ahicks51
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Posts posted by ahicks51
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Sounds like he'll be OK; what brand were they? The "good stuff" is more likely to be dangerous than off-the-shelf, cheapo candy (which often has virtually no theobromine in it anyway).
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I think you'll find a split opinion; it's tough to go wrong with either. I trust MSU still has a "sighthound interpretation" available (it's an extra $2.50 or $5 or whatever for a veterinary endocrinologist to look over the numbers, and if they know it's a sighthound they can make an intelligent recommendation), and of course Dr. Dodds knows what she's doing as well.
The main thing is that someone with "eyes on" knows greyhound numbers, and that would be either MSU or Hemopet. Getting a number back from the usual veterinary labs could result in a misinterpretation.
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What's he being fed? Not enough calcium sometimes leads to tetany, but I don't think that's what you're seeing.
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I remember one of Lisa's dogs had its spleen removed; the pathologists hemmed and hawed over it for a week, trying to decide whether it was cancerous or not. They eventually decided "not," but in the interim I found an interesting paper concerning pseudotumor in the spleen of a dog that kind of matched what Lisa's was going through.
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Is it possible you adopted a magician and not a dog?
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FWIW, we put Minerva on 10 mg of Valium after the neck surgery. The vet was equivocal about this, but we convinced them that she was a hell-raiser and it might help. The last thing we needed was her yanking on the leash post-op trying to take off after a cat or something. It worked very nicely.
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Enalapril is one of those amazing drugs- relatively few side effects, inexpensive, EFFECTIVE. It can be a real godsend in some instances.
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What you're feeding him now might contain more water than what he's been fed normally. He's on hamburger and rice, yes? If he was eating kibble before, the reduced salt and increased moisture of the food might be offsetting what he would normally eat.
We feed ours raw, and when we switched from kibble, the reduction in water intake was striking.
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OK, I have big time bowel trouble and am on Entocort (budesonide). I didn't know one can get it as budesonide if you go outside the US! I get mine at Walmart and it's cheaper than Costco IIRC. Nothing here is as inexpensive as in Canada though; wow!
These may not all be equivalent. Entocort EC is enteric coated so as to release in the relevant portion of the intestine; enteric coatings dissolve at a high pH, meaning once they pass the duodenum. In theory, this enhances absorption where it's needed most- the intestine.
It is possible to add all kinds of gunk that delays absorption, but nothing works quite so well as the enteric coating. Or, at least, I'm sure that's what the company would argue as that is almost certainly patented, hence the $9/pill cost from Costco that Xan cited elsewhere. I'm pretty sure 3 mg of budesonide doesn't cost $9 to synthesize and purify, and Entocort EC's patent doesn't expire until 2011. That's where your big price difference between the brand-name stuff and the compounding/overseas stuff comes from: the patent.
From this, one can debate back and forth: does the enteric coating make that much of a difference? I can assure you the company would say it does. The compounding pharmacist may say yes or no. Ultimately, it's up to the patient, as I'm pretty sure some would say generic or compounded works fine, and others would say they prefer the brand-name stuff.
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No experience with VF dogs, but I wanted to say hi from Chandler. Lemme know if we can ever lend a hand with stuff.
The meds for VF have come off patent recently; diflucan is particularly affordable at Fry's. We used it for a couple of weeks when Coco had some thrush-like stuff on his tongue. Really did the job.
Any doubts about what to do, Doc Yocham is the best greyhound vet in the Valley.
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You did all the right things! How is Toni this morning? I know what ya mean about the mushrooms! We had them all over, about two months ago. I was always "mushroom hunting!" Good luck and lots of hugs !
How is that ole balonie girl this morning! Beware of reaching down to "harvest" mushrooms. I did that one afternoon & Dear thought I was play bowing & we butted heads. I was nearly knocked out, and had a "goose egg" on my forehead for a week!
Oh dear!
Was the mushroom OK?
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What to watch for:
http://www.petplace.com/dogs/mushroom-pois...dogs/page1.aspx
IIRC, most of the problems with fungi consumption come from hydrazines or some cryptic mycotoxins, most of which are large enough that they take a while to get into circulation. An exception would be the amatoxins of the destroying angel.
Don't go by image alone; it takes an expert, so don't get wigged out if it looks similar. If you witnessed the consumption and induced vomiting within a few minutes, keep an eye out for symptoms (from the URL above) but try not to panic.
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I found a few years ago the cheapest way for us to get it was thru a Compounding Pharmacy. It was right around $90 for 100ct of 2mg.
Out of curiosity, is it enteric coated?
I am not sure it has been a few years ago. It was in a capsule form so I do not think so but not 100% sure.
Budesonide for human use (Entocort) is enteric-coated prill, meaning the capsule itself dissolves quickly, but the tiny bits and pieces stay intact until they hit the alkaline environment of the small intestine. Plus, there's an ethylcellulose coating on the prill to keep them from releasing simultaneously; the package insert notes that without the ethylcellulose coating, the plasma concentrations peak faster.
If a compounding pharmacist just takes 3 mg budesonide and sticks it in a capsule without a enteric coating or an ethylcellulose coating, the release of the compound may be substantially different than with name brands. How much this would effect the management of the disease with budesonide is a question several pay grades above mine.
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I found a few years ago the cheapest way for us to get it was thru a Compounding Pharmacy. It was right around $90 for 100ct of 2mg.
Out of curiosity, is it enteric coated?
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Xan, with a true case of IBD, the body is always developing antibodies against what they eat.
This too depends on the dog. Minnie, diagnosed by scoping almost 8 years ago, can still eat the same protein that worked then.
