snow Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Exactly the same thing is happening with Nog - his ribs and backbone too are very visible ditto to the wanting to move fast even on 3 legs Nog is actually barred from all contact with other dogs for the forseable future (obviously this wouldnt have included any dogs actually living here) as he's not allowed to go pogoing or bouncing around in play. He has adapted to having to go toilet on lead albeit that because going out to toilet is the only time apart from trips to the vet that he gets to go outside he tends to like to stretch this out a while and have a wander round the garden and a good sniff of the air before going. I've found that giving him his pills in the afternoon with a tin of wet food straight after the pills means he then sleeps most of the afternoon - he's on wet food at the moment because he MUST have food with the medication & he wolfs it down straight away whereas with his usual dry food he was turning his nose up a bit which we cannot allow. His dry food is still down for him for a bit of free feeding but with the wet food I can at least be sure he isnt having the pills on an empty tummy. I don't like to see how much condition he's losing but console myself with knowing that once we can restart exercise he'll be doing a lot of onlead walking so will soon build it back up again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted September 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Food is one thing I don't have a problem with: Mollydog eats EVERYTHING. Well, apart from uncooked spinach, and she'd probably eat that if she were actually hungry. She's only on Metacam at the moment though, so nothing to affect her appetite. I just hope she doesn't end up all bony on top and fat belly underneath! So far we are doing OK at keeping Molls quiet, but Az is so emotionally dependent on other dogs. Mollydog is like his security blanket in dog form... Three weeks ago I had a happy lurcher that played and ran and danced: now as well as a bored greyhound with 2.5 legs, I have a lurcher who suddenly acts like he is about 18 and the sky is falling. I wondered if he was ill as well, but he suddenly perked up when I took him out with my mother's dogs. Unfortunately she doesn't really live quite close enough for us to meet up every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindlebabe Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Lots of healing thoughts for Mollydog. Poor Az too, missing his walking and running chum. I hope she heals well without further intervention . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houndwoman Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Good thoughts for dear Mollydog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houndzrus Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Lots more good thought for Mollydog. Sending some for Az and you too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted September 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Thanks all! I have foiled a norty attempt by both dogs this morning to sneak out and play in the garden together. When I stopped her, Mollydog instead ate all the alpine strawberries off the plants round the door. Oh well, I guess they have vitamins and things in. I can't decide if the leg is looking slightly better in terms of not bending so improbably in the wrong place, or if it's my wishful thinking. I guess I'll find out Friday. Az is being cheerier in the house, but still not himself on walks. This morning on his walk we were walking under trees with squirrels in, which normally would provoke enthusiastic boinging and rushing about, and he ignored them. When I said 'Look Az, Squirrels!' he gave me the face of woe and leant on my legs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Hope a little rest & the med's prove enought to avoid any op. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly1712 Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Continued good thoughts for Mollydog and hope all goes well at the next vet visit (tomorrow?) Poor Az, hope he starts to cheer up on his walks soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted September 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 (edited) Mollydog's leg is still bending in the wrong place. She is now booked in for an op to have the joint pinned, on Monday, so to give her skin a chance to rest they've taken the bandage off. You can see that classic 'clenched paw' thing that comes with tendon damage. Am crossing fingers that things go well on Monday and she heals well. After that, oh joy, another 6 weeks of complete rest, and hope the bone fuses quickly. And she's lost almost 2Kg of muscle. Oh well, at least that's 2Kg less to carry up and down stairs... ... I'm thinking Az may be losing his sight and I've not noticed because he's been following Molls. I saw 2 roe deer and a fox on our walk this morning: the fox was about 8 feet from Az, but he didn't see it! He's not bumping into things though. How do you check a dog's eyesight? Edited September 18, 2009 by cycas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 2k is what Nog's lost so far - these pointies don't have to lose all that much to look half starved eh? I hope all goes well for Mollydog on Monday - are they just pinning the hock or is she also having the tendons removed as well like Nog? