Something's going on with Milo

[ramonaghan]

Great update! 

[Johnfar]

It's good to read that Milo has got over that dental work and is eating OK again. My Peggy lost half of her teeth in two sessions over the last 3 years and although it was initially horrific, recovery was quick.  Her digestive system had become weak since a major parasitic infection a few years ago and antibiotics always brought the 'runny poo' back. But feeding the Canine Prime supplement brought her system back to working better than ever this year. It was sad that it couldn't do much towards helping the arthritis and myelopathy, though perhaps it did give her a few more months. I think we have to try to see through the stoicism or our dogs when suffering dental issues and fix them just as soon as we can. 

 

[Remolacha]

  Glad Milo is feeling better! I have always fed my dogs raw, but the last year or so Val’s digestive system got (even more) sensitive so I switched her to a lightly cooked version. It cost approximately its own weight in gold, but it worked. Something to be aware of if you are feeding all raw, greyhounds need more food than the amount they list on the package. This shouldn’t be a problem if you are feeding some raw and some kibble or canned.

[Time4ANap]

Awesome news! Now he can get back to doing "Milo things." 

[EllenEveBaz]

Didn't eat much last night in several offerings, and spent hours outside.  Sigh.  Ate all of a small breakfast this morning.  

[ramonaghan]

 Have you tried Purina's Bright Mind formula? I know people on the forum have had good results with it and there are lots of positive reviews about it turning around initial signs of canine cognitive impairment (if that's what this is). Might be a reasonable stopgap measure until you can have him seen and potentially start meds.

[EllenEveBaz]

Milo had a follow-up vet visit two days ago.  Tooth extraction sites and gum infection site looked all clear.  But his lymphocytes are still elevated, and now his neutrophils (sp?), another of the white cell group, has gone way up.  So he still has an infection/inflammation somewhere.  Difficulty moving right hip also increased significantly.

Negative on the tick-borne disease test.  X-rays of about everything show nothing abnormal.  I've made arrangements for a Dr Couto consult, so I hope we'll get some suggestions in the next few days.

He continues with decreased appetite, but he eats enough treats to maintain his weight.  Still spending a lot of time outdoors.

And at 3 a.m. this morning he fell trying to climb up on my bed.    He stayed in a modified frog position even as I was dragging him with a towel over to a dogbed.  After 45 minutes of not moving at all, he got up with no particular difficulty and is walking with no limp.  But he only ate half of his breakfast.  

All good thoughts for my stoic boy would be appreciated.  

[macoduck]

Milo

When of mine is going through a picky eater spell, I add a teaspoon of Composure Max. Not made to be an appetite stimulant but it does help encourage them to eat. I use the liquid. It does not have to be refrigerated.

https://www.chewy.com/vetriscience-composure-liquid-calming/dp/48692

[FiveRoooooers]

 

[ramonaghan]

So sorry his troubles are continuing. I hope Dr. Couto will help you get to the bottom of this. Many hugs and best thoughts to you and Milo.

[Remolacha]

  So scary and frustrating to not know what is going on. 

[Time4ANap]

All paws crossed here that Dr. Cooltoes will get to the bottom of things and Milo will be back to his old self. him, 

As far as lifting him, I know there are harnesses and other assist devices and sometimes a towel works just fine. We bought a lift sling with handles that just wraps and the belly and  lets you help them up easily.  The wood handles really seem to help as opposed to nylon straps like most device have.  Unfortunately, the site that makes the sling is offline for a month. I'm assuming they are away and can't fill orders since they have a return to work date on their site. If you find you need some type of sling in the future, this one works really well and is made by a small business. Really nice people there. https://flyingpaws.biz/product/large-lift/#

Edited October 6, 2022 by Time4ANap
typos

[MerseyGrey]

Sending good thoughts and best wishes your way. They are a worry when they are being enigmatic

[macoduck]

I've used a fabric shopping bag and just scissor sides. Not padded but you can place a folded towel in it for comfort.

[FiveRoooooers]

Ellen, a sweatshirt can make a great sling. Fold it in half lengthwise and use the arms as handles. Until I got the Help 'Em Up harness, this is what I used for the campers and it worked very well. 

How is Milo today? 

[EllenEveBaz]

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I have Nutmeg's custom harness that she wore 24/7 the last months of her life, and luckily she was a tall female and Milo a small male.  It's a tiny bit snug around his more barrel-shaped ribcage.  He's not objecting to it but I may need something adjustable.

I do have an adjustable bed for me, and the foot has been elevated an inch or so and the head elevated a lot.  Milo previously figured out that it's lower in the middle, and the last few weeks he has been getting on from that angle.  But there's no rugs on the sides of the bed, and he evidently couldn't get enough traction when he fell.  There is a dogbed at the foot of my bed.  Last night I heard running footsteps, and Milo came thundering into the bedroom, a look of grim determination on his face, He ran onto the dogbed, made a mighty leap, and WHOMP!  onto my bed.  He evidently realized he needed secure footing for the launch.  He then proceeded to get off/on the bed via this method at least 3 more times during the night. 

