Osteo Thread Part Vi

[krissn333]

So glad for good news for Larry

 

Found out tonight that Fritz LOVES marshmallows I bought a bag at the store tonight just to see if he liked them, in case we need other pill delivery vessels. Also found out though that Ace does NOT like them. She's so reliable with peanut butter though, it's not a concern as far as pills go, but I thought she might like one as a treat Carrie will eat anything, so she loved them too Mixed reviews from the IGs...Sage loved them, Skimmie didn't know what to do with the one I gave him...so it went to Fritz

[KF_in_Georgia]

Put peanut butter on a marshmallow for Ace and see if that "fixes" it. My guys love them, but Sam is just taking too many pills to stuff inside. Last count, I think it was 22 pills a day, so 4 or 5 or 6 at each of his four daily meals.

 

I put his pills in a piece of deli lunch meat, glue them there with a bit of peanut butter, roll the thing into a long turkey burrito, and aim one end at his mouth. He usually gulps down the whole thing.

 

Silver gets a matching piece of turkey with a bit of peanut butter in the middle. When she needs a pill (allergy pill in the morning, probiotic in the evening), she doesn't even realize it's there.

[krissn333]

I can put all 10 of Ace's chemo pills, plus her thyroid pill, plus her tramadol just on the top of a small hunk of PB on a spoon and she just opens her mouth over the whole head of the spoon, closes her mouth slightly, and then backs up, taking the PB and all of the pills with her. Ace and Carrie both take pills that way. Pinky always did too I'm spoiled by them, really.

 

But for treats, I'll have to try to put some PB on a mallow and see if she'll try it then. I think she liked the small marshmallows when we had some before...

[Guest FawnFan]

Glad to hear Larry is OK!!! This is great news!!! And I don't want what I'm about to say to sound mean in any way, I'm glad Larry is not joining our club.

 

Kristin, Ace really will take all of her pills + the tramadol on top of (not inside of) a small hunk of PB. Wow!!! You are really spoiled. All of mine, including my two departed females, had to have the pills inside. Lucky you!

 

Glad you found the marshmallow treats. My two like them - they had some peeps this Easter season until the stores ran out (can't believe the stores ran out of peeps).

 

PB is out of the delivery vessel category here (well my other older chow hound still LOVES it - he eats his rimadyl though so no need for it). We did add a new delivery vessel last night, salmon filet rolled up into a tight ball. Went right down the hatch.

 

Hoping everyone (hounds included) have a good day today!

[greysmom]

Pilling trick - give them a small piece of the "Pill Delivery System" without a pill first. Then the PDS, followed closely by another piece of non-pilled PDS. They won't even stop to chew the one with the pills and it will go right down.

[Guest snakes]

Hi all, sorry to have been away so long, but a vacation and some limping/xray drama with UPS (Still ongoing) have kept me away.

 

I'll summarize our experience with FedX based on topics in the last couple pages:

1) I found that gabapentin had to be given at least twice a day to help at all, when the pain got bad, three times was necessary, regardless of total dosage, frequency was a major factor in effectiveness.

 

2) I started with artemisinin 5 days on two off, but eventually just did seven days straight with an occasional 5 days off. I jsut read all the current info at the time and made my own judgement based on symptoms FedX displayed.

 

3) I did use, and swore by curcumin. However FedX's situation was a little different too as he also had a medium sized mast cell tumor on his hind leg. The curcumin made a dramatic difference in keeping that in check. At the time it was believed that it worked well with artemisinin so i used it for both. I saw the orange flecks in the poop too, but i also saw beneficial results so i didn't worry too much. You do have to watch for loose stools with curcumin. Also fedX hated the taste, so i made sure it was on his food right before eating and just threw out the capsule if it broke, he wouldn't eat any food with the dust on it. Luckily for him/me if i wrapped it in a chunk of peanut butter it went down easily.

 

Good luck to everyone!

[NeylasMom]

What's going on with UPS?

[krissn333]

Fritz chews EVERYTHING. Even stuff he shouldn't need to chew, he chews. He never used to take pills with PB either, but last time he was on antibiotics, he started taking pills with PB magically. It's working for now

 

I'll have to take a video of Ace taking her pills

[jaym1]

Tonight is Tempo's first night after chemo treatment, which he had this morning. I have to say, I was expecting basically zero side effects, but I am very sad to see that he is decidedly not himself. Though it's hard to say what acting like "himself" even means right now, just two weeks after his amputation, he had definitely been getting back to speed in recent days: becoming more inquisitive, more outgoing, and more active overall. But right now, and ever since his carboplatin infusion, he has been a shell of himself. His appetite is good, and he enthusiastically ate his whole dinner as usual, but he's moving in super, super slow motion. He just got up from his bed a little while ago, walked over to me (slowly) and just stood there with his head hanging all the way down. I got him to come over and lay next to me on the carpet, where I am typing this from.

