Zoolady

Will increase his Gabapentin. How does one tell the vet s/he's doing it wrong?

Thank you for the information. We will definitely give Ben more Gabapentin. I'm not sure if our vet is working this Saturday but will give him more anyway as we're scheduled to speak with her Monday. She's treated our animals for years but had to pass the torch when Wonder got his osteo and then Ben. She certainly stays on top of things though and gets every report from the oncologist. He missed giving her one and she wasn't happy. I don't think he will miss another. :>)

Update on Ben. The tumor on Ben's hip has grown from the initial size of about half the size of a golf ball to almost the size of a baseball. The location is mostly on the top of his back, in front of the hip bone and down a little to the side. He continues to eat, wag his tail and be almost himself. He no longer gets on the bed or the couch but will, with some effort, get on the love seat. It was time for a rabies shot but his regular vet wrote a wonderful letter "postponing" the injection. I've been home for two days and did notice that sometimes he won't use the leg coming in the stops or has dragged the foot once or twice coming in. Today he seemed a little restless and followed me from room to room wherever I went. My immediate thought was pain. I called his oncologist to see about upping his meds and he won't be back until Monday. Scott called our regular vet who is aware of everything and she said to increase his Tramadol to 2 or 2 1/2 tablets every eight hours and to call her Monday. He was getting two every twelve hours but the instructions says can give every eight so I think the oncologist would approve too. He is still taking the Prilosec in the morning and the 75mg Rimadyl twice a day and the Gabapentin 100mg once a day. Although it has gone to his lungs, the only time he pants is when outside in the sun when it's eighty something degrees. When he cools off coming in, the panting stops. We've been keeping his weight up with satin balls but he finally turned his nose up at those but does eat his regular food plus little treats at pill time.

Update on Ben It was time for a three month checkup after we discontinued everything except the Rimadyl occasionally. He went for xrays last Wednesday and his hip has deteriorated immensely. A week before the appointment we also noticed a swelling in that area which turned out to be a tumor. He was given a pamidronate treatment. Small nodules were also discovered in his lungs. The new oncologist says he has two to four months before the cancer in the lungs will interfere with his quality of life. Since the pamidronate, the tumor is growing. The same thing happened with our Wonder. One pamidronate treatment and the golfball sized shoulder tumor went to the size of a baseball. I am now questioning the continuation of that treatment for Ben although his hip looked like swiss cheese. He is now on 75 mg of Rimadyl twice a day, Gabapentin 100 mg once a day and is up to 4, 50 mg of Tramadol spread throughout the day (breakfast lunch and dinner times). We were told we can go up to 2 pills every 8 hours so 6 a day. The new oncologist is recommending radiation for pain control but his original oncologist that we loved said he is not a candidate for radiation because of the closeness to his organs. The new one wants to do four treatments a week apart at a cost of $2,500 to $3,000 (he made it a point to tell me). We have insurance but I don't think we should go for it. He says it won't change the outcome no matter what we do and we're looking at two to four months of life left. Ben has lost some body mass but weighed 69.3 pounds last week. We made a batch of satin balls that we are adding to his food. His appetite is great, his coat still glistens and he is acting okay. The only thing he doesn't do any more which I miss terribly is get on the bed. I miss the snuggling at night and the cuddling on the weekends when he put his head on my pillow and we'd both go back to sleep after Scott got up. We have our regular vet lined up to come to the house when it's time and hopefully there won't be any emergency. His quality of life is still excellent with the exception of the bed. He still gets on the couch at night to watch tv with us. Any thoughts on what we should or shouldn't be doing now?

Thank you all for the advice and suggestions. Must remove head from sand and face this. We will give the medicines. I must accept this and do what's best. Today seems like a good day to start. I can look at him and tell something's wrong. Thinking perhaps it's from the anesthesia for xrays yesterday or maybe sore from being positioned. He doesn't mind the vet and when doing his former chemo and treatments, he would get out of the car and start wagging his tail. Of course he loves the attention he gets too. I am so thankful for all your help.

