Summit has thankfully continued to improve over the past few weeks. The original post can be found here and details everything from the initial onset of clinical signs until 2 weeks post op. As a refresher, Summit had spinal surgery after herniating a disc and was completely paralyzed following the surgery. In the first 2 weeks we left off with him being able to move his legs and sort of crawl around on his belly, but unable to stand.
During the initial few weeks following surgery I was coming home on my lunch break to care for Summit. His urinary catheter needed to be cleaned and the bag emptied of accumulated urine. He had mid-day medications for the first week that needed to be given. He also needed to do his rehab exercises, which were mostly passive range of motion and helping him to stand. One day, not long after I first posted about his surgery, I came home at lunch to find this:
Surprise mom! I can get up on the couch all by myself!
I think I almost cried I was so so happy and shocked. Then, while I was outside with the girls, he somehow got down off the couch by himself. And from that point forward we would find him on or off the couch as he pleased.
A few days after that he managed to stand up all by himself. A few days after that he pulled out his urinary catheter, which meant I had to either put in a new one or start taking him outside. I laid out some carpet runners to our front door and helped him out. Though, what I discovered was that it was better to let him do it himself and just stay nearby in case he needed to be caught. If I was trying to help and support him he just stopped trying and would just stand there. Stubborn, independent hounds!
We are now 6 weeks post op. The first 6 weeks is when the majority of improvement happens. Some improvement still continues after this point, but it's all minor. Thankfully, Summit is back up on his feet and is neurologically pretty close to normal. He is still building his muscle and strength back, which seems to be the majority of his residual problem. We will continue with rehab and encouraging activity to regain the muscle. I don't think words can describe just how relieved and thankful I am to still have this special boy in my life. At 11, unfortunately it may not be for much longer, but every day is a gift that I treasure.
On May 5th, Summit turned 11 years old. That morning he suffered a herniation of a disc in his neck, known as intervertebral disc disease (IVDD). For a few weeks prior he had been exhibiting occasional neck pain - manifesting when he turned his head to the right - but on this morning there was extreme pain and a root signature. A root signature is the medical terminology for a dog holding its front paw up when it is caused by compression of the nerve root (where it exits the spinal cord).
The following day we had an appointment at the local referral centre for a CT scan to confirm the suspected diagnosis and surgery to follow. There are different degrees of severity with IVDD, ranging from just mild pain all the way to complete paralysis. Summit was in the lower mid range of that scale as his pain was more serious and he had the root signature, however he was otherwise neurologically quite normal. The CT is used to identify the exact disc that has herniated, in Summit's case it was C4-5, so that the surgeon knows where she is going. The surgery involves making a window in the vertebral bone and carefully scooping out the herniated disc material that is compressing the spinal cord and nerve roots. Since Summit was neurologically normal prior to surgery, he was expected to be fairly normal after, though some dogs do experience a little bit of a set back.
It was a huge blow then, when he recovered from the anesthetic, to realize that he was completely paralyzed in all 4 limbs. The only thing he could do was lift his head. I spent several hours at the hospital with him that first night, as I was very upset and concerned that after putting him through all this I may have to euthanize him. The staff also couldn't get him to eat or drink, so I fed him while I was there. His run was a little cozy for the two of us, but we got snuggled in together on all his blankets and snoozed together, had some snacks, and listened to some music. I was too upset to really be able to document any of it. I took a couple photos, but no videos.
That night I drove home in tears, and when I got there the girls both met me at the garage door which caused me to burst into hysterical tears. I was so inconsolable that my boyfriend, who hadn't seen Summit since before surgery, thought he must have passed away. I guess in that particular moment, to me it was almost one and the same. After all, how do you care for a quadraplegic 30 kg dog long term?
The next morning he didn't seem any better (it was the weekend, and I decided to go twice daily in order to feed him), which was demoralizing. After talking with his surgeon, we decided to start him on steroids to see if that would help the inflammation that might be causing some of the paralysis. The difference between that morning and the evening was immense, in very small ways as is the case with neurologic cases. I arrived that evening and noticed that he had some tone in his tail. In the morning I had noted that his tail was completely limp, like a noodle. I also found that he had some reflexes in his back legs. He still couldn't really move anything voluntarily, but I was really heartened to see some improvement. It was probably the best Mother's Day gift I could have gotten, considering the circumstances.
