Hello everyone

[jtroy]

Wow...so the forum is finally back up I see. I was beginning to think that maybe we wouldn't have them again. This is good news. Just thought I would also post and say hello to everyone. Be good...same old thing with me as usual.

Regards,

T. Jones, DVM

[Karen from Indiana]

Yes we are finally back! And it is so good to see you again! Welcome back.

[Quahog]

Nice to see you

Doc

[sallyb]

Don't know you, but looking forward to having a new friend. Use to be a member a long time ago...and managed to find it again. Didn't even know it was down for a while! Glad you are back..........sally

[cindybear]

Glad to see you made it back Doc, I'm still dealing with my horrendous headpain.......They never get better....But life goes on....Do you mind answering a question for me.....
I have a choco lab, female, 4 year old,,She usually goes into heat every 6 months..Jan and june..WEll, in June she had a false pregnancy ( I thought, she was actually pregnant, but could not figure, how in the world that could happen ????? ) But eventually, she got back to her normal selve...Now it is Oct. And she is in heat again..??? Is this something I should be worried about..Should I get her Vet. Checked...Should I get her fixed, I have no plans for her breeding, ever. Last time she was at the Vets was June (this year ) for shots and check up and everything was good at that time....Thanks for any input...I'm worried she might have something wrong with my girl... Hugs, Cindy

[Diandra]

Welcome back Dr. Jones,
It is great to see the old gang coming back here and it will be great to welcome many new friends as well. For those of you who don't know Dr. Jones....he has been one of the best friends that this forum has had.

I would like to publicly thank Dr. Jones as he recently provided guidance to us through the very difficult decision of when and if to euthanize our 15 yr old cat, who as most of you who are pet lovers know, was an integral and beloved part of our family. His genuine caring and vast knowledge and experience made an extremely painful and difficult decision a well thought out one. We euthanized Lizzie just this past weds. and even though the decision was heart wrenching, we felt we made the right decision, at the right time, with Dr. Jones assistance.

Thank you Dr. Jones for all you have done for me and my family and for all the guidance and advice you have given so unselfishly and generously to the folks on this forum.

I apologize for hijacking this thread....I just wanted everyone to know what a great guy Dr. Jones is.

Bless you all, old friends and new friends,
Diandra

[jtroy]

Diandra: You are always way too kind...you guys know that I am willing to help you all as much as you ever need, totally free of charge, and my goal is to provide you with that "other information" out there...like home remedies, OTC meds, etc., that you can treat your pets with which often saves a trip to the clinic, sometimes maybe just a little money, and then, if I end up doing primary consultation for you could save you often thousands of dollars. I don't do it for the praise although it is nice to hear...my goal for the newbies is to give all you folks in painland and beyond an outlet...often just some advice...or will even take a case if needed...sometimes I can't take them all because they tend to pile up. Although, since the forums have been down they have seemed to slow a little. Just know that I will never ask for money and won't accept it, so thank you ahead of time, but please don't even offer. Diandra...you were great...you took the reins in a very difficult situation...truly there were so many different circumstances that pulled you one direction and then another with your kitty...in the end you gave her the greatest single gift you could ever have given her and that was relief from the suffering. So, you should be proud. You know that you can always email me if you need to talk about further issues and so on. Thank you again for your kind words.


cindybear: I'm with you on the head pain!! It's now a solid 6 years for me and I am ready to quit this crap...seriously, if they had a pill to totally take away my pain I would likely give everything I own for it.

Anyway...about your pooch...don't worry...false pregnancies are actually a very common thing among canines. We see it all the time and although I could quote you a list a mile long of breeds predisposed to them (btw, yours is included), it wouldn't matter...because I've seen it in the Heinz 57 pooches just as often.

Don't worry about her coming into heat now...btw, since you aren't going to breed her have you considered spaying her? I know that she is 4 years old now and all, but you could still decrease her risk of breast cancer some by doing that. Plus it would certainly take away this whole issue of dealing with her coming into heat and all that. Just a thought...don't worry, all those "negative" things people often associate with spaying a female can be averted with simple management techniques.

Otherwise, if you are wanting to leave things as they are, and are not going to breed her here is what you are really wanting to know: **your pooch is alright...nothing wrong. These girls can have heats and can even have false heats similar to false pregnancies. It's all really cooky I know..but remember: females of every species are just extremely difficult...jk...jk everyone! Really, I'm making a joke because your girl is fine. If you see anything out of the ordinary...anything that you are concerned with, my email addy is: tjandfon@hotmail.com...can contact me anytime and it is never a bother so don't worry.

