DaisyDoodle

Is he single?

I've heard that you teach the command "Speak" then never "ask" for that behavior. Don't know if it works. My Daisy is a barker and whiner. She is so gregarious that she cries to people in the next car at red lights because she wants them to pay attention to her. Her littlermate, Morgan, is an even bigger talker from what I've heard. The Mass. peeps who knew her could tell you more. Not sure if her mom is still on here.

Jenny, I'm so sorry for the loss of your sweet, precious Nala. My old girl Lucky looks so much like Nala. I know what it's like to love the old girls. Hugs to you. I hope things start to look up for you. Donna

Hope your babies are both fine and that Beanie comes home today.

Chewing on feet usually indicates an allergic reaction to something--like food; or, an imbedded object--which could cause a limp. Also, if it's switching feet it probably isn't osteo.

Do range of motion checks on their necks, and watch for front-end limping or their gait being off. When a dog runs head-long into something solid, spinal injuries are probably more likely than rib. The limping would be from referred pain from neck issues. You might also see vestibular-type problems, wobbly, staggering that would indicate concussion or other neuro problems. Check with vet before medicating, as you can't use NSAIDS and prednisone together. Hopefully, all will remain well and there will be no long-term effects.

Do you have to take her back to the e-vets for the overnight, or do they have staff 24/7? I wouldn't leave her unless someone is there all night.

Feel better Little One.

Oh, Meredith, I'm so sorry. Donna PS Regarding your wish I'm quite sure it will come true. A friend's aunt was terminally ill with cancer. Her heart stopped and they revived her, as she had always been very afraid of dying. But when she woke up, she was angry that they had revived her. She explained that her little French Poodle, FiFi I believe, was on the other side madly licking her face, so happy to see her once again. She asked that she be allowed to go the next time something happened and her family agreed. Since my BFF told me that story, it's allowed me to be sure that my pups will be there to meet me, as I'm sure Turbo and all your others will for you too. ETA for emoti malfunction.

Leash walk, even if you have a fenced yard, for a least a couple of weeks. The better you keep her from overdoing on that foot, the better. You don't want the stitches to pull out. I'd keep her in a x-pen during the day too, to keep her quiet. Outside toes are non-weight-bearing which is better than weight-bearing, middle toe, in terms of adjustment to losing the toe. Just to give you a heads up--you might want to consider calling around to different ortho-surgeons. The one who did Daisy's surgery is VERY reasonable, but other vets I have met price gouge just to pay their mortgages. Good luck. Geez, you've had a lot of "stuff" going on lately-- Hugs, DD

If it's a screen dog door in a "Florida room" screen porch, does it seem like a fun-house room of screens/mirrors to him? Which screen to go through? Has he ever run headlong into a fixed screen door or slider and injured himself?

Daisy has had toe & neck problems which caused her to limp or just for her gait to be "off".

I nearly had it done on Daisy because she had extended/repeated infections. I was at the vet's dropping her off, when the vet tech said, 'You know the potential side effects, right? The dog can lose sphincter control and drop stools without notice.' So, I decided against it because Daisy has never had a really firm stool. A GTer told me an extended course of antibiotics would do the trick, and it did. We just keep up with expressing the glands when she starts to chew or lick too much. Ask the vet to teach you how to express the glands yourself. It really isn't all that hard. Just do it outside to keep the mess out of the house.

I'm so sorry you lost your Daisy Doodle. Give your mama a sign baby girl. Hugs, Donna & Daisy

I'm not familiar with what causes this disorder but would acupuncture or chiropractic help?

Have the vets talked about the problems from using pred every day? It can cause drug-induced Cushings by suppressing the activity of the adrenal system. I don't know if it's possible to go to every other day, but it might help balance her system a bit. Also, I'd try any & every probiotic I could get my hands on. Good quality plain yogurt with multiple active cultures, Kefir (a yogurt-like drink with different cultures), supplements from a health food store etc. I'm so sorry you can't find a satisfactory treatment for your poor baby.