Mother's day in the hospital with my best boy.
The next day I stopped by in the afternoon, with the plan to take him home later that night, and found that he had some voluntary movement in both front and back legs. Squishing into the run with him, if I was laying on his leg he would try to pull it away. He also was shifting himself around a little, trying to get comfortable. He was eating for the technicians, though they commented that he seemed a lot less depressed when I was visiting. That evening, two technicians carried him out to my truck using a special "Help Em Up" harness, and I took him home. At this point he was still unable to really move, still had a urinary catheter in (because back to the question of caring for a 30 kg quadraplegic, carrying him outside multiple times a day would have been incredibly difficult and probably uncomfortable for him), was on 3 or 4 different medications, and needed to be flipped from one side to the other at least 4 times daily to prevent pressure sores. But, the benefit of being a vet and having another person in the home to help, was that at least I could bring him home where he belonged.
A "cake pawp" I bought in Toronto for his birthday.
Home at last. I think he looks pretty happy about it.
The next morning I got a welcome surprise and a heart attack at the same time, when we woke up to find Summit sitting up in sternal, on the opposite side to the one we'd put him in the night before, but on the bare hardwood floor.
The morning after coming home, able to hold sternal position for the first time.
After that experience we turned the living room floor into a sea of dog beds so he could just flop from one bed to another. It worked for the most part, though we did sometimes still find him in the gap between beds, or half on the hardwood. This especially seemed to happen when he pooped as he'd try his hardest to get away from it, usually to his detriment because he would not only end up on the hardwood, but also covered in poop as a result of his uncoordinated flailing.
A sea of dog beds
A week or so later we started to notice him watching us longingly whenever we would head to the backyard with the girls, so we found a quiet evening and carried him out to enjoy it with us.
We also started to see him sleeping in more normal positions, like the one below. It may not seem like much, but a few weeks ago he couldn't even curl his legs into this pretzel position.
The rest is still to be determined. He is making great progress but there's a long way to go yet. The majority of the improvement happens within the first 6 weeks after surgery, so we have a few more yet to go before we know exactly how much better he's going to get. Here's a video so far:
A few weeks ago Summit had surgery to remove a lump that was growing on his anus. I had noticed it a few weeks prior and taken a needle biopsy of it, which indicated that it was likely benign. However, given the location I elected to try to remove it in case it continued to grow... small lumps are easier to take off than large ones, especially when we're talking about lumps on the anus where difficult removal can result in fecal incontinence and anal gland problems.
Squeaky clean teeth, ready to wake up.
I was able to remove the lump and send it to the lab to confirm it is benign (yay!). I removed a few other small lumps that had popped up over the last 2 years, but was not concerned about them so I didn't send them to the lab.
I also did his teeth while he was under. They were not bad at all, but since he was already under anesthetic I decided to make the best of it so that I hopefully won't have to anesthetize him again. He will be 11 in May and he is only missing one tooth, a premolar that was extracted prior to my getting him. This is the first dental he's had with me in 5.5 years, and he didn't really even need it. If not for the lumps I would not have done his teeth. He is a testament to the very real effect of daily brushing.
Summit recovering. Kili getting a little help from the muzzle to behave herself!
He is doing very well and will be getting his sutures out later this week.
Summit recently found out about the consequences of having a ridiculous baby sister.
At last call, very late one night, poor Summit got bodyslammed by Kili into our brick firepit. Kili has this annoying habit of having to run either straight at Summit, or cut right in front of him, whenever he starts running. In this case he was running back to the door to come in and she cut him off. Usually he stops and they really don't make contact, but for whatever reason this time he didn't stop in time and got thrown off balance. Anywhere else in our yard would not have been a problem, but unfortunately they were right beside the firepit, and greyhound skin being what it is....
At midnight I had to drive to the clinic to pick up bandage materials, come home and wrap both his hind legs to cover wounds where the skin was completely gone. Thank goodness he's a trooper. If it had been Kili this could have been a real nightmare of fighting to get bandages on and off, and preventing her from ripping them off. Finally three weeks later the bandages are off and his wounds are healed.