That goes for everyone reading that may be new...my email is above and I am available 24/7 to my fellow CP family here. I usually check my email many times a day because of the others in places I also help this way so if you have something urgent I usually get to it within a couple of hours or so. However, if I can't get to your case quickly for some reason, it is because of the load I have at the time...that's all...I will get to everyone though.

That's about it...let me know if there is anything I can do. Wishing you all pain-free days to come!!

Regards,

T. Jones, DVM

[cindybear]

Thanks Doc,
I was very worried about her..This never happened, before, cause I usually have my animals neutered or spayed way before 4 years..But I did want her to have 1 litter..But after trying a few times, She is very negative with any suiters..( we have a nuetered male -black lab, ) She acts like she is in love with him..And doesn't want "NO" other..

So I'm going to get her "fixed " and then we don't have to worry no more..The last scare was enough...I thought somehow , she found a "friend' -which I thought was impossible..How she acts around the siuters we have got her..And thought she was going to have Heinz 57..Which I would have loved, but hubby would have been upset...

So I thank you So much for your expertese..And your right about the headpain !! I'd give everything I own ..,also to have or to remember what it felt like not , for my head to hurt all the time..!!!

Thanks again, Hugs...Cindy and Prescious (my girl )

[Paula Texas]

I just wanted to pop in and say hi to all you returnees, and welcome to our new friends. I was just thinking back this morning and recalled I've been around here for about 9 years now. I'm not as faithful about visiting daily as some of you. I'm sure the shutdown has been really bad for a lot of you.

Dr. Troy, it's good to see you and luckily we haven't had any pet emergencies at my house, but I do keep your email address handy just in case. My oldest son worked for a vet the 4 years he was in college and can come to my dogs' rescue at times. My big, beautiful Rex has not learned his lesson about skunks not being one of his kitty friends yet. :( (after about 7 sprayings) We keep a bottle of de-skunk mixed for such occasions. Much better that the tomato juice bath.

We are finally having some autumn weather after too many days in the 100's. We had 9.8 inches of rain over 3 days in September, but always need more.

If you've stuck thru this, God Bless You.:) I get started and just keep going on, etc., etc.

Wishing you gentle days.

[wildpinky]

hi Dr. Jones...so glad to see you and glad to be back...

i do have a question for you...i finally find a kind and caring vet to take my dogs to in Needmore, PA...so we took Dewkey, a dalmatian, who weighs 83 pounds, cause he never misses a meal, and is very strong, and Carmen, a Lhasa Apso mixed with Poodle, who weighs only 35 pounds...i took them for their shots but also cause Carmen has a cyst on her back and a four black warts...i asked the vet about the cyst, she said that she is isnt worried about the cyst beacuse it is a pink cyst...but that she will remove it when she spays her but she did say that the black warts are the worry...i was going to ask her why but Dewkey decided that he didnt want to be there any longer and pull my son out the door so i had to go and help him get Dewkey in the car...Carmen and i went to the car and sat with Dewkey...my son went back in to pay and to get the rabies tags, he forgot to ask about why the concern over the black warts...i am suppose to make Carmen an appointment for spaying...but it has to wait until my son is home for Thanksgiving break cause i dont drive...

so what is the difference between pink and black cysts and warts and why the concern if they are black...Carmen has one black one on her neck underneath her collar and one on each of her back legs and one on her left front leg...i did see another pink growth under her tail the other day...it isnt black...the vet also told me that Carmen is getting black spots on her pink body cause of the warts...she did have an ear infection but cleared up with the ointment they gave me for her...the ear infection is from all the hair that Carmen has in her ears and asked them to pluck it out, which they did...the vet said the ear infection was from allergies...

i know i could and probably should call the doc back and ask her, but i wanted to get your opinion too, since you helped me before with my cat Robin, and i trust you so very much...

i would have taken Carmen to the vet sooner but the one by me isnt friendly and even with the animal's records infront of her doesnt seem to know who they are...she called Dewkey 'French Fry' at one visit and that was the last visit to her, i figured if she couldnt even care enough to look to see what the name of the animal is then she doesnt really care enough...she also gave me expired antibiotics for Robin, when he was still alive, and told me that they were still good to use, just to double up on them...

thanks in advance and so very nice to see you...you are truly wonderful...

pinky

[suede]

Wow It is so good to see you and so many others, I hope that life has been treating you well and we will have the pleasure of your company often..
We just had a terrible time with parvo here, my daughter brought home a puppy that had it, I thank God I had my dogs shots up to date, we got him a booster just to be safe, it sure was a lot of work and a big scare and a lot of money but the puppy made it..
Again good to "see" you..
Linda

[jtroy]

pinky: Your vet basically is trying to tell you that melanoma (skin cancer) nearly always presents with these dark brown to black wart-looking lesions on the skin. This is why she was telling you that. As far as not worrying about the pink ones...I am assuming that she is saying that since it is probably just granulation tissue (healed tissue) or some sort of inflammation, or maybe even areas where your pooch has had an allergic reaction. Either way, the basic thing is that when we see black warts (and they do have a distinct look) we tend to start thinking about melanoma.

