesia requirements. Is there a chart, or information I can take to a local vet?

 

What would you recommend?

[KF_in_Georgia]

Someone will post a link for you about bloodwork values and stuff.

 

Valley is about 30 miles from Auburn's vet school, where they know greyhounds (literally) inside and out.

[Hubcitypam]

Here you go.
http://www.greythealth.com/
I have to say that "greyhound savvy" is often over-stressed by some in day to day care. When I started the group in Lubbock I was interviewing vets to work with on affordable adoption package prices. I made sure to dutifully drill them on anesthesia protocol. After encountering quite a few barely disguised rolled eyes one (mainly large animal) vet said "M'am, with all due respect - any vet that is unaware of anesthesia protocol for greyhounds has been under a rock for a decade or two".

Dr. Dunn at VCA in Dallas didn't have many greyhound patients thirteen years ago when I walked in with Dr. Stack's articles. He had an open mind and now is a preferred vet for GALT, the biggest group here. If you already have a good vet that you trust they can do their homework. For in depth care we usually ended up at the surgical specialty center anyway.

 

Our main vet came freshly minted from Ohio State and Dr. Cuto several years ago with a boatload of greyhound knowledge...but I have to say the two other vets that I use for second opinions, if one is overbooked, etc. both went to Oklahoma State (not known as a bastion of greyhound specialists) and they all three are always on the same page.

Edited July 26, 2016 by Hubcitypam

[KF_in_Georgia]

It's not so much anesthesia that's the issue with a vet that doesn't know greyhounds. But how many of us have had to explain a greyhound's thyroid numbers to our vet? Had our dogs diagnosed as having kidney disease because our dogs' numbers aren't the same as a lab's? How many of us have vets who see a limping greyhound and have "Corn" even cross their minds?

 

Shoot, I took my boy to a substitute vet one Tuesday when he was limping. They x-rayed, she diagnosed a soft-tissue injury (and didn't show me the x-rays), and I had to put him to sleep three days later because the osteo on new x-rays was obvious and he was in agony. She had been so busy confirming her preliminary diagnosis of soft-tissue injury (rather than a break) that it never occurred to her to look at the x-ray in terms of what was making him limp.

[GeorgeofNE]

What Hubcitypam said.

 

Adopted greyhound pets used to be somewhat of a novelty. They aren't anymore. You can ask Macoduck to send you one of her swell "greyhounds are different" cards, but beyond a few blood values that they might not have memorized, if a vet isn't aware of the differences in greyhounds, it's because they're willfully ignorant. Or specialize in cows and horses. My vet doesn't see a lot of greyhounds, but she's well aware that she needs to look at different values when evaluating their test results.

[philospher77]

And even blood values really aren't as much of an issue, because most vets send those out to labs, who run them on machines that have the values in them. I've gotten lab reports that actually say "high" with a note that it's an expected value for a greyhound. Anybody who uses that lab, or, as likely, the same machine as that lab, is going to get the same comment.

[tbhounds]

What Hubcitypam said.

 

Adopted greyhound pets used to be somewhat of a novelty. They aren't anymore. You can ask Macoduck to send you one of her swell "greyhounds are different" cards, but beyond a few blood values that they might not have memorized, if a vet isn't aware of the differences in greyhounds, it's because they're willfully ignorant. Or specialize in cows and horses. My vet doesn't see a lot of greyhounds, but she's well aware that she needs to look at different values when evaluating their test results.

I respectfully beg to differ. I work within the veterinary field and it's not common that I encounter veterinarians that lack the knowledge of gh idiosyncratic differences vs "other" breeds. Edited July 27, 2016 by tbhounds

[Hubcitypam]

I guess my mantra is "educate yourself to the best of your ability and find a vet that's open to being educated if you like them in general".

 

...and some mostly large animal vets have been very greyhound knowledgeable. Rex had his corns treated by three different vets that didn't bat an eye. Do ask Macoduck about her swell "greyhounds are different" cards...or print off Dr. Stack

[Guest makalataylor]

Update:

 

After calling around I have narrowed down to a few vets who have said they DO have experience in greyhounds. I am meeting with one clinic on the 5th to do a meet and greet and talk to them as well as do a general exam.

 

What would you recommend asking them to get a better feel of their knowledge of greys?

[MP_the4pack]

I would ask how many their office has seen, but go more on their attitude. Do they look willing to share or bothered by your questions?

[DocsDoctor]

I would ask how many their office has seen, but go more on their attitude. Do they look willing to share or bothered by your questions?

 

I would also go with how they handle your dog, and the general ambience. Are they welcoming? Is the vet gentle? Mine went to a lot of trouble to make my (initially nervous) greyhound more comfortable with vet visits. As he put it, 'I would much rather build his trust when he is well than when he is sick or injured'.