Someone recently asked about dental health on a forum that I frequent. Her question was whether or not a "dental" was necessary for her young dog (had been recommended by her vet). This young lady is a great dog owner and has always demonstrated that she will do whatever is needed for her dogs, so I knew she was asking genuinely.
Dental health happens to be one of my big pet peeves, both as an owner and a veterinarian. There are two sides to my feelings on this matter. The first is about dental cleanings, the second is about prevention.
As far as dental cleanings go... yes, they are necessary. But that need is on an individual basis. Unlike humans, veterinarians don't recommend a cleaning every 9 months for every pet. Would that be ideal? Hell yes! But the fact is that our patients are not nearly as cooperative and they have to be anesthetized. If I recommend a dental cleaning for a pet, it is because that animal NEEDS it. What blows my mind is the number of owners who don't see this need... no matter how I try to lay it out for them. I show them pictures of severe dental disease (if their pet is just in the early stages), I point out that if a person's mouth looked half as bad as their pet's... they'd be at their dentist months ago. I point out that if we break a tooth, or get a cavity, it really hurts and we are at our dentist... like yesterday. It continually blows my mind that owners can say "well I don't think he's in pain". His teeth are almost falling out! His gums are red and bleeding! His breath smells like something crawled in there and died! Excuse my hysteria... but have I mentioned how it blows my mind?
What boggles my mind even more? Prevention is simple. It doesn't mean we can avoid cleanings in all pets forever, but it certainly helps a lot! I know some people think they can't brush their dog's teeth. I'm here to tell you that most dogs can learn to accept brushing. They're not all going to let you just stick a tooth brush in there, but with a bit of patience and high value treats you can convince almost any dog of almost anything. Then we have the owners that just plain don't want to do it. And that is totally fine... as long as the anesthetic cleanings are done when needed. What baffles me is the owners that don't want to do the work to maintain basic dental hygiene, and yet also won't spend the money to have the teeth cleaned.
While we're discussing money, I think my biggest pet peeve of all is "Dentals are so expensive!" in response to a $500 quote for a routine cleaning (or you know... $2000 for major dental surgery because they didn't do the $500 cleaning 3 years ago like they were recommended). I hate that word, expensive. The implication of that word is of overcharging. Here's what I don't get about this situation. Has no one ever looked at their own dental bills? I recently went to the dentist and had a cleaning, x-rays, and a wisdom tooth extracted. My bill? $1100. Sure, after insurance I only paid about $250, but that's not what it actually cost. If I didn't have insurance I'd be paying the full amount. And pet insurance exists, some plans even cover routine dental cleanings (I know because my plan does, although I haven't needed to use it). I could offer the same procedure that I had for probably $800-900... including bloodwork and anesthetic! Maybe the big problem with this analogy is that people think dentists are too "expensive". I'm not a dentist, but we have a lot of similar equipment and it is NOT cheap. Is $500 (or $1000 or $2000) a lot of money? Absolutely! Is veterinary dental care expensive? I argue (passionately) no.
At the end of this discussion, the original poster asked me about my own dogs' teeth. I am proud of their teeth; they are in great shape. I brush teeth every night before bed. I use Healthy Mouth in their water. I give dental chews from time to time, but I don't rely on that to do much. The fact is... you need to brush daily to maintain good oral hygiene. This shouldn't be a surprise... after all, your own dentist has been harping on TWICE daily brushing since you were 5 years old. So far neither dog has needed a cleaning. Partly that's due to my diligence with their oral care, and part of it is just pure luck with their genetics.
Kili's pearly whites are pretty much perfect. No tartar for this girl!
Summit's teeth are tartar free, but he does have a bit of staining from age.
If you're not sure how your dog's teeth are doing, visit your veterinarian and have them evaluated! Happy brushing!
I haven't posted about Summit in awhile! It's hard to find much exciting to write about Summit recently, which sounds bad but in many ways is good. With an older dog that isn't doing much in the performance world anymore... quiet means nothing bad is going on healthwise! So although Summit doesn't do a whole lot of training these days, he's been healthy and his arthritis has been the best that it's been in a couple of years. I can't help but wonder if that's due to better management or less use now that he's not doing any agility.
