We Had A "no Pill Day" At My House Today...ham Is Relaxed

[Guest valtoy]

After yesterday's Hell House here, I'm letting Ham take it easy and giving him no more medication until he eats regularly. Yesterday, he was the Devil Dog, Hound of Hell, I was Psycho Val and my mom was the wicked witch of the West. She kept complaining the living room smelled after Ham threw up. I was stressed out over his not eating and he was fighting me all day, wouldn't take pills, was growling, snarling and mean.

 

Today, no pills at all, he is relaxing, I'm relaxing and I'm clearing out his stomach so he will start to eat, I hope...I'm more worried about his not eating as much than his leg amputation wound.

 

This whole thing has me thinking, no chemo for Ham or me...we can't handle it. I can't cope with him not eating or being sick at all...he is ultra fussy and hates medications, won't let me near him to give them and refuses to eat if he feels like it. I'm looking into vitamins, Omega 3 caps and will probably go that route.

 

Valerie

[Guest charmsmom]

What chemo med are they giving him?

[Xan]

Oh boy. So sorry you all are having such a rough go of an already rough thing!

Hopefully, you can find a combination of food and drugs that will work better for your guy, or that the alternative approach keeps you all in a better quality of life.

[6greyhounds]

Hope he feels better soon - hugs to your sweetheart

[CaliforniaGreys]

You know best for your boy. I would just like to wish you well and comfort for Ham

[Guest argolola]

God bless you and Ham.

[iluvgreys]

Hopefully his GI system will get straightened out quickly and he'll be back to regular meals. If he's that difficult about pilling, then how 'bout hiding his pills in a piece of chicken, American cheese, liverwurst, or hotdog bits? If this is just added to his food dish, maybe he won't suspect anything. Keeping Ham in my prayers...

[4greyhounds]

Poor Baby, you are the only one that knows best, I wish you both well thoughts.

[Guest KRKWMU]

I'm so sorry that you've both had such a bad experience. I hope you can find something that works. Along with the traditional chemo that our girl Bonnie receives, we also do Chinese herbs prescribed by a holistic vet. I'm not sure where you live, but here's a link...maybe you can find a practitioner in your area. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Alternative Med. Practitioners

[queenwinniesmom]

Sorry Ham's been giving you so much trouble. Sometimes getting a pill into them is just too much stress. If you are leaning towards the no chemo route, please research artemisinin. I'm not sure if you're familiar with it, but Dr. Couto is doing a lot of studies on it, and there was an article about it in a back issue of Celebrating Greyhounds---it's been at least several years. But I don't know if you can archive it. If you can't find any info, please let me know. I don't know if you have enough posts to PM, but you can email me if you'd like. There have been many positive results with it (including my Winnie), and if you're not doing chemo, it just may help. Can't hurt!

Hope your boy has a better day tomorrow.

My email: catsburg@comcast.net

[Guest valtoy]

I have tried everything to get Ham to take pills and he is so smart and stubborn! He won't take anything from my hand now at all as he suspects it has a pill in it. I tried putting them in peanut butter, wrapping them in cheese or chicken or roast beef slices, but he turns his nose. He was taking them that way until the day before yesterday and then he just quit getting tempted by any treats at all. If I try putting a finger toward his mouth, I get a snarl or growl to stay away. I am able to sneak a syringe of Metacam in the side of his mouth when he is laying down, if he needs it for pain, but he doesn't seem to need much pain medication anymore. It is now 8 days after his amputation surgery.

 

He does get up when he is ready, comes out to the kitchen, looks in his dog dish and sometimes eats a 1/2 cup (2 cups of dog foot with hamburger are in there) then he may drink some water and walks away.

 

He is eating his "greenie" in the morning after his walk. That was always his routine, so at least something stayed the same.

 

He is not on any chemo yet and we probably won't do it. He goes for stitches removal Monday and then I will make an appointment with the oncologist for his follow up and then with the Holistic medicine people. I'm lucky that my animal hospital has all these specialists in one place and it is only 8 miles away - a 20 minute drive.

 

He finally ate 1/2 a large milk bone this morning after passing up the hamburger in his dog dish. He must be getting tired of his hungar strike - I hope. I may try some tuna fish for lunch. He always loved to hear me open the can to make tuna salad sandwiches (he is like a cat...ha ha) listening for the can opener and smelling the tuna smell.

 

Valerie

[sweetdogs]

Maybe the metacam is upsetting his stomach? If he doesn't need it for pain, once you stop it, his belly should feel better.

 

When my girl had osteo, I wanted to give her artemisinin but she stopped eating everytime I gave it to her. It probably would have helped her, but if she wouldn't eat, it wasn't doing us any good.

 

Best wishes to you & Ham.