LadyBailey

Carrier Update Feb 20 Just a quick note to let you know that Carrier played with his Lambie today - very exciting news I know His heart sounds awful - like tennis shoes in a dryer - but it's working fine otherwise, because he told whatever was in the ravine where to go and then ran back to the deck to make sure that it wasn't coming after him. Plus, he practically climbed up my back as I was preparing his dinner. And... he also loved on me like crazy and made sure I had a lot of his face hair all over my shirt Each day is a blessing...

I am so, so sorry. I know how much it hurts. Hugs to you and Scooter.

Carrier Update Feb 19 Well as most of you saw the horrible post about Carrier being in ICU, it's been a tough few weeks. His heart is still in atrial fibrillation - he is on Enapril and Lasix. We got his blood work from last week and it looks good - WBC and RBC are up, which is good. Everything else is normal. We are forwarding all his info from the E-Vet to OSU and are planning on making a trip to OSU next week for a complete work up and possibly one more chemo treatment, depending on what we are dealing with. He is much better today - stronger and more active. He sleeps comfortably and participates in everything the other dogs are doing - whether it be watching for dad to come home, or beg for veggies in the kitchen. He even roo'd. He is back to being very loving, which makes my heart melt. I had to go away for the night and when he saw me in the yard when I came home, he ran over to me with such joy - His appetite is insane and he is always jumping for his food as I am preparing it. So these are all good signs. We are scared that something else - something bad is going on... I can't say it right now, but we have talked about it. We remind ourselves that he is sick and he is going to have problems at times... we just hope that they are hiccups and we can help he through it. Everyone here and on Circle of Grey and our friends and family have been unbelievably supportive. This has helped us so much. We love Carrier so much and we have never given up on him and we try to provide the best possible care for him and this is what keeps us strong, because I now know that he knows this... he is so special. I took these photos on February 4th but never got a chance to post them. These horses live behind Carrier's Chiropractor. He loves seeing them and this time I had my phone with me, so I was sure to get pics. Enjoy and thank you for everything. Carrier with the horses and Cherrio the goat. Getting up close and personal I wonder what the horse was whispering

Hi All, Sorry for the delay and thanks for thinking of us. Carrier went for a check up last Thursday - blood work and a chest xray. The blood isn't back yet, so I am not sure what is going on there. His lungs weren't as "crisp" as they hoped, so they increased his lasix to 40mg every 12 hours. But there is not evidence of the cancer spreading in his lungs. I changed his food from Orijen Senior to Orijen Adult and have been giving him a snack mid day and he hasn't had a head shake problem since then. His heart is still in atrial fibrillation and according to the vet, this may be like this for life. Overall he seems to be much better though. He sleeps comfortably, has a huge appetite, wags his tail and loves on us. We haven't taken him for a walk since before this happened, and today he thought that he was going for a walk with the girls, but that wasn't the case. He was so excited and then so sad when he realized he wasn't going..so I boosted his and Andy's spirits with tasty treats. I don't think he's ready and since we don't really now what exactly is going on, I am not confident taking him out for a run/walk. Anyway, once we get the blood work, all the info is going to be transferred to OSU and then early next week, we are going to take Carrier down to Ohio for a full work up. Until then, we are keeping him quiet and comfortable. He is such a brave boy. We love him more than words can say. thanks for the prayers. will try to keep you updated as best I can.

My heart breaks for you. we love you snowman.

Sending more prayers. I know that sick feeling all too well... I am so sorry. Hugs to you and Fleck and more prayers for some good news on Thursday. I hope the meds give her some relief.

I am thinking it's a food thing as well. we did a food switch not long ago from Canidae to Senior Orijen ... less calories. We did this because we noticed that he was gaining some not needed weight and also wanted him on a grain free food. He eats 1 3/4 cups at 7:30am, gets his enalapril and lasix after that and then treats throughout the day - but not high fatty treats. And then they eat dinner at 5:30/6:00 and he gets his lasix again at 7:30 and then artemisinin (supplement) before bedtime when his tummy is empty. I am going to try giving him something around 1:30 tomorrow and see if that helps. we might have to give him the regular Orijen with more calories if this is the case and so more treats through the day. If it is his blood sugar that is causing it, how long does it take for them to bounce back after eating. He settled at about 6pm, slept for over an hour and just woke for a pee and seem right as rain now.

