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ZoomDoggy

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    Slowing Down

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    How gradual has the energy change been? A drop in energy in my Sissy was the first overlooked sign that she was unwell near the end. She was a stoic brave little princess, so I didn't think to worry until she was clearly in pain (she had cancer). I had naively attributed her slow-down on our daily walks to age and/or stubbornness. :sad1 The same thing happened to my Marla. She started lagging on walks and acting depressed after Chancy died, and I stupidly assumed she was simply mourning or sad at losing her housemate. Turned out she had lung cancer.

     

    Point being if it seems less than very gradual, I'd be getting the pup checked over by a vet.

    Help, Advice Needed - Asap

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted · Edited by ZoomDoggy

    Currently you don't know if there is a growth or not (xrays were clear, right?) The ultrasound would help determine if there is a growth or other possible abnormality in the internal organs (enlarged spleen, etc), or (better yet) rule it out so you can then make a more informed course of action.

    Silly Question

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted · Edited by ZoomDoggy

    I don't recall everything that was included (an entire course of treatments, many many blood tests, follow-up visits, etc) but when I consulted with an oncologist for Sissy's T-cell Lymphoma, I vividly remember the price tag being over $5000 USD. This was at the U of M. Sadly, It turned out that it was not an option for us anyway, as the cancer had spread far too fast for my little princess... she passed away four days after that consultation. :sad1

    Stormy

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    How big are the syringes? I have a 10 mL syringe but it seems kind of small.

     

    Ask your pharmacist for the largest oral syringe they have. It won't be very big (can't recall the size I had), but it's big enough for a couple of mouthfuls of liquid food. I also found that cutting the very tip of the syringe off and filing the resulting edge smooth made the opening larger which makes sucking up the luquid food easier (less prone to clogging).

     

    I used a food processor and pre-made a large-ish tupperware of the gruel and stored it in the fridge. At mealtimes (every two hours for a while there) I'd put a small amount in a bowl and warm/thin it with a little water and microwave it for a few seconds. Not too hot, of course.

    Stormy

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    I posted this for someone last year. Maybe it can help you. :goodluck

     

    But if nothing else works...

     

    Having all-too-recently been through the not-eating thing with my Marla, I can tell you that if no foods can tempt your pup, and you don't want to shove food down her throat, syringe-feeding is not as bad as you might fear. Your pharmacist can give you an oral syringe, and you can puree the dogfood in a processor or blender with chicken broth until it's a nice smooth liquid (I found that pre-soaking the kibble in broth overnight in the fridge made it blend more smoothly). Then, one syringe-full at a time, slowly squirt the food into the side of her mouth, between her teeth. With Marla, once the liquid food hit her tongue, she started just licking and swallowing. I adjusted the speed of my syringe-plunging to accord with the speed of her swallowing. She didn't seem to mind being fed this way at all, even though there was no food left on earth that she would eat on her own.

     

    The advantage I found to doing this rather than continuing to scour the earth for more novel foods for her to reject (after four weeks, you run out of ideas), was that this way I could return her to the consistent diet that worked well for her, and it cleared up the diarrhea she got from eating so much weird stuff all the time. The downside is that it is time consuming, and it takes a lot of syringe-fulls to equal the amount of food a dog must eat daily in order to maintain weight. Many small meals daily, is what I did.

     

    Good luck.

    Remembering Sweet Things They Did...

    in Remembrance

    Posted

    My Sissy used to stand at the top of a staircase and do a deep downward-dog stretch, holding that position until I reached face-level as I was coming up said stairs... Then she'd pop forward and give me one quick smooch on the face as I got to the top. :kiss2 She was never a "kissy" girl. She did this to me and nobody else.

     

     

    I miss that, among so may other things

    :cry1

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