 

Does this type of reaction sound like the "sometimes they get a little tired" reaction I have occasionally read about? I haven't really sensed that spark in Tempo that he normally has ever since his surgery, and it's starting to make me feel pretty heavy-hearted. I was about to leave the house, and go out and about for the first time in a couple of weeks, but I can't really bear to leave him like this.

[BauersMom]

Berkeley definitely was not himself after his chemo - but it only lasted a day. If he doesn't improve in a day or so, there may be something else going on like nausea (though if he's eating, might be something else). Berkeley ended up not tolerating the full dose of carbo, so we ended up using less for him each subsequent treatment (the four doses donated by OSU ended up covering all 6 of his treatments).

 

I see you're in Boston - we took Berkeley to Angell Memorial, which is such a great resource to have nearby for pet owners in the Boston area.

[Guest snakes]

UPS started limping a couple weeks ago, i thought it was just her corns combined with the salt and ice/snow we had here or a flare up of her Lyme disease. Well the limp got worse so she didn't even want to go for her walks (very very unusual for her) and wouldn't put her rear left foot down completely. It didn't get better so we went to the vet. My regular vet was out of town but the one we saw, oddly enough the one who diagnosed her Lyme last time she limped, checked her all out and couldn't see anything wrong. The lyme test was negative, sSo we decided to try tramadol for 5 days (of which i already had at home from FedX), well the limp barely improved. So we went back to my regular vet who wanted to see her, he thoguht there was some tenderness in the thigh area, so we did an xray of the area. It generally looked good but there was a very slight shadow, however it could have been an xray artifact. So he wanted to do a sedated set of xrays to get a very clear image and get a good hip image as well which we couldn't get that day. Well i was leaving for vacation so we decided to continue tramadol and after the vacation go back.

I just got back, so I am calling monday to set that up, her limp is a little better but still there. So an ongoing adventure....we shall hope for the best.

[krissn333]

Pinky was always a bit tuckered out the day of her chemo-the "excitement" of going to the office and hanging out for a while when she'd normally be at home snoozing wore her out a bit, and I'm sure part of it was the chemo too

 

Adding good thoughts for UPS!

 

Ace has something odd going on right now-she's turning out her left rear leg when she's standing still. She was just at the Chiro on the 25th, but I'm wondering if she needs to be adjusted again. She's running eating and playing like normal...we're going to try tramadol and robaxin and see if anything changes.

[jaym1]

Thanks. This is good to hear. Hopefully he'll be a little more energetic tomorrow.

 

He started ferociously growling and running in his sleep just after I made that last post. I hope he's having a good time, wherever he thinks he is.

[BauersMom]

UPS started limping a couple weeks ago, i thought it was just her corns combined with the salt and ice/snow we had here or a flare up of her Lyme disease. Well the limp got worse so she didn't even want to go for her walks (very very unusual for her) and wouldn't put her rear left foot down completely. It didn't get better so we went to the vet. My regular vet was out of town but the one we saw, oddly enough the one who diagnosed her Lyme last time she limped, checked her all out and couldn't see anything wrong. The lyme test was negative, sSo we decided to try tramadol for 5 days (of which i already had at home from FedX), well the limp barely improved. So we went back to my regular vet who wanted to see her, he thoguht there was some tenderness in the thigh area, so we did an xray of the area. It generally looked good but there was a very slight shadow, however it could have been an xray artifact. So he wanted to do a sedated set of xrays to get a very clear image and get a good hip image as well which we couldn't get that day. Well i was leaving for vacation so we decided to continue tramadol and after the vacation go back.

I just got back, so I am calling monday to set that up, her limp is a little better but still there. So an ongoing adventure....we shall hope for the best.

What about putting her on doxy in the meantime? Around here, even with a negative test, vets will do that if it's suspected just because Lyme is so prevalent. Edited April 6, 2013 by BauersMom

[krissn333]

Weird question...those of you that didn't amputate, was your pup's tumor site ever warm??

 

Right where Fritz's tumor is, it's warm. Guess I'm still holding onto a shred of hope that it's an infection instead :

[Guest snakes]

I was going to bring that up at our next visit about putting UPS on Doxy anyway, i figured we'd get the second xrays first just to clarify any doubts.

 

As to warm tumor sites, FedX's only felt warm near the end when it really swelled up. I know thats not the answer you want to hear

[krissn333]

I don't see any swelling, and his site is very easy to see since it's just below his elbow...

[Guest FawnFan]

Pilling trick - give them a small piece of the "Pill Delivery System" without a pill first. Then the PDS, followed closely by another piece of non-pilled PDS. They won't even stop to chew the one with the pills and it will go right down.

This is EXACTLY what I do. It has to be a piece of lunch meat now though. He figured out the cocktail meatballs... he takes it whole and won't just chomp and swallow. He has to chew it thoroughly now... brat! My female who had lung cancer did this same exact thing with the meatballs. I will say the PDS works 98% of the time though.