Was reading some stuff today- for people with IBS, those with intolerances to meat ran 11-14% (for all types), while vegetable matter ran 20-30-40% intolerance, depending upon the food item. I bet it's those danged lectins.
I'm strongly suspecting what happens is that the villi are caused to grow too fast by lectins, which emulate the effects of epithelial growth factor (EGF). As a result, the space between the cells (called the tight junction) goes wacky, allowing stuff through the intestinal walls- both ways- that shouldn't.
Things that counter EGF include vitamin D and fish oil. Removing the lectins (which are found almost entirely in plants) would help.
Supplementing with vitamin D may or may not be a good thing. Unlike humans, dogs make their own. Don't want to add too much, but it's tough to say how much constitutes excess in the canine. The relatively small amounts in fish oil may be enough to help.
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If one MUST use NSAIDs, I would recommend supplementing with fish oil. Or coconut oil. There may be a mild protective effect.
ETA: And glutamine. No proof any of this would work, but my gut feeling (ha!) is that it may produce less damage to the intestinal wall.
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Yeah; Minerva went through this 2-3 months ago.
Recovery was remarkably straightforward; the primary limitations were to keep her on leash when she was outside. They held her 48 hours after surgery; sometimes they hold one day, sometimes they hold two, so she was held two days. By that point, she was ready to GO. I was worried about bringing her home in our sedan so we brought a cushion and had a friend meet us there with her Yukon. I was worried about getting her in, and Minerva just hopped right in, and if Willie hadn't hurried up Minerva would have driven off without us which would be a problem since she doesn't use turn signals.
We got her home, and she was doped up on Tramadol, steroids, and Valium for a couple of weeks. (No antibiotics, interestingly.) I found it useful to write down exactly what was given and precisely when- spreadsheet style- so there were no questions between The Lisa and I as to what she got, and when.
This was her a day or so afterwards; she looks a little zoned out because she was.
This is her 2-3 weeks later, once the stitches were gone:
Now, 2-3 months later, you can't even see the scar. They did a wonderful job.
She's back to running and cavorting and playfighting with Tito. The only difference I can see is that she's hesitant with the full-body shake; she never really goes all-out with a full body shake. We also had minor "squeaking" episodes for 4-6 weeks after surgery, which was still much better than the "wake up screaming" episodes prior to surgery.
Moreover, the neuro clinic that we went to (three board-certified neuro vets with three neuro vet interns) handled *everything*. The total bill was pretty heart-stopping, but aside from waiting for that phone call for when she was out of surgery, they were very calming.
A++++, would do surgery again, etc.
ETA: Added Valium to the list of meds for Minerva. Painkiller, anti-inflammatory, and sedative.
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If you haven't tried it, consider working from the other end of the hound and putting him in some sweat pants so he can't lick it.
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Boggles survived on venison for a year. When they hurt, feel awful, they just won't eat. I spoke to a nutritionist, explained that one of the foods his stomach would not tolerate was beef and was told that meant bison was a no-no also.
I seem to recall that purebred bison are exceedingly rare; there are some who suggest there is no such thing left in the US, or at least not outside of national parks. Most were bred with cattle decades ago, producing "beefalo." As a result, bison for consumption purposes runs the same risk of allergy as does beef.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beefalo
"Impact on wild American bison conservation
Creating the beefalo has however proved to be a serious setback to wild American bison conservation. The American bison population has been growing rapidly, and is estimated at 350,000, but this is compared to an estimated 60 to 100 million in the mid-19th century. Most current herds, however, are genetically polluted or partly crossbred with cattle, and hence are in fact "beefalo";[4][5][6][7] today there are only four genetically unmixed American bison herds left, and only one that is also free of brucellosis; it roams Wind Cave National Park. A founder population from the Wind Cave herd was recently established in Montana by the World Wildlife Fund."
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I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond to everyone's comments. Thank you for all of your suggestions. Just one quick question though, why is his blindness significant? I don't mean that in a sarcastic way at all, I just don't know.
One reason for seizures is a brain tumor, which can also cause blindness. Ergo, if the blindness were not from a birth condition, then there would be the immediate suspicion that there could be a tumor responsible for the seizures.
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Flagyl tastes the same way a tire fire smells.
Out of curiosity, has Barbee-doo been put on a grain-free diet at some point? Have you ever tried feeding raw food? It's possible there's a grain allergy or a lectin thing going on there.
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Out of curiosity, do you know the reason for his loss of sight?
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Maybe I missed it in the above discussion- but what brand of dry food is she being fed?
Also- one suggestion: if she's getting antibiotics, you might consider adding Fortiflora, which is a probiotic produced by Purina.
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Very fashionable!
Ibd - Happy Starving!
in Health and Medical discussion
Posted
Naltrexone is a bit of a stab in the dark; it's been around for decades as a drug used to manage opiate drug addiction. It blocks the "high" by logjamming the opiate receptors on cells.
For some reason, when used in very small doses (1/10th that used for managing opiate addiction), naltrexone has some odd effects on the immune system. For one, beta endorphin levels go up. For another, it seems to cause cells to create more opiate receptors on their surface.
The net upshot is that it has been used off-label for management of IBD in humans, as well as for a number of other autoimmune disorders including multiple sclerosis, ALS, lupus, etc. It has also shown some merit in combating cancer- probably one of the benefits of its immune-boosting properties.
On the bright side, it's safe, has virtually no side effects, and only one drug interaction: opiate painkillers (including Tramadol), which is a shame as it would be an ideal candidate with respect to management of osteo otherwise. On the down side, it takes a while for it to take hold, so it's a "long and slow" drug in terms of its benefits.
Very good to hear Xan is eating.