Kirby, my greyhound

[Life is Greyt]

Ok, here's a little backstory to my question. I have a 13 y.o., soon to be 14, greyhound that I adopted when she was 9. When she was 5 and fresh off the track her back left leg broke in 3 places and she had major surgery to repair it. She has a plate and multiple pins that hold the bottom of her leg together. She has never gotten around very well, but has a "normal" gait, for her. I adopted her at 9 and every winter that leg has progressively given her more and more trouble. Last year, a wound opened up over the plate and we had it cultured and it was positive for Staph. The infection basically resides on the plate. Since then it has been an uphill battle. The wound has never closed. I doctor it at home and every few months we put her on a round (a few weeks) of Simplicef to keep the infection at bay. She is too old and lacks the strength in her other legs for surgery either to replace the plate or possible amputation. My vet and I are at a loss as it seems we have tried everything. She wears a lampshade almost all of the time when we're not home to keep her from licking it, but she still does. Nothing seems to work...if I wrap it, she tears off the bandages. When I put bitter apple spray on it, she licks it anyways. I have tried Vetricyn, Neosporin, homeopathic sprays, anything that has been suggested and nothing seems to work. Luckily, the infection is only localized, but it is always a concern that it might spread. I clean it with chlorhexide soap and flush it with betadine solution to keep it clean but that's all I can do. The area cannot be stitched closed, even if we could get the infection under control, because greyhound skin is extremely thin and tears easily. Also, the area that it's in would be nearly impossible to stitch. Other than her leg problems she is a very happy girl and very healthy for her age. Ok, so finally to my question...any ideas? Has anyone ever dealt with something similar? I'm probably grasping for straws, but I thought I would throw it out there and see if anyone might have any thoughts. Thanks, in advance, for any help anyone can offer.

[Ray P]

I do not have a answer for you and I do feel for these off track greyhounds that need good homes and for you for trying to give a happy life to this dog.

I hope you find the answer you are looking for. The best of luck.

[Life is Greyt]

Thanks Ray. I know it's definitely off the topic, but I thought I'd try

[Eshana]

My Shane, a Golden Retriever, was a rescue. He spent his life living in a cage, and now he has bundles of nervous energy due to that. So he constantly licks his paws down to the bone. Perhaps she has energy that she can't release due to her legs and is taking it out on her wound?

[chezron]

Have you tried contacting Greyhound societies or rescue operations? I bet they would have some insight into your situation.

[chelseaB]

I am very sympathetic to your situation, I had to have my 14 yr old german shorthair Annie euthanized last month & I understand how we cherish every day with our wonderful senior canines. Is your vet a board certified orthopedic surgeon? A second opinion wouldn't hurt.

Annie had many deep seated infections over her life due to acral lick granulomas. These required weeks- sometimes as long as 3 months- of antibiotic therapy to clear up. You said it was cultured, obviously sensitive to cephalosporin- was it sensitive to any other drugs? Cephalosporin is the drug I used to treat Annies infections, but she did not have osteomyelitis which I think would require longer treatment. What is the longest period of time she has been on antibiotics? I know weeks to months of antibiotics seems to be a long time, but they tolerate it very well.

You have to keep her from licking the wound. There are other collars besides the dreaded lampshade. Inflatable, soft e-collars & the one I used on Annie called the "bite-not" which doesn't stick out from their body it just keeps them from bending enough to lick. I bet Kirby has a long body & long legs, so she can probably manipulate herself even in collars to get to her leg which makes it even harder to prevent licking.

The bitter apple stings like a bugger so that will want to make her lick more. My vet told me anything I tried to apply topically would be like pointing out & drawing attention to the wound, so I stopped all topical stuff. If you still want to apply something topically, there is a newer treatment called Zymox, either in a cream or spray. You don't need a prescription for it. I used the Zymox Otic to treat a chronic ear infection in my Rottie & it cleared it up & she hasn't had a problem in 3 years! None of the stuff from the vet would clear it up & he wanted to anesthetize her & flush it out. I decided to try the Zymox Otic first and it worked awesome!

I t sounds like you have really tried everything, these are just a few things that popped into my head when I read your post. Also, there is a yahoo group called Ortho Dogs that you can join & run your situation by all the people in that group- maybe someone has had to deal with a similar problem.

I hope you can find something to work, & bless you for rescuing this sweet baby. She is so lucky to have you!

Edited February 9, 2012 by chelseaB

[Talon]

Bless you for all you have done for your wonderful family member. Have you tried the donut shape AND the cone together? It hard keep my dog from picking at his boo boo.

 

Also, if you know anyone with a Kangen water machine, if you can get the 2.5 acid water from them, it WOULD heal his wound. It has been proven to get rid of staph infections and heal any wounds. It kills the bacteria in 30 seconds. Daily use would heal this. Google it in your area and maybe a kind soul would give you some, it lasts quite a while. We use it to sterilize things, on cuts, clears up acne, etc.

[Life is Greyt]

You guys are great! Thanks so much for the help!

 

Eshana-I'm so sorry about your poor Shane. It's just not fair that he has an ailment like that simply due to humans mistreating him. How do you cope with him licking his paws like that?

 

chezron-I probably should have stated that I am a fairly active member of the rescue greyhound group that I adopted Kirby from. I used to be a foster parent and also helped with the adoption process. That's where I got Kirby from-she was my foster failure because I just couldn't let her go. I have asked them and they have given me a lot of what I have already tried. Unfortunately, it's just a difficult situation with her age.

