Takoda Update

[mangos_mom]

You may remember that Takoda lost the use of his hind legs back in December. Xrays didn't show anything, so my vet gave him a steroid shot direct to the spinal area, and put him on a 4 week round of pred. It's been a long, slow road, but he's almost back to normal - able to do everything - except his hind legs don't have much endurance. That's fine. I can live with that so long as he can motor himself out to the yard to do his business and isn't in pain. And I keep taking him for walks for as long as his legs hold out, hoping to build up the muscles, or at least keep them from atrophying. But...

 

About 3 weeks ago, he started refusing to eat. So my vet, concerned that he was in pain, and the not eating was in response to that, referred me to a neurologist. After taking a history and referring to the records sent by my vet, she thought it might be Myasthenia Gravis. She sent blood off for testing for that and also a sent to Protatek for a tick titer, checking on the status of his babesiosis, which he was treated for a year ago. His thyroid level was also very low, so she started him on thyroid meds as well as a pre-emptive round of Doxycycline.

 

Alas, the MG test and the tick titers came back negative, so we still don't know what is causing this problem. However, in researching MG, I discovered that Megaesophagus is common in MG dogs. So off I went to find more info on ME, and then started watching Takoda more closely when he ate. As long as I've had him, he has sometimes regurgitated his food. It wasn't all the time, but it was enough for me to notice. In trying different foods this month in an effort to get him to eat, I noticed that he was doing it almost everytime I fed him, and he would eat any food I offered once, but usually not again. Hmm, I thought, and went back to look for more information. In desperation, I was feeding him rotisserie chicken I'd bought at the supermarket for myself, but happily gave over to him if it meant he would get something into his stomach.

 

He didn't regurge the chicken, and I realized that I was giving it to him in small pieces. Once he got confident with that, he started to steal Mango's kibble, so I tried adding some of that to chicken that I'd minced real fine. Silly me - I didn't mince the kibble! And it came right back up. So - after seeing in a thread here on ME that someone ground the kibble first, I dusted off my old coffee grinder and have been grinding the kibble, then adding water, and chicken, and it's been staying down! I also started giving him very small amounts every 2-3 hours. It seems to be working, for now.

 

He's going back to the neurologist's on Monday for them to do xrays to check officially for ME, and then we'll decide where we go from there.

 

My poor fuzzy boy - he's been through so much in the past year, but he remains just as sweet as can be.

[greyhead]

Thanks for the update. So glad Takoda's doing better! Sounds like grinding the kibble is the perfect thing. Hope your coffee grinder is bigger than ours, though!

[kamsmom]

Wow Kate... so sorry that you are going through so much! Good Luck to Takoda and you.

[Guest greytfulhounds]

Happy to hear that Takoda is making some progress.......even tiny steps are something to celebrate!!

 

Kate, have you looked into any of the Honest Kitchen foods? Honest Kitchen is dehydrated raw.......you just hydrate and feed. No big chunks......very smooth. I make it and add it to kibble for my crew but you can feed just Honest Kitchen without the kibble.

 

Continuing to send many healing prayers to Takoda & Mango and keeping my fingers crossed that I get to see them in April.

[crazygang]

Great that there's improvement.....

 

Hope Takoda feels much better really soon.

[mangos_mom]

Kate, have you looked into any of the Honest Kitchen foods? Honest Kitchen is dehydrated raw.......you just hydrate and feed. No big chunks......very smooth. I make it and add it to kibble for my crew but you can feed just Honest Kitchen without the kibble.

 

I'm actually thinking of looking for a used large crock pot and trying the crock-pot chicken in place of the canned food toppers, and then seeing what I can add in place of the kibble, within reason. I can't go the expensive route on anything right now, given that I was told this week that we're having our salaries cut 5% to manage the company through the recession. Bad timing all the way around. If I can make better food for my animals and do it for less money than store-bought food, why not. That's on the research list this weekend, too!

[Beckylpa]

When my boy Mesa was 6 he was diagnosed with ME and my vet prescribed Sucralfate tablets (every 8 hours) to help protect the lining of the stomach and esophagus. We also fed him small meals a couple times a day which helped. He had all the classic symptoms of MG but the blood tests were negative. It was a mystery. However the ME was very clear on the xray. Good luck with your boy.

[Guest mandm]

I used to pulverize kibble in a food processor. If you have one, it's much faster than a coffee grinder.

[mangos_mom]

When my boy Mesa was 6 he was diagnosed with ME and my vet prescribed Sucralfate tablets (every 8 hours) to help protect the lining of the stomach and esophagus. We also fed him small meals a couple times a day which helped. He had all the classic symptoms of MG but the blood tests were negative. It was a mystery. However the ME was very clear on the xray. Good luck with your boy.

 

Interesting. Takoda is the same way. As I started reading about MG, I was surprised at how many of his symptoms fit. I'm anxious to see what the neurologist finds on Monday with the xrays for ME. In the meantime, it's not a big deal for me to feed him this way. I can live with this.

 

Mandm, I'm going to be getting the food processor out anyway once I start cooking more chicken, so I'll give it a try on the kibble as well. Thanks for the advice!

[Guest greytloves]

Fuzzy boy.

 

Hope you figure this out soon. I know that you need some break time from all of this with Mango and Takoda. Wanna give Takoda to me? just kidding.

[Guest Greensleeves]

So - after seeing in a thread here on ME that someone ground the kibble first, I dusted off my old coffee grinder and have been grinding the kibble, then adding water, and chicken,

 

We've done the coffee grinder, too--but it recently occurred to me that it would make a lot more sense and be MUCH easier to soak the kibble *first*, and *then* puree it in a blender once it's soft.

[Batmom]

So - after seeing in a thread here on ME that someone ground the kibble first, I dusted off my old coffee grinder and have been grinding the kibble, then adding water, and chicken,

 

We've done the coffee grinder, too--but it recently occurred to me that it would make a lot more sense and be MUCH easier to soak the kibble *first*, and *then* puree it in a blender once it's soft.

 

Maybe depends on your blender? In my cheapie Osterizer, it works better to grind it dry and then add water to make mush.

 

 

If smooth food works better for pup, I can tell you that you can puree just about anything in a cheap Osterizer. Had to do it for angel Batman, who had a different problem. There are also a fair number of canned foods that are pretty smooth -- EVO original is one.

 

Hugs and best luck to you and pupper.

[duncan41]

Sending prayers and hugs.

[mangos_mom]

If smooth food works better for pup, I can tell you that you can puree just about anything in a cheap Osterizer. Had to do it for angel Batman, who had a different problem. There are also a fair number of canned foods that are pretty smooth -- EVO original is one.

 

Hugs and best luck to you and pupper.

 

In Takoda's case, it doesn't seem to need to be completely smooth, although I was prepared to go that route if I had to. Right now, I'm grinding the kibble dry, and the coffee grinder turns it to the consistency of graham cracker crumbs because I'm still doing small amounts. Today, I was mixing in Pro Plan canned beef and rice chunks in gravy for seniors, so it was small, small chunks, and I was breaking some of them up even smaller. He's kept it down fine all day today, even supper, where I increased the portion from 1/4 cup each ingredient to 1/3 cup each.

 

I just came back from food shopping, so I have chicken again, which I'll cook up tomorrow. I'm just happy to have T coming to the kitchen asking to eat again. For the past two weeks, it's been a battle of sitting on the bed, covering as much area as I could with a towel, and hand feeding him. Whew!

 

Thanks everyone for the advice and suggestions!