Now, she sent you home without any further investigation so she is pretty sure that they are just nothing to worry about. If they get to a point where you just don't like the looks, ask her to remove them. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry at this point.

I hope that helps some...let me know if there is anything I can help you with further.

Regards,

T. Jones, DVM

[wildpinky]

thanks Dr.Troy...she is going to remove all of them when she spays Carmen in November...i have to do all appointments and stuff when my son is home for vacation...i just didnt get a chance to ask her why the concern over the black ones...i remember her telling me that the one cyst that is under the skin and looks pink, that she isnt concerned about but will remove that one too...it took me a long time to find a vet out here...one that i trust...i had a great vet in indiana before we moved out here...the vet in indiana knew exactly what was wrong with Robin and how to treat haemobatonella, but the vet that i first had when we first moved out here, had no clue and i had to keep telling her how to treat him...

also should i have her remove the two dew claws that Carmen has...they dont seem to bother her but she does chew on them and the nails are very short...i trim both Dewkey's and Carmen's nails myself and i also groom Carmen everyday...plus Carmen takes a shower at least once a week...with her long fur it is hard to keep her mat free unless i give her a shower once a week...i use baby shampoo and detangler on her...cause of the showering and stuff that is how i found the black warts...i did have to get Carmen a different collar cause the choker that she had on always would cause her to gag, it never laid flat on her neck like Dewkey's does...

i just dont want anything to happen to my baby during the surgery...

you help me so very much and i appreciate you helping again...

i hope you and your family are doing well...

pinky

[LeslieRN]

Hi everyone,

It is so good to have the forums back!! I was going thru withdrawal!!

Well if I didn't have enough chronic pain, I had my right knee replaced the end of June. It was bone on bone! It took almost a month of physical therapy before the real bad pain just stopped and I could walk without my cane or walker.

About 2 weeks after surgery I became very sick with a GI virus- I could not eat anything and sustained on popcicles and jello. I had such very bad stomach and intestional cramping. When they suggested that I try and eat something- it made it worse- dry heaves and "the runs" I was not sleeping and could not nap- I was in so much pain.

Finally when everything seemed to be getting worse our GP changed my meds and that seemed to help. I lost 20+/- lbs during this ordeal. It wasn't fun either to have to get out of bed, get the walker and rush to the BR, on a knee that was still very painful. But then Hubby and I both got a sinus infection. To help our respiratory health we replaced all the carpet with laminate- it really looks great but then I fell hitting my operative knee OUCH:mad: That is causing increased pain but I didn't hurt the new knee. But my other knee is now hurting but the condition of the 1st knee did not show up on x ray- it was bone on bone when he got in there.

Then finally I got better. THEN I GOT VERY BETTER!!!!!!

I'm not sure if y'all know about UNUM - a disability insurance company who was denying just about everyone for bogus reason. They were sued and lost and now they are in the process of reassessing all the people they denied.

This would be very long if I explained thing fully- but I was approved!!! :D I received 5 years of back pay as a nurse as well as interest on the money. I then get monthly checks until I am 65. Yea- but I can't take all the credit- although it took 3 months to write but I sent them 16 page letter tearing apart all their reasons to deny me. I also got the state insurance commission and our state rep to watch over their shoulders and lo and behold it took 9 days to be approved!

one more question for Dr Jones. We have a an 11 year old husky/shephard (?)mix. Her history is that about 3 years ago she was either attacked by another dog or hit by a car while a pet sitter was watching our dogs. (the teens in the neighborhood opened the gate to their run) She had a gash in her leg but it had started healing so there was nothing the vet could do so she limps at times. She was then attacked by another dog and had numerous gashes to be sutured. But in last November she tore into one of our other dogs and took a piece out her.

She has been running into walls, and us, she gets lost in the house. We took all the dogs in for their annual visits- we were told that there is no pupilary change in either eye so she is essentally blind. It is obvious that she sees showdows but that is about all. She moves at the most inappropriate times- she lays down in the doorways and doesn't want to get up so you take a chance stepping over her- she may get up like when she did that sent me flying into the tile.

Now she has begun to roam around the house crying and wimpering. We talked with our vet and she said give her 1 81mg enteric coated aspirin. Sometimes it hekps and other times it doesn't.

The most problematic situation- she doesn't like to lay on the laminate floor and found when we were gone that the couch is VERY comfortable. But now she is refusing to get down when we wsnt to sit on the couch-she is growling if we get too close and she was refusing to move.

