Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi Pam
Overall Tazzie is doing well, perhaps much better than I expected 4 weeks ago. But his Alk Phos was high today, at 220 with normal ending at 155. He was also "slightly anemic". I got the blood results through a phone message, so don't know what the exact value was. I assume the ALK Phos is related to the 'c' in either his liver or bone, but am wondering if the result might be caused by one of his new drugs or supplements.
About four weeks ago, he started power mushrooms (2/day), glucosamine chondroiton (1 or 2 x 1000 mg per day), artemin (plus artemisinin and Buturate, (sp?). He did not start them all on the same day, but they were all begun about 4 weeks ago. Two weeks earlier, he started Cytoxan and Actos, plus he is still on daily Metacam. We did a blood test after he was on those for 2 weeks, at which time the only high result was the CREA. The CREA was normal today (wow!).
My question: any chance any of the new drugs (in particular, the mushrooms or glucosamine chondroiton) could affect the ALK PHOS? He seems to tolerate these drugs well. However, there are times when I give him an extra mushroom or extra glucosamine and he ends up salivating excessively (really excessively) which continues through the evening and part of the night. I'm not sure what triggers the salivating, but I think it is the extra glucosamine. On the other hand, it might be the extra mushroom, or the combo of mushroom and glucos. at the same time. The symptoms seemed minor enough that I haven't worried about it, although I tend to give him a Fortiflora the next morning (he gets a few of those each week).
Similarly, could the artemisinin be related to the anemia? (He did have slightly anemic values earlier this year, so this is probably not surprising.)
Susan
There is a small chance that the mushrooms or the artemisinin could elevate the alkphos but it is more likely due to cancer. The ALT is the measure of liver damage so if that is okay I would continue the supplements. The alkphos is made in liver, muscle, and bone so if only that is elevated it could be due to his SQ met in the muscle. Low-grade anemia is possible any time a dog has any type of cancer and should not be due to supplements.
Speaking of supplements, I still have my Tazzie's artemisinin supplements in a box for you. Do you want me to ship them yet or are you still okay?
Pam
Pam
Thanks for the info. Because of the timing of the results (late-Friday), I won't have a chance to discuss them with my vet for a few days, but her message indicated that she was wondering about the mushrooms. I did not know that muscle could make Alk Phos. It is moderately reassuring that the problem is not due to the liver and not necessarily in the bone at this time (she did not mention the ALT but I will get a copy of the results this afternoon)
I was thinking of your Artemisinin this week. I was happy to see we completed one bottle and he looks like he might be around to use a new supply in a few more weeks (yay!!!) So it would be helpful to have them (I might need dosing info with them since your pills differ a bit from ours). As I said, Tazzie is doing much better than it looked like he might do a few weeks ago, even if the damn lump is starting to look like a bowling ball. I guess we are lucky that a lump this size is not in a major organ or in the bone.
Do you think the idea of removing this large lump is out of the question? I assume it would be too entangled in muscle so that muscle and nerve damage would probably occur. The other newer lumps are growing much more slowly, so I am wondering if this might grow more slowly if removed a 2nd time.
Susan & Tazzie 2
Susan, debulking the lump is not out of the question but most likely radiation would be needed post-op to try to limit spread since it is unlikely that the entire mass can be removed surgically. The problem is that more lumps may appear since surgery and radiation could decrease his immune system and allow other tumors to grow faster. Kind of a catch-22 but if it was my dog I think I might leave well enough alone at this point. One other approach is to try to shrink the mass with radiation first and then try surgical removal but I do not think that OSA mets shrink that much with radiation. I would ask your oncologist just to be sure.
I really doubt that the mushrooms are a problem because my Tazzie had pre-existing liver issues and her values never increased on either the mushrooms or the artemisinin . I will mail you a package this week. Just send me a message if you have questions on dosing.
Pam
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