Jetty - DM Fast Frigate, Part 1

Jetty, Age 6 wks

Jetty was a Feather son. As white as his mother was, Jetty was that black.  Like his mother, he was gorgeous and graceful.  Sadly, his testicles did not descend. At 3 months of age, it was time to find Jetty a loving pet home, an appropriate home for a greyhound puppy.

Due to the wonders of the internet, a home was found for Jet in Michigan.  The people had great references and sounded perfect, so arrangements were made for Jetty to go & live with them.

I should have known better...  The relationship between us started off with a disagreement over castrating the boy prior to his going there.  Greyhound puppies as a large breed should not be castrated before their growth plates close, which is usually around 13-14 months of age.  This is something in which I firmly believe as early castration leads to excessive bone growth and it has been linked to some other health issues such as incontinence. But, the home sounded so good for the boy...  I went against my gut and judgment and had the boy castrated prior to his trip to Michigan.

Gizmo the Cat & Jet

Please note that castration for a bilateral cryptorchid is not an easy surgery.  The vet has to go in through the abdominal cavity to find the hidden testicles and, in Jet's case, they were way up by the bladder. Anyway, we had him castrated and about a week later, he developed a urinary tract infection (UTI).  He was put on antibiotics and arrangements were made to transport him to Michigan.

Laurel Drew & I transported the boy part of the way to his new home in Michigan.  We had him in a crate with a pad. He was such a good boy!  He never whined, never messed... He was so good.  We met up with the next person (name now forgotten) in what we call a GUR (Greyhound Run). Along the way, Adrienne Breummer in St. Charles, Missouri, had agreed to house him until he could meet up with the next transporter on his way.  Jet made such an impression on Adrienne, she dropped us a line asking to have him if the new home didn't work out for any reason.  Uhm...  OK...  but I don't think he'll be going anywhere...  even so, I saved Adrienne's email.

The transporters kept in touch with us all along the way, giving us updates and telling us how good he was.  Finally, Jet, his medical record, and his medications for the UTI were handed off to his new owners and then she handed him & his medications over to his new owners.

Jet at Adrienne's Home

A couple of weeks later, we got a phone call from the new owners. It seems that Jet was having problems with urinary leaking.  They had taken him to their vet and he told them that Jet's urinary tract and bladder were not properly formed.  What?  I asked my vet, who had neutered him, if there were any problems with his urinary tract and she told me everything was normal. The new vet wanted to do some kind of surgery that was the equivalent of a urostomy! After discussions with the new owners, it was decided that Jet would come home.

On the return trip, Jet again had the chance to stay with Adrienne.  She again asked me if she could keep the boy.  We discussed it and I told her that I could not saddle her with a defective dog, one that would probably leak urine uncontrollably for the rest of his life. We went round & round with Adrienne getting a concession out of me...  I'd let the boy stay there on a trial basis.

(End Part 1)