(I also lowered the foot of the bed after the crash.  Not good for my knees, but better than a splayed-out hound.)  

[LBass]

Milo's brain worked that traction puzzle out for him. I hope Dr. Couto has some insight to offer.

 

[Remolacha]

Clever Milo! Can you put a small non slip rug by one side of your bed?

[cleptogrey]

bright minds is excellent- a good cheap solution, give it a try

fingers crossed that he is just having a reaction as many geriatrics do when they have an infection. it can bring on the symptoms of dimentia. let's see if modern antibiotics can do the trick. thinking KISS solutions.

cheaper than rugs is the non-skid rubber gridded matting used under rugs. a friend used it for her borzoi when he was having neuro deterioration. it works well- you need NOT to walk on it with rubber soled shoes or you will trip. just tape it down in place. 

sending s

 

[EllenEveBaz]

We are waiting for test results on the lymphocytes to see if it's a cancer.  If not, we start exploring mystery infections.  See Dr Couto's explanation below:

Quote

I would focus on Milo’s lymphocytosis (high lymphocyte count) first, since the neutrophilia (high neutrophil count) is likely secondary to whatever is causing the lymphocytosis.There are 2 main mechanisms that cause increases in lymphocytes: 1) reactive lymphocytosis occurs when the lymphocytes, main cells in the immune system, react to antigenic stimulation e.g.; (infection, immune-mediated - also sometimes referred to as "autoimmune” diseases); and 2) neoplastic lymphocytosis, when the lymphocytes in the blood are all from the same family. Some of the neoplasttic diseases that result in lymphocytosis are very easy to manage; at the top of the list is chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the only :”good” leukemia, that with proper management rarely affects the patient’s lifespan and quality of life. Others are more aggressive (lymphoma) and require more intensive treatment. 

The easiest first step is to send a blood sample to IDEXX for immunophenotyping; that will tell us if the lymphocytes are from several “families" (reactive) or from the same (neoplastic). If the former, a more thorough search for infectious disease (FUO panel) should be the next step. 

His globulin is a bit high for a Greyhound, but lurchers have so many genetic traits that it is hard to assess it. However, it did go up a little bit since August. This can also be due to infectious/inflammatory diseases, or to lymphoid neoplasia (CLL Vs lymphoma); a serum protein electrophoresis should help sort these out (i.e.e; monoclonal Vs polyclonal).

Finally, with his behavior, it may be worth consulting with a neurologist after the test results come back. Some of the diseases I listed can cause neurologic issues.

In related news:  Milo has gone on kibble strike.  3 open bags of kibble in the house and he won't eat any  of them.  I avoid small rugs because of my own mobility problems.  Milo has adapted and is continuing to access the human bed from the dogbed at its foot as long as I keep the human bed in a lower position.  I'll deal with the behavioral issues when we start to get answers on the medical ones.  Right now, I'm going with he isolates himself when he feels crappy.  

And The Mighty Hunter caught his 2nd rabbit in 3 weeks this morning.  

[ramonaghan]

Ellen.  Mystery illnesses are the worst. I'm going to be cautiously optimistic based on Dr. C's reply (he is just the best, isn't he?) and hope it's one of the easier-to-manage possibilities. As Chris said upthread, infections can cause cognitive issues—my mom gave us a good scare a couple of months ago for what turned out to be a UTI. Her own mother had dementia, so when she started having episodes of confusion we were all worried. It was just the UTI.

Sorry for the rabbit but glad Milo is at least feeling enough like hisownself to still hunt. All good thoughts coming your way.

[FiveRoooooers]

Ellen   So glad you have Dr C on Milo's case.

I've had luck getting kibble into campers after pulverizing it and mixing with something they find interesting, at the moment, e.g. Boost, vanilla ice cream, canned hound food (puppy offers additional calories), canned tuna, cottage cheese, yogurt, scrambled eggs, low sodium broth, anything that can serve as a vehicle for mixing. 

[palmettobug]

Johnny would eat coleslaw and sauerkraut, so another possibility! 

[Jerilyn]

I hope you're able to find out what's going on so you can start on a treatment path so Milo feels better.

Has he gone off the Rawbble too? We are so conditioned to feed our dogs kibble, and it is so easy and affordable, it's hard to move away from it. But what's most important is that he's eating. Wiki is still loving the Stella & Chewy's raw patties. And she thinks that cheap, gross canned food are the best thing ever (Pedigree and Puppy Chow). For the last 18 months or so of her life Lila just ate chicken breast and egg noodles and did just fine on it.

Hang in there!

[EllenEveBaz]

Yes, he's gone off the Rawbble, too.  I'll dig out my food processor and start whirring.

 

Quote

Johnny would eat coleslaw and sauerkraut, so another possibility!

You can tell that boy was from South Carolina!  When I lived in SC for a while, I noticed a lot of people put sauerkraut on their hot dogs.  Johnny was just applying it internally.