The Beastly Beasts

Raised ALT - The Results Are In

posted by Monty at 12:46

And they're not good.

As you propbably know, when I gave blood back in April the tests found a raised ALT level, which could mean something is wrong with my liver. I had another test at our vet and that showed the same. I took some pills that were 'sposed to help and went back for another test on Monday; the results arrived this morning - it's got worse.

On my first blood test my ALT number was 315. Apparently for most dogs it's about 120, but PPBuk reckon from the dogs they see that greyhounds might have slightly higher levels than that. Anyway, up to 150 is sort of OK, up to 200 is take note but don't worry.

The latest test came back with 449!!

And they tested for something called GLDH (Glutamate dehydroqenase); which was also high - and that does not seem to be good news.

One result was better; my ALP (Alkaline Phosphate) level had dropped.

But the note at the bottom of the results said:
"Elevated ALT and GLDH are liver specific and indicate heptocellular damage and necrosis. Possible causes are include hepatitus, trauma or diffuce infiltrative disease.

There is no evidence of hepatic functional impairment, however a bile acid stimulation test may provide further infomration."

I think that means that my liver seems to be working OK at the moment, but something's not quite right.

Our vet suggested another test in a couple of months, and if that is still bad then we might have to think about what to do next.

I'm getting a bit worried.

Raised ALT - Part 2

posted by Monty at 20:18

Last week I finished by tablets - thank goodness, having three tablets at tea time for a month was a right pain - and so this morning I got dad to take me up the vet for my blood test.

Now we wait a few days for the result. But whatever it is we all, that's me, dad, Mr Edwards, and Mr. Jago - one of the other vets - all agree that that's as far as it goes for now.

So I hope I can carry on being a blood donor - it just depends on the number that comes back from my the test. Look out for part 3 once I know.

Blood Donations at White Lodge

posted by Monty at 07:30

Day before yesterday dad got a call from Aunty Claire asking if we'd pop up to White Lodge and give some more blood. Seems there had been a dog that needed loads during an op and PBBuk had run out, and we were the easiest way to got lots of hounds in one go.

'Course we said yes, so yesterday it was up the road in the BeastBus to go and do our bit. Well, not me 'coz of my ALT levels (more on that next week), but all the others did.

And don't you know it? Our vet knows we give blood, and guess what happepend just before we got to White Lodge? Dad gets a call asking if we can go to the vet to do just that. 'Course we couldn't, but at least it was for the right reason.

One by one all the others went to do their bit. I have to admit I did get a bit bored 'coz doing blood doning for five hounds does take a while. Still, did get to wind up a labrador who was one of the vets dogs - hee hee!!

Overall, with five Beasts and three rescues, PBBuk went away with a gallon of blood that evening. Thing is, we got some tea and stuff; they had to go and do what they do with it straight away. I reckon we were probably snoozing before they got their tea.

And between all the Beasts, and I'm including Lucy and Hooch, we've donated 11 pints of blood - that's quite a lot really.

And as for me, I'm back at the vet to have my blood tested again next week. I'll let you know what happens - I hope I'm allowed to start giving blood again.

How Much Exercise do Greyhounds Need?

posted by Chris at 16:11

So, just how much exercise do greyhounds actually need?

Received wisdom, at least while trying to persuade people to give a hound a home, is a couple of 20 minute walks per day, with one or two longer walks thrown in during the week.

If you a regular BeastBlogger you will know that The Beastly Beasts like to have longer walks than that, with an hour walk being at the short end of the scale, and more often than not they are a couple of hours.

But every now and then we go for a really long walk, as this pic shows.

The Beastly Beasts at New Zealand - nearly

The Beastly Beasts at Bowood

posted by Monty at 11:50

Yesterday we went to the Bowood Dog Show and Country Fair. If you've been reading BeastBlog for a while you might remember that we went last year. The weather this year was just a bit different, and we hid under trees to keep out of the sun rather than to keep dry. Bowood itself is a fab place; we've got a fairly big garden to play in, but it's nothing compared to this - 3,000 acres.