Thank you for the responses. Ben's weight today was 69.5 pounds. I guess it's just hard for me to wrap my head around he "needs" all this medicine when he seemed fine except for our increasing the Rimadyl. When our Wonder was going through his osteo, we upped all kinds of stuff but could recognize he was uncomfortable. So you think we should go with the low dose for now and give him all the meds with the knowledge when he's really hurting to then raise the dosage? I guess I'm really having a problem taking the first step down that road that leads to the Bridge.

Ben Update My apologies...this may get long. I have been laying low for a while and am so sorry for all the losses lately. It just breaks my heart every time one of our precious babies goes to the Bridge and I cry too. Today, however, Ben has had changes I need to share. Oh, he also had his 11th birthday November 29. Mini recap for Ben: It's been a year this month since his osteo diagnosis (pelvis) and we've done 6 pounds of chemo and pamidronate treatments. We tried oral chemo after that which didn't agree with him and stopped everything except the Rimadyl in September. We were giving one every few days and he seemed fine. Around mid December we upped it as he was being more active (running and playing) and the family was coming for the holidays. December 31 we noticed a soft lump which today is now oblong, hard and about the size of a half a golf ball. We took him to the new oncologist at the same hospital that replaced his first oncologist after she went into a different practice. He did a needle aspirate to the lump and concluded with it was related to he cancer in the hip. Xrays revealed that the bone has deteriorated a lot. The doctor determined Ben was not a candidate for new radiation therapy like they use on humans for brain tumors that is available in Gainesville which would have required a week away from home. The xrays also revealed small nodules in his lungs which probably won't bother him for two to four months. The doctor interned under Doctor Cuto at OSU so that was a big plus. He will contact him and go over Ben's case. He said we could do regular radiation for pain, continue with the pamidronate which was strongly recommended and restart new chemo. Scott and I talked about it and feel we've put him through a lot already. We are thinking of continuing the pamidronate once a month and then adding the new pain meds. It just seems like a lot so fast. Yes, Ben was struggling to lay down there but the floors were slick. I did mention he didn't have a problem at home laying down. Anyhow, this is what he prescribed: Up the 75 mg Rimadyl to one every 12 hours: Tramadol, 50 mg 1 1/2 to 2 tablets every 12 to 8 hours; Gabapentin 100 mg, 1 capsule every 24 hours; Prilosec OTC 20 mg tablets 1 every 24 hours. His next appointment for the pamidronate will include a complete blood count and chemistry profile. He was doing so good I guess I just thought it would go on forever. What do you think about all this medicine at this point? Oh, he's eating fine and acting like there's not a care in the world.

I haven't read everything here yet but have an insurance comment. Our Wonder passed away with osteosarcoma and they could have done surgery to remove the limb but with chemo, the cost was prohibitive. We now have our four greyhounds and two cats insured with Trupanion. The cost doesn't go up as the pet ages and they don't drop you when the animal is old. There are no limits and you get to select your deductible. Our Della who is gone now had tummy problems and they wanted $1,200 to scope her. Again, no insurance. Our deductible is $500 and they then pay 90%. Our Ben has osteo and it's in his pelvis so no amputation. We did chemo and bone builders and to date his bills were over $10,000 of which we paid a fraction. They don't pay for routine care or office visits but we were thankful we had insurance when he got sick. Very comforting to have. Oh, Ben was ten when we joined and is now eleven. Good luck with your new addition.

I'm sorry too Kristin. She was a special girl with a special Mom. I feel we all lost one of ours. Glad you got your sign.

Ben was diagnosed with osteo in his hip in January. We did chemo and bone builder, tried the oral chemo. He did amazingly well through everything except the oral chemo. His last xrays showed he grew new bone and will go back for more xrays just to check in a month or so. We took him off everything in September and we now have our happy Ben back. Greeting us at the door, playing, running a little (very supervised), enjoying life with the sparkle back in his eyes we haven't seen since last year. Priceless. We were thinking about slowly introducing him back to raw food. For years our pups have been getting kibble in the morning and raw at night and Ben did love it. I'm just not sure with all the chemo if his immune system is back to normal. Normally I would ask his oncologist but she's moved and the new one at the hospital we've never met. I don't know if he approves of raw feeding. Thought I'd ask first the real experts here. Any thoughts?