Any suggestions? It is obvious that she is having problems and my husband heard that the time to let them go is when they are not healthy enough to do the things that dogs do. But we can't have her trying to bite us. Per the vet she is not seeing very much but - she can find the backdoor when it is time to go outside and runs around in the bck yard- but then runs into things on the back porch - this is a very hard decision- any comments, suggestions?

Here's to having less pain
Thanks

Leslie

[jtroy]

Hey there Leslie:

This is a tough case...mainly because I really need to lay my hands on your pooch to really give you anything definitive. Just from what you have said, those are absolutely classic signs of pain...for all those reading, when you read what Leslie wrote those are clear signs that your pooch is experiencing pain.

As many of you know, I specialized in pain management for animals while in practice...still really concentrate on it now.

Leslie...clearly there is something going on that is causing your pooch pain. Now...she is 11 years old and since you indicated that she sometimes responds to aspirin I am really wondering if we don't have some severe osteoarthritis going on here. All the movement irregularities, not wanting to be on specific surfaces, not moving out of your way when she normally used to...these are all signs.

However, I cannot rule out other orthopedic issues because I cannot examine her. Also...in her case I would highly reccommend just a basic set of radiographs concentrating on her bony structures and specific joints. There could be some old non-union fracture from the prior incident...maybe a fracture that never healed properly...possibly some malalignment as a result...the list could go on forever.

At this point I would reccommend that you continue with the aspirin therapy except I would highly advise you to use it in a constant fashion...no worries...use the enteric stuff...generic/cheap is totally fine...and it won't hurt her at all. The dosage is quite low, however...the normal dosage for canines is 5-15mg/10pounds bodyweight BID. So for her I would reccommend a regular strength aspirin tablet (320mg) twice per day....if you start that now I will bet my money that you will see a brand new dog within a couple days of therapy. She responded a little before...she didn't get a good one because the dosage was so low. I don't know her weight...but my dosage is probably low as well...I am basing it on a 32 pound dog and I would bet that your pooch weighs more than that....you can adjust the dosage accordingly to what I just quoted if you like and I would reccommend that...you want to see maximal response at the lowest dosage possible.

Otherwise, there are so many different ways to deal with pain in pooches...unfortunately, most vets today are opposed to using opioids...I used them often and I was able to give sooooo many pooches relief from chronic pain. Let me know how it goes....you can always email me at: tjandfon@hotmail.com...that goes for anybody. Good luck and please keep me posted.

Regards,

T. Jones, DVM

[debtoo]

Hi Dr. Jones,
It is so good to see you back here. I have not had to seek your help yet, but it is a good feeling to know you are here if needed. Bless you for being some generous with your help.
Take Care
Deborah

[Headspin]

It's good to see everybody back. Some of you may not remember me. I have not posted here for about a year. In the past couple of months I have been in the hospital and nursing home due to some very bad complex breaking down of my health. I'm doing well now, but I'm still very weak. I will try to keep up on this forum.

-Craig-

[Boopers]

Hello Everyone, good to see alot of you are back, and I for one, missed BT greatly when it was down. Dr. Jones, I have a question about my sons choc lab. He is two years old and my son got him from the pound. He is the sweetest dog. Anyways, my son lives on a busy highway and so as not to get hurt or worse, on the highway, my son bought one of those shock collars and the wire to bury around your yard. His yard is way to big to fence in. Anyways, do you know if the collar is dangerous for the dog? I have wondered about them and would hate for it to harm this precious animal, Copper. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You,
Linda:)

[debtoo]

Hi Linda,
Just wanted to share. I did have one of those fences with my 1st doggie (a Shih Tzu) and it was NOT a good experience. She ran through the fence three times and once they run through it they are not going to run back in it.
I just gave up and did fence in my back yard.
Hope your son has a better experience then me any my doggie did.

Deborah

[Boopers]

Hi Deborah,
Thanks for that. I am amazed though, that my son's dog does excellent with it. My son has had it put in for about six months now and the dog has never gone through it. It works great but the only thing that worries me is I had heard somewhere that the collar will actually cause tumors on the dogs neck where the box is on the collar at the throat. I am wondering if that is really true. If so, then my son will go ahead and put a fence up in the back yard for him, like you have done.
Thanks Again,
Linda:)

[jaded2nite]

Dr Troy

Just wanted to say hello. I don't know if you remember, but you helped me make the heartbreaking decision to put my sweet Rotty Nala down in January, and you also held my hand thru treating a heartworm infested stray daschie named Mya that I adopted.

You are a wonderful person that gives without expecting anything in return. I just wanted to thank you again for your help!

Dottie