Bowood House

We like Bowood 'coz we get to see some of our friends that we don't see so often, like Bumpy (he's a bit of a star - more about him soon); and I get to meet two of my favourite people in the whole world - Sam and Ange - who helped pay for my trip from Ireland to England; so thanks to them I ended up at White Lodge and then here.

We were all wearing our new collars and Pet Blood Bank UK bandanas. On the way into the grounds we were asked what PBBuk was and why we were life savers - something that happened a lot during the day. So dad told the man about it and gave him a leaflet, and he reckoned - like most people we spoke to - that what we did was pretty amazing and that we were special dogs; which I guess, along with all the others that have given blood, we are - even if I do say so myself.

Once in we went for a wander round to see what was what, and on the way we spotted Aunty Wendy and Bumpy so we went to say hello. Turned out that they were waiting to go and be judged 'coz Bumpy was in the the Top Ten of Wiltshire's Best Dogs. In case you don't know, Bumpy is blind; not that that stops him doing stuff and going places and having a good time mind, and he does the same as us and lets dogs needing homes come to stay while they find one. So of course we had to go and support him when the judges were deciding; and he came third.

Bumpy

Bumpy - Wiltshire's 3rd Most Special Dog

Bumpy

Bumpy getting a well deserved cuddle off his mum

Then we met up with everyone else, Sam and Ange and Mindy and Helen and .... you get the picture. Noah was there showing non-pointy dogs how to roach; don't think they quite got it somehow. A lady called Snow was there with Nog and her husband. She said she wanted another greyhound but that OH reckoned it was too much to have two; not sure what he thought about us then!!

We all got together next to the Oldies stand as Ange and Helen were running it. As we went to join our friends we got stopped by a lady saying "If you're not Yeti and The Beastly Beasts I'll eat my hat.". She wasn't wearing a hat so it was a bit of strange thing to say, but as we were she didn't have to find a hat to eat. It was GreyLady who was helping out with the Greyound Rescue West of England (GRWE) stand; which is who helped Maple before she came to stay with us. They of course had some hounds with them, and one was just like Hooch.

As you probably know, we spend some of our time raising money to help hounds that people from the greyhound racing industry have decided they don't want anymore. Today was a bit different, 'coz the Bowood Show raises money for a human charity - Macmillan Cancer Support, and one of the ways of doing it was to enter some show classes.

We went in three, and we got a rosette in everyone!! Jack and Troy went in the Oldies Class, and Troy won a "Special" rosette.

Troy

Troy with his "Special" rosette

Next we all went in the Open class. As you can imagine there were lots of dogs in there. One of them was Dexter, a Great Dane; he was a lovely lad, and made Troy look small.

Dexter

Dexter

Mum came with us and she did the showing to the judge while dad had the rest of us. The judge thought that what we did - helping other hounds - was brilliant and that what happened to too many of our friends was awful; she's not wrong on the last bit. And while none of us won any of the top prizes, Lucy got a "Well Done" rosette.

Lucy

Lucy and mum

Then is was the Best Condition Class. Same format with mum and dad, and Dexter was there too - he got a place. And Troy got another "Special" rosette; so he's two special!!

After we had been in the show we went for another look round and found the stand selling the beds we have now - which we think are just fab. Dad was having a chat with the man on the stand - who it turns out runs the company, when Lucy decided to settle down in amongst the beds. Luckily Brian, the man that makes the beds, saw the funny side of it and his wife took some pictures; who knows - maybe Lucy will be a model for them.

Lucy

Lucy in the beds

Then we found the ice cream stand - yummmmmmy; I love ice cream and so does Jack. I don't think Lucy and Hooch had tried it before, but they liked it too. In fact the only one that doesn't is Kai - which is OK as it means more for the rest of us.

Ice Creams

Then back to the Oldies stand and a snooze, or in Troy's case, a lean - he'd been leaning all day - and then, all of a sudden, the show was over and it was time to go home.

The day went really quickly and we enjoyed it loads; it was brilliant to see old friends and meet some new ones; here's a few more pics.

Mindy's dogs

Aunty Mindy's pair - we are never sure who's who

Molly

Molly Moo with Wendy

Quick word here about Molly; she is a foster, and I am a Crufts Champion. The Beastly Beasts say Molly should be a sister for Bumpy.

Lottie