RobinM

Mary- cow hoofs. I take his food and stuff it in there and freeze it so he has a treat which is really his food. We get 1/4 can into each hoof and we have a tray in the freezer with 1/3 an in each hoof. It's just what we do with what we got! Don't tell him. Dinner was difficult. Total for today. 1 cup kibble am 1 cup kibble pm some tilapia some z/d canned. We need more calories.

Back from vet with 3 dogs! Beau's up 1.5 pounds. So... that works. He had blood taken but we don't expect anything to show up. Just routine because of the steroids. All she said was he may have to bounce between pred and budesonide- the 10mg of pred is not even theraputic dosage for a GH- we are only using it as a appetite stimulant. We had to stand on our heads this morning but we did manage to get one cup of kibble in him. he is walking so much better and is walking the long walks with the pack. We let him tell us if he wants to go. If he feels ok, he wants to walk- if he doesn't feel ok- he runs upstairs and we let him be. We will continue with acupunture and hope the eating picks up.

What a beautiful hound. So young. I am so sorry.

We are on day 3 of pred. Only 10mg but he did eat a little today. So far he had 2 1/3 cups of kibble and 2/3 can of his wet food. He gets the wet in his hoofie and then they are frozen so when everyone get's their evening snacky, Beau gets a hoofie. OH BOY, Beau, a hoofie! We have 3 freezers in this house. One in the kitchen for us and some dog food. 2 in the garage. One for Ollie's food and one for Beau's hoofies. We do have other things in the garage freezer. But Ollie has his own freezer!

That would be one of the worst things to do for a IBD who could be flaring. I do appreciate the ideas. IBD is very unique in how it works. And, what works for one dog, food wise- could kill another. We know what works. We know what he can and can't eat. We, unfortunately have been down this road before. I was hoping we wouldn't have to do it again. The pred WILL kick in and start his appetite going and relieve any inflammation he may have. As of now, he is acting OK. And I know my dog. When he is off, even a little, I know it. He is otherwise happy and just slightly subdued for him. And just so you know, he ate 1/3 of a can of z/d frozen into a hoofie. For dinner he ate 2 cups of kibble. So far for today 746 calories but who is counting?

The fear is the beginning of a flare up which is why we took him off the budesonide and restarted the pred. Were you on the board when Beau went from 68 pounds to 53.4 pounds? We thought it was over but we pushed and pushed and got the pred into him which made the intestinal inflammation go down and he started eating AND absorbing. We never want to go there again. We were feeding him every 3 hours round the clock. Literally set the alarm for 2 and 5 AM to let him out to pee and eat. He was on 50 of prednesone. It was a crazy time and Polli was going though her chemo.

oh, am I with you on that!

Yes, for some dogs and most cats valium is an appetite increaser. But not for Beau, of course. It used to give Polli the munchies!!!

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As much as I hate to think about her being rehomed, I hate more the thought of her eyes being scratched out and your cats mutilated to death and GOD forbid that happens in front of your kids. I have 5 hounds and 3 cats. There is no way I would allow Caroline in my house with my cats. There are so many other dogs out there who are cat friendly. Caroline needs a cat free home.

I am so very sorry.

Have I mentioned how much this SUX and how sick of it I am???? Really now.... ARGH. He has had less than 900 caloried 2 days in a row and before that 360 calories. And getting him to eat that is literally standing on our heads and spitting 14K Gold nickels. Totally ridiculous. And believe me if he didn't have the "issues" he has, it would be eat it or not. I have come a looooooong way in that department! Ask Teddy! I will be bringing him in tomorrow although I know it will be for naught. Sigh. I am very frustrated and yet I know I had 16 months of good with an IBD dog so I am ahead of the game... But still.

Just seeing this, Hoping Rocky is on his way to feeling better... soon!

She died knowing she was special and loved. God Speed little girl.

Thanks! He has plenty of strength for walks. We just can't do anything excessive although we did walk him this morning because he really wanted to go, it's been a week and he was walking much better. It's the eating thing.. or lack of... we were hoping he would continue like he was doing last night... but he is not... back on pred. Very upset about that... ehhhhh, not wonderful in the eating department.