I found this great little product that I wanted to try with him. As with many senior dogs and many greyhounds (of any age!), Summit has this little thing with hardwood floors. For the most part he has no trouble with them, but if ever he is a little unsure of something, suddenly the floors become an issue. For example, he is afraid of things falling. It can be anything, from something big and heavy, to a piece of paper. If he sees something falling, or if he even thinks something MIGHT fall, he gets nervous and he has trouble with the floors. For example, our baby gate isn't permanently attached to the wall and we often move it from one doorway to another. One time it was leaning up against a wall not being used, and for some reason it fell when Summit was near it, which freaked him out and caused him to scrabble on the floors. Now any time the gate isn't in use (like if I'm holding it and ushering the dogs into the room I want to gate off) he gets nervous and doesn't want to go by, and when he does he walks super duper fast with his feet all splayed out and nervous about the floor. This new product is called Dr. Buzby's Toe Grips, and they are used to provide traction on slippery floors for older dogs or dogs with mobility concerns.
These are great! I am loving them so far! Summit wears the XL (purple) size. He doesn't seem to mind them at all, hasn't lost any yet (it's only been a couple days though) and they really do seem to help him on the hardwood floors.
I am absolutely livid! On the weekend I took the hounds hiking on a trail that we use all the time. We went with my boyfriend, and a friend and his little dog. The trail is a multipurpose trail for walking, biking, skiing, ATVs and snowmobiles. There is a posted speed limit for ATVs and snowmobiles of 30 km/hr as the trail can get quite busy with pedestrians. We have walked this trail many times in all seasons and the motorized vehicles we have seen have always been very respectful, slowing down well in advance of meeting with pedestrians and passing slowly. We always keep a careful eye and ear on the trail ahead and behind us and leash the dogs up at the first sign of a vehicle, which is generally from a long way off as most of the trail is quite straight and open.
On this particular hike we saw several other walkers as well as several snowmobiles that were very conscientious. However, as we were walking back we were surprised by a snowmobiler as he flew around a blind corner going greater than the speed limit. We had no time to call the dogs to us before he was pretty much on top of us. Fortunately the two puppies were playing on an embankment at the time and only us humans and Summit were walking on the trail. Summit was walking about 2 feet ahead of me right in the middle of the trail. At first it looked like the guy was going to stop, and then it became quite clear that he was in absolutely no control of his sled. It has been freeze and thaw here for the past couple of weeks and the trails are pure ice right now. I managed to put a hand out to grab the back of Summit's coat to try to pull him to the side of the trail, which caused him to turn his head to look back at me, and the snowmobile only clipped his back end. The force was enough that it spun him around and threw him to the ground, him growling and snapping. He was right back up after the impact and fortunately appeared to be relatively unhurt. I was afraid he would have broken the hind leg that was clipped but he was putting weight on it and walking on it. He had a few punctures on the insides of his hind legs that I think are from his own toenails.
In retrospect I should have given that sledder hell, but I was too worried about getting Summit home so I could evaluate him better and decide if he needed to be x-rayed. Jarrett did ask the man why he didn't stop, and he said he tried but it was too icy. My thought... if it was so icy that you couldn't stop... you were driving too fast for the conditions! He easily could have hit one of us. If he had hit my friend's little dog things would have been a lot worse. People walk with their kids on these trails. People ski on the trails too and skiiers are not very mobile when it comes to jumping out of the way. It was just absolutely reckless how fast he was driving in such icy conditions. I am thankful that Summit was not hurt, but I am livid nonetheless. I keep asking myself what we could have done to have avoided the situation... but other than not walking on that trail at all there's no guarantee it could have been avoided. I am not sure why we didn't hear him coming as we normally do from a fair distance, but even being on leash would not have avoided this as Summit was close enough for me to grab onto and he still got hit (I almost got hit too).
Summit resting at home after having his leg bandaged.
I gave Summit some pain killers and put his Back On Track coat on, as well as the hock wraps I bought for Kili. I also took him to work with me today to be totally sure there were no delayed injuries like lung contusions or internal bleeding. All seems to be well. He came home as if nothing had even happened.
Summit and Kili hanging out at work.