Do you have a chiropractor nearby that could adjust him? His little shaking episodes sound a lot like small seizures, and if he is having trouble doing the full yawn that could, IMO, be indicative of a pinched nerve or something that needs to be straightened out. If he is out of alignment that can also cause his seizure like activity. The seizures could be causing his muscles to tense, thus causing the tension in his jaw, or, maybe he's just out of alignment and that's causing the tension AND the seizures. Bloody hell... Carrier had an adjustment on Monday afternoon last week and on Tuesday afternoon is when this all started. I have left a message for the chiropractor.

thank you very much. starting the download now... so i'll probably be able to watch them in a couple of hours

he also seems to be having trouble doing a full on complete yawn. you when they yawn but stop short of a full wide open mouth yawn? well that's what he has been doing for about a week now but I totally forgot to mention this to the vet.

Did he ever collapse like Carrier did last week? Or maybe we are dealing with two different things... oh god, I don't know how much more this sweet boy can take. We are on dial up, but sure I'll download the video clip. thanks Bev.

this is strange. it happens at the same time every time it does happen... around 3:45-4:00pm. When it happened I checked his gums and they were pink and he was responding to me. Then afterwards he whines a little and is comforted by a rub. Falls asleep. he gets cold, shivers and I cover him. After about an hour, he seems to fine. I asked him at 5 if he wanted his dinner and his eyes light up. He jumped for it and ate it as quickly as possible. I spoke to the vet but she said if he is acting normal then just to watch him. Which he is acting normal other than that. I wonder if hunger is the factor here? he eats at 7:30 am, gets his meds and then gets dinner between 5:30 and 6:00pm. Bev - what did it end up being with Maddison?

4:00pm he just had an episode - laying down, he was whining for me to come to him, so I sat and rubbed him and then he lifted his head and it was shaking. I would describe it as if he had parkinsons. it last about 10 seconds and then it just stopped and he looked at me and fell asleep. I have a call into the vet. damn it.

3:17pm Just Roo'd.

Our Andy had a similar accident last summer. I let the storm door close and he slip in behind me and tried to get in before the door closed, but it closed on his foot and the skin on the front of his foot literally was ripped off the front. We rushed him to the e-vet after we got the bleeding under control and he had it stitched up immediately. His tendon was also showing but it never did get cut. I would suspect that his foot never healed properly and he isn't getting proper circulation down there and maybe the tendon didn't heal properly. It's good that you are taking him to your vet to see what he thinks. It might not bother him now, but injuries like this can cause problems when their older. Good luck.

I am sorry to hear this diagnosis. You know your boy best and what he can deal with. hugs to you and your husband and of course to sweet Alex

Just seeing this now. Hope Jeanie is feeling better soon. I am pretty sure we have emailed eachother about 6 years ago after you adopted Jeanie. Did Jeanie come from GRA in 2001 (Sept/Oct)? If so, she was one of the girls on our short list Give her a hug.

Carrier seems to be getting a little better every day. Yesterday he slept most of the morning and then he woke up, stood up and burped... I thought he was going to have a similar day like the one before, where he was burping quite a bit, (some pepcid helped that), but instead he totally surprised me... he came bounding at me, play bowed and then started playing with his toy Lambie. I couldn't believe it. And then when Tim came home he came over to say hello on the couch and started a Roo with the other three. I was so happy when he played with toy I cried... I didn't know if we were ever going to see that again considering what he went through last week. He still not out of the woods - there is something going on with heart but we aren't 100% sure what it is. The cardiologist at the Mississauga clinic says that his heart isn't consistent with a chemo heart as opposed to what OSU has told us - (it's very confusing and also stressful getting mixed diagnosis - but OSU and Mississauga and our local vet are working together.) So we don't know if that is good or bad, but seeing him play and eat and rest comfortably, we are not going to stress. We have made sure that his environment has been calm , quiet and comfortable... making sure he is healing and resting. He has a follow up check up with blood work and chest xrays this Thursday in Mississauga. And the cardiologist wants to do a follow up ultrasound of his heart in 4 months... so that too is good news, since that is a way off. Please send good thoughts as I am on my own until Thursday evening with Tim in Pennsylvania for work. eva, tim, carrier and of course the other three stinkers ---Greytlady94 Carrier was on Coreg and was taken off as they suspected this was one of the drugs that was causing him this problem. He hasn't been on it for a week. The other drug that he was on was sulfa antibiotic (trimethsulpha something or other). Currently he is only on Lasix (Furosemide) and Enalapril.

Thanks HornGreys for the tip on the vitamin. he has been pretty good since that day, but I will make sure to remember that if it continues. I find out on Thursday how long he is going to be on the lasix, so if I have any questions, I will contact you. thanks.

He's only eating his normal kibble. I am not trying anything new at this point - trust me But I spoke to the vet and they told me to give him some pepcid - I did and that really settled him - he slept for an hour and a half without jumping up and burping. Thanks for your reply. eva

For the past two hours Carrier hasn't been able to get comfortable because he gets up to burp. Is this from the Lasix drug? He is on Furosemide 20mg every 12 hours. Other than that he seems fine.