Now I'M having email issues, so I'll try to post here. I composed a reply on Sunday, and managed to write and erase a long post THREE times trying to erase one letter near the end. I was so frustrated that I ended up emailing you my cell #, but since you didn't get that, let me try again here. As I mentioned in my first post in this thread, CoCo (Cosmo) lived 28 months after I first found her nodes to be enlarged from lymphoma. She was treated for a year with a Modified Wisconsin Protocol, then CCNU was used as a salvage protocol. She also had degenerative myelopathy. She was 14.5 when we helped her to the Bridge, and was most likely cancer free. I'm glad you've gotten to another vet--I don't think your GP vet has a good sense of treatment for lymphoma. There are a number of treatment alternatives available that won't make your pup really sick, or at least not for long. As long as the treating vet isn't too aggressive, the side effects should be transient. Vomiting, and lack of appetite are what I recall. Vets tend to work to "control" lymphoma rather than "cure" it, so it may come back and then you need to knock it down again. This is the trade-off to maintaining quality of life. I think your friend hit on a good possibility with the lomustine (CCNU) and prednisone. Though it seems that several have been mentioned here and by the vet you met today. Eliminating carbs from a lymphoma dog's diet is another strategy that some folks recommend. It doesn't cost a whole lot more to do. There is a special Hill's Rx diet, ND??, I think, that is especially for cancer dogs. It is VERY rich, so you have to start it slowly. If you look back several years (2004-05 mostly, some more recent) to see my posts on Circle of Grey (Cos_n_Lucks_mom there) you can see where I've written about feeding this food. Please contact Dr. Couto's group, even if you have to pay, though I've been assured that you don't have to. Get them ALL of the info from your vet, including biopsy slide images or original slides if possible. Since lymphoma in a single node is not a typical presentation (unless you are an EXTREMELY observant dog-mom and caught it especially early), I would want a different vet to confirm that your dog even has lymphoma. I don't want to get your hopes up, but I don't get a good feeling from your vet, and at least one other dog here on GT was incorrectly diagnosed with lymphoma. I am very curious what someone else would say about the biopsy slides. Did you say the blood work was normal? Before making any drastic decisions, please get more input. In the meantime, you can check other nodes yourself. There are several that are easily palpable if they are enlarged. There are a pair in the lower jaw, a pair in the front of the chest (about where a person's collar bone would be), one behind each "elbow" between the ribs and back of the front legs, one in each "knee" in the back of each back leg, and a pair way up in the tuck in the groin area. My vet started Cosmo on a 10/14 day course (don't remember which) of antibiotics, then finally did testing. I followed up with staging at a big vet school, which charged me double for the honor of letting students practice (badly) on my poor dog. All of this is to tell you that it took weeks to even begin treatment. While there have been some really awful and quick losses due to lymphoma on this board, it is actually one of the more treatable forms of cancer, and one where a few days can often be okay (unlike osteo, where a few days can be a matter of life and death). If I were you, I would at least start my dog on prednisone and go from there. It was once believed that starting a dog on pred before other chemo agents made the other chemo agents less effective, but Dr. Couto has done research on this topic, and found no difference. If you use pred, please contact me and I can tell you an important cautionary tale about long-term use of pred. To sum up--PLEASE contact OSU, reduce carbs, request pred, get ND and start to feed SLOWLY, and most important--remember to breathe, because no matter what course of action you take, this journey is a roller coaster. Remember we are all here for you. Huge Hugs, Donna

Given what you said--blood work and deworming done, both you AND trainer have had trouble adding weight on him, I'd wonder about some sort of malabsorption problem. I don't know how a vet does a work up for this, but I would ask about it. I would consider adding digestive aids to the food, switching to a novel protein, grain-free food, that sort of thing. Are there any indications of a possible food allergy--chewing skin or feet, scratching, etc.

I am so very, very sorry.

Figmama, did you get my email this AM?

I would also try a chiropractor.

My Cosmo Comet lived 28 months from when I first noticed that her nodes were enlarged. She was 14.5 when she left us, and cancer free, as far as I know. We had lots of ups and downs, in and out of remission. As best as I can tell, it was the way I was dosing her with prednisone, which caused iatrogenic Cushings that took her in the end. She also probably had Degenerative Myelopathy too. So, survival time depends on lots of factors--type and stage of lymphoma, finances, whether you can endure putting your dog through repeated chemo. If your vet takes a conservative approach to chemo--planning to control rather than cure the disease--the chemo side effects should be kept to a minimum (though there will probably be some appetite problems). Dr. Couto has done research on lymphoma. I would definitely contact his group about getting chemo from them. Good luck. There is the Circle of Grey Yahoo group that will have helpful info, and I believe that there is another general lymphoma dog group on Yahoo or somewhere.

Oh, Nancy, I'm so sorry. Hugs, Donna

LP can also get worse with heat. I wouldn't assume it's "just allergies" because it could be something much more serious. Can you post a video, or at least capture it on your phone to show the vet. That will help if the "attacks" are sporadic.

Have you had him scoped for laryngeal paralysis? LP can cause some strange coughing/hacking sorts of things. Folks who have more experience that I have can probably jump in. Lucky has a very mild case that mostly isn't a problem, but at nearly 16, I try not to challenge her. Good luck. I hate medical mysteries. DD