Needless to say, we will not be walking that trail anymore this winter at all. Lesson learned: there's always that one idiot that ruins it and prevents everyone from being able to safely enjoy. It is a multi user trail. It is absolutely baffling that anyone would be so irresponsible. Luckily it wasn't someone's child that got hit, and luckily my dog was not injured. I am thankful for that, but not any less angry.
I think it is time to face facts. Summit is not a young dog anymore. In fact, he's creeping up there. He will be 9 in May! Where did the time go?
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Summit has always been a little lame on his left front leg, particularly in the winter. But never had it been as bad as this year. It was so bad that he was getting a daily dose of Deramaxx (a Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory pain killer). You may also remember that I bought him a special therapeutic dog blanket and carpal wraps. The problem got bad enough last month that I decided I had better x-ray him because I was beginning to seriously wonder if this wasn't osteosarcoma.
We started with the shoulder where I thought there might be a problem, and just kept going when I couldn't find anything. He hates being up on the table but is a good boy, so no worries there. He didn't have to be sedated like Kili did.
Left shoulder
Left elbow
Left elbow in flexion
Left carpus
Left carpus
Fortunately the x-rays were all clean. In fact, I didn't even see a ton of arthritis. I'm a little baffled as to where the limp was coming from. If he wasn't doing better my next step was to x-ray his neck.
I started him on Cartrophen injections and what an amazing difference! Cartrophen is given as a series of 4 injections 5-7 days apart. Following the first injection I was able to stop giving the pain medication. This week will be his last injection and I haven't given him a single dose of pain meds because there has been almost no limping. If I was ever skeptical about the efficacy of products like Cartrophen and Adequan... I'm not anymore. I will certainly recommend all my arthritic patients give it a try to see if they can benefit. I'm just glad that I can hold off on the NSAIDs for a little longer for Summit.
Greyhounds and their orthopedic issues! Actually, I shouldn't say that. Aside from bone cancer most greyhounds are very sound in structure. They do not escape the usual age related changes though. And I should not compare Kili to most greyhounds as she has already proven that she's a bit of a lemon!
Kili's hock has been doing well. We have been in a deep freeze so aside from agility class once a week we have done almost nothing. While I hate the insanely cold temperatures because it reduces what I can do, it has been a blessing as it has made it exceedingly easy to follow my own orders for strict rest. Kili has essentially done no exercise except for agility class. The class gives me a bit of a chance to evaluate how she is doing each week after having had full rest. This week's class was pretty good. She had a few moments but overall it was better. And I wish I had a video of her 2x2 weaves because this week she was flying through! Love the speed and accuracy we had this week.
Kili has finished her medications, though I occasionally throw her a pain killer if I feel it is needed. She is getting laser treatments on the hock whenever I can afford to bring her to work (if it is a slow day or I know I have a gap in appointments).
I also bit the bullet and bought more Back On Track gear. For Kili I bought their hock wraps and for Summit I bought the leg (carpal) wraps. Of course they sell the wraps as pairs and my dogs couldn't decide to both have hurt front legs or both have hurt back legs. So I had to buy a pair of hock wraps and a pair of carpal wraps. Money! Here they are on the dogs. I am hoping these will help both dogs... Kili to rehab her hock faster and Summit to reduce his arthritis.
Canada is a wonderful country to live in. However, I will not pretend that it doesn't have unfavourable points. Winter is long and cold. When you are training dogs that's a bit of a problem. For one it is obviously less pleasant and adds to set up and tear down time. You can't train outdoors all year round because of the snow and the cold which necessitates finding indoor locations. Indoor locations usually mean horse arenas which are well lit and out of the snow and wind, but are still significantly cold. The cold. The cold is the big problem when you are working with greyhounds.
The temperatures have recently dipped to 20C below. That is really getting to be bitterly cold. The dogs have to wear something when they are taken outside for more than a few minutes which includes training "indoors" at the horse arenas. Even so I have been battling Kili's huge wuss factor. She does not seem to grasp the concept that if she runs she will be warm. When training in the cold she is pokey, reluctant, and generally miserable. I cannot engage her in tug or personal play. I cannot engage her in a game of "chase the Momma". She simply refuses to do more than trot. This despite the fact that she wears sweater when training and generally I layer a coat over top if she has to be in her crate between exercises.