Oh God, Bev- I am so very sorry.

Better night, even better morning. Back off pred since we only gave him one dose and it can't be the pred yet! Small baby steps. He is walking better and eating a little better. We will get there. No options.

Someone on the IBD board gave me this. She lives in New Zealand and said it really helped her arthritic dog. http://www.arthritis.au.com/htm/vet_mast.htm

As a side note, there is a YAHOO IBD board run by gestapos very structured people. Let's put it this way, I have been a member since 1/09 and I still have my posts "moderated for approval" whenever I post which is not very often. Maybe 1 or 2 every 3-6 months. BUT, they really know the IBD stuff better than a lot of vets. If you can get by the nonsense of getting into trouble for things like not cutting a post you are answering and having your signatre with dogs, name, age, diagnosis, how diagnosed, where you live, food you tried, are on, meds, Etc., etc., not on the post each and every time, it's a greyt tool. So, I asked if ANYONE on the board ever went from pred to budesonide and so far-- no one has said anything. Like everything I do in life... One day at a time...

Thanks for everyones prayers. Unfortunately, we had to start the pred again to jump start him. So, we gave him 10mg of pred this afternoon. DH came home from work around 2 to see if he could get something into him. Nodda. Beau gets tilapia reguarly and he hasn't shown any interest in that either. He has eaten a few of his dehydrated tilapia cookies we make him. We dehydrate 10 pounds of tilapia a week for him!!! But what we did do (and I pray to GOD we don't live to regret this) we gave him tuna water added to his kibble and he ate close to 2 cups. He IS walking better - how do I know this? He JUMPED up and me and tried to tongue me. Anyone who knows my Beau, knows that's just what he does! I wish I could say we are on our way, but I know better. So, one meal at a time, we will get through his too. We have to. I see no other options when it comes to my Beau.

Wayyyyy ahead of you! We put the canned in the cow hoofs and freeze them so he thinks those are treats! yesterday he had 3/4 of a can in hoof form but that is not enough to sustain him. We try giving the kibble in kongs mixed with is cookies. We know all the tricks here! been going though this a very long time. So frustrating. Just saw him on the cam. Happily JUMPING on the bed and is currently eating a stuffed hoof (1/4 can). Its just that he isn't eating enough to sustain him.

I was checking for her updated in H&M and was floored to read that.I am so sorry.

Beautiful boy, God Speed. I am so sorry, Bev.

There is nothing we can do if it's cancer. They don't feel it is but if GOD forbid it was, there are no options anyway. It's the not eating that is the issue. If after 3-5 times of acupunture there is no improvement, then we will do that. But to do that Beau has to be very sedated which means he will be out of it for at least 2 days. He is over sensitive to any anethesia whereas 11 year old Elsie- you would never know she has had anethesia. Beau has a lot of medical issues. It sounds like whatever is causing the limp is quite painful. Pain often leads to greyhounds not eating. IF you can get the pain under control, you should see improvement in appetite. I would second the recommendation for radiographs, especially if your vet can't pinpoint a specific muscle or muscle group as the situs of the pain (this is where a greyhounds trainer is worth his/her weight in gold over a vet any day, but I digress). I know everyone worries about the big C, but bone involvement could also be something as simple as a hairline fracture somewhere in the hock or a smaller bone. It would be a lot of pain, especially until it starts healing. The favoring of the right can lead to stress related fractures in the compensating leg. Has Beau had a reaction to anesthesia or the light sedation they use for radiographs? I know a lot of vets heavily sedate for x-rays, but there's no reason to. Also, among the twilight sedations there are several options - a reaction to one of them doesn't mean a reaction to all. For now, can you give him something for the pain? Something like tramadol? Or perhaps something injectable? Beau can have tramadol. We have that and every other med in the house. As far as asnethesia, my vets who are extremely GH savvy go exceptionally light on Beau. It's just how Beau is with any anesthesia. He winds up getting x-rays every 4-6 months because of the hind weakness. As I said, we will give acupunture a few rounds before we subject him to that and we will start the pred tonight which should help.