Road Trip

Leaving in the morning for the gulf coast!  First stop Mobile, Alabama to visit a sighthound loving friend and tour the area.  Tuesday we will head for Gulf Breeze, Florida to attend GPA-Emerald Coast's event, Hound Dog Howliday.  See you on the flip side!

Greyhound First Aid Kit

We will be traveling to Alabama and Florida soon and the first aid kit will be riding shot gun!  At home, the first aid kit is kept in our pantry, so everyone knows right where to grab it if needed.  Here's a look inside our Greyhound First Aid Kit...

 Various sizes and colors of vet wrap.

 Gauze dressing pads and roll of gauze dressing.

 Instant cold compress/ice pack, bulb syringe and baby wash cloth.

 Famotodine (Pepcid), Bismuth tablets (Pepto Bismol) and Dramamine.

 Sterile saline solution, hydrogren peroxide and Neosporin.

 Emergency foil thermal blanket, baby socks and nylon forceps.

 Rubber gloves, cotton balls, q-tips and bandage scissors.

 Small leash, styptic powder and emergency contact information card.

This baggie contains Benadryl, wooden applicators, tongue depressors, sanitizing hand wipes, betadine swab sticks, super glue, butterfly closure strips, alcohol prep pads, hydrocortisone cream, burn gel, rubber gloves and 1 ml oral dose syringe.

 

This first aid kit was purchased from a fundraiser for Greyhound Adoptions of Florida.  While I am not sure if they are still selling these, here is a list of what the kit contains:

 

GENERAL ITEMS

Instant ice pack

Baby wash cloth

Emergency foil thermal blanket (waterproof & windproof) used to prevent/counter hypothermia

1 ml oral dose syringe to administer liquid medication

Benadryl 25 mg tablets, for allergies and insect bites

Famotodine 20 mg acid reducer

Bismuth tablets (aka Pepto Bismol) for diarrhea, upset stomach and vomiting

Dramamine

Wooden applicators, for applying ointment or as a temporary splint for “happy tail”

Tongue depressors, variable uses, including splinting

Nylon forceps to remove splinters, thorns, etc.

Bandage scissors to cut bandage material and trim hair around wound

Leash, use to restrain injured pet or as a temporary muzzle

2” bulb syringe aspirator to administer oral medication or to flush wound

Exam gloves, ensure cleanliness while administering treatment

Sanitizing hand wipes

Emergency contact information card

STERILE BANDAGES AND DRESSINGS

2” X 2” Gauze dressing pads to cover and keep injured areas clean

3” X 3” Gauze dressing pads

4” X 4” Gauze dressing pads

3” X 4” Telfa non-stick dressing

1” x 10 yards paper surgical tape to keep bandages and splints in place

Butterfly closure strips to keep small wounds closed

Bag of cotton balls and q-tips to apply ointment to wound

4” X 5 yards vet wrap to cover bandages

Pair of baby socks to keep foot/pad wounds clean

WOUND CLEANING SOLUTIONS

20 ml Sterile saline solution for washing eyes or cleaning wounds

4 oz Hydrogen peroxide, 1 tsp orally to induce vomiting if instructed by poison control or vet

Betadine swab stick to clean and disinfect minor cuts and scrapes

Alcohol prep pads to clean and disinfect minor cuts and abrasions

TOPICAL MEDICATIONS

Triple antibiotic ointment to prevent wound infection

Lubricating jelly to place on wounds before clipping hair and for lubricating thermometer

1% Hydro-cortisone cream for itching associated with skin irritation and insect bites

Burn gel for pain relief of minor burns

Super glue to close skin of cleaned minor cuts/wounds

Qwik-stop styptic powder to aid in stopping bleeding due to nail trimming

Clareese Update

Last Sunday, Clareese went to her potential forever home.  To say that I will miss this little girly, is an understatement.  She is definitely taking a big piece of my heart along with her.

Clareese is being foster with intent to adopt.  This family was actually wanting a black dog, which is very unusual, but I love that part.  However, hearing the last couple of updates, she is being very cautious with the men of the house.   She had been here 6 months and was still a little cautious with my husband, but she learned to like him because he was the early morning feeding person.  She adores the mom of the house though and I hope with time and patience, she will learn to like the boys too.  I do miss her bunches.  Bowser has now become my shadow.