Here she is this weekend at agility class, refusing to move faster than a trot and avoiding jumps. Notice that I was able to warm up enough that I was only wearing a sweater. I shed my coat 5 minutes in. Kili on the other hand refused to engage and get moving enough to get as toasty as me.
I am looking into this situation. I cannot control the weather. It has definitely been a cold start to winter; we typically do not see these temperatures until January or February. I went out and bought a rubber hot water bottle that I intend to put in her crate. I am also looking into different coat options and trying to decide what I will buy. If anyone has any suggestions for good warm coats please let me know!
What I have bought so far is a therapeutic dog rug from Back On Track. It uses ceramic in the fabric to reflect the dog's own body heat back to itself. It is not meant so much for really keeping the dog warm but to help warm up muscles and joints.
Kili will be using it as a warm up coat before and after agility to help prevent injury. But I am most excited to see if it helps Summit's increasing arthritis. This year has been quite rough and I see him limping on his left front leg on a regular basis. This is the leg he has always had some trouble with, but this year has been bad enough that I have been giving him an almost daily dose of Deramaxx. He has also been exhibiting worsening odd behaviour on hikes, though I am unsure right now if it is cold related or pain related. He will just stop and refuse to come when I call him. He will either try to turn around and walk back the way we came, or as he did today, if we are walking towards houses and then try to turn around to head home he will refuse to move and will sometimes actually walk right up to people's doors. Today he allowed me to walk until I was out of sight, ignoring my calls. I finally had to walk back to retrieve him. Once I took him by the collar and moved a few steps in the direction I wanted to go he immediately started trotting along no problem. I'm a little baffled by the behaviour but if pain control and even warmer clothing don't help I will be forced to accept that his age is catching up to him and start leaving him at home when we hike in the winter. I am hoping the coat will help though. I am also considering getting the leg wraps for his front legs. If anyone has experience with Back on Track products (for dogs, horses, or people!) please share! I am very interested to see if these will make a significant difference. I WAS disappointed that they discontinued the greyhound style of coat and I had to buy just the regular dog one. As you can see it fits Summit very nicely but is a touch big on Kili. I am undecided so far if I will buy a second coat in a smaller size for her or just have her wear the big one.
Following hot on the heels of Summit's pannus diagnosis we had a bit of a scare. I had enrolled Summit in a hemostasis study at school. I informed the researchers of the greyhound anomalies in bloodwork and coagulation and they still elected to include him in their study. He had two blood draws approximately 3 weeks apart. After the first draw his blood results showed a slightly elevated steroid induced ALP. This was shortly following all the gun fire at the agility field that we had been dealing with so I told them it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't very elevated anyway. With high s-ALP we worry about Cushing's, but usually the value will be very high. They were also concerned about his blood pressure which was very high. Again, I told them it was no big deal since he was a greyhound and he was probably a little stressed in the hospital. No one believes me when I tell them he's stressed at the hospital because he's so quiet and so good and just sleeps. But try giving him a plain dog cookie. He won't take it. If you give him something higher value he usually will, but normally even a plain cookie at home gets gobbled down.
Fast forward 3 weeks to his second test results. His s-ALP was still mildly high, his blood pressure was still very high (despite me being with him this time around), and now his urine protein:creatinine (UPC) ratio was super high. Of course everyone is freaking about glomerulonephritis (GN) but to me it just didn't make sense. It was so sudden. I had let him run around A LOT that week, and it wasn't the first pee of the morning (the creatinine was actually quite low and the protein wasn't all that different from the first test). I elected to rest him until Friday and bring in a new sample when he came back in for his blood donation. To say I wasn't concerned would be an understatement. The researcher was very concerned because there is no good physiologic reason for protein to show up in the urine, and greyhounds do have a tendency to develop GN. However, I really didn't think he had GN. I must have checked for lab results at least 6 times on Friday before they finally showed up. Totally normal.