I've got 10, 50 mg Palladia and 20, 10 mg Palladia Kristin can have. Ben was taking 70 mg a day. Just let me know if you'd like them and we will send them on their way.

FedX is missed by many. Were so sorry for your loss.

It progresses fairly quickly from one to another. Last night we separated the beds as far as possible for the boys and Blue seemed be quieter. We also made him get off the bed as soon as he was discovered. When he does do it, it's in one spot and he doesn't move. Will try speaking quietly to him. Good idea. It also could be spirits. We get "visitors" once in a while and have for years. You can see human shaped shadows down the hall floating/crossing from room to room and on very rare occasions, feel a hand on your shoulder or cheek being touched and no body is there.

I think physically he's fine. He's five or six years old but behaves more like a puppy with toys and running in the back yard. We live in south Florida so weather probably isn't a factor. However, besides the regular air conditioning we do run a window unit to keep the bedroom cooler than the whole house. I like the idea of confining him. We do have a crate but a small bedroom, king bed, two dressers and a bookcase so will have to measure. If we can get it in the bedroom, would you recommend putting a black sheet over it to make it his "cave"?

It's really dark at night but from what I can see sometimes when he is on the bed it looks like his head is towards the door, not down. I can't see him when he's on the floor and doing it.

We have four greys. At night, Ben (surviving osteo almost 11 years old) always sleeps on the floor in our room. Blue comes in too so we have two beds. The girls usually sleep in the computer room on beds. All four come to our room when my daughter and family are in town. Blue had space issues when we first got him of getting snarky if another animal got near him, especially when sleeping or during the day. Over time, that seemed to diminish. After a while, at night, he started to growl a tiny bit and then snap a time or two. The growling got louder on progressive nights so we tried putting him out of the bedroom with the girls and he cried at the door until we caved and let him in which I know isn't good but we needed to sleep. We tried him in another room by himself and that was even worse. He then switched to waiting until we were asleep and then get on the bed. When we would move to roll he would growl and do two loud snaps, clicking his teeth. We always make him get off the bed. This week it has been something more. He will now bark and bite at the air, clicking teeth. Night before last he was on the bed and was standing on the corner, growled, barked, snapped twice and got off the bed by himself. This behavior repeated three or four times that night. It doesn't matter now if he is on our bed or the floor. The behavior is the same, growl, bark, click teeth. Last night he did it again only is getting louder with the growls, barks a couple times and then the air biting. He's doing it without any provocation at all either from Ben or us. It's almost like he's not mentally there....sleepwalking. We just don't know what to make of it or what's going on in his head. We thought maybe nightmares but it's so consistent and nightly. We did muzzle him this week for safety sake. Any ideas? I keep thinking it's a behavior problem but then wonder if he needs doggie sleeping pills so he can rest and refresh too. Oh, I forget to mention he is fine now and doesn't do this during the day or when the grandchildren are here. He is fine with them and being five and seven, they know the rules too.

Update on Ben: The last thing I think I posted was that after six chemo and Pamidronate treatments, we started the Palladia which he didn't do well on. They took him off for a few weeks and then we were going to start at a lower dosage and building him back up to 70 mg. Well, without the Palladia he blossomed. He got his zest for life back, playing, being first at the door when you come home and just had that sparkle back in his eyes that we hadn't seen since last year. We gave him one more Pamidronate treatment at the end of September. We never see any change for the worse or better with the Pamidronate. He was put on Rimadyl in January for his "groin bleed" and we started weaning him off that too. We started one instead of two a day and then every other day and are now up to three days without and he hasn't missed a beat or changed or given any indication of being uncomfortable. Oh, they did offer an alternative to the Palladia but we were sort of the mind set, seeing how well he was doing, of enough is enough. Our plan is to get him completely drug and chemical free for two or three months and then re-xray and the vet is okay with reassessing at that time. He will be eleven November 29 so for the time being, we are going to relax and enjoy each other and focus on his great quality of life for now.