Sorry for the short post, but I still don't feel that well, but I wanted to let you know how Carrier was doing. Carrier Update Feb 10th Carrier seems to be doing a little better.. although yesterday I am pretty sure he has a small episode...he was laying down and shivering as if he was cold (I covered him) and I could see his head moving back and forth. I stayed with him and it was over in about 30 seconds. and then he was fine afterwards. he is eating normally and getting up on his own without problem, albeit a little wobbly at times, especially if he has been laying down for some time. The "look" in his eyes has returned, which is good to see because he looked fairly sad the last few days and just really tired. We are giving him time to recover and making sure the house is quiet and calm. Thank you for the prayers - I believe they are working, so please keep them coming. eva.

We live in an old converted church so it's open plan. I can see him and he can see me no matter which room I am in. The master bedroom is a loft, but we have set up camp in the guest room on the main floor. Two humans and four hounds in one room make for a very cozy fit... not to mention they want to get into bed with us. Carrier Update Feb 8 pm Carrier seems to be doing a littler better - he is getting up on his own and is more decisive when he wants to move - as opposed to last night, when he just laid and cried. He is getting up to drink and go out to do his business. I have noticed that his tongue is turning a little more pink - before it was a pale pink. I spoke to our local vet about all of this as Tim and I were somewhat confused with what we were dealing with and what the prognosis was after we brought him home. Our vet explained that it's normal for Carrier to be tired because it's like he was running a marathon for the last two days. His heart was working over time in one section and part time or nothing in the other. He has atrial fibrillation from what I understand and if the two meds that he was on were the cause, then he should be back to "normal" within a few days. His heart is already messed up - he has cardiomyopothy - toxicity from the chemo drug - so if he gets over this his heart will back to the way it was before this started. Which I guess is good news and we are optimistic and hopeful. He has another chemo treatment on the 18th, but I think we have decided not to push him anymore with hard core drugs. He has been through enough and I can't bare the thought of giving him more serious drugs that will stress his heart. We will look for a more holistic approach for the future. I pray he gets better over the next few days. thank you again for you thoughts and prayers.

Carrier came home yesterday afternoon. My head is spinning from everything, plus I am extremely sick with cold so this doesn't help. They said that they can't tell us for sure what was causing Carrier to faint, but the good news is that he hasn't done it since Wednesday afternoon. they gave him lasix overnight while he was in ICU and took him off the Coreg (one of the heart meds) and the antibiotic that he was on as they suspected that either/both of those could have been causing him to do this. He is on lasix pills for two weeks, so we will see if that does anything. Last night was scary though, from 10pm until 4am he didn't move from his bed and he needed to go pee but he just didn't want to get up. He did pee his bed a little and looked so out of it. I woke Tim and we sat with him. He just kept pawing us and would cry if we stopped petting him. I honestly thought it was time to say goodbye - I told him he was a good boy and he was loved more than he could ever know and that it was okay to do what he needed to do. Tim thought we should try to coax him to get up and see if he was just being lazy and was really more uncomfortable than anything. He stood on his own, had a drink, went for a pee and poop and then ate a cup of food. And seemed quite fine after that. He goes into these moments where we think he's not feeling but then is fine afterwards. This morning he stood for his breakfast - so we gave him another cup and then he went out on his own for a pee - he walking up and down the stairs perfectly too. I just spoke with Dr Hosoya, his oncologist at OSU and he and the OSU cardiologist and Dr O'Toole the ICU vet have been talking and OSu agrees with the med changes that were suggested. Dr Hosoya believes that Carrier is going to take a few days to recover from this and we should just monitor him over the next several days. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers - they mean so much and I have been telling Carrier about all of your messages. I will keep you posted as best I can - but with this terrible cold, I find it hard to do anything but watch Carrier at the moment.

Carrier update Feb 7 am thank you everyone for your kind words, support and prayers. He spent the night in emerg and they were giving him lasix (?) as his chest xrays showed up a little cloudy, so they were doing it as a precaution. The mass in his heart isn't any bigger than when it was discovered back at the end of December - so that is good news. I can't remember everything else, except that the vet said "we have some good news" when she took us back to tell us the finding from all the tests. We saw him before we left and he looked so scared and sad... it was heartbreaking. We did call when we got home and they said that he was doing well, ate his dinner and hadn't had an episode since he had been there - which is also great news as when he was home with us he was having them every 4 hours and then up to every half hour. I called for an update this morning, they are really busy so couldn't take our call but said that he had a good night. We are waiting for the phone and will probably go over as soon as we can. will let you know as soon as I can. hugs, eva, tim and carrier.