kats n greys

Hi Merle, long time since I said that😉

Hi Owl, didn't realise that The Refuge as a forum still existed.

So sorry. Thinking of you all. x

He's also put a thread in Rainbow Bridge. 😥😅

Hugs Nigel - thinking of you at this sad time. xx

Just had a message from Nigel, to say that he's at the vets with Cliffy and sadly it looks like Cliffy is about to cross Rainbow Bridge. 😢😢

Hi Nigel, just followed you back in here to say I'm sorry to read about Cliffy and to say I'm thinking of you both. x

Doing well - started his Metronomic Chemotherapy last week. Wants to thank all who sent him good wishes.

There is lots of information about Metronomic Chemo around - mostly US based, if you require any more info let me know. Sending lot's of good thoughts to Lily and you too. I've found quite a lot about holistic treatments as well which we were thinking about when we made the decision not to go down the IV route.

No probs with hijacking. if you want any further info on Metronomic Chemo - I'll send you any I have. Hoping that Lily is home soon.

So sorry to read your news. What sort of cancer does Lily have?

Lloyd is doing well - improving his El Divo act daily - tonight he left a few mouthfuls of his tea and about 30mins later he started whooing at us - couldn't figure out why, he'd been out done all he needed to do (fell into the bushes trying to c*** his leg :oops:), we gave him what was left of his tea and he's now gone to sleep. We have decided not to go down the IV Chemotherapy route with his for a number of reasons, the main one being he gets very, very stressed at the vets (it's taken over two days to recover from Leahurst). The good news is his chest is still clear (as far as can be seen on X-ray). We are going to try him on a protocol known as Metronomic Chemotherapy:- Less is sometimes More. We've done lots of searching and reading since having this suggested to us, most of the articles, papers etc seem to be in the US - hopefully he will provide a good example for others trying to make the best decision.

He is on Tramadol along with other pain killers. Lloyd has his consultation appointment next Tuesday at Leahurst to discuss chemotheraphy. He's doing well, he goes for a short walk in the morning, evening and just before he goes to bed, he's eating fine and all bodily functions are fine. He can still be restless and vocal, but only at night - not sure why, but the other morning he was demanding food at 04:00am (not very amusing at that time), so I think we have created a bit of a spoilt brat

Thank you all for keeping Lloyd in your thoughts. It's been a stressful, mixed time culminating in another vet visit today. We've had times when he's been unable to settle, trying each bed out numerous times- with lots of whining and panting (usually during the night) which has meant wondering if we've done the right thing, especially when he's struggling to walk (he's worse at 03:30, but then so am I :P ), then we've had others like today when he's happily bobbing up and down the steps to the garden - after a rested night. He's been to the vet as he's got a oozing patch on the front of his chest that we were worrying about- as he's had such a major joint removed it's caused a fluid build up that's oozing through his skin and we have to help it by cleaning and helping the dead skin slough off. :o As we keep reminding ourselves it's not two weeks since he lost a leg - if he was a human he'd still be in hospital not hopping around keeping us on our toes.

Lloyd has managed to scare and amaze us by leaving his bed and getting on to settee unaided. :yikes: Today is a good day- yesterday he was lethargic, depressed- we struggled to get any response out of him- poor Ray was reduced to tears when he tried to help him up and he really screamed. He seemed to have no feeling in his back legs they were both knuckling under- today he's like a different dog. I was out walking Cushna & Sorda when I came back in he was giggling as he'd nipped out of the living room - walking back he panicked as he had gone from his bed, he looked to the other beds - didn't think to check the settee and was amazed when he saw him there.

We've taken Lloyd to the vet this morning as his leg has swollen- Wound photo's below:- Tuesday Today He did hop into the van- with just his back end slightly supported - causing Ray and I to shriek. The vets have said there isn't anything to worry about, although as it's warm they have given us some antibiotics. They are astounded by how well he's doing - and are really happy that he is proving them all wrong!! Please can we get off this roller-coaster please.

So sorry Sleep peacefully Jack.

Apologies that it's taken me so long to update. Lloyd has finally settled for more than 10 mins and we took the opportunity to have a nap. He has been restless all night and most of the day, he's as you would expect been panting and whining nearly all the time, we were worried enough to phone the on-call vet at 2-30am - they said we could give him some more of his Tramadol to see it that helped. Eventually he staggered to his feet with a horrible scream at 4-30 and we managed to gradually get him outside to see if he needed to wee, we thought just being outside would be enough, but Lloyd had other ideas, he wanted to go to his normal spot, down five steps (luckily the only ones as we have, so we eventually got him down and asked him if he wanted to go, which resulted in Ray getting a filthy look until he removed the towel and then cue two shrieks as he took off swaying all over towards his favourite fence post- shrieks turned to sighs as he did his 1st wee. Finally the whining was reduced and the effort was enough to send him to sleep for 30mins his longest period. Unfortunately Kodi has been hyper-aware of Lloyd and although we tried to get him to relax in the bedroom, he almost matched Lloyd in his whining along with some pacing. Eventually today we contacted the vets and got some Gabapentin, as we'd noticed his wound was twitching so thought this might be contributing to his distress- this seems to have helped and for the 1st time he settled down to sleep. The good news is that he's eating well (except if he thinks your hiding tablets), he's now wee'd three times and he's just stood up for the first time without a scream.

Lloyd is doing ok. He had a fairly peaceful night, been up and had a totter around, refusing to eat though. Still on extra pain relief, but the good (and frightening) news is that we ( Ray) are collecting him this evening.

He's ok, full amputation including his scapula, he's staying in tonight as she's had to give him some ketamine. The vet will phone later to tell us how he is progressing. Thank you all for your kind thoughts they are much appreciated.

Thank you for your thoughts, it is helping. Just reading others experiences mainly on the Greyhound Gap site and it's interesting especially as somebody had almost the same words from their vet as we had from ours. The vet we have known for years and has known Lloyd since we adopted him has retired and the one that we spoke to has only seen him twice. We are still not 100%, but looking at Lloyd we believe he's not ready to leave and if he wants to fight, we are going to do all we can to back him.

Unfortunately Lloyd has been diagnosed with osteosarcoma, need to decide where we go from here.

For those who don't venture into the protest forums: http://www.therefugeforums.org.uk/forums/index.php/topic/53494-international-protest-against-the-greyhound-racing-awards-gala-in-manchester/

A few hundred people attended a demo against the Greyhound board of Great Britain Awards Ceremony. They wined and dined while the dogs are left to whine and die. https://twitter.com/shutdownBV

Interesting reading:- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/pets/10581715/Battle-lines-drawn-over-the-nations-favourite-dog-food.html