Wordless Wednesday 4.16.14

Sadie's Toe Woes

It has been a while since Sadie has had any issues with her toes.  If you have followed me for very long, you know we have had our fair share of toe woes.

 

It all started Tuesday when I caught Sadie chewing and licking on her foot.  I checked the foot over and the only thing I could find was a tiny cut on the pad of the outside toe.  She continued to lick though.  I noticed a slight swelling of the inside right toe at the knuckle, but nothing really too bad.  She was walking on it, but when she stopped, she would hold the foot up for a bit.

 

By evening, of course after the vet closed, the foot had started to swell and she was basically a tripod.  It was a very long night with neither one of us getting much sleep.  By morning, you could see some bruising on each side of the toe.

We arrived at the vet as soon as they opened.  I love that my vet doesn't have appointments and you can just go in at any time.  Doc gave her the once over and decided it was either a soft tissue injury or a bite/sting of some sort.  Whatever it was, was already infected as she was running a temp and the entire foot was hot.  Of course, me being the paranoid greyhound owner that I am, I insisted on an x-ray of the foot.  I was already in full panic mode when she started limping.  I was really a mess when she got to the point that she wouldn't use the leg at all!  My vet gave in to my crazy thoughts and did an x-ray.  Toe was normal.  As always, they bring the laptop out to show me so I can see it with my own two eyes.  We leave there with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds. 

By the time we got home, the foot was really swollen.  In a matter of 30 minutes it had swollen so much that I was worried it would actually pop open.  Upon further inspection, I noticed a blistery area.  I was pretty concerned, enough to call them back pretty quickly.  Doc said it was most likely the infection "festering" and it may even bust open drain.  He said, it might even relieve some of the pain it if did open up.  Well, of course, it did start draining.  So I tried an ice pack, a soak in Epsom Salts, both of which she hated.  I also tried applying Chamomile tea, as suggested by a friend. 

 

In less than 24 hours on meds, Sadie was at least walking on the foot again.  She has continued to make good progress while the toe is still swollen, and is acting like her crazy old self again.  Big sigh of relief here!  She can't be feeling bad, we are leaving for Florida in 12 days!

Didn't want to leave Bowser out, but his situation was a bit more embarrassing!  Now the day before Sadie and her toe woes, Bowser was at the vet.  I had noticed him licking a certain area under his tail.  A lot.  I had also noticed a little blood tinged liquid coming from said area.  I knew something was up and by the look in this picture, Bowser knew something was up too!  This visit we had one of the lady vets, good thing, as she has smaller hands and fingers!

Bowser got the dreaded anal exam only to find his gland were full and infected!  He was such a trooper though and once again they were surprised how stoic greyhounds can be.  You'd think they know that by now as many times as we've been in there with our issues.  It wasn't quite the way Bowser had envisioned spending his birthday, but he is feeling better now.

Bowser and Clareese Turn 3!

On Monday, April 7th, Bowser and Clareese turned 3 years old.  Bowser came to us last April as a foster and we adopted him in August.  His littermate, Clareese, has been our foster since last October.

We have a tradition for hound birthdays at our house, you have to wear the stupid party hat!  Bowser looks less than happy.

Clareese couldn't even be bothered enough to get up off her bed for the hat pictures. 

 But bring out the birthday pup-cake and they all get excited!

Bowser loved their cake!  Here he is getting ready to take a big bite.  Clareese got off the bed for her piece of cake.  However, she was moving so fast, I couldn't get a picture.

 

On Sunday, Clareese went on a home visit.  I was sure they wouldn't pick the little black girl as she was accompanied by a blonde girl.  Well, not really blonde, but red with a black mask!  Anyway, this family was actually wanting a black dog.  I got the call Monday evening that they picked her.  It was a good birthday present for her, that's for sure.  She will be going to her forever home this coming Sunday.  Glad we got to celebrate a birthday together!

P. S.  This was my first attempt at removing the dreaded "green eye" from the pictures.  Hope they are satisfactory!