I have no explanation for that elevated UPC other than the fact that he'd had a lot of hard exercise, it wasn't the first pee of the morning, and possibly test error. I'm just glad that the re-test showed nothing abnormal. Tomorrow he is back in to see ophtho to get a script for his eye drops that he will be on for the rest of his life. I am also hoping that his Doggles will be arriving soon. I ordered them about 4 or 5 weeks ago and the store estimated about 6. He's going to be a very cool dude with his camo print sunglasses!
Alas, I have finally figured out what is going on with Summit's eyes. He has pannus. It is very mild. Prognosis is good. He can see. It should be easily managed with steroid eye drops every other day and Doggles if he has to be out in the sun for prolonged periods of time. However, he is my baby and diagnosing him with pannus today after finally being able to do a full ophthomology examination on him made my heart hurt (as my mother used to say every time my eye prescription got worse). He is fairly unperturbed by it. It's very mild and I don't think it interferes with his vision much, so hopefully we can keep it from getting worse now that we're going to start treating it and taking precautions.
This is far more extreme than what Summit has. His is so minor that his eyes just look a little bit cloudy in certain light.
He also has some weird blood work going on that I am trying to figure out and trying to decide if I need to do further diagnostics. I told him to wait until after I graduated vet school before he got expensive diseases, but he may have decided not to heed that suggestion. We shall see. I am still thinking on what needs to be done.
I took Summit for his second blood donation yesterday and it reminded me of the importance of socialization. When I say socialization I don't just mean people and dogs, I also mean environments.
I had taught Summit the roll because it would be helpful for blood donations and other medical procedures where he has to be flat on his side. Unfortunately he shuts down at the clinic during these medical procedures because they're so strange and different. Which means he won't respond to commands. This is about more than the fact that dogs don't generalize. He doesn't refuse his commands because he doesn't understand that "down" at the clinic means the same thing as "down" at home. He does know that. We've worked on these basic commands in many different places, and we have worked on them in the clinic when we're just standing around or when I would bring him to class with me. The key here is that he doesn't want to take treats. It's the famous greyhound statue.
We made some good progress yesterday, however. We had to sit in the blood collection room for about 20 minutes while we waited for the emla cream to work. The emla cream, for those not familiar with it, is a local anesthetic used to numb the area of the neck over the jugular vein where the giant blood collection needle will be introduced. So while we waited I fed him choice treats (he would only take his very favourites) and praised him heavily for just eating a treat. Eventually he began to feel more comfortable and would take most of his treats as well as respond to simple commands like "watch me". I also gave treats any time he offered a behaviour on his own (looking at me or laying down on his blanket and relaxing), and at all times gave lavish, enthusiastic praise. By the end he would even sit for me and was wagging his tail. I did manage to slowly, manually roll him onto his side, but we weren't quite there with rolling on his own so we didn't push it.
Summit's "concerned" look.
The blood collection itself went really well. It was very quick and smooth. But the whole experience made me think about how valuable it is to expose your dog to as many different places, sounds, people, and situations as possible so that they can be relaxed, unconcerned, and happy wherever they go. We're not quite there with Summit obviously, but I do my best to take him anywhere that dogs are allowed to go.
It's the never ending battle with parasites. Shortly after getting Summit in October we found that he had ticks. We treated those and his tick titres from the blood donor program came back clean so he didn't pick up any nasty diseases thankfully. But his fecal didn't come back clean. Just got an e-mail from the blood donor program saying he's got whipworm! My goodness. He was only back at the adoption kennel for about a month before we got him, I can't believe he picked up TWO parasites while he was there!
I had meant to have a fecal done when my vet saw him back in December, but my vet is an hour away and I forgot his poo sample at home that morning when I left. His poos have been pretty good (for a greyhound) so I figured he was probably clean. Silly me. Well, now he's got fenbendazole for 6 days. The powder was $83 so the vet here at school was conscious enough to realize that as a poor student I'd probably want the liquid which is cheaper. The liquid was only $20, however, each dose is 17.5 ml! Thank goodness Summit is a greyhound. Whenever I have to do medical things to my dog I am thankful that he is a greyhound. This stuff tastes AWFUL. I've had to give it to my rabbits before (less than a ml because they're so small) and they hate the stuff. Summit gave me no fight over it even though I could tell he hated it. Poor guy. This video only shows me giving him half of his medication. I had to give him almost another full syringe after turning off the camera.