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fee Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 Oh no, I'm sorry to hear Mollydog has to have an op, I really hope that does the trick and she's soon bombing around as normal Worrying about Az, too. I'm not sure there's any easy way to test a dog's eyesight until it's bad enough for them to start bumping into things. Does he chase toys if you throw them? Maybe you could get an idea from that how well he's seeing things at a distance. It might be worth getting the vet to look at his eyes in case there's anything obviously wrong. Another for Az. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted September 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 Yes, they are going to take some of the torn tendons off as well, though I think possibly not as much as Nog? It's only one fairly minor joint that is affected, apparently, the main bendy bit will still work and it's not the main tendon at the back that is damaged, only the smaller ones in sheets that sort of hold the joints together (I have the right words for that somewhere...) . The main worry is that she might put too much strain on the pin before the bones have grown together, apparently (I think they saw her kangaroo when Tonja took her in!) or that the skin won't heal well. I was rather pleased that after last week when I had to make a bit of a fuss about being there for the sedation and bandaging and so on, having done it once, they're all suddenly being much nicer and more cooperative about the whole idea of having me in the room. I think *just possibly* when they took her off Tonja and had her in for treatment on her own, she didn't lie down on command, roll over and hold her leg so nicely... Az will occasionally chase toys, but not in any consistent way - and I'm not sure if he's picking up the sound of them moving through the air and hitting the floor. He did see a cat today and alert on it, all ears - but it ran right across his line of vision, so I'm not sure if he could see what it was, or if he was just alerting on the movement. Mollydog's op is Monday and she'll be home on Tues morning if all goes well. I'm going to (try to) leave off worrying about Az and his eyesight till after that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumpole Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 he could have Pro retinal atrophy which can happen over time it usually starts with problems seeing in low or poor light situations initially or at night. Try having him seated in front of you with his back to you and slowly bring your hand in front of his eyes from the side to see when he notices its there to check how wide his field of vision is, (a little more difficult to do with a pointy as their eyes are set to the side) then try coming over his head to in front of his eyes, then from under his jawline upwards. PRA also causes the eye to reflect more light back out than normal so it shows more in photos and at night when the light catches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 It does sound similar to Nog's operation - the boingyness is the biggest thing that we have to be careful with too as the pins are very thin due to the thin bones in the hock, tho Nog has had a plate fitted as well which makes it a bit more firm, his hock will not have any flexibility it's permenantly fixed into a natural shape. The thin skin of greyhounds has been why we're on the dressing change regime and wet to dry dressings. Nog is allowed to do a single step because he hops over it easily on the 3 legs and doesnt even attempt to put the damaged leg down, but he will still try and pogo when he gets excited which we have to watch for at all times. Both Mollydog & Nog sound like they injured themselves the same way just being typical greyhounds taking a corner at speed just goes to show how flipping easy it is for them to hurt themselves. I would recommend giving Molly arnica tabs alongside her meds following the op, our vet prescribed them for Nog and it made a huge difference to the bruising and swelling, we were also told to use arnica cream on the more accessible bruising tho for Nog there were no areas we could reach to cream up. Toileting has been the area Nog struggled with most in the beginning, weeing wasn't so bad as he switched to crouching but doing a poo is still something he has to have a few attempts at to find an easy way to squat. He's still on daily ab's and rymadil but the stronger pain relief has now been stopped and he seems fine on just the rymadil - the meds cause nausea if taken on an empty stomach which was the main reason why I switched him to wet food to ensure he ate something following his medication. We also had to syringe water into him at the beginning but have now established a regime where he knows he has to take a drink everytime he comes back in from having a wee. Nog is eating much better and looking a lot happier now we have been allowed to start a bit of gentle walking - well in Nog's case a bit of gentle hopping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoT Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 Oh no, poor Mollydog. I hope everything goes well with the op and that you somehow manage to keep her quiet afterwards. Perhaps you could glue her to the floor or something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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