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

-Jean

 

ETA: Sorry to hear about UPS. I hope everything works out and that she's fine.

 

Jay, I hope Tempo is feeling better tomorrow.

 

Kristin, good luck with Fritz's warm spot. I hope it is nothing serious. Gunner doesn't have a visible tumor or lump or anything at this point. I guess this is coming??? Also would love to see a video of Ace taking her pills.

 

Keeping everyone in our "club" in my thoughts and prayers tonight. Hope everyone has a good night,

Jean

Edited April 6, 2013 by FawnFan

[krissn333]

Ace taking her pills:

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/af74/krissn333/Ace%20and%20Fritz/BE71F5FD-75D0-496C-B805-8CF75CAE4BEF-11341-00000639CBDB8F20_zpsd6803cdb.mp4

 

The PB was cold bc I had thrown it in my lunch cooler when I was hauling everything in from the car after work today, that's why she had to grab at it again a little bit.

[joejoesmom]

Hi Everybody,

 

I am just getting back to this thread after a week. In case you hadn't heard, I had to send my old "whipador" girl to the bridge on Thursday. She (and her littermate) had been my constant companion for 16 years. Shelby had to always have me in her sight and preferred to be touching me. I've lost all of my dogs in the last 20 months and my housemate also lost two of her three dogs within the last month. I am really struggling.

 

I am so sorry for all of the newly diagnosed dogs. I just hate that this thread needs to exist.

 

Kristin, I am so very sad to hear that this has struck your family again. I think that makes 3 out of your 4 dogs -- I am so sorry you and your kids are so unlucky. It just isn't fair.

 

Jay, try to remember that it has just been 2 weeks since Tempo had very major surgery. It is not uncommon for up days and down days. It is not only an emotional roller-coaster for you, but also a physical one for Tempo. Joe didn't really start showing flashes of his old self for 4 to 6 weeks, so Tempo seems to be rebounding better than my Joe. After about 6 to 8 weeks, Joe started acting like his normal silly self. He did have some inappetance and diarrhea for about 3 days following his IV chemo. But he still had a good quality of life, even during the chemo phase.

 

Jane

[greysmom]

Jane!

[BauersMom]

Oh, Jane, I'm so sorry.

 

Someone sent me this quote when I lost Berkeley - "When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight."

[Guest FawnFan]

Ace taking her pills:

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/af74/krissn333/Ace%20and%20Fritz/BE71F5FD-75D0-496C-B805-8CF75CAE4BEF-11341-00000639CBDB8F20_zpsd6803cdb.mp4

 

The PB was cold bc I had thrown it in my lunch cooler when I was hauling everything in from the car after work today, that's why she had to grab at it again a little bit.

 

Adorable!!! She has such a sweet grey face... awww! I can't believe she took all of them like that though. Also loved the paw licking afterwards. One of my departed females used to do that every time she had peanut butter. Too cute! Thanks for sharing Kristen.

 

Jane, sorry for your loss.

 

~Jean

Edited April 6, 2013 by FawnFan

[krissn333]

Both of my girls lick their legs after peanut butter, but Fritz doesn't. And it's like it's an itch they have to scratch, it's strange. Maybe they get chills because they love PB so much?

 

Carrie takes pills the same way, but SO enthusiastically that she tries to take the spoon too

[GreytHurleyDawg]

Hi all,

 

Jimmy is still hanging in there, as the saying goes. We had a scare last night and we took him to the e vet because the leg underneath his affected knee was swelling up. The vet on staff was not willing to contemplate what was going on in great detail, she was more concerned with discussing his quality of life. We still maintain that we have high quality but we are still battling the stomach discomfort (we are trying probiotics, three meals coinciding with med schedule vs two meals/ day) and that causes us to worry but we are taking steps to manage it.

The swelling made Jim think it was a possible infection or a break in the bone somewhere so we rushed in. It seemed to have gotten more swollen by 9am ( vet visit was at 5 am) but has not worsened anymore and may even be receding. Has anyone experienced this?? Do you know what it could be?

Lastly, even though he has a fantastic appetite (another quality of life aspect we are happy with), he has lost weight !!!! 57.5 lbs while he started at about 64/66. We have noticed the visible ribs but had no idea the weight loss was so extreme. We feed as much to him as we feed Petra and Woodie so we will offer more now and feel free to treat him. Jim has been worried that our antacid / gas x use was not allowing him to digest the nutrients. I guess both these factors are signalling that the end is coming closer. But we will do what we can to encourage weight gain and to monitor swelling.

Hugs to all the pups, all the owners, all the healthy dogs.....just everyone who wants one! Jimmy still lives and he has a nice week coming up....i have off today and Jim has extra time off this midweek.

Edited April 7, 2013 by GreytHurleyDawg