 

ChelseaB-I'm so sorry about your Annie. I try to prepare myself for what I know will eventually happen, but I know I will never be ready for it. As far as my vet goes, I'm not sure if my vet is certified or not, but I know for sure that the vet that did the original plate and screw placement is. We have spoken with him and he said that all we could do was try and see if she would tolerate the surgery for a new plate and pins, but at her age there's no way I would put her through that. I haven't heard of the bite-not collar, so I'm gonna google that in just a few. She has both the hard plastic lampshade and the soft and, unfortunately, neither one can keep her off of it. It's just like you said, she will use her long neck and body to contort herself to get to it. We ususally keep her on the antibiotics anywhere from 3 weeks to the longest has been almost 2 months. When she's on it the wound will start to granulate and clear up, but as soon she's done with it the wound opens back up. Also, never heard of the Zymox cream so I will definitely be Googling that one too to get more info on it. You have given me so many ideas to check into! I can't thank you enough!!

 

Talon-I haven't tried a donut with the cone, only the soft cone with the hard cone, and that combo unfortunately didn't work. Maybe a donut one would help hold the cone at the top of her neck so she can't push it back. I have never heard of a Kangen water machine but I will definitely be checking into that one!! It sounds really promising.

 

I cannot thank you guys enough for your help! You have given me some wonderful ideas that I will definitely be checking into. I just want to make sure that I have tried everything I can to help my girl. Thanks guys.

[Eshana]

We spray him with a disinfectant from the vet, and it usually stings enough (not the purpose) that he won't try licking for a while. Unfortunately there's nothing much else we can do. I exercise him as much as possible, but his stress just causes him to continue licking.

 

I hope you figure out how to make your Kirby stop!

[chelseaB]

How is Kirby doing? For some reason she was on my mind today, had any luck with the chronic wound/infection? Hope she is doing well.

[Life is Greyt]

Thanks for asking ChelseaB!!! She's doing ok...the wound is still there, but it's somewhat better. It goes in cycles where it's really bad and opens up, and then it will heal up some. I clean it with a chlorhexide scrub and spray it with vetricyn. We also upped her daily tramadol (pain med) and added previcox to her daily meds. That has really seemed to help her mobility. Before the previcox she was starting to have a really hard time moving around. Now, she can at least move around and use that leg better. They really think it's a two-fold problem-1)She opened the wound by licking because the plate was irritating her, which they think was due to her body rejecting it because it's been in there for so long and, 2)She now has a resident staph infection on the plate that causes the wound to remain open. It's a frustrating cycle, but I'll do anything for her. We carry her up and down the stairs now every time she goes outside, for fear that she'll fall and further injure herself. She'll be 14 on April 15th (tax day! lol!) and I told her she can have a big old cake from the local doggie bakery!

[katana600]

I wish I had something to offer for help with Kirby's wound and I don't have a clue what you are going through medically. What I do know is that you are resourceful and caring and I am impressed at the lengths our forum members will go through for all our companion animals. This is such an awesome source of community minded people and I lack the words to express just how much it means to me to know all of you and to read of your life beyond our beloved greys.

[Life is Greyt]

I wish I had something to offer for help with Kirby's wound and I don't have a clue what you are going through medically. What I do know is that you are resourceful and caring and I am impressed at the lengths our forum members will go through for all our companion animals. This is such an awesome source of community minded people and I lack the words to express just how much it means to me to know all of you and to read of your life beyond our beloved greys.

 

thanks so much and I agree!!!

[judygram]

Thanks Chelsea for asking about Kirby as I was just wondering how she was doing. I am glad to hear you are doing all you can for this dog, not everyone would or could be so devoted to her.

[Life is Greyt]

Thanks judygram!! You guys really make me feel good about my old girl...especially at a time when the checking account doesn't feel so great. There's so much more I wish I could do for her, but don't have the financial resources. When I originally wrote the post I was so stressed and down because she was in a down time-she goes through good weeks/months and then bad ones. When she's in a down period I get so worried about whether or not she will come back out of it...or if it's "that time." My boyfriend and I keep talking about it and we really feel that she will let us know when she's done fighting, but I think she's still got some fight in her yet!! My vet is also amazing and always seems to know what new med to introduce to see if it helps her. I really appreciate everyone's support. I adopted her when she was 9, so I'm having a really hard time with the idea that I don't get to have her for longer, but she's my baby and I'll do anything for her until she tells me otherwise.

[chelseaB]

Thanks for updating us Life is Greyt! We really share the same philosophy on our non-human family members. We want to have them in our lives as long as it is possibly comfortable for them to be with us. I understand how it gets down to weeks, days & then hours. If you can keep them comfortably with you just that "one more day" it is a precious gift.

We are still missing our senior canine family member Annie who has been gone a couple months now. Biscotti still calls for her everyday, "Annie, Annie it's ok". Kind of breaks my heart, but also kind of comforting too to know that he also must think about her. We still have 2 dogs, a puppy I got last summer & another senior, my 10 yr old rottie Mandy. Mandy had some GI issues a few weeks ago & it scared me to death. I don't think my heart could stand losing another baby so soon. I started cooking for her & her troubles have straightened out for now. She has already outlived all my previous rottie girls, so I know how precious our time together is.

Hug your sweet Kirby for me. Once you have been blessed with an old dog in your life you can never look at a grey muzzle without a tug on your heart. At least not for me!

[Life is Greyt]

Thanks so much ChelseaB. Sorry for the loss of your Annie...even though we know it's inevitable it doesn't seem to ever get any easier. I really appreciate your support and understanding.