God speed Nube. I'm sure you're running with the club at the Bridge and our Wonder too. It breaks my heart every time we lose one. Update on Ben: We stopped the Palladia because he wasn't doing well and the vet wanted him off about a week before trying again at a lower dose. We left him off for about two weeks and he sprung back amazingly. Greeting everyone at the door every time, playing with toys, tail wagging and best of all the sparkle is back in his eyes with the joy of life. More like he was in 2011 before his January diagnosis. For now we are keeping him on the Pamidronate and he'll have another treatment the 26th. He is still taking Rimadyl and I will ask the vet if that possibly could be reduced or eliminated. 75 mg twice a day. We're thinking to ask to have his blood work done to see, without chemo, if we can get him back on a raw dinner. He looks a little thinner. Scott thinks he's lost some muscle. He will be eleven the 29th of November..

Ben is finally a little better today. Saw a little tail wag and he was first at the door to greet me at lunch time. His appetite has been fine but we do have 10 mg of Metoclopramide he got when nauseous from an IV chemo round in May when he wouldn't eat. Has anyone just stopped the Palladia or has everyone just pushed through it for the six months with the Pamidronate? Is there anyone that is doing Pamidronate only? How long does that go on for? I think my problem may be that I don't "see" anything except when he doesn't feel good. I've been told Pamidronate really picks them up and makes them feel good but I don't see anything there either except they tell me it's good for him so we go with it.

I understand where you're coming from. Quality of life has been a huge factor in all of my decisions for Twiggy. Seeing Ben not being himself since starting the Palladia has to be discouraging. We've had to quit using Palladia and Metacam due to severe side effects. I'm debating whether to re-start cytoxan or not. FWIW, Twiggy's bloodwork, etc were all great even when she started having bad side effects. It is possible that the Palladia is affecting his GI tract, but just not severe enough yet to show any bad symptoms. The Rimadyl could easily be the culprit, too (Ben's behavior actually sounds more like what Twiggy was doing when the Metacam was starting to effect her, but before the vomiting started). I think a reduced dose is a reasonable plan to try if Ben gets back to his normal behavior after a while. But, I'd give him at least a week to see if there's improvement, not just a few days, and I'd probably want to try the lower dose for several weeks before trying to increase it again (if at all). These treatments are such a balancing act. No one really knows which dosages will be effective in any given case, and the drugs still carry the risk of side effects even at very low dosages. I hope Ben gets back to his normal self soon. Thank you. Your thoughts are very helpful. Waiting a week seems like a great idea. He's also been having that does of Rimadyl since January.

I am concerned about Ben. He had a full round of six chemo treatments and was put on Palladia in July and is continuing Pamidronate once a month. He takes Rimadyl, 75 mg twice a day. Since we started the Palladia, he's changed and I can't really put my finger on it. He just doesn't look good. His eyes look sad and he doesn't seem as happy. He also doesn't want to cuddle as much. Sundays he always jumped in bed when Scott let him back in the bedroom but now he comes in and goes to the dog bed. He will get on the bed but not every time. The times he gets on the couch with us are getting fewer too. He does stay in the same room with us when we are in the room where our computers are or are watching tv. This all has been since we started the Palladia. I'm wondering if we should just stop it. He was getting 70 mg on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. I called the oncologist and they said to give him a few days off and if he springs back to start him back on 50 mg and see how he does and increase by 10 mg on subsequent treatments. Blood work last week was fine and x-rays in July were clear. He will be 11 on November 29. Do you ever say enough is enough? I think what threw me a little is when the oncologist said maybe it isn't cancer but most likely is because of the hip destruction. The hip bone is making unusual bone now which is probably from the Pamidronate. I'm just not sure what the best thing to do for him is. We just want our Ben back to being himself.

Our hearts break with you. It is so hard to let them go. It's like we all in this osteo "club" each lose a part of our hearts when someone has to go. I'm sure there were many there to greet Macho on his arrival, including our Wonder. Wishes for peace and strength.

Here's a little more good news. Ben has started his Palladia with continuing his Rimadyl. He is tolerating it wonderfully with no digestive issues and appetite going strong. He is scheduled for blood work next Wednesday to make sure he can continue with it.

I am so sorry. With each one that goes to the Bridge, I feel they take a piece of everyone's heart with them.

Rest in peace Dynamo. Thank you for giving him the final act of love.