About Moni
Key information
| Name: | Moni |
| Breed: | Greyhound |
| Colour: | Black with white chest |
| Age: | 11.5 years old |
| Weight: | 32 kg |
| Health conditions | arthritis and inflamed pad on right rear leg |
| Last vaccination date: | 12 July 2023 |
| Worm, flea, tick treatment date: | 28 May 2024 |
| Adopted: | January 2017 |
| Greenhound: | 12 April 2017 |
Routine
Fed morning and evening (2 times a day), 1 packet of prepared food (Lyka) at each feeding 2.2ml of Meloxicam with his dinner
Chicken will give him gas – he will also be gassy if stressed/nervous
Usually has two walks per day, 15 to max 30 mins per walk
Morning walk usually between 6:30 and 7:30am, breakfast fed after the walk (but he’s pretty chill and will go with the flow)
Evening walk around 5:00 to 6:00pm, dinner fed after the walk usually
General information
Moni is house trained and can be left alone for 6 or 7 hours if required. If he needs to go the the bathroom, the usualy indicating will be panting and getting up and going towards the doors. He won’t bark or anything, but generally will only get up if there’s a reason, either looking for food, or wanting to go outside.
Carrying and picking up Moni
- Position Yourself:
- Stand beside your dog, facing the same direction.
- Place Your Arms:
- Left Arm: Slide your left arm between the front legs and under the chest.
- Right Arm: Place your right arm under the rear end.
- Lift Carefully:
- Lift the dog smoothly, keeping them close to your body.
- Alternative Position:
- If you’re left-handed or it feels more comfortable, reverse the arms:
- Right Arm: Between the front legs and under the chest.
- Left Arm: Under the rear end.
- If you’re left-handed or it feels more comfortable, reverse the arms:
- Ensure the dog’s weight is supported on your arm to prevent slipping.
- Keep their weight balanced to avoid straining their neck.
Car travel
Moni is very good in cars and travelling, but needs enough room to lay down. Typically we put down the backseats so they’re flat and put down a bed for him.
Because of his fracture, it is probably best to not let him jump into the back. The easiest way to get him into the back of a car is to:
Place his front paws / legs on the bumper of the car
Scoop him up from behind and let him walk in
Due to his fracture, it would be best to carry him out of the car so he doesn’t have to jump down and risk injuring himself. We usually just pick him up and out of the car and place him on the ground.
Sitting
Greyhounds generally cannot sit down, it is physiologically challenging for them and uncomfortable. This means they generally have two states: laying down or standing up.
Moni is no exception and cannot sit down. He will happily flop down on anything soft, but will often avoid hard surfaces unless absolutely necessary.
We have a number of beds strategically placed around the house so he has some different options of places to relax. He typically likes to be near us and will usually sleep and rest the majority of the day.
Cold conditions
Greyhounds have very little body fat and, therefore, are prone to cold stress. If Moni curls up in a tight ball, he’s probably feeling the cold. He typically doesn’t like wearing clothing outside, and unless it’s very cold will be fine for his usual short walks outside.
If the temperature inside is below 17°C it would be a good idea to put a coat on him – if it’s above this, there’s no real need.
Bandages
The wound on his left leg will take some time to heal. Currently the wound is healthy with granulation tissue forming.
If the wound begins to smell or pus starts to discharge, he probably needs to go to a vet to get an assessment.
The bandages should be changed every 2 to 3 days; however, they have been slipping down so often changing sooner.
The two biggest challenges with the bandages are:
- Being too tight causing swelling of the paw
- Being too loose and with the bandage slipping down
My approach to bandaging
I’ve been using manuka honey to protect the wound and keep it moist and reduce the adherece of the gauze.
Three options for dressing the wound:
- Manuka honey, jelonet and gauze
- Ectocare manuka dressing
- Manuka honey and melolin low adherent dressing
I’ve been positioing the dressing high on the wound as the bandaging tends to slip down a little.
Then bandage the leg in:
- soffban padding
- conforming bandage
- cohesive bandage to hold everything together
I’ve found the best way to wrap it just below the elbow to just above his wrist. This seems to be best for keeping it from sliding down too much. The cohesive bandage/vetrap can end up very tight if it’s stretched when putting it on – so just be careful.
Tightness and swelling
- To avoid swelling, make sure you can fit a finger or two under the bandage.
- Also check his paw a few hours after a new bandage to make sure it’s not swelling.
- the webbing between his toes and his knuckles is a good way to see if they’re starting to swell – can compare to his unbandaged foot.
Bandage licking
Moni generally hasn’t attacked the bandage. However, he does tned to lick it a lot and managed to push it down to expose the wound at one point.
Putting him in his shirt has been working so far to keep him from licking the bandage as it covers up the leg.
We have been having him wear it when in the house and remove it for walks.
There is also an anti-lick muzzle if the shirt method stops working or he becomes more destructive.
Supplies
- There should be enough material if you only need to change it every couple days
- If you’re getting low, let me know about a week in advance and I can order some more to be delivered
Likes and dislikes
Chilled out, not very active
Very food motivated, not much experience feeding him around other dogs, so may be best to do it separately, may try to steal any food left around
Has poor recall, not allowed off lead unless it’s enclosed and no other dogs around. Good with other dogs but doesn’t get a lot of time off lead with them.
Not cat or possum friendly
