MrAlexTheDog

i'm sorry for your loss, kristin. katie got her third dose this afternoon. two more doses to go.

Katie weighed herself (yes, she does this on her own now as part of the routine for a vet visit) on the scale in the lobby of the animal hospital before going in back to get blood pulled prior to her next dose of chemo. She's gained another pound since her last weigh-in: she's at 55 now. Very pleased.

katie goes in tomorrow to get blood pulled. if her oncologist is pleased with the results, katie gets her next dose (her 3rd) next wednesday.

a picture of katie going for a ride this evening:

katie got weighed this morning when we were at the vet's to change sadie's toe bandage. she's at an all-time post-amp high of 54#. woo!

jaym1, i too am sorry to read the latest on tempo. and while i was thinking today about how you're dealing with the reality of the situation, my daughter's greyhound "boyfriend" made an appearance at the vet hospital where she works because of yelping. it turned out he had OSA in his shoulder, so he was PTS within a few hours.

katie's bloodwork passed muster with her oncologist, so she got her second dose this afternoon. we'll see how much it affects her appetite/GI tract. we have carafate/flagyl/Cerenia on hand if needed. boy, she's been bouncy the past few days.

sending my condolences to you, christine. i'm sorry we did not get the chance to meet when i was at GIG.

no chemo for katie yesterday. her oncologist wants her neutrophil count to be higher. so she gets more blood pulled on friday, and if her oncologist ok's it, her 2nd chemo is next monday.

if katie's oncologist approves, she will get her 2nd dose of chemo on monday.

katie's on flagyl, carafate, and cerenia now. she got firm right away (i got a small, but firm, stool from her during our lunchtime walk). we've been hand-feeding (and sometimes she eats it on her own) canned I/D starting last night. so that's progress. ate about a cup of boiled chicken this AM. not surprising that the digestion upset from the chemo can last for 2-3 weeks in varying degrees. yeah, mostly pork, so it's got a lot of calories (which she needs). so i wouldn't be surprised if that contributed to the diarrhea.

katie's appetite has been off some starting last saturday, but recovered some yesterday. not sure exactly what's happening, although she wants to do more things. she lost about a pound since her last weigh-in last monday but is still above her immediate post-amp weight. has had diarrhea since last night but has been drinking water. i gave her a can of A/D last night and the runs started a few hours later. she's at the vet's now to be looked at because sadie developed a lump above the knuckle on her fourth toe and is being looked at, also.

katie napping in the afternoon sun a few days ago: this morning she waited at the kitchen doorway for her breakfast again as i was preparing her's and sadie's food. she ate a cup of orijen dry + boiled chicken, then waited for more. so i fed her another ½ cup of orijen; she ate that, too. her CBC taken a couple of days ago looked good. we'll take another one on 8/3, with her 2nd round of chemo scheduled for 8/5.

i took katie in to the vet's this morning to pull blood for a CBC (which came back just fine). we got a weight on her, and she's 53.5#. she's gained two pounds since her first chemo last monday, and up one pound when we weighed her last friday. so that's pretty good, considering the quirks that she's shown as far as eating is concerned. we'd like to add a few more pounds but not exceed the 61# she weighed at the time of amputation. while we don't want her to gain too much weight too quickly, we also don't want her to lose weight since she's finicky and chemo has done a number on her appetite.

we weighed katie at the hospital an hour ago. she's gained a pound since chemo was given last monday. her hips are much less visible. we'd like to have her gain several more pounds but not up to the 62# she weighed before surgery. we're a bit amazed that after eating about a cup of dry kibble this AM she also ate a can of A/D (by licking the spoon and eating out of a bowl) after we got home. so far so good.

she's good about leaving it alone...most of the time. i'm sorry to learn of symbra's passing.

katie had her first chemo today and had her staples removed. nothing remarkable happened, so that's good. she's asleep at the moment.

a picture of katie taken yesterday: today was her best day yet since surgery. she wanted to go outdoors a number of times; she left her incision alone all day while not wearing a t-shirt; ate quite a bit.

fentanyl is known to make dogs more vocal -- much more than torbutrol if your dog has had torb before. katie was like that for the first night or so after her amp. btw, katie's biopsy report arrived yesterday and showed no metastasis in her lymph node. we're very pleased about that. had blood pulled this morning to verify that she can get her first chemo treatment on monday.

heather, check with dani and see what vet she takes carson and maisie to since she's in santa monica.

best of luck to you and your lana, victor.

we got our first grey, alex, from them in 1993 when they were part of GPA at that time.

did you get tosh from fastfriends? if so, i may have some pictures of him on his retirement day there.

for the first time since her leg amputation katie walked up to her foodstand on her own this morning, waiting for her food bowl to be placed in it. she ate maybe 3/4 of its contents, which is pretty good. and also for the first time since her surgery she walked into the kitchen and waited to be let out in the backyard, so i let her out back. she did nothing but stood in the sunshine with eyes closed and sniffing the air. then she wanted back inside.

ummm...katie... one day soon you'll be able to jump up while sleeping in your bed, and run to the front door to bark at the approaching mailman. but today is not that day.